How I paid off $95,000 in consumer debt in under two years

I paid off $95,000 in consumer debt across six credit cards in under two years. There was no secret trick and no windfall that made it disappear. There was a list, a few rules I kept, and a plan I could actually stick with. This is that plan, and how it turned into the Glow Method.

A quick note before we start: I keep my name off this site on purpose. I am a director-level leader in tech, and I want Haluvra to be about your plan, not my résumé. Everything below is what I did, at the level that is useful to you.

Step 1: I listed every card

Six cards means six balances, six interest rates, six minimums and six due dates. Juggling all of that, I could not see the whole picture, and I could not make a real plan.

So I put every card in one place, with four things for each:

• The balance
• The interest rate (APR)
• The minimum payment
• The due date

Seeing the full total in one place is not fun. It is also the moment the problem stops being a fog and becomes a number. A number has an end date. If you have never done this, it is the single most useful thing you can do today. Your latest statements have everything you need. A notebook works. So does a debt tracker like the Haluvra debt app, which keeps every card in one place.

Step 2: I stopped adding new debt

You cannot empty a bathtub with the tap still running. Before any payoff method could work, the balances had to stop growing. That meant the cards I was paying off were no longer how I paid for everyday life.

This is the least exciting step and the one that matters most. Every method, including the one I built, assumes the balances are going down, not back up.

Step 3: I found extra money every month

Minimum payments keep your accounts in good standing. They do not get you out of debt quickly, because so much of each one goes to interest. (We break down why in why your minimum payment feels like it does nothing.)

So every month I looked for money above the minimums, from both sides: what I spent and what I earned. Spending less is only half of it. Earning more counts just as much, and if making more money is where you have room, our guide on how to negotiate salary is a good place to start. If you want a simple way to find the extra on the spending side, start with how to make a budget when no one ever taught you.

The amount does not have to be huge. What matters is that there is an amount, every month, with a job: paying down debt.

Step 4: I went after high interest and small balances at the same time

This is where most advice makes you pick a side. The avalanche sends extra money to the highest interest rate first. On paper it costs the least, and it really does. The snowball sends extra money to the smallest balance first. You close cards sooner, and research suggests those early wins help people keep going. (Our post on avalanche vs snowball covers both, with the research.)

I did not want to choose. My expensive cards were costing me real money every month, so I wanted to attack the high interest. But I also knew myself: if month after month went by without a single card hitting zero, I would lose steam. So I did both. I pushed hard on the high-interest balances while knocking out small ones along the way, so I always had a recent win to point to.

A card at zero is proof. Every time one closed, the plan felt more real, and its payment rolled into the next target.

How that frustration became the Glow Method

Here is the part that turned into a company. Every payoff tool I tried made me choose: avalanche or snowball, math or motivation. Neither choice matched what was actually working for me. And as balances changed, the right next move changed too, so a plan I set once in month one was not the right plan in month nine.

That frustration is how I came up with the Glow Method. In plain terms, it:

• Balances interest saved with quick wins. It keeps your most expensive debt in its sights while still giving you cards you can close, so you get both progress you can feel and money you keep.
• Rebalances as your balances change. Each month it looks at where things stand now, not where they stood when you started, and adjusts the plan.
• Gives you one clear plan. You see where your money goes this month and your debt-free date, without redoing the math yourself.

To be honest about the trade-off: when it comes to interest alone, the avalanche is still the mathematically cheapest method, and the Glow Method does not claim to beat it on interest. It is built for the real goal, which is to keep going until the last balance hits zero. For a lot of people, me included, that takes more than the cheapest math. It takes wins you can see.

What I would tell you if you are starting today

1. Make the list. Every card, balance, APR, minimum and due date, in one place.
2. Turn off the tap. Stop adding new charges to the cards you are paying off, as best you can.
3. Find an extra amount and give it one job.
4. Pick a plan you will keep. Avalanche, snowball or the Glow Method. The best one is the one you are still doing a year from now.
5. Know your date. A real month on the calendar turns someday into a goal. Our guide on how to calculate your real debt-free date shows how. Then watch the countdown: every payment brings that month a little closer.

And when it feels slow, because it will, read how to stay motivated paying off debt. You are not behind. You are in the middle.

Keep reading

• Avalanche vs snowball: which debt payoff method is actually better
• Why your minimum payment feels like it does nothing
• Financial anxiety: why money stress feels so heavy