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How to Calculate Your Real Debt and the Quickest-Least Expensive Way to Pay It Off

November 8, 2014 By: Anita

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It is often a good thing to take a look at a debt calculator to find the total Real Debt (debt+ interest) that you will pay and when you will have it paid off. If you use a tool like this you can determine the least expensive way (least amount of interest) you will pay by paying off loans in a certain order.

You will also see the total how much money it will cost you to get out of debt. Further, a calculator/excel chart like this allows you to plug in a different ‘snowball’  or additional money to your loan payments to see how you can save considerably. Thus, I highly recommend using a chart like this at least a few times a year.

I love using a free debt calculator Excel or OpenOffice files like these:

Click here to download a Debt Calculator in an Excel File for 10 or less

Click here to download a Debt Calculator in Open Office/Excel for up to 20 debts or less.

I appreciate the company that put it together you can find them here.

Here are 10 easy steps to using the debt calculator:

1- Input the current date.

2- Update your chart with the current loan names (Creditors), Balance, Interest, Rate, and Payments

3- For the custom column enter in the order you would like to pay off the debts in.

4- To make this much chart easier and fool proof, I enter the debts in the order I would like to pay them off in. Then select under the Strategy drop down menu: Order Entered in the Table.

How to Calculate Your Real Debt and the Quickest-Least Expensive Way to Pay It Off

5- Tally up the amount you have each month towards a debt payment. Subtract that from the minimum you must pay (in the Payment Total column) and you have your snowball payment. 5 = $minimum you have to pay + $extra money you can pay (i.e. snowball payment)

6- Enter your snowball payment which is the additional funds you can add to the minimum you must pay each month into the correct area.

7-  Next, experiment with different pay off strategies on the payment Strategy drop down menu. Select different strategies to see what the interest on your debt will be.

How to Calculate Your Real Debt and the Quickest-Least Expensive Way to Pay It Off

8- Which ever strategy gives you the lowest figure, that is in most cases the best way to pay off your loans in.

9- Shows you a curvature in the chart in the order the debt will be paid off. It also shows you in which year and close to the month in which the debt will be paid off.

10- Once you pick pay off the structure you can calculate your Real Debt by adding your Debt+Interest=Real Debt. This would be done with a calculator as I do not see a place on the chart that shows this. So pull out a calculator and add the debt figure from the first chart and the interest figure from the second chart and this will show you your Real Debt figure.

Knowing your Real Debt is important because it gives you or full financial picture instead of just how much you owe, it shows you based on certain criteria how much you will end up PAYING. So it is a huge and important factor in your financial life.

Using this chart you can find the best payoff order/structure in which to pay off your debts. I do have one thing to add to this chart. Although, mathematically correct and math is great because it is never wrong, I find that psychologically if you have a very small loan and you can get rid of it right away, paying that one off first is the best because it makes you feel good about getting out of debt (at least for me). One less loan to worry about etc. Overall, which ever order you feel best about paying your debts off in, is of course up to you, this chart just helps you see which order will save you the most in interest. This chart also helps you see your real debt number (debt you have + interest= Real Debt).

Please comment below if you have any questions about this chart. although I did not create it, I am very familiar with its functions. Also, there are a lot of helpful suggestions, notes, and explanations to the side of the chart on the actual excel file that you download.

Other articles that may be of interest to you:

Take my 31 Day Financial Fitness Boot Camp Course (click here)

Boot Campthmb

How to Avoid Debt

Your Seven step plan to avoid debt

5 Step Plan to Get Out of Debt

HowtoGetOutofDebt

The difference between good and bad debt

difference between good and bad debt

Anita

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How to Calculate Your Real Debt and the Quickest-Least Expensive Way to Pay It Off

Related posts:

The Difference Between Good and Bad Debt Your 7 Step Plan to Avoid DebtHow to Avoid Debt Get Out of DebtHow to Get Out of Debt
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Katie @ Clarks Condensed says

    November 9, 2014 at 8:37 pm

    This is so great, Anita. Thanks for sharing! We don’t have a ton of debt, but we want to get out of all of it asap, especially before we buy a house. Definitely going to share this!

    Reply
    • Anita Fowler says

      November 11, 2014 at 5:21 pm

      You’re welcome! I’m glad you found it useful!

      Reply
  2. Shannon says

    January 6, 2015 at 6:13 pm

    Thank you so much for sharing! I don’t have enough debt to make this chart useful(I only have two) and like you said(which I totally agree with), if my debt amount is small enough to pay off quickly, I’m going to pay that one off first just for the sake of having one less loan to worry about. But it’s definitely something worth sharing and to keep in mind for future times,if needed.

    Reply
    • Anita Fowler says

      January 6, 2015 at 10:21 pm

      You’re welcome!

      Reply
  3. Brittany says

    October 3, 2015 at 2:39 am

    Genuis! This is so so useful. Thank you so much for this!! I can’t say enough about how perfect this is!

    Reply
    • Anita Fowler says

      October 5, 2015 at 2:18 pm

      You’re welcome! I hope it helps you!

      Reply
  4. Alex says

    January 4, 2016 at 5:07 pm

    Hi Anita,

    I am super excited to try these, however when I click the links provided, it does nothing. I have tried to do the control and click and reopen the webpage and any little trick that I know how to open a file that wont.

    Do you have any other ways to open these links?

    Thanks!!

    Reply
    • Anita Fowler says

      January 5, 2016 at 3:25 am

      I emailed them to you. Happy New Year!

      Reply
      • JoAnne says

        January 18, 2016 at 1:50 pm

        Anita, Is this designed to work or for us to use as an example? Thanks!

        Reply
        • Anita Fowler says

          January 19, 2016 at 7:55 pm

          To use. You click on it to download the files. Then you can fill them in according to your personal finances.

          Reply
  5. Liz says

    February 13, 2016 at 1:27 am

    This looks like such a great tool Anita! When I click on the link to download, nothing happens. Is there another way to download the Excel file?

    Reply
    • Anita Fowler says

      February 25, 2016 at 10:41 pm

      I’ve just emailed them to you and switched the links. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

      Reply
      • Lindsay says

        February 29, 2016 at 5:51 pm

        Are these meant for a mac or PC? I have a mac and it is only downloading an example to use for open office. Am I doing something wrong?

        Reply
        • Anita Fowler says

          March 3, 2016 at 9:18 pm

          I have a Mac. I’ll just email you the files. I have had some people saying they couldn’t download and others say it was working just fine. When I switched the files maybe something weird happened. Look for an email from me.

          Reply
          • Bethany says

            May 18, 2016 at 10:11 pm

            Hi Anita, I’m eager to try your sheet too, but the same thing happened to me that happened to Lindsay above. Any chance you can email it to me too?

            You’re awesome!

          • Anita Fowler says

            May 31, 2016 at 3:21 pm

            sent to you. Thanks for asking.

  6. Kristi says

    February 18, 2016 at 9:19 pm

    I’m unable to download the form. The landing page it’s going to won’t allow me to download from there.

    Reply
    • Anita Fowler says

      February 25, 2016 at 10:40 pm

      I just emailed them to you and fixed the links on this post. Thanks!

      Reply
  7. toni sedillo says

    March 10, 2016 at 9:39 pm

    The drop down box for “strategy” does not show up on my excel spreadsheet, can you assist?

    Reply
  8. Andrea says

    April 9, 2016 at 11:50 am

    Hi, this info is great, trying it out now. However, I am not getting a drop down box to change the ‘Strategy.’ Did I do something wrong? I am using a Mac (Numbers) and it’s new to me, so not too familiar with this program. Thanks for the help!

    Reply
    • Anita Fowler says

      April 22, 2016 at 8:06 pm

      Were you able to figure this out?

      Reply
  9. Roxie says

    June 11, 2016 at 6:29 pm

    I downloaded the Excel file, but it won’t let me change any of the cells, dates, interest rates, etc. What am I doing wrong?

    Reply
  10. Sara Arocha says

    July 8, 2016 at 3:28 am

    Hello, I just read this and I would really love to be able to use this tool, but I too am having nothing pop up when I click on the link to download them. I would greatly appreciate an email with the link or the file. Thank you so much for sharing this information.

    Reply
    • Anita Fowler says

      August 30, 2016 at 8:26 am

      I emailed you the file. Thanks for stopping by.

      Reply
  11. GREG MONTGOMERY says

    August 17, 2016 at 4:14 pm

    I can not down load the excel file. Can you email the file to me .

    Thanks.

    Greg

    Reply
    • Anita Fowler says

      August 29, 2016 at 5:24 am

      Greg- the file has been sent to your email. Thanks for stopping by.

      Reply
  12. Nina says

    September 2, 2016 at 5:48 pm

    Hello – The smaller one worked for me, but unfortunately with all my student loans I have more than 10 lines of debt. The larger file doesn’t work properly when I open it though. Could you please email it to me? This is such a useful tool and the best I’ve found yet!

    Reply
    • Anita Fowler says

      September 5, 2016 at 8:46 am

      Nina- I emailed you the files. Thank you!

      Reply
  13. Felicia says

    September 15, 2016 at 2:52 pm

    I would love to be able to download these and use them in numbers (Mac), any way for me to do that?

    Reply
    • Anita Fowler says

      September 16, 2016 at 5:56 am

      Felicia- I emailed you the files. Thanks for stopping by.

      Reply
  14. Cami says

    September 16, 2016 at 10:43 pm

    I am having the same problem as the others. Could you email this to me please? 🙂

    Reply
    • Anita Fowler says

      September 20, 2016 at 10:57 am

      Cami- I emailed you the files. Thank you!

      Reply
  15. Teresa says

    October 25, 2016 at 4:58 pm

    HI there. Thank you for this! I have a question about how I then go about paying them off. If I use the avalanche method (because it was the lowest amount of interest) do I use the snowball amount in full towards what I should be paying off first? I’m a little lost on that part.

    Reply
    • Anita Fowler says

      December 29, 2016 at 5:27 pm

      Yes, you line them up in the order you want to pay the debt off and then you use the snowball amount (all payment money you were paying towards the previous debts) and apply them to pay off the next debts until they are all paid off. I hope this was helpful.

      Reply
  16. Lindley says

    October 29, 2016 at 11:01 pm

    Can I have the Mac version as well? Thank you.

    Reply
    • Anita Fowler says

      November 7, 2016 at 11:14 am

      Lindley- The file can be opened using Excel Mac version. Thanks.

      Reply
  17. Nicole Howe says

    November 25, 2016 at 4:02 pm

    Good morning! I am attempting to use the sheet, however nothing is updating. Do you know if the link has a problem? Could you maybe email me the file? Thank you!

    Reply
    • Anita Fowler says

      November 28, 2016 at 7:06 am

      Nicole- I emailed you the file. Thank you!

      Reply
  18. Meredith says

    December 31, 2016 at 9:21 pm

    Hello! Would you mind emailing the excel spreadsheet link? Thank you and happy new year!

    Reply
    • Anita Fowler says

      January 2, 2017 at 2:19 am

      Meredith- I emailed you the file. Thank you for asking!

      Reply
  19. Jondelyn Catlette says

    January 17, 2017 at 2:30 am

    Would you mind emailing me the file? I have excel on mac, but the formulas are not there.

    Reply
    • Anita Fowler says

      January 18, 2017 at 6:59 am

      Jondelyn- I emailed you the file. Thank you!

      Reply
  20. Kat Kirkman says

    January 17, 2017 at 10:51 pm

    Can you email me the files as well? Thank you soo much!

    Reply
    • Anita Fowler says

      January 18, 2017 at 7:00 am

      Kat- I emailed you the file. Thanks for asking!

      Reply
  21. Kylie Booth says

    January 21, 2017 at 5:24 pm

    I am trying to open this file using google apps since I have a Chromebook. But when it converts the file from excel to google spreadsheets, it comes in completely blank. Any thoughts on this?

    Reply
    • Kylie Booth says

      January 21, 2017 at 5:25 pm

      Oh… and thank you!!! This is best finance tool I have ever stumbled upon!

      Reply
    • Anita Fowler says

      January 31, 2017 at 4:00 am

      Kylie- you can download the google sheet version here https://www.vertex42.com/Files/download2/gdrive.php?file=debt-reduction-calculator. Thanks!

      Reply
  22. Patti Haines says

    January 30, 2017 at 7:44 am

    Can you email me the files please? I am really excited about this tool!

    Reply
    • Anita Fowler says

      January 31, 2017 at 3:43 am

      I emailed you the file. Thanks for asking!

      Reply
    • Anita Fowler says

      February 1, 2017 at 6:21 pm

      I will send it soon.

      Reply
  23. Tina Stewart says

    February 18, 2017 at 5:59 pm

    How can I get it to work in Libre Office?

    Reply
    • Anita Fowler says

      February 27, 2017 at 12:24 am

      Tina- I emailed you the file. Thanks!

      Reply
    • Anita Fowler says

      March 21, 2017 at 11:21 pm

      I’ll have my VA email you.

      Reply
  24. Melodie Thomas says

    February 19, 2017 at 1:58 am

    I am unable to download the Excel spreadsheet onto Numbers for Mac.
    Is it possible your wonderful table is available via Numbers for Mac as well?
    Or if not, could you share the math functions/calculations used for the totals on each table (comparing to your samples above is fine).

    Reply
    • Anita Fowler says

      February 27, 2017 at 12:16 am

      Melodie- I emailed you the file. Thanks for asking.

      Reply
  25. stacie richmond-owens says

    April 5, 2017 at 8:29 pm

    Hi there. I am excited to try this but I can’t seem to get the links to work. Could you email them to me?

    Reply
    • Anita Fowler says

      April 22, 2017 at 2:54 am

      I emailed you the file. Thanks for asking!

      Reply
  26. Jason White says

    May 6, 2017 at 1:52 pm

    Anita I too am using a Mac. I’m able to download it into excel but it doesn’t give me a strategy drop down menu. Would you mind emailing me the file?
    Thanks and great tool

    Reply
    • Anita Fowler says

      May 17, 2017 at 1:10 am

      I emailed you the file. Thanks for asking!

      Reply
  27. Chad D says

    June 16, 2017 at 8:01 pm

    I used this exact sheet but I got it a while ago from a different site but I started with 4 credit cards, my vehicle and house. I think I had about $15,000 in credit cards, maybe $13k-$14k on the truck and the house was $197K. I have since paid off all of my cards, my truck is down to $8,200 and the house is at $183k. I’m putting $1,800 a month to my truck and it will be paid off by November. After that the wife and I are going to put an extra $2,500 a month to our house and pay it off in 5 years. That is the plan and we know life happens but having a plan and a budget make all the difference in the world. I would also suggest using everydollar.com, it’s free and you can build a budget and see exactly where your money goes.

    Reply
    • Anita Fowler says

      June 23, 2017 at 8:35 pm

      that’s awesome! thanks for sharing!

      Reply
  28. Stephanie Sofka says

    July 30, 2017 at 2:57 pm

    I can’t seem to get my spreadsheet to work in Numbers. Any help would be greatly appreciated. 🙂

    Reply
    • Anita Fowler says

      August 8, 2017 at 1:58 am

      Stephanie- The spreadsheet works on Excel, OpenOffice and Google Sheets. You can go to this link https://www.vertex42.com/Calculators/debt-reduction-calculator.html to download. Thanks!

      Reply
  29. Sara says

    December 28, 2017 at 9:46 pm

    Hi! I can’t get the spreadsheet for more than 10 debts to work. It doesn’t update.

    Reply
    • Anita Fowler says

      January 8, 2018 at 3:02 am

      Hi Sara, the free version can list up to 10 creditors only. If you have more than 10 creditors, get the new Extended version that lets you list up to 40 creditors. Link here https://www.vertex42.com/Calculators/debt-reduction-calculator.html. Thank you!

      Reply
  30. Rozella Tames says

    March 31, 2018 at 4:54 pm

    This website is just gret. I’ve looked these informations a long time and I view
    it that is good written, easy to understand.
    I congratulate you because of this article that I am going to recommend to the people around.
    I ask you to go to the gpa-calculator.co page where each pupil or college student can find ratings grade point average rating.
    Success!

    Reply
    • Anita says

      June 18, 2018 at 5:15 am

      I’m glad you find this helpful. Thank you!

      Reply
  31. Vanessa says

    July 1, 2018 at 4:45 pm

    HI!! Can you email the filters to me too??

    Reply
    • Anita says

      August 1, 2018 at 12:34 pm

      Vanessa- I emailed you the file. Thanks!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. PSA: Life-Changing Tool For Anyone Juggling Debt!! | Close Enough! says:
    January 11, 2015 at 7:49 am

    […] Here is where I found it. You can also copy and paste the link below: […]

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  2. How To Tackle ‘Debt Stress’: 5 Top Tips | Live Like You Are Rich says:
    November 1, 2016 at 2:33 pm

    […] Cut interest payments – moving credit card balances to 0% interest cards can at least cut interest payments while you tackle the main debt (beware of balance transfer fees). Similarly, moving some debts to other lenders by checking other loans online, and similar options may be worth investigating. There is a free download for how to calculate your interest and how to slash that interest payment …. […]

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  3. 25 Days of Budget Transformations Day 10: FREE Debt/Pay-Off Calulator Tool | Passionate Penny Pincher says:
    February 18, 2017 at 1:01 am

    […] out how this free calculator tool from Anita at Live Like You Are Rich!  You can use it to calculate your own real debt and find the best way to pay it […]

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