The start of the new year is a great time to start tracking your financial progress. As a visual representation to your debt management journey, progress charts are a useful tool for anyone working towards debt reduction. Here’s a bit more about why progress charts could be a fun and useful tool to implement in 2018.
Progress charts are helpful tools for paying off debt.
Tuesday Tip – Using Progress Charts
A progress chart shows how much debt a person has paid down, and how much they still have to go until reaching their financial goal. You may have seen a progress chart with a fundraising goal or something of the like in the past. Why not adapt that same idea to debt management? Progress charts are a perfect way to literally see your debt reduction plan come to life. And, they’re really fun to make. If you’re facing multiple debts, consider having multiple charts.
Making a Progress Chart
The options for progress charts are endless. You can use Excel, print a chart off the internet, or make your own from scratch. All you need is to put your goal at the top and marks up the side to show how much debt you’ve paid off so far. You can make it fun by printing an image to fill in, like a piggy bank, a thermometer, or something else that represents your goal of becoming debt free. You can even make a big poster and hang it on the wall!
Benefits of Using Progress Charts
- It’s an interactive element of your debt management journey. You’ll get excited to fill it up! And, it may motivate you to go the extra mile and fill it up faster.
- They serve as a reminder that you’re actively working towards becoming debt free.
- Charts help keep “slow but steady” in perspective when you chip away at debt. Just because you’re not paying down debt all at once doesn’t mean you’re not getting there little by little!
- It’s a great lesson for kids. Progress charts are a great example of kids seeing their parents work towards and eventually achieve a goal.
Using progress charts can be a fun way to track your debt repayment and your journey towards becoming debt free. Progress charts help add a little bit of joy and positivity to a not-so-fun situation, and who doesn’t need a little bit of that?
If you’re struggling with debt, ACCC can help. Schedule a free credit counseling session with us today.
