Page 55 - Workbook1E

Discover Your Debt Free Day
Your Initial Debt-Free Day
Once you complete these steps and determine your initial debt-free day, you can prepare to apply some powerful options to significantly reduce the amount of time and money it
will take to become debt free. Completing your Creditor Summary Sheet and using it to identify your initial debt-free day is an important step. This information is vital to becoming financially healthy and gaining control of your finances.
Bit by bit does the trick!
A half dead, thirsty crow came upon a pitcher only partially filled with water. But, when the crow tried to drink, its beak couldn’t reach far enough in to drink the water. It tried again and again, with no success. Exhausted and about to give up, it got an idea.
The crow picked up a pebble with its beak and dropped it into the pitcher. Then it picked up another pebble and dropped it into the pitcher. It dropped pebble after pebble into the pitcher and the water soon began to rise. Several pebbles later, the crow was able to reach the water, quench its thirst, and save its life.
Erik and Tracy’s Creditor Summary Sheet
It may seem difficult or even overwhelming, but step by step, you can master your finances and take firm control of your debt. To help you master the use of your Creditor Summary Sheet, again follow along with Erik and Tracy’s sample at the end of this section. They felt increasingly concerned about their debts. Once they learned how to “Get out of Debt and Stay There,” they firmly resolved to take control of their debts and followed these steps:
PART I—Summarize Your Total Debt: Credit Summary Sheet Steps 1 through 5.
In the first column Erik and Tracy listed their creditors in pencil since they might need to reorder them once they calculated the number of payments needed to pay them off. They began by listing the creditor with the shortest payoff time at the top followed in descending order and ending with the creditor with the longest payoff time at the bottom. Using a financial calculator, they determined how many Remaining Payments were left for each creditor and then used that information to re-list their creditors from shortest to longest payoff time.
“Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.”
~ Samuel Johnson
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