A single mother, one paycheck every other Friday, seven debts, and nothing left at the end of the month. Twenty-one months later: debt-free, with $590 a month back in her pocket.
Elisabeth lives in Albany, Oregon, with her son Neil, a first grader, in a one-bedroom apartment. She works full time as a medical receptionist for $23 an hour, and at night she studies online to become a Medical Assistant.
She gets one paycheck every other Friday, $1,570.71 after taxes, and $450 in child support on the 5th of every month. All together that is about $3,853 a month.
| Every month | Amount |
|---|---|
| Money in (paychecks and child support) | $3,853.00 |
| Living expenses, every single bill | $3,090.00 |
| Minimum payments on 7 debts | $590.00 |
| Left on paper | $173.00 |
But life also has bills that come once a year: summer care, a big car repair, Christmas, a birthday, back to school. For Elisabeth those add up to $3,470 a year, about $289 a month. So in reality she was short by $116 every month.
That is what paycheck to paycheck looks like on paper.
The Cash Release Method ranks every debt by balance ÷ monthly payment — how many months until that payment comes back to you. The shortest goes first. Here that is the medical bill: $600 ÷ $50 = 12 months.
| Debt | Balance | Payment | APR | Months to go |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medical Bill | $600 | $50 | 0% | 12.0 |
| Divorce Attorney | $2,400 | $100 | 0% | 24.0 |
| Store Card | $900 | $35 | 28.49% | 25.7 |
| Car Repair Card | $2,600 | $90 | 21.74% | 28.9 |
| MA Tuition Plan | $3,200 | $100 | 0% | 32.0 |
| Card 2 (joint card) | $2,100 | $65 | 0%* | 32.3 |
| Card 1 | $5,200 | $150 | 23.49% | 34.7 |
| Total | $17,000 | $590 |
* Card 2 is a joint card she and her husband opened before the divorce. It charged no interest until the end of 2025, and 15.90% from January 2026.
One choice was hers, not the equation's. After the medical bill and the attorney, the next debt by the numbers was the store card. Elisabeth chose the car repair card instead, because it gives back $90 a month, not $35.
The sheet shows you the target. You make the decision.
In January six small bills went on the cards: renters insurance, phone, internet, water and electric on Card 2, the joint card with no interest, and car insurance on Card 1. That is $450 that did not leave her checking account in January, and every dollar of it went to the medical bill.
This is not a free trick. Card 1 charges interest the whole time, and the 0% on the joint card had an end date. The bills on a card have to be paid back too. There is one rule she never broke: no card goes over its limit. Card 2 never went above $2,380 of its $2,500, and Card 1 never above $5,798.33 of its $6,000. That means watching every card, every month.
We started with the smallest bills and added more only while a card had room. Over nine months $1,775 of bills went on the two cards. From October 2025 on, no bill went on a card anymore.
February 2025: a $5,600 tax refund, split three ways. $1,000 stayed in checking as a cushion, $1,000 was set aside for the big bills of the year, and $3,600 went to debt. The medical bill and the divorce attorney were closed. The car repair card followed in March.
Then real life came. In April the car needed a $900 repair, and in May it was Neil's birthday. For two months not one extra dollar went to debt. Only the minimums were paid, and that is okay.
Summer and fall 2025: the store card was closed in July. In August her employer paid back $1,600 of the tuition, and in September the tuition plan was closed. Five debts gone, $375 a month free.
October 2025: Elisabeth finished her Medical Assistant program and her pay went from $23 to $25 an hour. Every dollar of the raise went to the joint card, to bring it down before the 0% ended. At the end of 2025 she owed $5,769.08, down from $17,000.
2026: the joint card was closed in January. After that everything went to Card 1, month by month, and in September 2026 it was closed. Debt-free.
The bills that went on a card that month, what she sent on top of her minimum payments, where it went, and what she still owed at the end of the month. Every number comes straight from her spreadsheet.
| Month | Bills on cards | Extra to debt | Where it went | Closed | Owed at month end | Freed each month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2025 | $450.00 | $472.13 | Medical Bill $472.13 | — | $16,558.13 | — |
| February 2025 | $450.00 | $4,301.42 | Medical Bill $27.87 Divorce Attorney $2,200.00 Car Repair Card $2,073.55 $5,600 tax refund: $3,600 to debt, $1,000 cushion, $1,000 for the big bills of the year | Medical Bill Divorce Attorney |
$12,287.67 | $150.00 |
| March 2025 | $215.00 | $561.42 | Car Repair Card $357.85 Store Card $203.57 | Car Repair Card | $11,640.05 | $240.00 |
| April 2025 | $130.00 | — | — a $900 car repair — minimums only | — | $11,547.76 | $240.00 |
| May 2025 | $130.00 | — | — Neil's birthday — minimums only | — | $11,455.45 | $240.00 |
| June 2025 | $130.00 | $159.26 | Store Card $159.26 | — | $11,203.85 | $240.00 |
| July 2025 | $70.00 | $1,541.42 | Store Card $410.86 MA Tuition Plan $1,130.56 | Store Card | $9,506.27 | $275.00 |
| August 2025 | $130.00 | $1,012.13 | MA Tuition Plan $1,012.13 her employer paid back $1,600 of the tuition | — | $8,421.93 | $275.00 |
| September 2025 | $70.00 | $276.42 | MA Tuition Plan $157.31 Card 2 $119.11 | MA Tuition Plan | $8,013.74 | $375.00 |
| October 2025 | — | $791.66 | Card 2 $791.66 raise after the diploma; no more bills on cards | — | $7,119.59 | $375.00 |
| November 2025 | — | $531.66 | Card 2 $531.66 | — | $6,484.71 | $375.00 |
| December 2025 | — | $611.66 | Card 2 $611.66 | — | $5,769.08 | $375.00 |
| January 2026 | — | $1,182.49 | Card 2 $72.71 Card 1 $1,109.78 | Card 2 | $4,483.66 | $440.00 |
| February 2026 | — | $791.66 | Card 1 $791.66 | — | $3,629.77 | $440.00 |
| March 2026 | — | $456.66 | Card 1 $456.66 | — | $3,094.16 | $440.00 |
| April 2026 | — | $136.66 | Card 1 $136.66 another car repair | — | $2,868.07 | $440.00 |
| May 2026 | — | $266.66 | Card 1 $266.66 | — | $2,507.55 | $440.00 |
| June 2026 | — | $376.66 | Card 1 $376.66 | — | $2,029.98 | $440.00 |
| July 2026 | — | $857.49 | Card 1 $857.49 | — | $1,062.23 | $440.00 |
| August 2026 | — | $496.66 | Card 1 $496.66 | — | $436.36 | $440.00 |
| September 2026 | — | $294.90 | Card 1 $294.90 | Card 1 | $0.00 | $590.00 |
"Freed each month" adds up the starting minimum payments of every debt closed so far. Her checking account never went below $200.
| January 2025 | September 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Total debt | $17,000.00 | $0.00 |
| Monthly debt payments | $590.00 | $0.00 |
The $590 a month that used to go to minimum payments is now hers. Neil's birthday and Christmas stayed in the plan the whole way. Now Elisabeth is saving for a newer car and a small condo.
The honest part: what made it possible was small bills moved to cards that had room, a tax refund, the tuition her employer paid back, and a raise after the diploma. And the price along the way was $2,054.02 in interest — I will always show you the price.
Every spreadsheet covers one year, January to December. Her plan lives in two files. The 2026 file starts exactly where 2025 ended — $5,769.08. Nothing lost between the two years. The first tab in each file tells the case step by step.
Excel files. No email, nothing to pay. Want to start your own? Get the blank spreadsheet.
Names are changed. The numbers are real. I'm an accountant — not a CPA, and not a financial advisor. I do the math and show you the options. Every decision Elisabeth made was hers. Every decision you make is yours.