Two paychecks every two weeks, a hospital bill from George's illness, and $100 in checking on March 1. Eighteen months later: debt-free, a family trip to Disneyland, and money saved for baby number two.
A young family. Their son just started kindergarten. George drives a delivery truck and brings home $1,750 every two weeks. Ann is a medical assistant and brings home $1,500 every two weeks. In a normal month, $6,500 comes in.
The year before, George was critically ill. He recovered. The bills stayed — $12,500 of their debt is the hospital.
| Every month | Amount |
|---|---|
| Money in (a normal month) | $6,500.00 |
| Mortgage | $1,650.00 |
| Their son: after-school care, swimming, lunches, clothes, haircuts | $595.00 |
| Groceries and gas | $1,120.00 |
| Everything else: insurance, electric, phones, water, internet… | $847.00 |
| Minimum payments on 11 debts | $1,596.96 |
| Left on paper | $691.04 |
Step zero came first: a storage unit ($95) and a gym membership ($48) they were no longer using. Both ended. That is the first cash release — before any card.
The mortgage leaves on the 1st. George is paid on the 1st, but Ann's first paycheck doesn't come until the 8th. In between: after-school care, groceries, gas.
If they paid everything from checking, they would be $1,055 below zero by March 7 — and 10 days below zero in one month.
Same paychecks, same bills — just a different order. That is why the spreadsheet splits every month into pay cycles: a cycle starts the day a paycheck lands and ends the day before the next one. It shows which paycheck pays which bill, and what each paycheck leaves behind.
Six bills from the first week went on Card 2, the card that still had room: $1,120. They did not leave checking in March. The lowest their checking account went all month was $30.
This is not a free trick. Card 2 charges 24.99%, the whole time. It went up to $4,170 against a $5,000 limit — close, but never over. That is the one rule you never break, and it means watching every card, every month.
Then March 29: George's third paycheck of the month, plus $1,500 of their tax refund (the other $1,500 became their emergency fund). Buy Now Pay Later and the dental bill closed that same day. $170 a month, back in their hands.
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.
| Debt | Balance | Payment | APR | Months to go |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buy Now Pay Later | $540 | $135 | 0% | 4.0 |
| Dental bill | $420 | $35 | 0% | 12.0 |
| Personal Loan | $3,600 | $185 | 14.50% | 19.5 |
| Ann's car | $7,250 | $362 | 6.89% | 20.0 |
| George's car | $6,400 | $300 | 7.90% | 21.3 |
| Store Card | $900 | $35 | 29.99% | 25.7 |
| Card 3 | $2,750 | $88.50 | 26.99% | 31.1 |
| Card 2 | $3,050 | $93 | 24.99% | 32.8 |
| Card 1 | $1,850 | $53.46 | 22.99% | 34.6 |
| Hospital bill | $12,500 | $250 | 0% | 50.0 |
| Student Loan | $5,000 | $60 | 5.53% | 83.3 |
| Total | $44,260 | $1,596.96 |
Cash Release March to November 2024. Every closed debt freed its payment, and that payment went to the next one: Buy Now Pay Later and the dental bill in March, the personal loan in May, Ann's car in September, George's car in November.
Then George and Ann made their own call. By the numbers, the hospital bill would come later — it charges 0%. But it reminded them of the worst year of their lives, and they wanted it gone. It cost them a little more interest on the cards, and it was their decision to make. The hospital bill closed in March 2025.
The sheet shows you the target. You make the decision.
The 2025 tax refund, $3,500, went to savings — and in April it paid for spring break at Disneyland. After what they went through, they needed that trip.
Avalanche April to August 2025. Highest interest first: the Store Card in April, Card 3 in May, Card 2 and Card 1 in June, and the student loan in August. Debt-free.
What they sent on top of their minimum payments each month, where it went, and what they still owed at the end of the month. Every number comes straight from their spreadsheet.
| Month | Method | Extra to debt | Where it went | Closed | Owed at month end | Freed each month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2024 | Cash Release | $1,241.04 | Buy Now Pay Later $405.00 Dental bill $385.00 Personal Loan $451.04 the month $1,500 of the tax refund came in | Dental bill Buy Now Pay Later |
$42,875.60 | $170.00 |
| April 2024 | Cash Release | $1,426.04 | Personal Loan $1,426.04 | — | $40,366.80 | $170.00 |
| May 2024 | Cash Release | $2,716.04 | Personal Loan $1,265.07 Ann's car $1,450.97 | Personal Loan | $36,543.82 | $355.00 |
| June 2024 | Cash Release | $1,861.04 | Ann's car $1,861.04 | — | $33,729.98 | $355.00 |
| July 2024 | Cash Release | $1,091.04 | Ann's car $1,091.04 | — | $31,670.13 | $355.00 |
| August 2024 | Cash Release | $727.54 | Ann's car $727.54 | — | $29,962.09 | $355.00 |
| September 2024 | Cash Release | $1,499.32 | George's car $1,499.32 | Ann's car | $27,717.36 | $717.00 |
| October 2024 | Cash Release | $1,988.04 | George's car $1,988.04 | — | $25,087.03 | $717.00 |
| November 2024 | Cash Release their choice: the hospital |
$3,088.04 | George's car $496.89 Hospital bill $2,591.15 | George's car | $21,339.98 | $1,017.00 |
| December 2024 | Cash Release their choice: the hospital |
$1,908.04 | Hospital bill $1,908.04 | — | $19,065.89 | $1,017.00 |
| January 2025 | Cash Release their choice: the hospital |
$1,809.54 | Hospital bill $1,809.54 | — | $16,888.42 | $1,017.00 |
| February 2025 | Cash Release their choice: the hospital |
$1,668.04 | Hospital bill $1,668.04 $3,500 tax refund went to savings | — | $14,850.54 | $1,017.00 |
| March 2025 | Cash Release their choice: the hospital |
$1,956.54 | Hospital bill $1,273.23 Store Card $683.31 | Hospital bill | $12,522.21 | $1,267.00 |
| April 2025 | Avalanche | $2,280.04 | Card 3 $2,280.04 $3,500 from savings: Disneyland | Store Card | $10,108.31 | $1,302.00 |
| May 2025 | Avalanche | $3,723.59 | Card 2 $3,723.59 | Card 3 | $6,275.82 | $1,390.50 |
| June 2025 | Avalanche | $2,701.54 | Card 2 $221.54 Card 1 $1,516.37 Student Loan $963.63 | Card 2 Card 1 |
$3,424.15 | $1,536.96 |
| July 2025 | Avalanche | $3,173.00 | Student Loan $3,173.00 | — | $206.93 | $1,536.96 |
| August 2025 | Avalanche | $147.88 | Student Loan $147.88 | Student Loan | $0.00 | $1,596.96 |
"Freed each month" adds up the starting minimum payments of every debt closed so far. Every month, before a single dollar went to debt, the sheet first set aside enough to carry them to the first paycheck of the next month — in March, $3,535 for the bills from April 1 to April 11.
| March 2024 | August 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Total debt | $44,260.00 | $0.00 |
| Monthly debt payments | $1,596.96 | $0.00 |
| Free cash in a normal month | $691.04 | $2,288.00 |
By December 2025 they had $12,932.12 set aside, plus their $1,500 emergency fund. Ready for baby number two. The price along the way: $3,773.88 in interest — I will always show you the price.
Every spreadsheet covers one year, January to December. George and Ann started in March 2024, so their plan lives in two files. The 2025 file starts exactly where 2024 ended — $19,065.89. Nothing lost between the two years.
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 George and Ann made was theirs. Every decision you make is yours.