Paid every Friday, three kids, a mortgage that leaves on the 15th, and $350 in checking on January 1. Eighteen months later: debt-free, with $1,237 a month back in their hands.
Nick and Stephanie live in Spokane, Washington, with their three kids. Nick works in construction and brings home $1,050 a week. Stephanie works part time in a childcare center and brings home $430 a week, and the youngest child goes with her. Both are paid every Friday. In a month with four Fridays, $5,920 comes in.
At the end of 2024 construction in Washington slowed down and Nick's winter hours were cut. Nick's parents and Stephanie's parents saw how hard it was and offered to help: $500 on the 1st of every month, for the family's needs — not for the debts.
| Every month | Amount |
|---|---|
| Money in (a month with four Fridays) | $5,920.00 |
| Help from the grandparents | $500.00 |
| Mortgage (taxes and insurance included) | $1,625.00 |
| Groceries and gas | $1,600.00 |
| The kids: soccer, school extras, clothes and shoes, diapers | $315.00 |
| Everything else: insurance, electric, heat, phones, water, internet… | $1,415.00 |
| Minimum payments on 8 debts | $1,237.00 |
| Left on paper | $228.00 |
Step zero came first: a gym membership ($45) and phone insurance and apps ($22) they were not using. Both ended on December 31. That is $67 a month — the first cash release, before any money moved.
The mortgage leaves on the 15th of every month. In January 2025 only two Fridays come before it — two paychecks to carry groceries, gas, every bill of the first two weeks, and then $1,625 on top.
The month worked on paper. The first fifteen days didn't.
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.
Four bills went on Card 2 in January: car insurance, phones, electric and water — $720. They did not leave checking that month, and the mortgage went through. These bills went on the card in January only, because in February the tax refund was coming.
This is not a free trick. Card 2 charges 24.99%, the whole time. It stayed under its $4,000 limit every single month. That is the one rule you never break, and it means watching every card, every month.
February 14: a $6,000 tax refund, split three ways. $2,800 to debt, $2,000 into an emergency fund that was never touched, and $1,200 for spring break on the Oregon coast, to visit Nick's parents. The personal loan and the store card closed that month.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orthodontist | $820 | $70 | 0% | 11.7 |
| Personal Loan | $2,200 | $150 | 16.90% | 14.7 |
| Store Card | $780 | $30 | 29.99% | 26.0 |
| Card 3 | $1,650 | $50 | 22.99% | 33.0 |
| Minivan | $9,800 | $295 | 7.40% | 33.2 |
| Card 2 | $2,900 | $87 | 24.99% | 33.3 |
| Card 1 | $4,350 | $130 | 27.49% | 33.5 |
| Truck | $16,400 | $425 | 8.90% | 38.6 |
| Total | $38,900 | $1,237 |
This is the ranking on day one. The sheet ranks again every month from the current balances — that is why the minivan moved ahead of Card 3 once the first debts were gone.
Cash Release January 2025 to January 2026. Every closed debt freed its payment, and that payment went to the next one: the orthodontist in January, the personal loan and the store card in February, the minivan in August, Card 3 in September, and Card 1 in January 2026.
At the end of 2025 they owed $16,148.50, down from $38,900.
Avalanche February to June 2026. Only two debts were left and there was nothing more to free up, so they switched to the highest interest first. The 2026 tax refund, $6,000, went to debt — every dollar. Card 2 closed in February and the truck in June. Debt-free.
The sheet shows you the target. You make the decision.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2025 | Cash Release | $888.00 | Orthodontist $750.00 Personal Loan $138.00 four bills went on Card 2, this month only | Orthodontist | $37,919.18 | $70.00 |
| February 2025 | Cash Release | $3,098.00 | Personal Loan $1,820.34 Store Card $758.72 Minivan $518.94 $6,000 tax refund: $2,800 to debt, $2,000 emergency fund, $1,200 spring break | Personal Loan Store Card |
$34,084.19 | $250.00 |
| March 2025 | Cash Release | $728.00 | Minivan $728.00 | — | $32,744.36 | $250.00 |
| April 2025 | Cash Release | $928.00 | Minivan $928.00 | — | $31,194.92 | $250.00 |
| May 2025 | Cash Release | $1,058.00 | Minivan $1,058.00 | — | $29,504.55 | $250.00 |
| June 2025 | Cash Release | $1,458.00 | Minivan $1,458.00 | — | $27,402.37 | $250.00 |
| July 2025 | Cash Release | $1,528.00 | Minivan $1,528.00 | — | $25,215.80 | $250.00 |
| August 2025 | Cash Release | $1,708.00 | Minivan $1,551.03 Card 3 $156.97 | Minivan | $22,834.31 | $545.00 |
| September 2025 | Cash Release | $2,413.00 | Card 3 $1,311.25 Card 1 $1,101.75 | Card 3 | $20,024.62 | $595.00 |
| October 2025 | Cash Release | $1,283.00 | Card 1 $1,283.00 | — | $18,340.59 | $595.00 |
| November 2025 | Cash Release | $93.00 | Card 1 $93.00 | — | $17,813.04 | $595.00 |
| December 2025 | Cash Release | $1,223.00 | Card 1 $1,223.00 | — | $16,148.50 | $595.00 |
| January 2026 | Cash Release | $724.36 | Truck $724.36 Card 1's last $96.43 closed by its regular payment | Card 1 | $14,980.95 | $725.00 |
| February 2026 | Avalanche | $6,953.00 | Card 2 $3,413.86 Truck $3,539.14 $6,000 tax refund: every dollar to debt | Card 2 | $7,673.04 | $812.00 |
| March 2026 | Avalanche | $1,860.00 | Truck $1,860.00 | — | $5,444.95 | $812.00 |
| April 2026 | Avalanche | $890.00 | Truck $890.00 | — | $4,170.33 | $812.00 |
| May 2026 | Avalanche | $1,680.00 | Truck $1,680.00 | — | $2,096.26 | $812.00 |
| June 2026 | Avalanche | $1,686.81 | Truck $1,686.81 | Truck | $0.00 | $1,237.00 |
"Freed each month" adds up the starting minimum payments of every debt closed so far. Every month $1,000 stayed in checking as a cushion ($1,500 in November), so the mortgage on the 15th never pulled the account below zero.
| January 2025 | June 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Total debt | $38,900.00 | $0.00 |
| Monthly debt payments | $1,237.00 | $0.00 |
Checking never went below zero and no card ever went over its limit. At the end of September 2026 they had $8,088.19 in checking, plus their $2,000 emergency fund. This Thanksgiving the whole family is going to Los Cabos — grandparents too.
The honest part: the grandparents gave $9,000 over 18 months for the family's needs. Without that help it would have taken longer. And the price along the way was $4,346.81 in interest — I will always show you the price.
Every spreadsheet covers one year, January to December. Their plan lives in two files. The 2026 file starts exactly where 2025 ended — $16,148.50. 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 Nick and Stephanie made was theirs. Every decision you make is yours.