Let’s face it, when it feels like you’re in debt up to your eyeballs, it can get a little depressing. This is especially the case when most of the debt is concentrated in just one or two large loans, such as a student loan or a mortgage. But it can also be the case if you have a bunch of smaller debts that add up to a large amount.
Multiple smaller debts
In the case of the multiple smaller debts, using the debt snowball method can help you get a handle on things. You’ll feel especially good once you pay off the first debt in your list, which usually happens relatively quickly as you start throwing everything you can at it. You feel like you’re making progress, and that feels good. Gradually, you’ll become less overwhelmed by debt.
Big pile of debt, one lender
But what if you’re in debt up to your eyeballs, but owe all the money to just one lender? Even if you owe the same amount of money in total (say, $100,000) as a person who has a whole bunch of smaller debts spread out across multiple lenders, and you actually make the same amount of progress as the other person, you may not feel like you’re making much headway.That’s because when you’re in debt like that to a single lender, you don’t get any quick wins.
Feelings matter
It may sound a little silly, but the way you feel about the work you’re doing to get out of debt really does make a difference. When you feel positive and successful, you keep at it — which means that you keep right on getting closer and closer to achieving your goal of being debt free.
So if you’re not feeling it, create some wins. For example, even if you owe a bunch of money to a single lender, you can still set milestones and stretch goals — and then really take the time to celebrate when you reach each one.
Setting milestones
You might set milestones like this:
- Paying off $1,000
- Paying off $5000
- Paying off the next $5000
- Paying off the next $10,000
- Etc.
Or they might be more about your current balance, such as:
- Balance under $95,000
- Balance under $90,000
- Etc.
In either case, you’ll have visible progress marks to keep yourself on track. And before you know it, you’ll have paid off a hefty chunk of debt. You’ll also feel good while you’re doing it — and be more likely to continue doing it, because you’ll be making your progress visible.
I'm Jackie Beck, personal finance writer and creator of 
I like the part where you mentioned milestones. Slwoly achieving each and every one of those milestones does give one a sense of accomplishment and pride. :)
Yeah it sure does, and that sense of accomplishment is important because you’re more likely to keep going.
Know what’s more depressing? paying your credit cards and it never seems to go down.
Yes, that is depressing. It’s also a situation where using the debt snowball method can really help though.
We used to have the multiple smaller debts, nothing near 100k but it still was challenging based on our income. Thankfully we paid them off using the highest interest rates first; we were more focused on paying less than the “big wins” from the Debt Snowball method. I like your milestones idea, that could have helped us back in the day.
Glad you liked the milestones idea, and thanks for stopping by!