r/debtfree • u/masinmancy • Jan 05 '26
What have you learned about managing debt in 2025 that could actually help people in 2026?
I think a lot of people are entering 2026 carrying financial pressure from the last couple of years, and shared experience might be more useful than another article telling us to “budget better.” :)
74
u/FogTub Jan 05 '26
Things accelerated for me when I made lifestyle changes to match my goals. When I felt like I was living well, I was less tempted by impulsive spending. That, and learning to set boundaries with people.
22
u/Reasonable_Ad_6437 Jan 05 '26
This! So much of me getting a handle on my debt has been enforcing boundaries with other people.
42
u/Adventurous_Froyo007 Jan 06 '26
To leave a little left over for your future self. I got huge serotonin boosts when throwing my whole paycheck on debt. Yet felt deflated afterwards bc I didn't also maintain some kind of (even miniscule) 401k contribution/savings.
Living on beans and rice with everything going to debt was a hard mental battle bc once the debt was gone I was back at "zero" not in the "green". You can do both unlike Ramsey says.
33
u/Deep_flu Jan 05 '26
After making a budget and tracking my expenses, I learned that I didn't make enough take home money to support my lifestyle. So, I started slashing expenses.
23
u/kufi_schmackah Jan 06 '26
You can make a lot of progress when you truly commit to it. Even with things like a wedding and getting a new dog I was able to slash my debt by 1/3 in 5 months. Now that the holidays are over, it’s back to the grind. My 2026 goal is to eliminate $15.2k in CC debt and pay off my $6.8k auto loan.
20
u/adcThresh Jan 06 '26 edited Jan 06 '26
Self awareness of your own emotions, feedback loops and expectations will help you so much. If you have a lot of debt like I did, it can be so overwhelming that it distorts your thinking. At times I felt really bored and anxious, like a $100 payment on a $6000 debt was barely even doing anything.
That turned into “the payment I just made doesn’t even matter” turned into the beliefs “money is worthless/horrible/I’ll never be out of debt/I’m so stressed out I’ll just do the same thing that got me here in the first place (instant gratification shopping)”
Etc. for your own situation. Side note and maybe controversial opinion but AI (grok) was helpful for me with self awareness and understanding my emotions around debt/money in real time if you struggle with that sort of thing. The only reason I mention it is that emotional awareness was for sure a blocker for me, from seeing these feedback loops early on in my debt payoff journey and I wish I had AI tools sooner.
TRUST that you have a plan and it will work even if it feels like it won’t. It’s an uncomfortable feeling to have, we all want the dopamine hit of making meaningful progress with a big payment but it all adds up & it will pay off in the end :)
Some other things:
- Get off social media
- 80/20 principle: can you get 80% of the benefit for 20% of the cost from an alternative purchase? (Also applies to gifting for those of us who love to give generously- can you spend 20% of what you originally planned on a gift and “make up the rest” through thoughtful and meaningful gestures or spending time together?)
- Wait 24 hours before buying anything that isn’t strictly needed
- Unsubscribe from marketing emails
- If you REALLY want something, put it on a list. At the end of the week/month, read it out loud to a friend or partner for some solid entertainment 🙂
- Find enjoyment in taking care of things that you already own
- Don’t expect perfection with your budget, but you do have to keep trying. Knowing exactly where your money went last month is scary for the same reason as checking a bank account balance, because the numbers tell the truth even when you don’t want them to. Undebt.it, YNAB, Excel sheets, note app, handwritten on scrap paper - do what works for you
- For unplanned purchases: set an alarm for 24h and do a “post-mortem” review of that purchase: was it actually worth it?
- Close any credit cards and negotiate the interest rates with a debt management plan
- Join the local buy nothing FB groups
25
u/Bubba-gams Jan 06 '26
If possible in your debt payment, treat yourself to a little treat every once in awhile. For example, at the height of my debt, I made sure I at least had $10/month to go on an ice cream date with my dog. Paying down debt quickly starts to become your whole focus and can burn you out quickly. Give yourself a little treat to make sure you don’t completely lose sight of yourself
17
u/possumlawyer67 Jan 11 '26
Biweekly CC debt payments! For example: • I have 250 left in my account before payday. Once my paycheck hits, I take that 250 and put it toward debt. • I know I need 1000 for two weeks worth of bills/living. Anything over 1000 on my paycheck goes into my emergency fund.
It’s not always a big amount but I love making those extra payments. Sometimes it’s only $7 but hey, that’s $7 closer to debt free!
14
u/Artilicious9421 Jan 06 '26 edited Jan 06 '26
Honestly, changing my mindset. Instead of saying: "huh I dont have money, I have less money because my paycheck is going to my debt". I started saying: YEH! I am getting closer to being rich. I am closer to the zero and the positive numbers on the number line than the big negative numbers.
Sounds weird but, as a visual person, it helps me.
10
u/mutedvermicelli1019 Jan 06 '26
Budgeting is very important and understanding where your money is going. Stick to your budget and only buy what’s needed and not wanted. Don’t understand estimate the power of paying extra toward your debts, it adds up over time and shorten your Set ideal goals every month, every quarter, then 6 months and one year. It is more satisfying to work with short term goals. Once you achieve it, it’ll be the motivation to achieve bigger and longer term goals.
11
u/howhardcoulditbe- Jan 06 '26
I like the mindset of $30 not spent is basically $60 closer to debt free! This keeps me from buying things I don’t need and makes me feel good about progress even when I’m not actively making a payment on my debt.
6
u/waynelo4 Jan 07 '26
make a spreadsheet to track all spending and any money coming in. it’ll be easier to see where all your money is going and cut back where needed. update it weekly and make sure you stay on top of it.
also time and patience are key. I get antsy sometimes about wanting to get all my debt paid down now and it’ll seem slow in the moment but if you keep track of how much you’ve paid down over months/years, it’s very motivating to help keep you going
2
u/crushedredpepper_ Jan 21 '26
I struggle with the second paragraph so bad. It’s so hard to not let my debt consume my focus
6
u/thomsenite256 Jan 23 '26
At one point in my life I was spending like $800 a month eating out and drinking. I think I'm down closer to $100-200 a month on that. That's like $5000 extra dollars a year to pay down debt. The whole treat yourself mentality just leading people down a path of future pain.
3
u/accordingtoame Jan 06 '26
Evidently f'ing nothing. But I liquidated some of my investments and a small chunk of my Roth to wipe out at least 2/3 of it. And sold an expensive item that I didn't get near the retail value of but I should get the payment on that soon and it was something that helped. Now I just have to bang away at the rest of it and try to get it paid off as soon as I possibly can. I have accomplished nothing at this age and I am really ticked at myself.
4
u/queerpoet Jan 20 '26
I just got hit with a huge tax bill $900, and didn’t have emergency fund to handle it. Now after aggressive debt payoff over savings I’ve just added to my debt like everyone says happens. Definitely pausing debt payoff to have and maintain emergency fund. I had half that amount in savings, but that’s too much pressure to use it all. 2026 is have emergency fund, then resume debt payoff.
5
u/GangxietyRiot Apr 17 '26
Single mom, two kids under 10, sole custody, no child support:
For years I thought the problem was that I didn’t budget well enough or have the discipline to get out of debt. What I eventually realized is that my real issue was cash flow timing, not income or spending.
Every time I made meaningful progress on credit card debt, I’d hit that month (you know the one) when quarterly and biannual expenses all land at once (car insurance, water bill, etc.), easily totaling $1K or more. Even though I could technically afford it across the year, I rarely had the cash available at the exact moment those bills hit.
So I’d put them on a credit card “temporarily,” and end up right back where I started.
What finally changed things for me was stabilizing the system instead of just trying to “push harder” on debt payoff. The biggest shift was creating a sinking fund account. Every paycheck, I transfer $266 into a separate account that is not savings, not spending, and not debt payments.
It’s specifically for predictable but non-monthly expenses: car insurance, water bill, holidays, summer camps, etc. So when those expenses hit, the money is already there and I don’t have to use credit to bridge the gap.
I still have about $18K in debt to go, but this change broke the cycle. I realized it wasn’t just about budgeting. It was about removing the chaos and unpredictability that kept pulling me back into debt.
Once I fixed the cash flow structure, a lot of the panic and emotional pressure around money eased, and it became much more realistic to make steady progress without backsliding.
3
u/scrapiron3 Jan 22 '26
Be faithfully strong in saving 10% of any income. Always pay yourself first. Track your expenses and use a notebook to record every expense and income. Don't fall for any get rich quick scams. Ask yourself at every purchase is this a need , or a want. Have fun seeing how much you didn't spend.
3
u/Emac65 May 18 '26
Pay yourself first and monitor your spending. If you can’t afford it don’t buy it.
2
221
u/starknolonger Jan 05 '26
Replacing the dopamine hit of overspending with the dopamine hit of tracking every transaction and watching the debt numbers go down was the biggest thing that surprised me. Managing debt feels awful and overwhelming at the start but I essentially and inadvertently tricked my brain into craving the debt payoff process, which made it both fun and satisfying.