Why The Debt Snowflake Method Is The Best Way To Pay Off Debt (Infographic)
In this post I’m going to show you what the debt snowflake method is and why it’s the best way to pay off your debt quickly!
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When it comes to paying off debt, you’ve probably heard of the debt snowball or the debt avalanche methods to pay off debt.
However, the debt snowflake method, although less popular, can be a powerful weapon against debt!
In fact, it may just be THE BEST method to help you get out of debt quickly.
Here’s how!
What is the Debt Snowflake Method?
The debt snowflake method is a lesser known method to pay off debt.
To my knowledge, it has only been around for a few years, but I can tell you from personal experience that it can truly supercharge your debt payoff efforts.
It is specially powerful when you combine it with either the debt snowball or the debt avalanche methods.
How Do You Use The Debt Snowflake Method To Pay Off Debt?
The debt snowflake method focuses on making small, frequent payments towards debt instead of one large, infrequent, payment.
Here’s how it works:
- Find ways to save money or make extra money in your everyday life.
- Apply that money to one of your debts. Some people collect the extra money for the week and make one payment at the end of the week. You can also choose to make daily payments, which can feel more satisfying!
- If you’re using the debt snowball or debt avalanche methods, simply apply the extra money from your debt snowflake to whatever debt is next on your list.
- That’s it!
Considering that 44% of Americans couldn’t cover a $400 unexpected emergency in 2018, there’s not a lot of money lying around in many people’s pockets nowadays. And that statistic is from pre-pandemic times! Imagine how much worse it is now.
That’s why paying off debt seems like an impossible task sometimes. However, the debt snowflake method can make your debt seem more manageable.
Instead of worrying about not having enough money to pay off an entire credit card bill for example, you can focus on “finding” any bit of extra money to throw at your debt.
Using this method reminds me of that old adage that says that the way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. That’s the underlying principle behind this method – small actions can lead to big results!
How to Find Money for Your Debt Snowflake
Finding money to use for the debt snowflake approach can be quite easy. The key is to keep your eyes open for opportunities to either save or make extra money.
Another really effective way to “find” extra money is to involve the whole family and turn it into a fun challenge! My family and I regularly use a savings challenge printable and turn the whole thing into a family affair.
If your family is competitive (or numerous) you can even turn this into a team competition.
May the biggest saver win!
Be on the lookout throughout your daily routine for ways to reduce your expenses or increase your income.
Here’s some quick ideas:
- Make your money work for you with a savings account from CIT Bank
- Pick up an extra shift at work
- Advertise your expertise on Fiverr
- Sell old stuff on OfferUp or Facebook Marketplace
- Save 50% on Books today with Audiobooks Now
- Babysit your neighborhood kids
- Find a work-from-home job with FlexJobs.com
- Buy generic brands instead of name brands
- Spend less on groceries with easy-to-print coupons
- Transport your friends’ kids to the activities you’d be taking your kids to anyway
- Stop spending money on cable by switching to Hulu
- Get free gift cards by snapping your receipts with a cash back app
- Planning a vacation? Save tons of money with Last Minute Travel
- Better yet, have a staycation instead and visit local tourist attractions on the cheap with Viator
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What are the Benefits of the Debt Snowflake Method?
By applying more payments towards debt, not only are you saving money on interest, but you’re accelerating your debt payoff strategy.
The best part is that this method can be used in addition to any other method, so if you’re already using another debt payoff method, you don’t have to change a thing. Just apply the extra money to whatever bill is next according to the method you’re already using.
To summarize how this method works, I’ve prepared a handy infographic:
Frequently Asked Questions
Before signing off, let’s go through some questions I get quite often about the debt snowflake method.
Shall we?
What Is A Snowflake Payment?
A small payment that you make towards your debt outside of the regularly scheduled payment is often called a snowflake payment.
Since debt acceleration strategies are often referred to debt snowballs or avalanches, these small payments are called snowflakes because, in comparison to the normal payment you would make each month, they’re small.
In What Order Should I Pay Off Debt?
The order you should pay off debt will often depend on what your overall goal is.
If your goal is to pay off debt fast, I recommend using the debt snowball method, where you focus on paying off your debt from smallest to largest.
If you prefer to save on interest in the long run, then the best method for you would be the debt avalanche, in which you pay off your debt with the highest interest first and then move on to the lowest interest ones.
To easily determine which of those debt payoff strategies may work best for your particular situation, I recommend using the Debt Pay Off App.
This app gives you a visual representation of how each method will work for you in just a matter of minutes!
What is the Snowflake Snowball Method?
The snowflake snowball method is when you combine the debt snowflake along with the debt snowball method, as the name implies.
In this scenario, you would apply whatever extra money you find to use for your snowflake payments towards the next smallest debt you have.
This is exactly what I did to get out of debt. When I combined the snowflake method with a debt snowball it definitely made a big difference!
That’s it folks. We made it to the end.
I hope the debt snowflake method can help you as much as it helped me.
Want to learn more about how I was able to pay off over $50K worth of debt while living on one income?
Check out my Quick Start Guide to Paying Off Debt, where I share exactly how I did it and how you can become debt free too!
What do you think of the debt snowflake method? Have you used it before? Share with us in the comments below!
