You don't need a lecture. You need a plan and someone to check in on you.

Every calculator here is free and works without an account. If they answer your question and you never contact us, that's a good outcome.

• Snowball vs. Avalanche

  See what ordering your debts differently actually costs, and what it buys.

• Monthly Budget

  What comes in, what goes out, what is left — the number every other plan depends on.

• Loan Payment & Schedule

  What a loan costs each month and in total — or what a payment you can afford will borrow.

• What a Financial Coach Is, and What One Isn't

  A coach teaches the mechanics and holds you to the plan. An adviser manages money and recommends products. Which one you need depends on whether you have reached the starting line.

• How I Paid Off $85,000 in Student Debt

  I graduated owing $84,964.45, most of it private. Here are the seven things that actually moved the number, including the one I'd do differently.

• Federal vs. Private Student Loans: What Actually Differs

  Subsidized, unsubsidized and private are three different products. A private loan can match an unsubsidized one. It can never match a subsidized one.

How coaching works

1. Discovery call

   Free, about thirty minutes. You tell us what is going on, we tell you honestly whether coaching would help.

2. Coaching session

   We go through your actual numbers together and build the plan — the budget, the debts, whatever brought you here.

3. Follow-ups

   Plans fall apart in month two, not month one. We check in and adjust until you are running it on your own.