Phase 2 of The Escape Plan
Get out of debt for good.
Debt is the thing standing between you and everything you want. This is the phase where you clear the ground — smallest balance first, one payment at a time, until every consumer debt is gone.
How it works
Four rules that get you out.
You don't need a bigger paycheck to get debt-free. You need a sequence, followed in order, until it's done.
Get stable. Get on a budget.
You can't attack what you can't see. Before one extra dollar goes at debt, you need a written budget and one month of net pay saved. Give every dollar a job before the month starts — that's a Monthly Money Vision, not a spreadsheet you abandon in March. Skip this and the next flat tire puts you right back on a credit card.
List every debt, smallest to largest
Everything except your mortgage. Car notes, student loans, credit cards, medical bills, and the buy-now-pay-later balances people forget — Klarna, Affirm, Afterpay. All of it, on one page.
Snowball it
Minimums on everything, every extra dollar at the smallest balance. When it's gone, roll that payment into the next one. You're not chasing interest rates, you're chasing momentum.
Find more money
Give yourself a raise by cutting what you don't need, then add income on top. Every new dollar goes at the debt, not at your lifestyle.
Rule 1 · Start here
Create your first budget.
Getting out of debt starts with seeing where your money is actually going. In the Black gives you a Monthly Money Vision — every dollar assigned a job before the month begins — then hands you a daily assignment so you always know the next right move. It tracks your payoff as you go, so Phase 2 stops being a feeling and becomes a number that moves.
Budget, payoff tracking and coaching in one place — built to walk you through every phase of The Escape Plan.
Run your numbers
See your debt-free date.
List what you owe, add whatever extra you can find this month, and watch the date move. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Free resources
Start with these.
Calculator
Debt Calculator
Put in your balances and see the exact date you'll be debt-free. Seeing the date is what makes people start.
Run my numbersFree guide
The Ultimate Guide to Debt Payoff
50+ pages of practical steps, reflection questions and a bonus budget workbook to walk you through the whole phase.
Get the guideThe app
In the Black
A daily money assignment for Phase 2, and accountability that keeps you going after the motivation wears off.
Get startedTrusted partners · Phase 2
Find money for your snowball.
Every dollar you free up goes to your smallest debt. These are the companies I'd send my own family to. Some are partners and may pay us a fee. That never changes what I recommend.
Easiest bill to cut
Car insurance
Most families overpay by $50 to $100 a month. Compare real rates in about 60 seconds and send the difference to your smallest debt.
Compare my rateYour one-month buffer
High-yield savings
Your buffer should earn interest while it sits there. Move it somewhere that pays you, so a surprise bill never becomes new debt.
Compare savings accountsFree forever
Freedom Tracker
Add your number to the $1 billion board, track every payoff and see your Freedom Score. No bank connection, no payment details.
Start tracking freeLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.See every partner I recommend, by phase →
Read more
Debt, explained straight.
No shame, no lectures. Just what actually works, and what the lenders would rather you didn't know.
Where this fits
Getting out of debt is Phase 2 of five.
Each phase builds on the one before it. Do them out of order and the whole thing wobbles.
You are not doing this alone
Real people. Real payoffs.
Every week on The Table with AO I sit down with people who were exactly where you are. Some were six figures deep. They got out, and they'll tell you how.
Get out of debt with me.
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