Main Screen

File

Start Date

Payoff Strategy

Pledge Money

Repayment Plan

Creditor Name	Sort

APR	Add

Current Balance	Edit

Monthly Pmt	Delete

Payment Cap	Move Up

Move Dn

Debt Analysis

Debt Reduction

Status Bar

See also

Debt Analysis Screen

Debt Reduction Screen

Payments and Balances Screen


Status Bar

The status bar is located on the bottom of the screen.  It shows you the name of the current Debt Blaster data file (DBD) you are working with.  Anytime you make a modification to a DBD and have not saved the modification the status bar will display modified next to the file name.


Debt Analysis Screen

This screen contains the financial analysis of your individual debts.  This is where you get to play out your what-if scenarios.  Click on the topic headings below for more information.

Record Information

Minimum Payment From Statement

Minimum Payment Plus $

Payment Held Constant

Payment Held Constant Plus $

Plus Amount

Calculate Buttons

Print

Done

See also

Main Screen

Debt Reduction Screen

Payments and Balances Screen


Debt Reduction Screen

This screen contains the financial analysis of your entire group of debts. This is where you analyze and develope you rapid debt repayment plan. Click on the topic headings below for more information.

Complete Debt Summary

Minimum Payment From Statement

Minimum Payment Held Constant

Debt Blaster Without Pledge $

Debt Blaster With Pledge $

Calculate Buttons

Show Pmts

Interest

Time

Print

Done

See also

Main Screen

Debt Analysis Screen

Payments and Balances Screen


Payments and Balances Screen

When you click on the Show Pmts button you are brought to this screen.  This is where you view the payments and balances and print out the reports.

Click on this area and then select the report or reports you want to print.

Clicking this button prints the report or reports you have selected.

Use these buttons to view the Monthly Payment Amounts and the Monthly Balance Amounts.  The single arrow moves one column in the direction indicated.  The double arrow moves a full screen in the direction indicated.

This button is located near the Monthly Payment Amounts. Clicking this button forces the Monthly Balance Amounts to be aligned to the payments.

This button is located near the Monthly Balance Amounts. Clicking this button forces the Monthly Payment Amounts to be aligned to the balances.

If you have more than six debts, use these buttons to move up and down to view your debts.

Click this button when done you are done with this screen.

See also

Main Screen

Debt Analysis Screen

Debt Reduction Screen


File

The File command is located on the main menu.  When you click on File a drop down box appears with the following options:

New

Choose this command to erase the creditor information that is currently in memory and start entering a new set of creditor information.

Open...

Choose this command to Open a previously saved Debt Blaster data file (DBD). When you click this option a File|Open dialog box appears.  Highlight the file you want to open and click the OK button.

Save

Choose this command to Save your creditor information in a Debt Blaster data file (DBD).

Save As...

Choose this command to Save your creditor information using a different file name.

Delete

Choose this command to Delete an unwanted Debt Blaster data file (DBD). When you click this option a dialog box appears that lets you select the file you want to delete.

Exit

Choose this option to Exit the program and return to windows.


Start Date

This is the month and year you put your debt liquidation plan into action.  Debt Blaster automatically uses the current month from your computer system as the default.  To change the Start Date simply click on the this area and a drop down list appears.  Click on the month you want to be the new start month..  Click on the year you want to be your new start year.  The combination of these two items determines your Start Date.

See also

Repayment Plan


Payoff Strategy

Debt Blaster offers three different Payoff Strategies you can use for your debt liquidation plan.  The Payoff Strategy determines who gets paid first, second, third etc.  Each strategy has its advantages and is described in detail below.  To change the Payoff Strategy click on this area and a drop down list appears.  Click on the strategy you want to use.

Annual Percentage Rate

Selecting this option will prioritize your debts by the highest annual percentage rate.  The Pledge Money and all extra money from paid off accounts is distributed debts with the highest annual percentage rate.  This strategy will save you the most money over the entire length of your payoff plan.

Quick Elimination

Selecting this option will prioritize your debts based on how fast they can be paid off.  This strategy is for those who like little victories along the way.  It can be very rewarding to see debts disappear and this strategy will allocated the Pledge Money and all extra money from paid off accounts to those creditors that will be paid off the quickest.  While it may not save you the most money over the long run, it does give you the satisfaction of closing out a debt and seeing it marked paid in full.

Custom Arrangement

Selecting this option lets you determine the priority of who to pay first, second, third etc.  You arrange the order of your debts by first highlighting each one and then using the Move Up and Move Dn buttons.  This strategy allocates the Pledge Money and all extra money from paid off accounts in the order you specify.

See also

Sort


Pledge Money

Pledge Money is the extra amount of money (if any) you can afford to apply toward your debt repayment plan each and every month.  The more Pledge Money you can use, the faster you will get out of debt and the more money you will save in the long run.  While adding Pledge Money can make a difference, it is not necessary for you to have any extra money to make this program work for you.

To change the Pledge Money amount just click on the Pledge Money button and you will be asked to enter the new amount.  When you have entered your new Pledge Money amount click the OK button.

How Pledge Money Works

Each of your creditors is given a priority based on the Payoff Strategy you have selected.  The Pledge Money is added to the minimum payment of the creditor who is the 1st priority.  Creditor #1 receives his minimum payment plus the pledge money.  All other creditors receive their minimum payment.  Creditor #1 will continue to receive the pledge money until he is paid off and all other creditors will receive their minimum payment.

When creditor #1 is paid off creditor #2 receives his minimum payment plus the pledge money plus the minimum payment that was going to creditor #1.  Creditor #2 will now receive a much larger payment until he is paid off and all others will receive their minimum payments.  When creditor #2 is paid off creditor #3 will receive all the extra money and all others will get their minimum payment.

This continues until eventually all the money is going to the last creditor.  At this point you will be paying off your last creditor at a very fast pace.

Changing The Pledge Money Amount

To change the Pledge Money amount simply click on the Pledge Money button and the New Pledge Money dialog box appears.  Enter the new pledge money amount and click the OK button.

See also

Repayment Plan


Repayment Plan

Debt Blaster offers a choice of two repayment plans.  Each plan differs in the way it distribute the Pledge Money (if any).  To change the Repayment Plan click on this area and a drop down list appears.  Click on the plan you want to use.

Immediate

This plan distributes the pledge money immediately.  This means that the pledge money starts getting distributed in the same month as the Start Date.

Deferred

This plan distributes the pledge money one month after the Start Date.  By deferring the pledge money by one month you can put your plan into action immediately and still have one month to adjust your budget for the added expense of pledge money.


What is the Payment Cap
What is the Payment Cap?

The payment cap has two different meanings depending on whether you are referring to credit cards or whether you are referring to loans and mortgages. Each difference is described below.

Payment Cap for Credit Cards

The payment cap is the absolute minimum amount that a credit card company will accept as the minimum monthly payment. Credit card companies calculate your monthly payment each month, based on your outstanding balance. The general rule of thumb is that your monthly payment is calculated at 2.5% of the outstanding balance or $15 whichever is greater. In this case the payment cap would be the $15 amount. You will find this information only on the cardholders agreement you received when you were first issued your credit card. It is not on your monthly statement.

Because your credit card payment tends to drop by a dollar or so each month (due to the recalculation) there comes a point in time where the monthly payment could become ridiculously low. To prevent this from happening, credit card companies insist that an absolute minimum amount be established. This is what we are calling the payment cap.

Payment Cap for Loans and Mortgages

When loans and mortgages are calculated they are fully amortized, meaning the monthly payment remains constant. They are not recalculated each month (like credit cards) and therefore there is no threat of the monthly payment becoming ridiculously low. So, payment cap for a loans or mortgage will equal  to the monthly payment.

For example, when including an automobile loan with a monthly payment of $248.00 then payment cap will be $248.00

See also

Creditor Information


Creditor Information

Each Debt Blaster data file (DBD) can have up to 30 different creditor information records.  Each creditor information record contains the Creditor Name, APR, Current Balance, Monthly Pmt, and Payment Cap. .  Each item in the creditor information record is described below.  To add a new creditor information record click the Add... button.  To change or edit a creditor information record click the Edit... button.  To delete a creditor information record click the Delete button

The main screen only shows the first 7 creditor information records.  If you have more than 7 creditor information records you can bring them into view by using the scroll bar located on the right side of the display area.  Just below the display area is a Totals bar.  This keeps track of the totals for you.  It displays the total number of creditor information records you have entered, the total balance you owe, and the total of your monthly payments.

Creditor Name

This is the name of your creditor.  The creditor name can contain a maximum of 12 letters and digits.  If you have two creditors that are the same, for example two visa cards, name one Visa1 and the other Visa2.  When you are done entering or changing the creditor name, press the tab key to advance to the APR data entry area.

Annual Percentage Rate

This is the annual percentage rate your creditor is charging you.  When you are done entering or changing the APR, press the tab key to advance to the Current Balance data entry area.

Current Balance

This the current balance you owe your creditor.  When you are done entering or changing the current balance, press the tab key to advance to the Monthly Payment data entry area.

Monthly Payment

This is the monthly payment you owe your creditor.  When you are done entering or changing the monthly payment, press the tab key to advance to the Payment Cap data entry area.

Payment Cap

What is the Payment Cap?  This is a term that we made up because of the way credit card companies calculate the monthly payment. They calculate the payment due as a percentage of the outstanding balance.  If you look at the cardholders agreement you received, you will see something similar to the following:

The minimum monthly payment will be calculated at 2.5% of the unpaid balance or $15 which ever is greater.

Because we needed a way to determine how far to let the monthly payments drop when we did our calculations we invented the Payment Cap.  We also wanted to let people include loans and mortgages in their debt repayment plans, and the Payment Cap allows us to do this.

See also

Add

Edit

Delete


Sort Button

This button sorts your creditor information records based on the Payoff Strategy you have selected.  For example:

With a Strategy of	The records will be sorted...

Annual Percentage Rate	From highest to lowest APR

Quick Elimination	By how fast they can be paid off

Custom Arrangement	No sort is performed


Add... Button

This button lets you add a new creditor information record.  You can have a maximum of 30 creditor information records.  When you click this button the add creditor information dialog box appears.  When the add creditor information box appears enter your information and click the OK button.

See also

Edit

Delete

Creditor Information


Edit... Button

This button lets you edit or change an existing creditor information record.  Simply highlight the creditor information record you want to change and click on this button.  When you click this button the edit creditor information dialog box appears.  When the edit creditor information box appears, make the necessary changes and click the OK button.

See also

Add

Delete

Creditor Information


Delete... Button

This button lets you delete an existing creditor information record.  Simply highlight the creditor information record you want to delete and click on this button.

See also

Add

Edit

Creditor Information


Move Up   Move Dn   Buttons

These two buttons let you arrange your debts in the priority sequence you want.  They work together with the Custom Arrangement Payoff Strategy.  Simply highlight the creditor information record you want to move and click the Move Up button to move the record up or the Move Dn button to move the record down.

If you want to set the priority sequence of your debts, make sure that you have selected the Custom Arrangement Payoff Strategy.  Otherwise the creditor information records will be sorted based on the currently selected payoff strategy when you begin analyzing your debts.

See Also

Sort


Debt Analysis

This is where you get a detailed financial analysis on each individual debt.  This is where you play what-if scenarios on individual credit cards, loans and mortgages.

Click this button to see...

How long it takes to pay off one of your credit cards.

How much you can save by adding an extra $5, $10, $20 to your monthly payments.

How much you can save by adding $100 extra to your mortgage.

See also

Debt Reduction

Debt Analysis Screen

Debt Reduction Screen


Debt Reduction

This is where you develop your overall rapid debt repayment program.  Debt Blaster analyzes all of your debts and formulates a payment schedule based on the Payoff Strategy you selected, the Pledge Money you have entered, and the Repayment Plan you want to use.

Click this button to...

Calculate when you will be completely out of debt.

See how much time and money you will save.

Determine what your actual monthly payments will be.

See also

Debt Analysisl

Debt Analysis Screen

Debt Reduction Screen


Record Information

This block contains the information about the debt that is being analyzed.  The example we are using here is from the sample2.dbd file that was supplied to you.  Notice that it is record number 1 of 5.  This block shows you the standard Creditor Information, Name, APR, Balance, Minimum Payment, Payment Cap and something new called Pmt %.  Also there are two buttons one called Prev and one called Next.  Clicking the Prev button moves backward one record.  Clicking the Next button moves forward one record.

Pmt %

This is called the Payment Percent.  It shows you the relationship between the monthly payment and the balance.  For example:  $85.00 is equal to 2.49% of $3,415.00 (balance).

See also

Minimum Payment From Statement

Minimum Payment Plus $

Payment Held Constant

Payment Held Constant Plus $


Minimum Payment From Statement (Debt Analysis)

This block is the truth teller. It is primarily of interest when you are looking at a credit card debt. Credit card companies calculate the minimum amount due each and every month based on a percentage of the unpaid balance. This is called a declining payment. By using this method, credit card companies make lots of money in interest because they are stringing out your payments for years. This block shows you how long it would take and how much interest you would pay if you only made the minimum payment from your monthly statement.

Because the minimum payment due for credit cards always goes down, credit card companies decided to impose an absolute minimum amount that they would accept.  We call this the Payment Cap. If you look on your cardholders agreement under the monthly payment section you will see a statement similar to this: The minimum payment due will be figured as 2.5% of the unpaid balance or $15 whichever is greater.  In this case the $15 is the payment cap.

If you are looking at a loan or mortgage and it says it will take you 140 years to pay it off make sure that the payment cap is equal to the monthly payment.  Then return here and look at the calculations.

If you are looking at a credit card debt it is not lying to you.

See also

Minimum Payment Plus $

Payment Held Constant

Payment Held Constant Plus $


Minimum Payment Plus $ (Debt Analysis)

This block shows you how much you would save if you added an extra $5, $10, $20, etc. to the minimum payment from your monthly statement.  This adds in the Plus Amount. This block answers the question... How much would I save if I added an extra $5 to my credit card payment each month?

See also

Minimum Payment From Statement

Payment Held Constant

Payment Held Constant Plus $


Payment Held Constant (Debt Analysis)

This block shows you how much you would save if you ignored the payment due from your monthly statement and kept sending in the same amount that you established when you started your debt repayment plan.  This block answers the question... How much would I save if I treated my credit card like a loan and kept sending the same monthly payment?

See also

Minimum Payment From Statement

Minimum Payment Plus $

Payment Held Constant Plus $


Payment Held Constant Plus $ (Debt Analysis)

This block shows you how much you would save if you ignored the payment due from your monthly statement and kept sending in the same amount that you established when you started your debt repayment plan and added an addtional amount.  The Plus Amount is figured into these calculations. This block answers the question... How much would I save if I added an extra $100 to my mortgage payment?

See also

Minimum Payment From Statement

Minimum Payment Plus $

Payment Held Constant


Plus Amount
Plus Amount (Debt Analysis)

This is the extra money you use when you play out what-if scenarios on your individual debts. To change this amount click on the $5 button.  When you click this button you will be asked to enter a new plus amount.  When you are done click the OK button.

When you change the plus amount you will need to recalculate the Minimum Payment Plus $ block and the Payment Held Constant Plus $ block.


Buttons (Debt Analysis)

Click this button to calculate the Minimum Payment From Statement block.

Click this button to calculate the Minimum Payment Plus $ block.

Click this button to calculate the Payment Held Constant block.

Click this button to calculate the Payment Held Constant Plus $ block.

Click this button to print the Individual Debt Analysis Report.

Click this button when done with the Individual Debt Analysis Screen.


Complete Debt Summary(Debt Reduction)
Complete Debt Summary

This block contains a complete overview of all your debts and your rapid debt repayment plan. The example we are using here is from the sample2.dbd file that was supplied to you. The following information is available: Total Number of Debts, Start Month, Repayment Plan, Payoff Strategy, Total Balance Owed, Total Monthly Payments, Pledge Money, and the Total  of the Monthly Payment plus the Pledge Money.

All the calculations performed from this screen act on your entire group of debts as a whole. To analyze individual debts and play out different what-if scenarios see the Debt Analysis Screen.

See also

Minimum Payment From Statement

Minimum Payment Held Constant

Debt Blaster Without Pledge $

Debt Blaster With Pledge $


Minimum Payment From Statement (Debt Reduction)

This block is the truth teller. This block shows you how long it would take and how much interest you would pay if you only made the minimum payments on all your debts. Remember, this calculation is performed on your entire group of debts as a whole. To analyze individual debts and play out different what-if scenarios see the Debt Analysis Screen.

See also

Minimum Payment Held Constant

Debt Blaster Without Pledge $

Debt Blaster With Pledge $


Minimum Payment Held Constant (Debt Reduction)

This block shows you how much you would save if you ignored the payments from your monthly statement and kept sending in the same amount that you established when you started your debt repayment plan.  This block answers the question... How much would I save if I treated all my credit cards like a loans and kept sending the same monthly payment?

See also

Minimum Payment From Statement

Debt Blaster Without Pledge $

Debt Blaster With Pledge $


Debt Blaster Without Pledge $(Debt Reduction)
Debt Blaster Without Pledge Money (Debt Reduction)

This block shows you how much you would save if you held all your monthly payments constant and took the money from paid off accounts and applied it to the other debts.  This block answers the question... How much would I save if I kept the total money being paid out each month the same but increased the monthly payments of my unpaid debts as my accounts were paid off?

The primary reason for this calculation is to show you the difference adding pledge money can make.  By looking at the Debt Blaster With Pledge $ you can see just what kind of effect your pledge money will have.

See also

Minimum Payment From Statement

Minimum Payment Held Constant

Debt Blaster With Pledge $


Debt Blaster With Pledge $(Debt Reduction)
Debt Blaster With Pledge Money (Debt Reduction)

This is the most efficient way to pay down your debts.  Not only are you keeping your monthly payments constant, you are adding an additional amount to speed up the repayment process. Also, as you payoff a debt, you are taking that money and adding it to the payment of the next creditor in line. This creates a payment snowball. With each debt that gets paid off the payment snowball gets bigger until eventually all of your money winds up going to the last remaining creditor.

To see the monthly payments you need to make click the Show Pmts button. From there you can print out the Monthly Payment Schedule, Monthly Balance Report, and the Payoff Priority Report.

See also

Minimum Payment From Statement

Minimum Payment Held Constant

Debt Blaster Without Pledge $


Buttons (Debt Reduction)

Click this button to calculate the Minimum Payment From Statement block.

Click this button to calculate the Minimum Payment Held Constant block.

Click this button to calculate the Debt Blaster Without Pledge $ block.

Click this button to calculate the Debt Blaster With Pledge $ block.

Click this button to view the Payments and Balances that make up your rapid debt reduction plan.  From there you print out your Monthly Payment Schedule, Monthly Balance Report and Payoff Priority Report.

Click this button to show the Time in Months graph.

Click this button to show the Interest Cost graph.

Click this button to print the Multiple Debt Analysis Report.

Click this button when done with the Multiple Debt Analysis Screen.