How to Use Vision Money to Plan and Track Debt Repayment

Emily’s Real Case: Student Loan + Credit Card (Starting Jan 2025, with a September Bonus Event)

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Scenario: Kicking Off a Repayment Plan in Jan 2025

• Income: $3,900/month
• Essential Expenses: $2,800/month
  • Rent: $1,200
  • Utilities & Transport: $800
  • Living: $800
• Monthly Surplus: $1,100 (all to debt repayment)

Two debts:

• Student Loan: –$48,000, 2% APR (large, long-term)
• Credit Card: –$20,000, 15% APR (high interest, minimum payment trap)

Emily thought:

“If I throw all $1,100 each month into debt, I should finish on time, right?”

Let’s run it through Vision Money and see what actually happens.

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Quick Overview of the Process

1. Set up liability accounts for loans (record only, don’t include in the plan).
2. Basic Settings – define the timeline and assumptions.
3. Budget Goals – plug income/expenses directly into the plan.
4. Create repayment goals (student loan: even installments; credit card: minimum → installments).
5. Assign a conservative return rate (use deposit/savings rates, ~1–2%).
6. Check feasibility with the Asset Achievement %.
7. Add bonus events (e.g., Sept 2025 performance bonus) and re-test.
8. Track progress visually with charts.

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Step 1 | Record Debt Accounts (but Don’t Add to the Plan)

Menu: Accounts → Add Account

• Student Loan: –$48,000, 2% APR
• Credit Card: –$20,000, 15% APR

See more → User Guide: Accounts/

⚠️ Important: These are just for reference. Don’t check them into the repayment plan. Otherwise, the math double-counts and throws off the Asset Achievement %.

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Step 2 | Set the Ground Rules in Basic Settings

Menu: My Goals → Settings → Basic Settings

• Expected return: 1.5%
• Inflation: 2%
• Start date: Jan 2025
• End date / “Retirement date”: Dec 2029 (end of plan horizon)
• Accounts included: only asset accounts

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Step 3 | Connect Budget to the Plan

• Income: $3,900
• Expenses: $2,800
• Surplus: $1,100

Once you enable Budget Goals, these numbers flow into the plan automatically. No double entry.

See more → User Guide: My Budget/

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Step 4 | Build Two Repayment Goals

Student Loan

• Principal: $48,000
• Method: Regular Installments (5 years, ~$900/month)

Credit Card

• Principal: $20,000
• Method:
  • First 12 months → Minimum payment $100/month
  • Next 36 months → Even installments

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Step 5 | Conservative Return Rates

For repayment goals, set the annual return rate to 1–2% (like a savings deposit).

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Step 6 | Check Goal Achievement

Vision Money runs the numbers:

• Budget coverage: ✅ 100%
• Student loan: ✅ 100% (achievable in 5 years)
• Credit card: ❌ only 72% (plan fails)

Emily’s reaction:

“So it’s not that I’m not trying hard. It’s that the math simply doesn’t work.”

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Step 7 | Track Progress with Charts

Target Asset Chart shows:

• Current assets on the left → projected balances through Dec 2029.
• Includes income, expenses, repayments, and goals.
• If feasible, the curve stays positive.
• If infeasible, the line drops into negative territory at a clear “breakdown point.”

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Step 8 | Add a Bonus Event (Sept 2025)

Menu: Transaction → Income → Salary

• Add income: $8,000 → deposit to checking → apply to credit card repayment.

Before bonus (Aug 2025):

• Achievement: 72%
• Outcome: student loan cleared, credit card only 72%

After bonus (Sept 2025):

• Achievement: 470.9%
• Outcome: both debts fully cleared

See more → User Guide: Transaction Overview/

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What-If: Buying a Used Car

Emily wondered: “Can I buy a $9,000 used car in Sept 2025?”

She added a What-If Goal:

• Car purchase, $9,000 lump sum, Sept 2025

Result:

• Asset Achievement drops from 470.9% → 53.7%
• Credit card repayment falls to 69%
• Plan collapses again

Lesson: the car has to wait.

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Why This Time It Worked

• Debt accounts recorded properly (not double-counted).
• Budget linked straight into the plan.
• Credit card modeled realistically (minimum → installments).
• Asset Achievement % exposed feasibility.
• Sept 2025 bonus flipped the plan from “impossible” to “done.”
• What-If showed clearly why buying a car now would kill the plan.

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Monthly Check-In Checklist

1. Verify account balances vs. planned amounts.
2. Check actual Asset Achievement % vs. target.
3. Confirm progress in My Goals → Asset Achievement %.

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Final Word: Finishing > Trying Hard

Emily started 2025 thinking:

“As long as I pay $1,100 a month, I’ll be fine.”

Reality check: the math said only 72% feasible.
Effort alone wasn’t enough.

With Vision Money, she could actually see the gap, inject the Sept bonus, and confirm the plan was now 100% achievable.

And when tempted by that used car? A single What-If showed it would wreck her plan.

True peace of mind comes from this:
It’s not about “working harder.”
It’s about knowing you’ll finish.

👉 Open Vision Money today, model your student loans and credit cards, and check if your Asset Achievement % is at least 100%.