Debt-Free by Christmas 2026 Countdown Tracker

This is a calm, self-directed countdown from today to a finish line — set to Christmas Day 2026 by default, but changeable to any date. Enter what you owe, your start date and your target date, and it works out your weeks to go and a per-week target, then tracks every payment against it, so you get ahead of debt before the January spike rather than cleaning up after it.

The spreadsheet (for Microsoft Excel) includes:

• A Your Plan dashboard showing your weekly target — plus the same target as monthly and 4-weekly figures
• A live weeks-to-go / days-to-go countdown and a payoff thermometer
• A Weekly Tracker where you log what you actually paid, with total paid, debt remaining, and ahead/behind pace
• A printable companion (A4 and US Letter) with a colour-in payoff thermometer wall chart and a weekly payoff log for paper tracking

The whole thing was tested against a worked example — a £2,000 balance over a 21-week plan, including a missed week, a double catch-up, a reversed payment and an overpayment. 47 of 47 checks pass, shown on the QA & Version tab.

This is a budgeting and planning tool, not financial or debt advice, and no outcome is guaranteed. Always pay the minimum on every debt first; if debt feels unmanageable, free help is available from StepChange, National Debtline and Citizens Advice.