DebtFree Help

Install on iPhone or iPad

Install DebtFree before you set up your plan. On iPhone and iPad the Home Screen app keeps its own storage, separate from Safari, and Safari can clear data for websites you haven't used for 7 days.

1. Open your private link from START HERE in Safari (not a private tab).
2. Tap Share. If it isn't in the toolbar, tap ⋯ first.
3. Choose Add to Home Screen (under View More if you don't see it), then Add.
4. Open DebtFree from your Home Screen and set up your plan there.

Chrome on iPhone works the same way: tap Share in the address bar, then Add to Home Screen.

If the Home Screen app shows the DebtFree product page, paste your private link into the box at the bottom of that page and tap Open DebtFree.

Watch the video: Install on iPhone or iPad · Install on iPhone with Chrome

Install on Android

1. Open your private link from START HERE in Chrome.
2. Tap Chrome's menu ⋮, then Install (it may say Add to Home screen or Install app), then Install again.
3. Open DebtFree from its icon on your Home screen.

Watch the video: Install on Android

Install on a Windows, Mac or ChromeOS computer

• Chrome or Edge: open your private link, then choose Install in the address bar. DebtFree opens in its own window and can be pinned to the taskbar or Dock.
• Safari on a Mac: open your private link, then choose File › Add to Dock.
• Firefox: can't install apps. DebtFree works fully in a normal tab; bookmark it.

Watch the video: Install on a Windows computer · Install on a Mac

Open DebtFree with your private link

1. Open START HERE.pdf from your Etsy download and tap Open DebtFree.
2. Use your normal browser, not a private or incognito window: DebtFree keeps your plan in ordinary browser storage.
3. Afterwards DebtFree opens at debtfree.jykdigital.com without the link. Keep the PDF in case you ever need the link again.

Your link is just for you: please don't share it or post it online.

Set up your plan

1. Choose Set up my plan.
2. Fill in the short form, then choose Start my plan. You can change these answers later in Settings.

DebtFree then takes you through your plan, one step at a time: see Set up your payoff plan.

Set up your payoff plan

Five short steps. Have a recent statement of each debt at hand.

1. Add your debts. For each one, enter its name, balance, APR and minimum payment, and its due day if you know it, then choose Add debt. When they are all in, choose Continue.
2. Your pay schedule. Say how often you are paid, pick one payday, and enter the amount each paycheck can send to debt. If that amount doesn't cover your minimum payments, DebtFree says by how much.
3. Choose your order. Each strategy is shown with the date and the interest it leads to. Pick one; you can change it later in Plan.
4. Your Freedom Date. The month your last debt is projected to be paid off, with your first target.
5. Protect your plan. Choose Create first backup, then Done.

Short on time? Choose Finish later. Home shows Finish setting up until you do, and Continue setup takes you back to the step you were on.

Watch the video: Set up your payoff plan

Explore the demo

Choose Explore the demo to try DebtFree with sample data. Nothing you do there affects your own plan. When you're ready, use the banner at the top of the demo to start your own.

Watch the video: Find your way around

The Payday Check-In and a tight month

On each payday, Home asks Did this paycheck go according to plan? and lists what the plan sends to each debt. Make the payments with your lenders as you usually do, then answer:

• Paid as planned: every planned payment is logged for you.
• Adjust amounts: enter what you really paid to each debt and the day you paid, then choose Save check-in.
• Tight month: choose Minimums only, or Enter what I paid, then Confirm tight month. The plan continues from what you paid, and nothing is carried over to your next paycheck.

Missed a few paydays? Home starts with the oldest one, and offers to confirm them all as planned in one tap. Your Freedom Date is worked out again after every check-in.

Watch the video: Check in on payday

Match your lender's statement

DebtFree estimates each balance from what you entered. Your lender's figure can differ, because of fees, purchases, credits or the day a payment posted. When it does:

1. Open Debts and choose the debt.
2. Choose Match my statement.
3. Enter the Statement date and the Statement balance. DebtFree shows the difference from its own estimate for that day.
4. Choose Use this balance. Your plan continues from the lender's figure.

The difference is kept as a statement difference. It is never counted as a payment and never called interest.

Watch the video: Match your lender's statement

Clear a 0% balance before its deadline

1. In the debt's form, open Promo rate, turn on This debt has a promo rate, and enter the Promo APR and the date it Ends on. Turn on Deferred interest if the lender adds the promotion's interest when a balance remains.
2. If the plan would leave a balance on that date, Home and the debt's page say so: the projected balance when the promo ends, and the extra per paycheck that would clear it.
3. Choose Prioritize this debt to see what paying it first would change, then confirm.

The deferred interest shown is an estimate: issuers calculate it in different ways.

Watch the video: Clear a 0% balance in time

Extra money, expenses and scenarios

• A bonus, a refund or a surprise bill: open Plan, then Extra money and expenses, and add it with its amount, its date and how often it comes. Extra money goes to your target debt on its date; under Keep aside, enter the part you don't send to debt. An expense lowers the extra you send to debt, never a required minimum.
• A quick question: open Plan, then Quick What-If, and type an extra per paycheck or a one-time lump sum. You see the new Freedom Date at once, and nothing changes your plan.
• A different plan: in Scenario Lab, a scenario changes the strategy, the amount per paycheck or the extra money. Compare up to four beside your current plan, and choose Make this my plan on the one you want. DebtFree shows what will change before anything does.

Watch the video: Extra money and what-ifs

Your PIN and Discreet Mode

• A PIN: open Settings, then Set a PIN under Privacy, and choose 4 to 6 digits. DebtFree asks for it when it opens, and again after a few minutes in the background. Each device has its own PIN, and it isn't in a backup file.
• Discreet Mode: tap the eye at the top of any screen. Every amount shows as ••••; dates and percentages stay. In a form, an amount shows once you tap its field, and what you type is always shown.

A PIN keeps casual eyes out. It is a privacy screen, not encryption, and it can't be recovered. If you forget it, choose Forgot your PIN? on the lock screen: restore a backup file, which opens without a PIN, or clear the plan on that device and start again.

Watch the video: Lock DebtFree and hide amounts

Calendar reminders

1. Open Plan or Settings, then Calendar reminders.
2. Choose what goes in your calendar: paydays with what to pay, debt due dates, promo deadlines, planned extra money, projected payoff dates.
3. Choose Export calendar file and save the file.
4. Open the file. Your phone or computer offers to add the events to your calendar.

Calendar events don't update by themselves: export again after your plan changes, and DebtFree reminds you on Home when it has changed a lot. The file includes your amounts, also while Discreet Mode is on, so add it only to a calendar you keep to yourself.

Watch the video: Add reminders to your calendar

How accurate the numbers are

Projections are mathematically sound estimates, worked out from what you entered: your balances, rates, minimum payments and pay schedule. Your lender is the source of truth. A lender's balance can differ because of fees, purchases, credits or the exact day a payment posted; Match My Statement keeps your plan aligned with reality.

• A date DebtFree had to estimate, such as a due date for a debt saved without a due day, carries the word Estimated.
• The Interest Meter is an estimate of what your debt costs today, not a charge you will see on a statement.
• DebtFree is a planning aid, not financial, credit or legal advice.

Your plan is kept in your browser on your device, and there is no account. It leaves that device only in a file you save, or when you link your own devices: they then share a copy that is encrypted on your device, and only your linked devices can read it.

Back up your plan

1. Open Backup and tap Back up plan. The file holds your whole plan: your debts, payments, pay schedule and scenarios.
2. Keep the .debtfree file somewhere safe, such as iCloud Drive, Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive.
3. Back up again after you make changes. DebtFree reminds you when it's been a while.

Anyone with the file can read your plan, so keep it private.

Watch the video: Back up and restore your plan

Move to a new device or to the installed app

1. On the old device (or in Safari), back up your plan.
2. On the new device (or in the installed app), open DebtFree with your private link.
3. Choose Restore from a backup file and pick the file. DebtFree checks it and shows what's inside before anything changes.

Want to keep using both devices? Link them instead, and they stay up to date.

Watch the video: Move to a new phone or computer

Use DebtFree on more than one device

1. On the device that has your plan, open Devices (on a phone it's in the menu) and choose Link another device. The first time, name this device and choose Show a code. A six-digit code appears; it works for 5 minutes.
2. On the other device, open DebtFree with your private link and choose I already use DebtFree on another device. If DebtFree is already set up there, open Devices and choose Enter a code instead; linking replaces what that device has.
3. Type the code and choose Link this device (Replace and link on a device that's already set up).
4. On the first device, check the name and choose Approve. The other device opens with your plan.
5. From then on, changes made on either device reach the other when both are online.

Your plan is encrypted on your devices before it leaves them, and only your linked devices can read it. Nobody can recover it for you, so linking isn't a backup: keep saving a backup file now and then. To stop, open Devices and choose Stop syncing on this device; the plan stays on every device.

Watch the video: Use DebtFree on more than one device

I see the DebtFree product page instead of my plan

This browser hasn't been unlocked yet, or its cookies were cleared. Open your private link from START HERE again, or paste it into the box at the bottom of the product page. Your plan is still in this browser's storage; opening the link brings it back.

Contact us

Message us on Etsy at JYKDigital. Tell us which device and browser you use. Please never send your backup file or your private link.