6Why this book exists
87What to actually do
7Some honest words about the situation
88The category in one sentence
8What this book is, and what it isn't
89Chapter 12
9Chapter 1
90Medical Debt: Different Rules
10Why This Feels So Hard (And Why That's Not Your Fault)
91Why medical debt is different
11Why willpower isn't the answer
92Don't pay the first bill
12The three pressures nobody handed you a manual for
93What to do if it's already in collections
13A math problem on top of a system problem
94What about your credit report
14None of this is your fault
95Where medical debt goes in your snowball
15What's coming
96One more time, the four steps
16Chapter 2
97Chapter 13
17The Bandwidth Tax: How Debt Hijacks Your Brain
98The Credit Score Game
18What scarcity does to a brain
99The five factors
19What this looks like in your actual life
100The two fast levers
20The study that proves the direction
101The slower levers
21What this means for the rest of the book
102Common myths to debunk
22Chapter 3
103Where you are matters less than where you're going
23The Story You're Telling Yourself About Money
104Chapter 14
24The avoider
105Other Debts and Last-Resort Tools
25The worshipper
106Auto loans
26The status keeper
107Debt management plans
27The vigilante
108Debt settlement
28Where the script came from
109Bankruptcy
29Why this matters now
110A triage question
30Chapter 4
111Walking into part three
31Shame, Avoidance, and the Statement You Won't Open
112Chapter 15
32Why looking feels worse than not looking
113The Three-Month Floor
33The cost of looking away
114Why $1,000 isn't enough
34The reframe
115Three months of essential expenses
35One thing to do
116Where to keep it
36What changes after you look
117How to build it before attacking debt
37Chapter 5
118The exception
38Rewriting the Script: A CBT Toolkit for Money Thoughts
119What the floor protects
39The three traps
120Chapter 16
40The practice
121A Budget That Breathes
41Where the traps come from
122Why budgets work at all
42A quick word about scarcity
123The three buckets
43Practice, not perfection
124Tracking without going crazy
44Chapter 6
125The single rule that matters
45What Motivation Actually Looks Like Over Eighteen Months
126What to remember
46What the research says about big goals
127Chapter 17
47The shape of the journey
128Automating the Win
48Why small wins matter at the start
129The five automations
49Identity is what you're building
130The friction principle
50Walking into part two
131What automation cannot do
51Chapter 7
132One weekend, ninety minutes
52How Debt Math Actually Works
133The five automations, one more time
53What APR actually does
134Chapter 18
54The minimum payment trap
135When You Slip
55The leverage point
136The amplification, not the slip, is what costs you
56Compounding works differently for installment loans
137The reframe
57Why most people misjudge their debt
138The research that says you should be kind to yourself
58What you have now
139The five-minute reset
59Chapter 8
140The exception
60The Snowball, Honestly
141One more time
61What actually happens
142Chapter 19
62Why the snowball works on your brain
143The Money Conversation You're Avoiding
63The honest counterweight
144What it costs to not have the conversation
64When to break the rule
145Setting up the conversation, if you have a partner
65How to start
146The four questions
66Chapter 9
147How you organize the money is less important than that you talk about it
67Credit Cards Are Tools, Not Enemies
148If you're single
68Why the old advice doesn't work anymore
149What to remember
69What actually makes cards dangerous
150Chapter 20
70The four rules
151Becoming the Person Who Doesn't Carry Debt
71The utilization mechanic
152The shift from project to identity
72Don't close cards while you're paying them off
153The habits that make it permanent
73The four rules, one more time
154The lifestyle inflation trap
74Chapter 10
155Your quiet superpower
75The Student Loan Landscape, As of Today
156What sticks
76The first distinction that matters: federal versus private
157Closing
77The plans that exist right now
158After Debt-Free
78The question that decides your strategy
159What the book can't do
79How to choose between aggressive and strategic
160The send-off
80If you're already behind
161A Quick Ask
81What you should do this week
162Index of Cited Researchers
