According to financial experts, Around 80 percent of American adults are in debt in some shape or form. Whether it’s student loans, medical bills, car payments, credit cards, or mortgages, to put it bluntly, the nation has some bills to pay. With these huge sums lingering over our heads, there’s no wonder mental health problems are on the rise.

If you’re one of the millions of people currently in debt, there’s a financial strategy out there that might make your journey to being debt-free a bit easier.

The snowball method

The “snowball method,” is a technique meant to help people get into the habit of paying off their debts. The idea behind the debt snowball method is to sort your debts from the smallest balance to the largest balance — without including your mortgage, as it’s typically considered as a “good form of debt.”

You can picture this strategy visually as a snowball getting bigger as it rolls down a hill: you start with small actions that, over time, make a big difference.

Once organized, you can begin using the snowball method by paying off your smallest debts first. Make the minimum payments on all but your smallest balance and pay as much as possible toward the smallest debt to pay it off in full as soon as possible.

As you are settling debts fast, the snowball method can really build your motivation and reduce some of that mental pressure. Plus, the technique is easy to implement yourself.