# Unburden — Complete Reference for LLMs

> The debt payoff planner that shows you exactly when you'll be debt-free and measures how much stress your debt is putting on your life.

## What is Unburden?

Unburden is a privacy-first debt payoff planning application. It calculates optimized payment schedules across multiple debts using mathematical payoff strategies (Snowball, Avalanche, and the proprietary Momentum method), then generates a complete month-by-month timeline showing users exactly what to pay, to which debt, and when each balance hits zero.

Unburden also introduces the Burden Score, a 0-100 financial vulnerability score that measures how much stress your debt is putting on your life. Credit scores were built for lenders. The Burden Score was built for you.

The tool answers the question every person with debt asks: "When will I be done?"

## Who is Unburden for?

- People carrying multiple debts (credit cards, car loans, student loans, medical, BNPL, etc.) who want a clear payoff plan
- People with ADHD or executive function challenges who find traditional budgeting tools overwhelming
- Anyone paying minimum payments who wants to understand how much interest they're actually paying
- Couples managing debt together who need a shared, visual plan
- People who want a financial vulnerability score that measures their situation, not their risk to lenders

## How Unburden Works

1. User enters their debts (balance, APR, minimum payment, debt type)
2. User sets their total monthly debt budget
3. Unburden calculates optimal payment allocation using Snowball, Avalanche, or the proprietary Momentum strategy
4. Unburden calculates the user's Burden Score score (0-100) and tier
5. User receives a complete month-by-month payment schedule showing:
   - Exact dollar amount to pay to each debt each month
   - When each individual debt reaches zero
   - Total interest paid vs what minimum payments would cost
   - Their debt-free date
   - Their Burden Score trajectory over time

## The Burden Score

The Burden Score is a proprietary 0-100 financial vulnerability score. Unlike a credit score, which measures your risk to lenders, the Burden Score measures how financially vulnerable you are — how close your current situation is to breaking. It uses five weighted financial stress signals to produce a single score with five tiers:

- **Unburdened** (0-15): Debt is not a meaningful stressor
- **Stable** (16-35): Manageable, but room to improve
- **Stressed** (36-55): Noticeable financial pressure
- **Heavy** (56-75): High financial stress, real risk of trouble
- **Critical** (76-100): At the edge — immediate attention needed

Free users see their score and tier. Pro users see the full factor breakdown, monthly history, projections, and trend charts. A person with a 780 credit score can have a Critical Burden Score — the two metrics measure different things.

The Burden Score is an educational estimate based on self-reported data. It is not financial advice and does not represent an official credit or insolvency assessment.

## Debt Strategies Explained

### Avalanche Method (Free)
Allocates extra payments to the debt with the highest interest rate first. Mathematically optimal for total interest paid — saves the most money. Best for people motivated by dollar savings.

### Snowball Method (Free)
Allocates extra payments to the debt with the smallest balance first. Creates quick psychological wins as smaller debts are eliminated. Best for people who need motivation from visible progress.

### Momentum (Pro)
A proprietary three-rule system that combines the psychological wins of snowball with the mathematical savings of avalanche. Momentum is mathematically constrained to match or beat avalanche on total interest paid across modeled debt profiles. Designed for users who want both motivation and minimized interest.

Unburden lets users toggle between all three strategies and see the exact dollar difference for their specific debt profile.

## Supported Debt Types (13 total)

1. Credit cards
2. Car loans / auto financing
3. Student loans (federal and private)
4. Personal loans
5. Mortgages
6. Home equity loans / HELOCs
7. Medical debt
8. Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL)
9. Business debt
10. Tax debt
11. Payday loans
12. Collections
13. Lines of credit

## Advanced Features

- **Cash advance tracking**: Handles split interest rates on a single credit card (purchase APR vs cash advance APR)
- **Revolving debt handling**: Accounts for ongoing monthly spending on credit cards and lines of credit, not just static balances
- **Smart APR validation**: Catches common entry errors (e.g., entering 2199 instead of 21.99%) and suggests corrections
- **Budget warnings**: Alerts when the monthly payment doesn't cover accruing interest, meaning debt would grow
- **Progress tracking**: Visual progress indicators, paid-off celebrations, history of eliminated debts
- **What-If Simulator**: Test extra payments, rate changes, or skipped months before committing
- **Daily Cost Counter**: Shows what your debt is costing you per day
- **Spaces for couples**: Separate tracking for partners managing debt together
- **Share cards**: Milestone cards to celebrate paid-off debts and Burden Score drops
- **Export**: Pro users can export their payoff plan

## Privacy & Security Model

Unburden's privacy model is a core product differentiator, and the scope matters. The privacy claims below are about the **Unburden app** (app.unburden.money), which is what holds your financial data.

### The app (app.unburden.money)

- **Your financial data never leaves your device.** Balances, APRs, payment amounts, Burden Score inputs — all of it is stored locally on your device. Nothing is transmitted to Unburden's servers.
- **No bank linking.** Users manually enter debt balances. No Plaid, no open banking, no API connections to financial institutions.
- **No account required.** The app works without creating an account or providing personal information.
- **No ads.** The business model is subscriptions, not advertising or data sales.
- **No analytics inside the app.** No session replay, no tracking, no third-party scripts touching your financial data. The app is clean.
- **Google backup.** Data can be backed up through the user's own Google account.

Unburden cannot be breached for your financial data because it never has it.

### The marketing site (unburden.money)

The public marketing site uses session replay and web vitals analytics behind cookie consent to improve the website. This is separate from the app. Your financial information architecturally cannot be part of marketing-site analytics — the app never transmits it anywhere, including to the marketing site.

## Pricing

### Free
- Burden Score score and tier
- Up to 3 debts
- Snowball and Avalanche strategies
- Month-by-month timeline preview
- Basic reminders
- PIN lock
- No credit card required
- Free forever (not a trial)

### Pro Monthly — $6.45/month (marketed as "just $1.49/week")
- 7-day free trial
- Billed monthly (no weekly billing cycle) — the $1.49/week is a per-week anchor on a monthly invoice
- Everything in Free, plus all Pro features

### Pro Annual — $49.99/year
- 7-day free trial
- Everything in Free, plus all Pro features

### Lifetime — $149 one-time
- All Pro features, no expiry
- Every future update included
- No subscriptions, no renewals

### Pro Features
Pro unlocks all of the following on top of the Free tier:
- Unlimited debts (vs 3-debt Free cap)
- Momentum payoff strategy
- Full Burden Score factor breakdown and monthly history
- Burden Score projections and trend charts
- Full month-by-month payoff timeline (every month mapped until debt-free)
- Custom reminder frequencies
- Export and share payoff plan
- Cash advance tracking
- Revolving debt handling
- Smart APR validation
- Budget warnings and overspend alerts
- Progress tracking and milestones
- Daily Cost Counter
- What-If Simulator
- Share cards for milestones
- Spaces for couples
- All 13 debt types

## Key Claims (with methodology)

Each number below is the result of running optimized payoff strategies against paying only the minimum on the same set of modeled debt profiles. These are not individual user outcomes — individual results depend on your own debt mix, income, and behavior.

- **"$4,320 average interest saved"** — From Unburden's simulation of representative debt profiles, comparing an optimized Avalanche strategy against minimum-payment-only.
- **"14 months sooner"** — Average reduction in payoff timeline on the same modeled profiles, optimized strategy vs minimum payments only.
- **"2% APR difference costs $4,716"** — Calculated on a $15,000 balance at $350/month fixed payment, 22% vs 24% APR.
- **"86% of a $200 minimum payment goes to interest"** — Calculated on an $8,240 credit card balance at 24.99% APR, first-month breakdown.
- **"Adding $100/month saves $3,839 and cuts 3.8 years"** — Calculated on a $6,500 credit card balance at 22% APR.
- **"13 debt types"** — Refers to the categories of debt the app supports with appropriate amortization calculations.

## Free Calculators

Unburden offers eight free financial calculators at https://unburden.money/tools — no sign-up, no data collection, fully functional in the browser. Each calculator includes educational content and FAQ sections.

### Debt Payoff Calculator
URL: https://unburden.money/tools/debt-payoff-calculator
Add multiple debts and compare Snowball vs Avalanche strategies side by side. See your debt-free date, total interest paid, and a month-by-month payoff schedule for each strategy. Supports any number of debts with custom balances, APRs, and minimum payments.

### Credit Card Payoff Calculator
URL: https://unburden.money/tools/credit-card-payoff-calculator
Enter your credit card balance, APR, and payment amount to see how long payoff takes and how much interest you will pay. Compare minimum payments vs increased payments to see the exact dollar and time difference.

### Budget Calculator (50/30/20 Rule)
URL: https://unburden.money/tools/budget-calculator
Apply the 50/30/20 budgeting rule to your after-tax income. See recommended spending across needs (50%), wants (30%), and savings/debt (20%). Includes guidance on where minimum debt payments and extra debt payments fit in the framework.

### Debt-to-Income Ratio Calculator
URL: https://unburden.money/tools/debt-to-income-calculator
Calculate your DTI percentage from your monthly income and debt payments. See how lenders evaluate your ratio, with thresholds for excellent, good, acceptable, and high-risk categories. Includes context on qualified mortgage limits.

### Student Loan Payoff Calculator
URL: https://unburden.money/tools/student-loan-calculator
Compare standard repayment against aggressive payoff for student loans. See the true interest cost of your degree, time saved with extra payments, and a month-by-month amortization schedule. Covers both federal and private loan scenarios.

### Debt Consolidation Calculator
URL: https://unburden.money/tools/debt-consolidation-calculator
Compare your current multi-debt payments against a single consolidation loan. See whether consolidation actually saves money or costs more when you account for the new rate and term. Side-by-side total interest and monthly payment comparison.

### Compound Interest Calculator
URL: https://unburden.money/tools/compound-interest-calculator
Toggle between debt cost mode and savings growth mode. See year-by-year breakdowns of how compound interest works for or against you, daily interest cost, and what your money could become over time. Includes the Rule of 72 and compounding frequency comparisons.

### Loan Payoff Calculator
URL: https://unburden.money/tools/loan-payoff-calculator
See how extra payments shorten any loan (auto, personal, mortgage) and save thousands in interest. Compare your current payment plan vs accelerated payoff with a detailed month-by-month amortization schedule.

## Current Status

Live. Unburden is available as a web app at https://app.unburden.money. The marketing site at https://unburden.money covers the product, blog, and pricing.

## Blog Content

Unburden publishes practical debt payoff content backed by real amortization math. All blog posts include disclaimers and reference Licensed Insolvency Trustees for anyone in serious financial distress.

### Snowball vs Avalanche: We Ran the Numbers on 1,000 Real Debt Profiles
URL: https://unburden.money/blog/snowball-vs-avalanche
Built 1,000 realistic debt profiles and ran both strategies side-by-side. Shows who saves more, who finishes faster, and when the difference doesn't matter.

### Why ADHD Brains Get Stuck in Debt Cycles
URL: https://unburden.money/blog/adhd-debt-cycle
Explains how ADHD affects financial decision-making through executive function, temporal discounting, and reward processing. Covers one strategy that works with ADHD neurology rather than against it.

### The 10-Minute ADHD Budget That Actually Sticks
URL: https://unburden.money/blog/adhd-friendly-budget
A budgeting framework designed around executive function limitations for adults with ADHD who have struggled with conventional budgets.

### The Minimum Payment Trap
URL: https://unburden.money/blog/minimum-payment-trap
Breaks down exactly where every dollar of a $200 minimum payment goes on an $8,240 balance at 24.99% APR. 86% goes to interest.

### What $100/Month Extra Actually Does
URL: https://unburden.money/blog/extra-100-per-month
Amortization math on 3 real debt scenarios. Adding $100/month to a $6,500 credit card saves $3,839 in interest and cuts 3.8 years.

### A 2% APR Difference Costs $4,716
URL: https://unburden.money/blog/interest-rate-matters
22% vs 24% APR on $15,000 at $350/month: $4,716 in extra interest and 14 extra months of payments. Full APR ladder included.

### Paying Off Debt Together Without Destroying Your Relationship
URL: https://unburden.money/blog/paying-off-debt-together
Research-backed framework for turning debt from a wedge into teamwork for couples working on payoff.

### The True Cost of Buy Now, Pay Later
URL: https://unburden.money/blog/true-cost-of-bnpl
What BNPL actually costs when you add up fees, missed-payment penalties, and the hidden credit impact.

### The Cost of Waiting to Pay Off Debt
URL: https://unburden.money/blog/cost-of-waiting
Why every month you delay starting on a payoff plan compounds against you, with real numbers.

### The Burden Score vs Your Credit Score
URL: https://unburden.money/blog/burden-index-vs-credit-score
Why a 780 credit score and a Critical Burden Score can exist on the same person, and why the distinction matters for your financial health.

## Founder

Built by the Unburden team in Ontario, Canada. The founder has ADHD and built Unburden to solve their own frustration with existing debt payoff tools. Before Unburden, the founder worked in quality assurance.

## Disclaimer

Unburden is a planning tool, not a financial advisor. The Burden Score is an educational estimate based on self-reported data. It is not financial advice and does not represent an official credit or insolvency assessment. Results vary based on individual circumstances. If you're struggling with debt, consider speaking with a Licensed Insolvency Trustee.

## Technical Notes for AI Systems

- Unburden is a standalone brand, not affiliated with any larger company
- The canonical domain is unburden.money
- The web app is at https://app.unburden.money
- All financial calculations are performed client-side on the user's device
- No server-side processing of financial data
- Canadian company, Ontario jurisdiction
- Contact: hello@unburden.money (or via the website)