What should a debt tracker include?

One row per debt with the direction (lent or borrowed), the person or lender, amount and currency, start date, due date, how much has been paid back and a short note. For loans and cards, add the interest rate and minimum payment.

Is a spreadsheet good enough to track debts?

Yes, as long as you actually update it. Most people put it off until evening and forget amounts. Whatever you can reach in the moment, a note or a chat, tends to work better day to day.

Which debt should I pay off first?

Two common orders are smallest balance first, which gives quick wins, and highest interest rate first, which usually costs less overall. Picking one and sticking to it matters more than which one you pick.

How do I ask a friend to pay me back without making it awkward?

Agree on a date when you lend the money, then send a short reminder a couple of days before it with the exact balance. It reads as following up on a deal rather than chasing someone.

Can the CalCash bot remind me about debts?

If you give a due date when you log a debt, the bot remembers it and may remind you when three days or fewer are left. Repayments, partial repayments and write-offs are logged in plain words.

Debt tracker: how to keep track of who owes what

A debt tracker is one line per debt: who owes whom, how much, since when and by what date. Then you note every repayment so you can see what's left. A spreadsheet, a phone note or a bot you text in plain words all work. What matters is logging it the moment money moves and agreeing on a date. Without a date, debts tend to quietly disappear.

This post covers two kinds of debt: money between people (you covered a friend until payday, borrowed from your sister for repairs) and your own loans and cards you're paying off. Both work on the same principle.

What to put in a debt tracker

Every debt gets its own row. Even if the same person borrowed last month, a new loan is a new row, otherwise six months later you can't tell which payment belonged to what.

Each row needs seven things:

Direction: you lent or you borrowed. This is the first thing that gets mixed up once there are several debts.
The person or lender. Use the name as it is in your phone, so you don't have to guess which Sam it was.
Amount and currency. If you lent in euros and get paid back in dollars, pin the currency down on day one.
The date the money went out.
The due date. Even a rough one: "end of the month" beats nothing.
How much has been paid back.
A note: what it was for and what you agreed. That's the part you forget first.

A simple debt tracker template

Here's what a working sheet looks like. Names and amounts are made up.

Direction	Person	Amount	Date	Due	Paid back	Left	Note
Owed to me	Pete	$200	Oct 3	Oct 25	$80	$120	until payday
Owed to me	Anna	$45	Oct 12	—	$0	$45	her share of a gift
I owe	Mary	$800	Sep 1	Dec 1	$400	$400	repairs, in parts

In Excel or Google Sheets, make the "Left" column a formula: amount minus paid back. Then you never recount by hand after a transfer. Don't delete closed debts, mark them instead: the history helps when the same person asks again.

For your own loans and cards, add two columns: the interest rate and the minimum payment. Two common payoff orders are smallest balance first (the "snowball") and highest interest rate first (the "avalanche"). The first gives you quick wins, the second usually costs less in interest. Either works better than paying a bit of everything with no plan.

Bills and a notebook with an empty ruled table on a light desk next to a cup of tea

Spreadsheet, notes app or debt tracker app?

A spreadsheet works fine while there are two or three debts and you actually open it. The real problem is elsewhere: money changes hands on the go, at the checkout or in a group chat, and the sheet gets updated that evening, if at all.

So pick the tool you can reach fastest, not the most powerful one. For some people that's a phone note with one line per debt. For others it's a chat they already open every day. Anything that means opening a separate app, finding the right tab and hitting the right cell will slowly get put off.

How to remind someone to pay you back

The awkwardness almost always comes from never agreeing on a date. "I'll pay you when I can" isn't a date. When you lend, just ask "by when?" and write the answer down. Then a reminder is a follow-up on a deal, not an accusation.

A few things that usually help:

Remind a couple of days before the date, not after. "Hey, just checking we're still on for Friday" lands softer than "you're late".
Give the exact balance. "$120 of the $200 left" ends any argument about what's been paid.
Take partial payments and log them right away. Some is better than none.
If it's clear the money isn't coming, decide whether to keep waiting or write it off. A written-off debt is still a record, just one you've let go.

How CalCash tracks debts

The CalCash bot in Telegram keeps debts in the same chat where you log spending. You type a normal sentence, no forms:

"lent Pete 200 until October 25" records that Pete owes you 200 and remembers the date;
"borrowed 800 from Mary for repairs" records your debt to Mary with a note;
"Pete paid back 80" logs a partial repayment and shows what's left;
"Pete paid back everything" closes the debt;
"write off Pete's debt" marks it as written off.

If you just say "gave Pete 200", the bot asks whether it was spending or a loan, so the two don't get mixed. Open debts are listed under Debts in the money menu. When a debt has a due date and three days or fewer are left, the bot may remind you about it in its tips. For loan and card payments, set them up as recurring payments and the bot will remind you before each one.

It's free, with no subscription and no daily limit. For more on keeping all your money in one chat, see expense tracking in Telegram.

Written by Aleks Zapat. Founder of CalCash: builds the bot and this site hands-on, and is not a doctor or a dietitian. Last updated on October 18, 2026.