Sometimes being in debt is as much of an emotional issue as a financial one.
A 2026 study by Freedom Debt Relief and Money.com that surveyed borrowers with at least $10,000 in non-student loan, unsecured debt found that participants were just as motivated by emotional reasons as by financial ones for paying off debt — if not more so.
The two most common responses to what motivated respondents to get out of debt were regaining control and feeling financially stable (48%) and stopping feeling stressed or anxious about money (48%).
“In my opinion, one of the reasons to become debt-free is because of the psychological weight of it,” money coach Bernadette Joy tells Business Insider. “Specifically…