Inspired by a 1986 military chaplain’s article, Michael J. Riley built one of the first debt repayment tools that went on to help 16,000 people erase $114 million in debt.
BOSTON – The “debt snowball” method has a history that goes back further than most people realize. In 1986, a U.S. military chaplain published an article describing the idea of rolling payments from one paid-off debt to the next. That article sparked an idea for then-Marine Sergeant Michael J. Riley.
By 1991, Riley had transformed the concept into one of the very first debt repayment software tools, releasing it to the public as Zilch. At the time, shareware was distributed on floppy disks and through bulletin board systems. Users could try the program and mail Riley a check if they wanted the full version.
Over the past 34 years, Riley’s debt repayment software has helped more than 16,000 people eliminate $114 million in debt. His work represents one of the earliest technology applications of the debt snowball method, well before it became widely known.
“People sometimes assume the debt snowball started later,” says Riley. “The truth is, I borrowed the idea from a chaplain who inspired me back in 1986. I simply turned it into software so anyone could see their own path out of debt.”
Riley recently shared the full backstory on his blog: https://blog.zilchworks.com/debt-snowball-calculator-story/
