Rat Race Escape Plan

DebtPath IQ™ screenshot tour

The Settings tab

Who is in the household, who can print, and how your work is protected.

Overview

Settings holds three jobs. It records who in your family is on the accounts. It sets the PIN and security questions that guard your full account numbers. And it runs two different kinds of backup — an automatic one for the mistake you made five minutes ago, and an encrypted vault file for moving everything to another computer.

Screens

  1. The DebtPath IQ Settings tab. A Payoff method section names the current plan, “Free up the most monthly breathing room in the shortest time,” above a “Re-take the interview” button highlighted by a callout. Below it a Single user toggle, a Household members section listing John and Sue with Remove buttons and an Add person field noting up to six members, a Security questions and PIN section explaining it protects the full account numbers on the Creditor Report, and a “Your data” section stating everything is stored only on this PC in an encrypted database and nothing is sent anywhere.
    The Settings screen

    Four things live here. Re-take the interview whenever life changes and the app recommends a method again from scratch. Say whether more than one person’s debts are tracked. Name the family members who are on the accounts. Set the PIN. And read the line at the bottom that matters most: everything you enter stays on this PC, in an encrypted database, and nothing is sent anywhere.

  2. The Settings screen with callouts. One points at the Single user toggle and reads “Turn off if data is only for one user.” Another points at the Add person button and explains that a spouse or children on credit cards or loans can be added here so all accounts associated with their name can be seen, up to six people. The Household members section lists John and Sue, and the Security questions and PIN section notes it protects full account numbers on the Creditor Report and asks for an eight-digit PIN and eight security questions.
    Who is on the accounts

    Debt is rarely one person’s. Add each family member who owns an account or is an authorized user on one — up to six — and two things follow: when you enter a debt you pick a name from a list instead of typing it, and every screen can then filter to one person’s credit picture. If the debts are only yours, leave Single user on and the whole feature stays out of your way.

  3. The Security Questions and PIN screen. A note explains it protects the Creditor Report’s full account numbers only and is not a login for the app itself, with a username and password planned for a later update. A Report-unlock PIN section states a PIN is already set and offers Current PIN, New PIN, and Confirm new PIN fields above a Save PIN button. Below, a green panel confirms security questions are saved, noting the eight questions and answers are on file, that answers are scrambled and cannot be viewed back, and that they are only checked when answered again, with a Change security questions button.
    Set your PIN

    Changing the PIN works the way you would expect — current one, then the new one twice. Two details worth reading. The app says plainly that this PIN guards the Creditor Report, not the app itself, so nobody mistakes it for a login. And your security answers are scrambled and can never be viewed back, only checked when you type them again.

  4. A slide headed “Automated backups” listing four points: the system always creates an automated backup whenever changes are made to data; there are a maximum of two automated backups, one newer and one previous; you can restore quickly if you think you made a mistake; and these backups can only be restored on this computer, not any other, and are not human-readable.
    The backup that just happens

    You never have to remember this one. Every time your data changes, DebtPath IQ™ writes an encrypted copy — and keeps two, the newest and the one before it. That pair is the answer to “I just deleted something I did not mean to.” These files are deliberately tied to this computer and are not readable by a person, which is exactly why the vault backup below exists for moving house.

  5. Slide titled “Restore an automated backup on this computer.” The Local automatic backups panel explains that every change saves an encrypted copy so a crash or power loss can never cost more than the last save, that these backups stay on this computer and cannot be opened on another, and that the encrypted vault backup should be used to move data elsewhere. It shows the folder backups are saved to, with the user name blurred out, and states that two backups are available — the most recent from Thursday, July 30, 2026 at 4:03 PM and one before that from the same day at 1:11 PM — above a “Restore a backup on this computer” button. A dialog beneath reads “Restore complete — Restored 9 debt(s). Open the Home or My Debts tab to see them.”
    Undo a mistake

    One button, and no passphrase needed — it is the same computer that wrote the file. The app names both backups by date and time, down to the minute, so you can pick the one from before the mistake rather than guessing. And when it is done it tells you exactly how many debts came back instead of leaving you to go and count them.

  6. A slide headed “Vault backups” explaining that a vault backup can be saved to any location you choose — USB stick, external drive, network storage, Google Drive, or OneDrive — that vault files are portable to other instances of the software, and that your license covers three installations, such as a desktop, a notebook, and a spouse’s computer.
    The backup that travels

    The other kind of backup is one file that holds everything and can be opened on a different computer. Put it on a USB stick, an external drive, or a cloud folder. This is how you move to a new machine, and it pairs with the licence, which covers three installations — a desktop, a notebook, and a spouse’s computer, for example.

  7. Slide titled “Set vault backup location.” A Windows Select Folder dialog is open over the Settings screen, with the personal folder names in its sidebar blurred out and a red arrow pointing at the chosen path — This PC, Google Drive (G:), My Drive, DebtPathIQ-backup. A second red arrow points at the “Specify a location…” button on the Settings screen beneath, where a line reads “Currently saving to: G:\My Drive\DebtPathIQ-backup.” To the right, a confirmation dialog reads “Vault backup location set — your encrypted vault backups will now be saved to: G:\My Drive\DebtPathIQ-backup.”
    Choose where it goes

    Pick the folder once and the app remembers it, showing you the current destination on the Settings screen so you never have to wonder where your backups are going. Any folder Windows can reach will do — a USB stick, an external drive, network storage, or a cloud folder like Google Drive or OneDrive. The file is fully encrypted before it is written, which is why putting it on a cloud drive or carrying it in your pocket is safe.

  8. A slide headed “Confirmation of successful vault backup,” showing a “Vault backup created” dialog. It states the complete data, including full account numbers, was saved fully encrypted, gives the full path and timestamped filename of the vault file, and warns in capitals that the file can only be opened with the passphrase just chosen, that there is no way to recover it if the passphrase is forgotten, and to keep the passphrase somewhere safe.
    Proof it worked

    The confirmation tells you the exact filename and where it landed, so you can go and check that the file really exists — and the name carries the date and time, which is what makes a stack of vault files easy to sort later. Then it repeats the warning that matters most: forget the passphrase and the file is gone.

  9. A slide headed “Vault backup and restore require a passphrase.” A Vault passphrase dialog asks the user to choose a passphrase of at least twelve characters with a capital, a small letter, a number, and a symbol, and warns in capitals to WRITE IT DOWN because the file cannot be opened without it, by anyone, ever. Three points beside it state that every vault backup requires a passphrase entered twice and the file is encrypted with it, that restoring prompts for that passphrase and it must be entered correctly, and that once accepted the backup is restored to the target location.
    A passphrase only you hold

    Here is the rule behind both halves of that. Making a vault backup asks for a passphrase twice; restoring one asks for it again and will not budge without it. The warning does not soften: write it down, because the file cannot be opened without it — by anyone, ever. That is the honest cost of real encryption, and the same reason nobody else can open your file either.

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