
The Official 2017 Debt Smackdown
I'm porting this Challenge thread over to the Managing Debt area. The original thread is available on the old forums at: The Official 2017 Debt Smackdown.
Here is what you need to do:
1. List the amount of total debt that you owe.
This step is to give you an awareness of your current debt situation. Feel free to share, this forum is a safe and nonjudgmental place. You can also decide to keep this information private, you don't have to post your total here if you are not comfortable doing so.
2. Post in this thread the total amount of debt you would like to pay off during the 2017 calendar year. (This part is required.)
Feel free to break down the amounts by credit card/type of debt. Also, if you have a specific plan or some ideas on how you plan to pay down the debt, you can post that too. Maybe your plan will spark some ideas for others on how to tackle their own debts!
3. Check in monthly in this thread and report on how your debt smackdown is going. (This part is required.)
4. Post monthly on the 2017 Google Spreadsheet to track your progress. (This part is required.)
Claim a line on the spreadsheet, and post your total debt to be paid off, and the monthly amount that you send off towards it. Some people track their total payments and don't account for interest, some people account for principal only. The method you choose is up to you!
If you come across this challenge later in the year, no worries, you can still jump right in. Just put zeroes in the months where you had not joined the challenge yet, and start in the month you join in.
Here's to smashing our collective debt this coming 2017! Let's do this!!
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Thankful for my debt paydown year. I'm one payment away from completely paying off my pre-YNAB debt. I am now using 2 credit cards for my PIF budgeted purchases, and averaging $50ish in rewards cash back each month... on top of the 2.5 percent on my checking account balance (a little over $20/month)... so, I've gone from having more than $36,000 in unplanned CC debt (Dec. 2016) to now, having monthly gains based on my CC usage and payment.
Looking forward to next month's post!@rolltide's 2017 Debt Smackdown Summary:
rolltide's 2017 Debt Smackdown Summary: MONTH 1: $629.82 / $14,070.56 = 4.48% MONTH 2: $5,994.61 / $14,070.56 = 42.60% MONTH 3: $3,704.40 / $14,070.56 = 26.33% MONTH 4: $700.00 / $14,070.56 = 4.97% MONTH 5: $700.00 / $14,070.56 = 4.97% MONTH 6: $700.00 / $14,070.56 = 4.97% MONTH 7: $700.00 / $14,070.56 = 4.97% MONTH 8: $700.00 / $14,070.56 = 4.97% MONTH 9: $700.00 / $14,070.56 = 4.97% SMACKED: $14,070.56 / $14,070.56 = 100.00% MONTH 9: $458.27 / $2,558.27 = 17.91% MONTH 10: $700.00 / $2,558.27 = 27.36% MONTH 11: $700.00 / $2,558.27 = 27.36% STRETCHED: $1,858.27 / $2,558.27 = 72.64% TOTAL: $15,928.83 / $16,628.83 = 95.79% Detailed report for all November debt smackdown payments: 2017 Goal: To Pay off $14,070.56 in CC debt Stretch Goal: To Pay off $16,628.83 in CC debt Total Debt paid off Nov: $700.00 Total Debt paid off to date: $15,928.83 Remaining to reach goal: $0.00 Remaining to stretch goal: $700.00 Debt Oct 2017 Balance Min. Payment Actual Payment New Balance CC1 $1,400.00 $25.00 $700.00 $700.00
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After November payments:
Mortgage @ 5.25% - $92,732.33 (-227.39)
Auto Loan @ 4.99% - $33,267.56 (-370.90)
Student Loan(s) @ 2.25% and 1.675% - $8,361.70 (-286.49)
401(k) #3 @ 4.25% - $20,951.74 (-1691.01)
LC #3 @ 5.32% - $5,000.00 (+5000)for a grand total of $160,313.33 (+2424.21) - 117.57% of goal
-----------------------------------------------------------------------New debt but it's handleable. Still above target for the year.
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Hi Everyone! *waves*
While I didn't quite make it to the $15,000 that I wanted to spend towards debt paydown this year, I did pay $11,801.11 and cash-flowed a vacation to Disney World with my mom.
I think that I'm going to make my goal $15,000 again this coming year. I have a potential part time job lined up, have slashed both my grocery budget and my eating out budget, getting strict on clothes and makeup next...
Anyone interested in following along can hit my up in the journals sections! ~A Debt Free Dream~
-J
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Hello, New Forum!
My last autopay for my student loan just came out and with it I reached 90% of my $19,118 goal. However, I plan to make one more lump sum at the end of the month. I am still >$1700 short of that goal, but another $500 will put my student loan balance at below $20,000, which I am super excited about. When I make that payment, I'll update with my usual charts; at the moment I have my computer on a strict workflow, but I haven't blocked this site yet, only the old forums... 🙄
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This is it. My outstanding, non-PIF CC debt is now retired. I still owe on my car lease, and will likely have a small payment on my next car, but I will take care of that quickly, now that I know how. :)
Thanks, YNAB. And thank you, me!
rolltide's 2017 Debt Smackdown Summary:MONTH 1: $629.82 / $14,070.56 = 4.48% MONTH 2: $5,994.61 / $14,070.56 = 42.60% MONTH 3: $3,704.40 / $14,070.56 = 26.33% MONTH 4: $700.00 / $14,070.56 = 4.97% MONTH 5: $700.00 / $14,070.56 = 4.97% MONTH 6: $700.00 / $14,070.56 = 4.97% MONTH 7: $700.00 / $14,070.56 = 4.97% MONTH 8: $700.00 / $14,070.56 = 4.97% MONTH 9: $700.00 / $14,070.56 = 4.97% SMACKED: $14,070.56 / $14,070.56 = 100.00% MONTH 9: $458.27 / $2,558.27 = 17.91% MONTH 10: $700.00 / $2,558.27 = 27.36% MONTH 11: $700.00 / $2,558.27 = 27.36% MONTH 12: $700.00 / $2,558.28 = 27.36% STRETCHED: $2,558.27 / $2,558.27 = 100.00% TOTAL: $16,628.83 / $16,628.83 = 100.00% Detailed report for all December debt smackdown payments 2017 Goal: To Pay off $14,070.56 in CC debt Stretch Goal: To Pay off $16,628.83 in CC debt Total Debt paid off Dec: $700.00 Total Debt paid off to date: $16,628.83 Remaining to reach goal: $0.00 Remaining to stretch goal: $0.00 Debt Nov 2017 Balance Min. Payment Actual Payment New Balance CC1 $700.00 $25.00 $700.00 $00.00
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Thanks for bringing this thread over here Rolltide - would love to see the 2018 version too - definitely still on the debt paydown bandwagon...
I've been taking part in the Debt Smackdown since 2015(! why won't this debt just go already!). I'll probably mock up a graph at some point soon - but here's been my annual performance.
Year Starting Debt Target Payoff Actual Payoff % 2015 £10,500.00 £3,600 £3,601.15 100.03% 2016 £6,898.85 £5,400 £3,248.64 60.16% 2017 £3,650.21 £3,859* £1,322.77 34.26%
* I think I had a balance transfer somewhere what came with a few fees.
So I had a fairly expensive 2017, bought a 30 year old car, and got a cat, and have been a little less focused in general on paying off my debt.
I end 2017 with about £2,500 worth of the original £10.5k debt I started using YNAB with - so I'm pleased with progress. Not megabucks, but I've certainly not scrimped and saved as much as I could have done.
All being well, a bonus payment in January should be able to wipe out that original pot of debt entirely - (but the afformementioned car has a little bit of new debt tied to it too...)
Anyway, here's to a prosperous 2018!
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Credit Card: $3,376.55PIF as of 8 March
Car Loan: $5,742.27Paid off 23 March
Student Loan
Starting balance: Paid in December: Current balance:
$27,690.57 $1,000 $19,973.84
Original Debt: $36,809.49
Remaining Debt: $19,973.84*
Goal Paid in 2017: $19,118.00
Total Paid YTD: $17,859.57*
Percentage of total goal: 93.42%*Total Paid YTD doesn't equal original minus remaining because my goal was total payments made, not principal reduced. That said, I have pretty low interest rates so it just looks like I'm bad at math. ;)
As expected, December has been a high-paying month for me. However, it won't be as high as it could be, due to a lot of my income waiting until January for work completed now. (I'm freelance; it happens. I'm living on last month's income. It's NBD. :) ) So since I'll easily refill the category in time, I stole a bit of next month's payment so I could get that beautiful 1 in the front of my remaining balance.
I didn't quite make it to my total goal, which was to pay off the card and car loans in addition to $10,000 paid on my student loans. But even just seeing that beautiful 1 feels like enormous progress, and I'll take 93% completion. It's sad knowing that if we hadn't cash-flowed a Disney World/visit in-laws trip I'd have easily met my goal, but we also wouldn't have gone to Disney World and where's the fun in that?
2018 should involve an income jump for me if a referral works out right (crossing fingers!!) and smaller vacations without our minions, so I'll carry forward my goal of $10,000 paid off my loans in 2018. As it stands, my smallest loan is just about gone (should be by March!)—and I'm thinking my minimum payment will lower when that happens?—and if I can see single digits on that monstrosity by this time next year, I will be a happy, happy woman.