The Official 2019 Debt Smackdown
Welcome to the Official* 2019 Debt Smackdown!
Happy new year everyone!
I know a few of use have been chomping at the bit to get going with 2019's debt - so with out further ado, I present this years spreadsheet! First of all, quick thanks to everyone on here who supported this last year, and helped make sure the Google Sheet remained in tip top shape.
So what's this about? If you are holding onto some debt as you enter 2019 - and would like to get rid of it - this challenge is for you.
To the participants from last year, welcome back! For some of us, our total debts are too large to smack down completely in one calendar year, so if you're here from last year, congratulations on your progress and let's keep on doing this! In 2018, we collectively paid down over $1,500,000 in debt! An increase of OVER $600,000 than in 2017!
For all new participants, we are happy to have you join in this year! New blood is always welcome. Let's all motivate each other to pay off those debts and continue moving forward to financial freedom.
Per last year, this is a shared one between the two forums/communities. Hopefully, that won't bring any problems! (Link to the Forum post [soon])
How it works:
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 2019 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 2019 Google Sheet 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.
Last year, we collectively paid off $1,500,000. Let's smash that number again in 2019!
Please let me know any issues with the sheet - sometimes things are a bit wonky when making new ones!
*Official in the sense that there's a spreadsheet. Not official in the sense that it's made by YNAB. I'm just following naming conventions here :)
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Final March check in (everything is budgeted out until April now...including my son's field trip to New York City so no wiggle room this month) I paid $2,005.31 this month on the original $10,416 (0% interest credit card)
So starting January was $10,416
January payment 2,394
February payment 2,005
March payment 2,005
Balance $ 4,012
I am hoping to have this done by May this year so I can roll some of those dollars into a summer trip with my kids. The rest will go straight into my retirement account. After the trip is paid for an extra $500/month with go to the principle on my Mortgage. That will hopefully be paid off in October 2021!
I love YNAB!!
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Pediheartrn Impressive progress and dedication - congrats!
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March check-in: Still on track. Chipping away on the student loans and we are one month away from paying off a one of our 2 outstanding credit cards.
Student loans: $3,000
Visa: $237.79
Personal loan: $224.87
Total paid: $3,462.66-
Casey L So close!
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March check-in!
I have slated $700 going towards my debt paydown which is $523.58 less than I should be paying to stay on track with my 0% APR balance transfer deadline. I have about $650 budgeted towards April already, which feels great, but should I redirect it towards the debt? Still not sure what the best way to go is.
I'm gonna throw the $700 at it and then see how things go for the rest of the month... I can always add more!
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originalorange I'm with you on the 'can always add more' philosophy. Sometimes it's a little better to keep the cash around a little longer and then pay the debt when you're sure you won't need the cash. I'd rather do that than backslide deeper into debt!
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originalorange I tend to veer toward the same opinion as farfromtheusual
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I swear if it is not one thing it is another. Got the final approval on the student loan forgiveness. $119.000 and some change was taken off my record. Do I even get a full week to enjoy it, Nope, not at all. Got a letter from a collection agency yesterday about a medical bill, that Medicare is not paying. More their contractor, even though I was covered at the time. Due to an error between social security and medicare they showed me as not covered. I have appealed and won, yet I am still having trouble with it.
Back to the phones tomorrow and maybe it is time to call an attorney.
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Ruff16965 (05bd62cee897) Ugh! That totally sucks! It's so frustrating when everyone agrees that something should be paid and done with, and yet it itsn't. Best of luck.
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TheTabby About ready to write the House and Senate committees that oversee Medicare.
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Ruff16965 (05bd62cee897) sounds like you might need to to get this whole thing straightened out. It's scary when involving congress looks like it'll make things get done faster and better!
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TheTabby The medical bill was from Feburary2017, I have been going round and round since May/June 2017. Medicare could not even find it until April of 2018, then I had to appeal it, I won was told to have the bills, there were 4 resubmitted. 3 have been paid, but the largest at $3,700 keeps getting bounced. Medicare has it farmed out and t I send in forms, they send back a request for the same forms. I call Medicare they say that I have to deal with the contractor, but they will only talk to doctor/hospital and they get nowhere with them.
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Ruff16965 (05bd62cee897) Contact your US Senators' or your US Representative's office - not the committee that has jurisdiction. Your own Senators and Representative each have a constituent office that help with these types of inquiries. And because they represent you, they will be way more inclined to help you get a resolution. They often can get the attention needed by the right people at the contractor to get it paid correctly. And direct them to work with the contractor (I'm guessing a private insurer contracted with Medicare?). CMS (meaning the agency who runs Medicare) is too big a structure to get it resolved there. You'll likely need to sign an authorization for release of private health information for your Senator or Representative to get you an answer, but a lot cheaper than hiring an attorney. Good luck!
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CMS, for what it's worth, is the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services - I only know that because I work on medical equipment, and well, technobabble that you probably don't care about.
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Ruff16965 (05bd62cee897) If you are looking for Congress to help with your own specific problem, call your own Congressman. See what they need in writing to help you out. That's the one person/staff that will actually deal with your specific case. They represent you. They are often slow to answer mail, but their staff will answer the phone and give you specific guidance about how they can best help you.
Writing to the committees may make the overall situation better known and could result in improvements to the system. But they don't typically try to resolve individual cases.
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Spring Green Rain MartyH Thank you for the advice. I do have what might seem like a strange question. Staying in CA with my parents helping them with health issues. However, my Drivers license and vehicle registration is Oklahoma, no current OK address though, the medical bill was from Oklahoma. Do I contact the CA Senators and Representatives or Oklahoma?
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Ruff16965 (05bd62cee897) It depends on where you are registered to vote. Based on your voter registration location, you would contact your representatives from that district.
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Spring Green Rain Registered last in OK, and voted in the 2016 election, but have not been in OK for almost 2 years now. Maintain DL and vehicle due to cost, $29 a year versus about $350.
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Ruff16965 (05bd62cee897) Yeah, I guess I'm not sure. If you plan to vote where you are now for the next election, then register now there and contact those reps. If you plan to vote in OK, then contact them. They tend to be more responsive to voting constituents, for the obvious reasons. Good luck!
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Spring Green Rain Did the CA representative for the area. Don't plan on going back to OK, ex-girlfriend, am looking at a few other places and hope to move by the end of the year. Mainly in CA to regroup and take care and arrange somethings for my parents.
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Ruff16965 (05bd62cee897) That could open another can of worms. If you "reside" in OK but are just staying in CA to care for someone, you may still be a "resident" of OK. Otherwise you are likely a "resident" of CA. The Congressman who represents you is the one where you are a resident. That's why it matters. Where did you file income taxes? Do you own a home in OK? Do you have a spouse living in OK? (Domicile and Residence can be different.) It's complicated and potentially expensive if you don't keep a low profile.
The issue becomes your car registration. At least some states require you to register your car there shortly after you become a "resident". If you wait too long, you could be subject to hefty penalties and back taxes. (The expensive part of the CA registration is likely the Vehicle License Fee which is essentially a property tax based on value of the vehicle.)
Here are a couple of links worth looking at:
https://www.palmspringstaxandtrustlawyers.com/g-guidelines-for-determining-residency/
https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/vr/vr_info#origpenalty
I am not a lawyer and the above info is NOT legal advise. Please do your own research.
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MartyH No home, no spouse. Not on any lease at all. Thank you for the links I will check them out.
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Spring Green Rain So about a week ago got an form letter from the congressman, thought ok. Basically had sent and inquiry to Medicare to look into and expedite the matter. So a few minutes ago sit at the desk and notice my cellphone is flashing. A supervisor from Medicare called, left a message. The facts she gave me a totally wrong so I will call her Monday morning, but I am hopeful that things might finally be settled.
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Ruff16965 (05bd62cee897) Fingers crossed!
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Spring Green Rain After several days of playing phone tag and message tag, we went to e-mails. I am in possession of email that states that is is covered and that the contractor is working on processing the payment and that "Timely Filing" is waived as the mistake was all on Social Security's side.
Almost ended up with Medicare Part B reinstated with no premiums back to April of 2017, but when Social Security heard my story and saw the records I had all of a sudden I could have it but would have to pay all back premiums, so basically pay again for their mistakes. Makes me wonder how I would get an audit of my benefits to make sure that I am being paid the right amount. This mess all started when I went back to work in a trial period, made too much but had stopped working and moved they cut off benefits I appealed and won, then 6 months later they reopened appeal and then after 18 months claimed that I was overpaid when they reinstated my benefits. All based off paperwork I provided to them in the original appeal. -
Ruff16965 (05bd62cee897) That is good to hear! Hope it is paid soon.
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Spring Green Rain Your lips to God's ears, however the lady handling this is great. She has gone above and beyond. The latest e-mail from her. "SSA told me today that they are completely and equitably relieving you of any 20% Part B Late Enrollment Penalty surcharge and your monthly Part B premium will be $135.50 which is the base monthly rate for Part B in 2019…. The Part B start date remains as you requested to begin on 7/1/2019." So that will add up in the long run.
Besides thanking her several times, I am writing to the congressman that help get the ball rolling thanking him and mentioning how great she has been. I used to work customer care and things like that usually end up going in your record and the ex-wife used to work for the federal government and got bonus for work above and beyond.
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Ruff16965 (05bd62cee897)
Good of you to 'pay it forward' so to speak. I like to call or write sometimes to recognize effort because most of the time people only do so to complain. It's usually a pleasant surprise to get positive feedback.
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Spring Green Rain Well the Congressman was the way to go, their 4-6 week estimate to pay it. Less than 2 weeks, plus they went back and picked up the one that the people never billed for. So all my old medical from Oklahoma City is taken care off. Thank you again for the advice.
I have $76 from Florida that I will clear next month. -
Ruff16965 (05bd62cee897) That's great to hear. I'm so glad it all got taken care of. I bet it's a big relief!
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March check-in: Put $487.13 towards my consumer debt, and $164.73 towards my car loan. Things slowed down a bit because I had to purchase more items than expected for medical needs. :( I was also able to put my student loans into a cancer survivors deferment for the foreseeable future while I complete treatment and for 6 months post treatment.
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Black Orchid Progress is still progress. Most importantly, I hope you're feeling well and healthy
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March check-in. Paid off 2nd of my 4 credit cards. On track to make a major payment on card #3 at the end of the month. $186.26 paid for this month so far.
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Kim Laskey Kicking arse and taking names - love it!
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I'm on board, lucky number 249. Working mainly on the mortgage, and getting rid of the credit card.
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Been struggling a lot this last week just emotionally. This debt just feels like it's choking me. We decided it wasn't worth the risk of taking most of our savings to pay off the car loan when the interest rate is so low and the payments are essentially just principal at this point anyway. But I realized when looking at my budget over the weekend that I had enough saved in our upcoming vacation category that I could pay off my Kohls bill which was a ridiculous 27% interest. Vacation isn't for 3 months so I can easily replace that before then so I went ahead and wiped it out tonight. So another card done. That leaves us with only the car loan and the three big cards. Ugh. I hate that we still have so much credit card debt but once the car is paid off (June, probably) then we can really start focusing on the other debt.
I do think I have a 0% offer on my one card and I think I might move the card we're working on right after the car to that to really try and knock it out. I just worry that we will get complacent and let it ride which I don't want to do.
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Skeettafic - there are days where you definitely feel it. I'm the same. I've been looking at my timelines and just trying to make it come to fruition. Congrats on knocking out your Kohl's card, that's a great win and you should revel in the success of that. Also, good to have vacation on the horizon so that you have something to look forward to again. Take it one payment at a time, you've got this.
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Skeettafic I second the sentiments from Tishy Wishy. There are times this is so much harder. I hope you can take a pause to see how far you've come (no more Kohl's card, meaning no 27% ridiculous interest!). I know I didn't get into debt overnight, so I've had to accept that it won't go away overnight, either. And no matter what, keeping at it means you are better off today than you were yesterday. You've got this!
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Thanks to both of you. I’m usually okay at just plugging along but at times it all seems to be too much and I just ruminate on it. Feeling good about it now. It’s going to be a huge win when the car is paid off. That’s going to free up so much extra! I’m tempted to take a couple of months and use the full amount to really beef up some sinking funds before rolling any into the snowball - the vet and medical category have both been pretty heavily utilized so far in 2019 so getting a few extra hundred in each of those categories would be great.
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Skeettafic Getting the car paid off will be a huge boost. You will own it! Then when you get the title in the mail with no lien on it, you'll feel that boost again.
There is just something special about actually owning that big expensive thing you drive every day. It's a great feeling. Way better than paying off a Kohl's card. 🙂
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MartyH Thanks. Yeah, we can't wait! It's been super tempting to take the money from our savings and just pay it off but it's just too big a gamble to take that much from our emergency fund. We are down to a couple of months so it's just a matter of a very short period of time. It will be June at the latest. May if I can squeeze the rest of March and April really tight!
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March check-in. I can't believe we're over half-way through March, already! I paid $1577.11 toward debt this month. I'm on track with our debt-free snowball of June '22.
My husband's company was bought by another company, and the take-over happens April 1. New (and better) health benefits and a small pay increase. There's rumors of a vehicle allowance, but I'm not counting any chickens. We need to figure out the 401K situation (to roll-over or not) and how to transfer from one HSA to another without doing whatever I did the last time I transferred HSA's that ended up with a bill from the IRS. The stock option plan we're in with the current company is going to end early, so we'll be getting a chunk of change out of that sooner than expected.
I was in a car accident on the 7th. No one was hurt and it wasn't my fault, but it's been a HUGE PITA!! It happened in Florida, my van is in Alabama, and I live in Louisiana. The estimate done by the State Farm adjuster doesn't include everything wrong with the van. I'm still waiting to hear from the body shop it's at now to see if there will be an update on the estimate, and if it'll total the van or not. BUT... If it's totaled, we have enough (with the stock option sale) to buy a new (to us) van with cash, without losing my buffer!!-
Pay Me To Draw That's a lot of good news!!!
Good luck with the insurance situation, those can be really challenging to deal with. It's such a relief to know that you HAVE the funds available to deal with whatever happens though! Way to go!
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So, I decided to do something that may or may not have been smart. I had put $1k in an account for Christmas when I got my tax refund. I decided to take that out and pay it on my car instead. It’s so close to being done. Now only $490 left!
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Gold Song I think that makes sense as long as you set up an amount each month in your budget to have cash for Christmas. I'd rather save up over time than sit on $1,000 when it could do more good paying off debt that I'm paying interest on!
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Hi there! Line 208 here. We've got the goal to pay off $20,000 this year and it might be a very ambitious goal but we're doing this one step at a time. But, now that we've got our $1,000 Emergency Fund, we'll be going into high gear! And we're also crossing our fingers that our tax refunds will give us a hand!
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Sea Green Lightning Welcome! I love an ambitious goal! Keep us posted on your progress :)
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March check-in: We were able to snowball $4,536.35 to the student loans this month. A combo of annual raise/promotion and a small gift helped us out despite a $350 marathon fee and saving for a $600 bike and an upscale anniversary dinner. I'm really happy with the balance we've struck between paying off debt and having fun. We are on track to be debt free in November figuring a $2,300 minimum payment, but at the rate we are going I'm hoping to be done in September!
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Taylor L
Taylor L said:
I'm really happy with the balance we've struck between paying off debt and having fun.I'm so glad you've found this balance! Congratulations on a great month!
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So I ended up back sliding at the end of February due to some car repairs and a couple of purchases that couldn't wait. :( I'm really not happy about that, but it is what it is.
Here's the updated numbers for February, and then the totals for March as well.
Original Bal Pmt Interest Final Balance
Mastercard: $1363.28 $75.00 $62.99 $1256.98
Visa: $355.42 -$318.99 $674.41
TOTAL: $1718.70 $1931.39
And then here's the final numbers for March.
Original Bal Pmt Interest Final Balance
Mastercard: $1363.28 $85.00 $21.33 $1193.31
Visa: $355.42 $674.41
TOTAL: $1718.70 $1867.72
I'm grateful that I was able to make a larger than average payment for March, and I hope I can continue the trend. I'm also glad to see that the total is down below $1200. I'd LOVE to see it down below $1000, I think that will make me feel a bit better about it overall. It looks like it's another good month in the office, so there could be another bonus coming in April, which I'm going to chuck most of towards the debt I think, with maybe a little bit going to fund some categories. We'll see how it goes.
Keep on chugging.
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I'M DEBT FREE! A loan was settled, we paid the taxes on the forgiven amount and used the money we were saving to settle that big debt to pay off all the student loans and my car. Completely DEBT FREE! Next is our fully funded emergency fund of 6 months expenses (Dave Ramsey baby steps.) I'm so excited!
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Congratulations!! Gold Panther
That is exciting and motivating! Thanks
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Gold Panther Congratulations! Freedom from debt is a huge accomplishment.
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Gold Panther Congratulations!
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Gold Panther That's awesome!!! Congrats!
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Congratulations Gold Panther ! 🎉 That is amazing accomplishment. How did making those last payments feel!?
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Gold Panther
Woohoo! Go you. Come join the savings challenge. We could use some excitement in that thread.
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Gold Panther Woohooo! Congratulations!
Go create that Savings plan in the Savings challenge! Love these wins!
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Veronica at YNAB I just did! I'm so pumped!
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HappyDance Thanks for telling me, I didn't know about that thread! Just made my goal over there. :D
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Nicole it was a little humdrum, like "yep we pay these every month." It was looking at April's budget and hiding those debt line items in YNAB that finally clicked in for me and I feel free as a bird.
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After March Payments:
Mortgage @ 5.25% - $88,955.75 (-243.84)
Auto Loan @ 4.99% - $26,393.90 (-465.80)
Student Loan(s) @ 1.625% - $3,697.75 (-295.02)
401(k) #3 @ 4.25% - $1,196.59 (-1192.68)
LC #3 @ 5.32% - $1,556.11 (-143.05)
Parental Loan @ 0% - $23,678.06 (-200.00)for a grand total of $145,478.16 (-2540.39) for a total 25.11% of $30k debt payoff.
ON TRACK. Paying off the 401(k) loan next month!
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I want to pay down 25k out of 148k. A little on one CC, a car loan, and (mostly) student loans.
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So I joined in mid February but have not done any proper check in’s. It’s honestly taken a month to get YNAB figured out completely but I think I am there. In the meantime, I have paid off $700 on a Home Depot card, got out of my overdraft of $250 and have a much better feel for my finances in general. I am really happy to be out of my overdraft. That is seriously the worst habit to be in. Starting and ending the pay period budget in the negative is not good for the morale.
So about $1000 of debt paid down so far, but I have also started saving for true expenses. ie. Christmas. Also clothing, footwear and a home repair fund. All started and being funded in each budget.
Will check in again early April. Happy Budgeting and Debt Defeating everyone✌🏽
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Debt Defeater take your time learning YNAB. I found it takes a good 3 months, if not 6 months to really get the hang of not just the program, but the amount of money that I need for any given category (like gas and groceries, etc). There's a learning curve, and an adaptation time, so be gentle with yourself, and have fun!
Getting started is the most important step!
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Hi everyone! Three months in and I am finally making some progress. After an unexpected trip to help a friend and another one in a couple of months, I didn't make as much progress as I had hoped. I'm going to have to watch my pennies closely if I am going to make my end goal but I am keeping a positive and focused outlook. This month, I was able to reduce my debt by just over $2,300. that's with staying on target to not incur more debt with my backyard project in May and my second unexpected trip also in May.
I'm inspired by all of your progress so far! Let's keep this up and see what we can accomplish collectively!!!
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March check-in: finally made some progress! My very stretch goal is $30k for 2019. Today, I paid $10k to totally payoff car loan . Paid $2k towards credit card balance and $3k towards 2nd home loan. so, 2019 debt reduction total so far is $15k! this is only possible because I made some unexpected income but it feels great!
Next up the remaining $15k debt reduction....will pay $6k in credit card debt and $9k balance of 2nd home loan.
The paid loans above frees up about $750 a month and that will go towards the cc debt or the 2nd home loan balance.
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Maroon Viper
What fantastic progress. Go you!
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March update: No more debt payments for the month.
At the very end of February I paid off one credit card and now on to the second. I have paid off 25% of my starting in January principal. This second credit card has a mix of cash advances and purchases. According to my calculations I should be done paying off my cash advances by June. I can't wait for that next marker! Still waiting on the state refund to make another dent in the CC debt, but I am <16k so yay, me! Oh and my credit score went up a smidge. -
Alright. Big ol' goose egg this month for my debt contribution. I went through a move this month, and needed to have a 1.5 months of rent ready in a period of about 2 and a half weeks. While my budget was prepared for this, I was NOT prepared for all the other little things that came with moving that I didn't really have to deal with in the past - hiring a rental truck to transport all our furniture, 'paying' the people that helped us move with food/beer as promised, deposits for pets and utilities, fast food for the first few days when the fridge was empty and all the kitchenware was still packed up, etc. Plus, I have a fairly large expense coming up in May that's taking priority over my debt this month.
BUT I do have some good news. I finally hit the point where my credit was strong enough to apply for a balance transfer card that would cover all of my current debt. My waiting period ends in a couple of days and then my debt will be moving over to a 0% APR for 21 months card. I already have a payoff plan and I'm pretty excited to not be dropping 100+ a month on just my interest payments.So while this month has been pretty disappointing (I'm in the red again for the first time since starting YNAB 6 months ago), I expect that next month should be much more manageable. And if it's not, at the very least I'm still in a better place than I was when I started this budgeting thing :)
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SiruhTheSantas That zero interest transfer is HUGE!! I LOVE being able to take advantage of those! Way to go for scoring that, I know that will be a big help!
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Final numbers for March are $603 paid towards the credit card.
Half of what last month but still progress I guess.Remaining balance is $8,989 and I am 27% of the way to my goal.
Hoping for more next month but I am a little doubtful since I am cash flowing a small vacation and am still paying myself back for some unexpected expenses that came up.
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March payoff was as close to bare minimum as we could go without losing progress for the year. We paid over the minimums and managed to squeeze $800 toward debt. We do have a windfall coming in next month that should mostly go toward debt since we've already funded our upcoming vacation!
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March check in, I started with 23573.69 between credit cards and student loan. I paid off 2064.61 this month and I didn't add to the debt because I was budgeting for all expenses, hooray!
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Quinn That's such a good feeling!! Way to go!
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March check in - this month I paid off $1,444.42. This is about $160 short of my goal for the month, but it's not bad considering I got side-tracked with an expensive car repair. I think I might be debt-free in 5 paychecks, and I can't wait! I'm 59% of my way to my goal.
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Debt Crusher Cat Mother Five paychecks?! That is so close! Being able to deal with a True Expense like an expensive car repair, and nearly reach that goal is nothing to sneeze at.
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Nicole yes, absolutely! I'm proud of my progress but I get SO impatient! Lol
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