
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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Just joined in line 154. I have a total debt of $15,613.88 but am looking to pay off $7,821.81 over the next one to two years. That is one personal loan and my credit cards. I have a four year personal loan for $13,686.72 that I will tackle when I get the rest paid off. So far in February, I have paid $505.06. I am looking for ways to cut costs and put more each month into getting my totals down, starting with the highest interest rate card.
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The rest of February's debt payments made today for a total of $1365 paid in February. Officially paid off the JCPenney card. Amazon card next month.
Hubby had some overtime we weren't expecting this pay but we have to get his car inspected and need a couple of things around the house so as tempting as it is to use that towards a debt payment, I instead split it between our car and home maintenance funds. Trying to remember that paying too much out to debt isn't going to do us any good if I have to use the cards for regular everyday things.
Once we make March's payment on hubby's car, the payoff is going to be around $1800. So tempting to just pay it off since we have the money in savings but again, it's only 2.9% interest on the car and it will be paid off regardless in May so I'm trying not to jump the gun.
Overall, keeping steady! According to our undebt.it calculations, we will have 5of 8 debts paid off by the end of the year. I would really like to stretch and get that 6th one knocked out as well. Trying to keep that in focus!
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February Update - Paid off almost 2k of the 14k goal YTD. Currently at 1914.85 and thinking I might be able to toss another few hundred towards the CC debt by the end of the month - that or the student loan. It's a debate which to attack first since they're about the same amount but the CC interest rate is MUCH higher :(
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Final February check in.....I was able to find an additional $505.32 to send to my credit card debt. That puts me at having paid off $4396.32 of $10,416 or 42% so far this year. Goal remains at May for payoff. It is so close now.... I can't wait to find new jobs for all of this money I have been throwing at the debt. Home Improvement projects and college funds here I come!
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Reality check-in... So I am still pretty new to YNAB and fear I have fallen into one of the obvious newbie traps, despite advice to avoid it. I think my debt smackdown plan is way too aggressive. I have been doing some digging through the past year's income vs spending and realizing that there's no way I have the $1200 extra to put towards debt payment as I planned AND still fund my true expenses. Looks like I spend more than I make fairly regularly. .Oh gee, do you think this is why you are in debt in the first place?? 🤦🏻♀️So I am going to keep digging and dial it back to something realistic and manageable. This is disappointing and frankly, embarrassing. Live and learn!
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February Check-In: I've paid down $3,145.10 this month, partly because of some help from my parents who insist on "paying me back" for student loans, because they couldn't save for it during the recession. The extra $145.10 closed out my last remaining >6% interest rate loan, it feels great to have that one out of the way completely!
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Seems that the hard work that I have been putting in on the student loans are paying off. Signed on to the website to check the status to be great with Pending Final Approval, so $10,578.00 plus interest is going to be cleared away.
That will put me over 300% of my payoff goal for 2019 and I still have 10 months to go.
Plan to have all the old medical debt clear the first of next month. My back child support will be totally paid off by May. I am finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel and don't think that it is a train this time.
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February Check-In: I payed $2842.56 towards my debt including paying off the smallest debt. Here's the breakdown:
Total Debt as of 2/18/2019
Personal Loan @ 9.75% - 4,153 --> 3851.14
Visa CC @8.99% - 12,084 --> 11,841.27
Auto Loan @2.24% - 19,875 --> 19,164.02
Mortgage @3.24% - 146,318 --> 145,626.14
Store CC @0% - 643 --> **0**!Total: $183,073 --> 180,482.87
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I'm a bit late to this, but I am in!
I have a total debt of €24,185 with a mixture of Personal Loans and a credit card.
My goal for 2019 is to pay off the credit card - Balance left in January was €1844 & to pay off a personal loan of €4000.
Claimed line 221 on the spreadsheet.
My January Check in was:
Personal Loan - €588
Credit Card - €100
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Checking in to update, threw an additional $5600 at our cc debt this month. We are trying to do a more sustainable paydown this time (actually budgeting our expenses and funding our true expenses BEFORE the paydown), so this is HUGE because we have paid our bills and budgeted our true expenses through the first half of March! We need to eliminate another $30K, if possible, in the next 90 days as we are trying to get a mortgage preapproval pretty quickly here.
We are excited to move to a life absent cc float (that quickly spirals into cc debt). Whohoo! $86K to go this calendar year. Hopefully $30K more before the end of April! Wishing you all well and trying to stay the course!
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Um. Apparently I've been aggressive this month. I'm at 27.93% of my goal for the year! I know I'll have to slow down over the summer because I'll get paid less (still enough to meet my regular budget) but I'm gobsmacked! I did get a small salary increase, and did a few more hours in my part time job, but still!
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1) Total Debt: $91,395 Credit Cards: $70,524. Car Loan: $20,871.
2) Want to pay off all credit card debt($70,524) in 2019. Paying monthly on the car which I am not considering, have a 0.99% apr so, not rushing to pay it off. Super ambitious, counting pennies at this point to get out of debt.
3) Paid $12,334 in Feb
4) Claimed Line 224