The Official 2020 Debt Smackdown
Welcome to the Official* 2020 Debt Smackdown!
Happy new year everyone!
That's right, we're back for 2020. Last year we saw about 310 of us brutally destroy about $3 million in debt. Wow. Right. Massive achievement. Can anyone say 'YNAB blog post'?
But there are plenty of us with still some debt to go. And as much as I hate debt, I do love a good spreadsheet, so here we go. A few of us have come into 2020 with some debt remaining. Maybe over spent at Christmas. Either way, this challenge is open to anyone who wants to eradicate that debt from your life.
So what's this about? If you are holding onto some debt as you enter 2020 - 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 2019, we collectively paid down over $2,800,000 in debt! An increase of OVER $1,300,000 than in 2018!
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.
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 2020 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 2020 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 $2,800,000. Let's smash that number again in 2020!
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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My update from a few weeks ago (added to my personal journal instead of here)
Mid-April Update (Smackdown)
I've finished my payments for the month, which gives me the following totals:
Paid: £2,068.17 (this month) £5,203.34 (so far this year)
Remaining: £15,879.19
Sometimes it feels as though I am only making a little progress, but then when I consider that I have now paid down 24.68% of my debt this year, I am quite happy. This month was also the final instalment of my university fees for the year. Between that and the increase in my transfer to my UK account, I will be able to pay off larger amounts over the next few months.
I've had a stressful week at work (some tool having a go because he doesn't understand systems - trying to turn it into my team's fault). However, there are a lot of positive vibes from most people, so that helps!
It also helps to look at what I have achieved so far in all things, but especially in paying down debt. The plan is to push through on a very careful budget for another four months or so in order to pay down one of my cards (I have two - the other card has a smaller balance with a very low interest rate). With not going away this summer, it is achievable. Then I can relax a little, hopefully while maintaining good budgeting habits.
Latest news:
After being paid not just on time but also a little early, I paid another £2500 off of my card this month. Again, I have saved enough to ensure that my minimum payment is available for the day after my statement is released, but it has taken my total card debt in the UK to just under £13,400. I still have a few other payments to go out (e.g. student lan and my other card), but no university fees this month. I love looking at the different stats and seeing my 'net worth' improve by over £9000 in since the start of Feb. The overall number is still negative, but the improvement is nice. To also go from over £21,000 of debt (excluding student loans) to this figure helps me to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It spurs me on to see the achievement, and know that I can keep going. Hopefully I'll get just as much of a kick out of seeing the savings pile up once the cards are paid. I'll do my proper update for May after my statements etc. mid month.
Hope you're all keeping well.
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I just got confused for a moment about how my net worth could have increased by that much when the running total of payments was less. I realised that it was because the running total didn't including clearing my overdrafts.
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Chinese Orchid 24% is truly no small feat! Great work sticking to your goals and continuing to move forward, even when it gets sticky.
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Good morning Ynab's, My first of May check in. I have added $1800 towards the equity, dental and Best Buy. My plan is to pay the dental in the next two months, while putting away as much of unemployment for the long months ahead of no income. The aom is still over 40. I am so thankful for Ynab to not have the stress of money during this time. :-)
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Pink Mermaid Sounds like a great plan!
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Updating my Debts - I have currently down to 6, 989.24 remaining to pay off my CC debts... I cannot believe that I have paid down approximately 3000 of my 10,000 dollar goal! It helps that I had additional income coming in. I did not update my March payments which totaled 1221.05. I made 403.00 in payments for April.
My current dilemma is I have a full credit card payment to complete the pay off one card. Do I hold onto that money or do I just get rid of the card payment totally? What are your thoughts?
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Powder Blue Foal How much is it costing you for that debt to sit there every month? What's the measuring stick I use to decide whether or not to pay down something faster or slower.
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farfromtheusual thank you for the use of your measuring stick 😄... with interest it adds another 12 % so... I decided to go ahead and pay it off! Yeah Me Capital One final payment 706.91...
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Powder Blue Foal I love this - real-time proof that the encouragement here makes a huge difference. Congratulations on paying off that credit card! 🎉
farfromtheusual I'm really glad you're here! 😁
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Powder Blue Foal It's the best measuring stick to use. If it's costing you a lot, then it's not worth keeping the cash in your pocket while you're paying someone else for the privilege of borrowing money.
In some cases I have had that mean that I have scraped by and ended up on the float a little bit in order to NOT pay interest, and that's somewhat ok, too. If it means that I'm not paying someone else for the "loan" then it's ok in the short term.SO CONGRATS on getting rid of that debt, and saving yourself the extra 12% every month! That's 12% less debt that you'll have every single month, and money that stays in YOUR pocket to be used for things you need now!
Faness Aw, thanks. I had a VERY wise friend give me this advice when I was struggling with credit card debt many years ago. Of course, it took several years later to find YNAB and be able to actually figure out which end was up with my budget, but at least I know how to game the system to my advantage, plus YNAB, and now we're unstoppable!
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farfromtheusual I'm debating this question right now.
I have $316 left phone installment plan. It comes out to about $31 a month with no additional interest and if I let it run the course of payments until February of 2021 I will only pay about $285. So I would save one month's fee if I wait. But I'm thinking of switching from my $70.00 ATT plan to a $45 Mint Mobile plan (with a $25/mo introductory fee) and I need my phone off the installment plan and unlocked to do that. So - I might save $31 at the end of the installment phone plan or a possible $25 a month if I pay the entire phone fee and switch to Mint. I'm not completely sold yet on switching to Mint so, for now, I will pay the installment and do some research. But even the opportunity of saving money wouldn't happen if I didn't use your 'measuring stick '. 😄
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farfromtheusual it did feel really good because I did not have to figure out a way to do it...I just had it! So Ynab is working so well 😁
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Peripherie I just had a similar debate, though I'm not switching plans, but I switched my phone. It'll only save me $5 in the long run, but having a new phone that can handle my battery usage was worth it to fuss with switching. Sometimes you don't get a definitive answer, and that's ok, too, but at least you've got clarity on it.
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Powder Blue Foal YES!!!!
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April Check in:
Thanks to the Canadian governments covid support payments I was able to pay just over $1800 towards my debt in April. My debt has gone from $10,533 in January to $4904 currently, meaning I have paid off 50%!! Canada is also awarding health care workers $4 more per hour for the next 4 months plus an additional $250 a month - every penny I net from this will go towards my debt. My new goal is to have my debt paid off by September instead of December! Hope you're all making progress as well...I know I'm benefitting financially from the pandemic while so many others are not.
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GroceryAddict I'm so happy to hear Canada is taking steps to take care of those on the front lines! Congratulations on reaching that halfway point! :)
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GroceryAddict that's awesome!! I think that for some the financial assistance through the government has been really helpful in actually helping them to get ahead. Our little $1200 check has certainly helped my BF and I, too. I'm grateful for the fact that I'm NOT stressing out financially right now on top of the crazy-I-don't-want-to-get-sick stress.
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GroceryAddict And you deserve it!! I feel so stressed & anxious and I'm not dealing with the disease at the hospital. All health care workers will need massive vacations when this is over. I'm happy you can focus on the positive. That's a huge win. Keep doing it! :)
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The original plan was to have the 2nd mortgage paid off by this month. A knee replacement and worldwide virus later, here we are. But the good news is that we reached a milestone on each debt - 1st under $60k and 2nd under $12k. Still holding on to funds until the world gets back to normal.......
Final numbers for May 2020
Starting balance end of April Ending balance after May pymts
$60,145.73 1st Mortgage $59,616.02
$12,016.16 2nd Mortgage $11,796.49
$72,161.89 $71,412.51
Total debt paid down in April $749.38, total for 2020 $3,691.45 (19.33% of goal).
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Okay, here is my check in for February, March, and April. I ended up having surgery in February so I haven't been able to pay as much as I'd like. Hoping by May or June I can be back on track to keep paying down!!!!
February/March/April
beginning / paid this month
Medical bill $116 / $0Victoria Secret $120 / $70Torrid $1836 / $200
Credit Card $7919 / $734
PAID $1004 / February/March/April
Beginning Balance: $9991.00
Total paid: $1510
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amystylin I'm glad you checked in and updated your progress! I hope surgery went well and you're recovered now!
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Veronica thank you! So far it has been successful! Glad to have found YNAB a few years ago. I was able to budget enough to make through without working!!! I still have a long way to go, but would never had made it pre-YNAB!
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April Update:
$300 paid on my student loan, $230.58 of that on principal. Not bad considering I was on government assistance at the time.
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May progress report on my battle against the student loan beast.
As of April 9, 2020: $210,940.23
As of May 6, 2020: $208,917.90
Notes: Regular monthly payment resulted in principal reduction of $1,222.33. Made extra principal payment of $800.00. Total reduction of principal in May: $2,022.33.
Year-end goal is to get the balance down $44,934.56 (from $224,934.56 starting place on January 1, 2020) to $180,000.00. With a $16,016.66 reduction so far this year, I'm now about 35.64% there.
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Slate Blue Pilot This is awesome and inspirational.
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Sky Blue Wizard Thank you!
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Slate Blue Pilot Your detailed numbers here are fantastic!
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Veronica Thank you!
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Late for my April check in!
$670 paid towards my debt, not as much as I would like but I've really been building up my true expenses and I have finally aged my money to 30 days! There are small silver linings even during quarantine :) Looking forward to paying my debt down even more next month.
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I see everyone in the debt challenge paying their debt, and all I do is to take money from my emergency fund... 😞 ... but I received more money this month and should have less money that need to go away. So I hope that I can refund the emergency fund, even if I don't pay my debt this month again. It's less exciting, but more careful.
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Powder Blue Lightning Keep in mind that even though your taking money from your emergency fund it's preventing you from taking on more debt you may have otherwise taken on. So it is helping you, even if the numbers don't show it. 😉
You got this! 🤗
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Powder Blue Lightning I've been there. Just keep up with doing the work, even if you back slide a little bit. This is the 3rd year I have participated in this challenge, I think, and it's the first year that I haven't back slid so bad that I wanted to give up tracking. I've had a couple of windfalls, thankfully, and my income has increased by a smidge overall. If your actual basic expenses are really close to your income it IS very hard to make progress, and you will back slide, because things happen. But I also look at it that we are blessed to have credit available to fall back on, even if it is challenging to pay it off. Keep up the strategy and don't give up! If you ever want someone to talk to, feel free to message me. I've certainly got plenty of creativity under my belt for getting rid of debt!
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May is here and time for some good news! I did some math and it ended up being more beneficial for me to take what I had in my downpayment fund and just pay off the car loan. This also gets rid of a bill in case COVID-19 takes my job (though I don't think this is likely *knocks on wood*). The downpayment fund will recover pretty fast as long as I keep up with my budgeting.
- Car Loan:$7,313.03/$7,313.03 🎉
- Mortgage: $3,846.17/$7,200.00
- Total: $11,159.20/$14,513.03
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Madkat-Z Horray maths! It is awesome when you make that discovery!! Congrats!!
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Student Loan Smackdown Report
April 2020: $116,925.70 -$3600= $113, 325.70
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May Update: Paid $963.67 total towards debt. Unexpected vet visit took a bite out of the emergency fund but we're hanging in there.
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May check in... I paid off the bank loan! Paid $2431 as the final payment. This means I have paid off the bank loan and the credit card debt-- the only payments left are my monthly on the car loan. This forum was EXTREMELY helpful. Been trying to do this for years and I finally zero'd out those debts. I'm going to join the savings smackdown group now. Thanks!!
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Turquoise Wildebeest Congrats!!!!
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I am starting to build a little momentum toward getting rid of debt, reduced an additional $391 this month.
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Magenta Horn Congrats! Every extra payment that you have do really helps and I know it is a good feeling!
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May Check-In:
Postponed our Family trip to Europe, for obvious reasons. I just hope when everything lines up and we do get to go, the airlines haven't jacked the prices sky-high to make up for their current losses. It'll feel like the trip credit we received for this is moot.
Making steady payments on our debt. Debt thermometer is showing 54.66% paid off. Should be on track to pay it all off before the end of the year.
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Rhei you're ahead of the game at this point, so that's great! Sorry about the trip, I am wondering what is going to happen to travel when things settle down, too.
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Rhei I think overall air travel will be more expensive in the future, but there will be fierce competition controlling prices.
Demand will be low to start with, so we might find a lot of "last minute" deals to try and squeeze as much out of the aircraft capacity as possible.
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Rhei We also postponed a trip to Europe and I expect the flights will be more expensive next year. I'm just parking those dollars in the vacation category and we'll likely make some changes to what we originally planned to keep it cost effective.
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Paid $1,260 to credit card principal in May.
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Turquoise Vacuum Correction, $1,270.
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April update: paid off my credit card that was incurring interest, reduced my payment down to the minimum on my credit card (0% interest until Nov 2021) to create a savings buffer after salary was reduced to 80% due to Covid-19.
May update: paid £800 off credit card, £250 off student loan.
Overall… reduced debt by 14% YTD:
- Credit Card 1 (01/01/20 balance: -£114.29): Paid off in April 😊
- Credit Card 2 (01/01/20: -£5647.55): now -£3,145.35
- Student Loan: (01/01/20: -£15,000.29): now -£14,800.29
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Forest Green Motherboard I'm really disappointed that my plans to pay off debt have been scuppered this year. Wish I had taken proper responsibility for my debt before Covid-19 hit... but oh well, there's bigger fish to fry and I've lots to be grateful for!
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Forest Green Motherboard you're still hanging on, and you're still here, and that's what counts. Shoulda, woulda, coulda doesn't really help, and now you have even more reason to want to get it fixed so that you're not in this position ever again, right?
Keep sticking with it, you'll get there eventually! -
Thanks very much farfromtheusual - these are all good points, and so nice to hear! You're absolutely right, it's a massive incentive to avoid this position again 😄
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Forest Green Motherboard you can do it!!
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A total of $9,331.95 in debt (credit cards, went a little....interesting last year), which I hope to pay off by 12/31/2020.
I have some insurance reimbursements that I'd been delaying submitting, which I hope will help knock it down some, and a windfall in terms of a significantly larger than expected tax return (I double-checked, I think I just overwithheld.) Other than that, finally getting serious about YNAB! And sitting at home will help with gas and transportation costs......
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Salmon Motherboard That's all good news!!! Here's to knocking down that debt!
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May Check-in: Paid $800 total to debt this month. $600 and $100 to 0% interest cards (balances now $1100 and $2500) and $100 toward Parent Plus Loan (also currently at 0% interest) with $10,225 to go this year. I do plan to go pretty hard at the Parent Plus Loan last quarter of the year, but I have changed course a little, opting to now put $6000 towards an IRA (for 2019) since the filing deadline was extended to July 15th and I'm trying to catch up some with my retirement accounts. I feel good about the balance of debt payment, retirement and emergency savings. Spreadsheet says I'm 57% of the way to goal!!
I have added 1 new category to YNAB this year...and I'm sorry (not sorry) to say it's "Wine" because you know, Coronavirus. Happy debt-smashing everyone! Cheers ;)
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Sweet Tangerine yeahhh knowing just how much you spend on alcohol can be sobering (pardon the pun!). It's often very worth it to me, though! (My wine shipment for this quarter just arrived this week, I'm a happy camper, too!)
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Hey there. I was part of this back in 2018. Since then, we sold the house in Colorado, moved to Florida and are currently renting while we get debt out of our lives.
I opted to show our entire journey since we did a fresh start on landing in Florida. From a Net Worth of -42k to today (and not done with this month yet!) of -21k. 50% of the way there!
Credit Card back to PIF status 12/2020
Car #1 paid off 2/2021
Car #2 paid off 5/2021 (or sooner)
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Keith & Kittery Barrows I love seeing those lines get closer and closer together!! Welcome to the journey!
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I did it - I paid off my MBA today and hit positive YNAB net worth today (I don't include my 401k balance. I find the negative balance as a motivation). My actual debt payment for May is $3,070.44. Now I only have one debt left: the car!
Total Debt: $12,313.63
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Lavender Cobra CONGRATS!! Total happy dance!!
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Lavender Cobra Congratulations! This is a huge milestone!
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I am not sure what I am supposed to share when I do my check ins as this is my first one. So, I am going to use it as a time to reflect on last month, what I was able to complete this month and the game plan for next month.
In April I was able to pay off a line of credit. Along with a total of $953 towards all my other debt.
This month I found myself second guessing this adventure that I am on. But I stilled rolled over my extra money into my next lowest bill. I am hoping to be able to pay this bill off by July.
The game plan for next month is to complete my double payment for my car insurance. So, when July comes that bill will be on every 6 months. This should take care of my future debt prevention. By doing this I should be able to meet my other goal of paying off my next lowest bill by July. If all goes as planned I will have another bill paid off and my car insurance will be on every 6 months.
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Corruptress - That sounds wonderful! Looks like you have a snowball debt payment going for you! Awesome!!!
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Corruptress welcome to the party!
Whatever you want to update is fine here, some people write notes like you did, some people list a breakdown of their bills, what they've paid off, and how much they've paid each month. Whatever the accountability looks like for you is perfect.
If you're new to YNAB, feel free to shoot me a message and I'll hook you up with some resources that I've collected that helped me to refine my process and be on the road to actually getting out of debt.
And congrats on being able to pay the car insurance in the 6 month lump sum. I never thought I would be one of *those* people, but YNAB helped me get there, and take advantage of the windfalls when they arrived so that I knew what to do with my funds in order to make smarter choices! -
Thank you farfromtheusual. I feel like I’m still new to YNAB as I’ve only been using it for 6 months now. Everything is so exciting and I just want to tell everyone about this journey that I’m on and get people to come on it with me, but the few people I’ve talked to either don’t understand or they look at me like I’m crazy. When they are ready I’ll be more than happy to share this with them.
I’m there with you on feeling like I would never be able to be one of “those” people that pay their car insurance in a lump sum.
All I can say is these last 6 months have been a wild ride and I’m loving it. I can’t wait to see what else is coming for all of us. I wish you the best on whatever journey you are on right now.
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Corruptress Lol! Thank goodness I am not the only one. I have shared YNAB with my family and a few friends and I get the same look. "O-kay...." :D
Good luck on your financial journey! I can't wait to be 6 months in. (I am sitting at about 4 1/2 months.)
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Peripherie I know it's like you just sprouted two heads or something. I wish you the best on your journey as well! Keep your goals and why you're doing this in mind and you will achieve every last one of your goals you have set.
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Corruptress I can completely relate to everyone thinking I'm mad... I once had lunch with my Mum (oh those halcyon days!) and after I paid I popped the transaction in YNAB. We got talking about it and she couldn't comprehend why I had a category for "Morning Coffee", or that I was putting away £3 a month towards my dental bill...
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Corruptress LOL! Same here with trying to share. Happily I jumped in when a friend shared it with me so I've got her to chatter with. I did have what I thought was a funny thing happen when I tried to share with a co-worker. I told her all about it her reaction was "that would be perfect for my daughter!" Listening to her talk about her finances I was thinking, No, actually it would be perfect for YOU! And knowing the daughter, I'm pretty sure she did not appreciate her mom telling her how to handle her finances... :)
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Toolkit for YNAB has a very interesting new report. The first month is the start of a budget, entering in all debts and money on hand. 2nd month - no job yet (3rd full month in Florida). May 2019 - landlord passes away, we start putting rent in a separate account until we can figure out who to pay it to. July 2019 - 3 months rent paid to the Estate for rent. November 2019 - no job. All in all, we've kept our head above water, barely. Finally starting to see some progress in the padding of our budget. Age of Money is now 8 days and this is an extra pay month!
Car payment #1 made and CC paid down a little extra so far. In 10 days the 2nd car payment will be made. Staying on track!
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Keith & Kittery Barrows I love reports! They've so nice to be able to look at the bigger pictures of what is actually happening!
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Keith & Kittery Barrows Thank you for sharing this tool.
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Keith & Kittery Barrows Where do you get that report? Looks really cool. :)
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Purple Foal It's an extension for chrome. Look up "Toolkit for YNAB" and you'll find all sorts of info on it and how to get it. YNAB doesn't make it, it's a third party tool but I do like quite a number of things it does. :)
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Purple Foal the report in YNAB is similar EXCEPT that the income is not overlaid (which I will admit is a big difference). But the spending info is there. In the app, if you double click on one of the categories, a report for just that expense will show.
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Grey Tux Great thanks! :)
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MXMOM Yes I like those! Was looking last night on my spending for food & wine during the pandemic. lol :)
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May Monthly Check In
- Construction Loan: Balance $0!
- Medical Loan: Paid $100 - Balance $1,400
- #2 Medical Loan: Paid $320 - Balance $6,400
Minimums only this month unfortunately. Husband's overtime dried up because of COVID. He has worked 6 or 7 days a week for the past year and a half. So it's nice for him to be home weekends right now but we certainly miss the money! He was basically doubling his paycheck every week with overtime so it's weird and hard for our income to be cut by 50%. Thankfully we can pay minimums with no overtime.
We also started the process of refinancing our house. Interest will go down from 4.75% to 2.87%ish. Saving us $100 a month in payments and $46,000 over the life of the loan.
Total paid this month $420. $8,070 / $15,870 - 51% complete for the year!
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The Goat Queen We're in the same boat - the BF's overtime was cut. For us that's a reduction of about 1/3 of his pay check, but it has meant that things are stretched REALLY right now. We're managing, mostly thanks to YNAB and the clear picture I have of our finances, but dang, it's not fun.
Kudos on the refinance! I hope that comes through quickly and the "Skipped" month that you get in between is beneficial, too!
