
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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Auto loan 1 (Honda) - $10k balance and 2.9% interest rate
Auto loan 2 ( Subaru) - $23k balance and 0.9% interest rate
Mortgage - $525k balance and 3.75% interest rate
No plans to pay down mortgage early. Goal to pay off Honda car loan by May 2020 and Subaru car loan by May 2021. Additional principal payments planned in 2020 is $15k
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Hello fellow YNABers!
One of my biggest goals this year is to actually track my spending in YNAB. I love the software and how it works but I can never seem to keep up with entering my purchases. Maybe I need to try linking my account.
Anyway, I’d like to pay my $17K car loan down by half this year, so my goal is to pay $8500 by December 31. I will add myself to the Google Doc later today.
Happy debt crushing everyone! -
I'm new to the smackdown, but excited to join the community and conquer our debt! This year I am focused on eliminating all non car loan debt and building up savings.
CC debt: $6,969 (consolidated on a no interest balance transfer card)
Grad school loan: $3,058
Car: $23,933
Total debt: $33,960
Total to be paid off in 2020: $15,460
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Hello, finance friends.
My total debt, a combination of student loans and credit cards: $16,700. Ew, gross.
Student loan payments are non-negotiable, but I would like to pay down $5,000 total as a goal.
I'm eager to find some more freedom by moving to a cheaper area near my partner and by finally buying a used car. Should be easier to earn and save money when I don't have to ride the bus everywhere! So, I'll have to incur some more debt (maybe like $8k) for the car and fork out some money for a move... my work is cut out for me. Oh, and my cat Toby wants me to buy her some more of those shrimpy treats, too. Thank goodness for the wonders of public libraries for free entertainment.*
In the past three years, I've exited a grad program, gone through a divorce, and gotten some help in paying credit card debt from my parents. I have a lot of guilt and insecurity, so there's plenty of room for improvement.
Looking forward to this encouraging little place to help me along.
🤠
IT'S GOING TO BE A WILD RIDE.
*I met my goal in 2019 of reading more than 117 books. This year, my goal is to read 150 (I think?). Should be cool to see the book consumption set up against debt reduction!
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My debts total $18,000! It's a mix of credit cards & financing for emergencies I had. Caveat: I'm on a disability income, so get money once per month. Besides my physical disability, I also have severe depression & anxiety.
I know it will take longer than a year, but I'm hoping this group will help.
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OK, I'm new to this thread and to YNAB altogether. So here goes.
Just as a precursor... There was a natural disaster in our city in 2016 that flooded our home and most of our belongings, as well as our rental home, and both of our paid-off vehicles that caused most of our debt.
1. List the amount of total debt that you owe.
$561,198.92... 2 mortgages, 2 disaster loans, multiple student loans, 2 auto loans, 1 HELOC, 1 credit card, 1 debt consolidation loan2. Post in this thread the total amount of debt you would like to pay off during the 2020 calendar year. (This part is required.)
$54,000.00, This includes a $41,200 grant that finally came in this month which we applied for in August of 2016. The grant was automatically applied to one of the disaster loans.
I'd like to get the credit card paid off by the end of the year.
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I'm excited to be joining! My 2020 goal is to get out of debt, and it's totally doable--I've never had a HUGE amount of debt, but I've paid minimum amounts for years and years and the debt (of course) never went away in any real sense. I joined YNAB in July of 2019 and to say it's been life-changing is an understatement.
In the spirit of measuring 2020 progress, here's what I came into January with:
CC1: $2,507.38 the albatross--I haven't spent on this card in YEARS.
CC2: $527.48
Student Loan $618.88Total: $3,653.74
I'm using the snowball method to tackle these (and paid off two other credit cards in 2019 following this method). So I'm taking what I was paying on those other two credit cards and applying it to CC2 for now. Then when that's paid off--in May--I'll add that to my student loan, which will take a couple of months probably to be paid off (hallelujah--I graduated in 2006!) and then aaaaaaaallllll of my debt payment money will go toward CC1 and I'll be able to pay that off in full by the end of the year.
So in January, it's looked like this:
CC1: paid $198.31/$2,507.38 = $2,360.40 (+$51.33 interest)
CC2: paid $111.84/$527.48 = $423.02 (+ $7.38 interest)
Student Loan: paid $75/$618.88 = $545.22 (+ $1.34 interest)Total paid: $385.15
Total debt remaining: $3,328.64Off to claim my spot in the Google sheet. Can't wait to see how we all do!
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Hello! I'm having my usual January panic about money, so it's time to make a plan, and I figured this might help me get some momentum going.
Total debt (including mortgage): $335,778
Non-mortgage debt (student loan, 401K loan, car loan, credit cards): 70,777
Background: a combination of unlucky circumstances out of our control, some poor choices, and a few risky decisions got us here. If I can get everything but the mortgage paid off, we'll be in a much better position.
Relationship drama: I'm the primary breadwinner in my family, and am also in charge of the budget. My husband doesn't like to talk about money because he feels bad for not bringing in more, and he knows I'm stuck in a job I don't love because I can't afford to take a pay cut. Therefore, as in many families, money conversations can be a source of stress. Also, our home is a fixer-upper and needs a lot of work. We're doing a good bit of it ourselves, but every time my husband says "we should really pay someone to do xyz on the house" I immediately get tense because it's either coming out of savings or going on a card. I've explained to him we need to get out of non-mortgage debt ASAP so we'll be in a more comfortable place and can afford to pay workmen, but then he gets stressed about the house "deteriorating around us". Sigh.
2020 goals: My goals for 2020 are to pay off my 401K loan of $3039 and my student loan of $3486 as well as a Care Credit card (used only for cat-care emergencies, and has 0% interest for a set promotional period - I had JUST paid it off this month when our boy kitty blocked and had to go to the ER for $2411). I want to pay down my car loan by $2500. I also want to keep whittling away at my credit cards, and only use them for emergencies. I know in some ways it would make more sense to pay off the cards first BUT I tried that last year and ended up maxing one of them again. So I want first to pay off things that are stable and can't be re-charged.
Lest you think I'm a total moron, I've actually made some progress since I first started trying to tackle the debt in June 2018. Since then, I've paid off $24,174 total, but I know I can do better if I put my mind to it.
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I've claimed line 384. Total debt I'm concerned about: $69,152.
A daughter's wedding, funding my business, private school for my two youngest, new living room and kitchen set, and just other stupid spending caused our CC debt to go sky high. Plus, just a lot of kids and the everyday expenses -- clothing, one activity for each such as music lessons, milk (teenage boys drink a LOT of milk!), etc.
2020 Payoff goal: $20,000. My freelancing business is picking up, and we'll have extra money from that.
Biggest challenge: Not eating out.
I hate cooking. I have four teenage boys in the house, one teenage girl (and her very hungry boyfriend), and a six-year-old, and they all have different tastes, so cooking is frustrating for me. With a work-from-home job and a busy household, I don't have time to cook unless I plan way ahead. But then I forget to plan. And my grocery bill is like another mortgage payment.
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All,
I need suggestions/thoughts.
I received an email from my BOA card this weekend informing me that they closed my account. I immediately called to find out what was going on because I didn't want to wait for the letter.
The woman I spoke to told me it was for a) non use; b) a delinquent account; and c) high balances.
A and C are true. B is where I'm pissed off.
Backstory:
ALL of my accounts are on auto-pay so that I never miss anything and at the very least, the minimum is paid. In December I called my Barclays card because I noticed there was a late fee on my account. Long story short... they never withdrew the December 7th payment even though I have email confirmation dated 11/18/2019 that I was enrolled in auto pay. So I requested the late fee be returned, which they did, and expressed that this had better not affect my credit report, which I was told it would not.
Obviously that's not the case because BOA closed my account, and another card lowered my limit.
My question is: Is there anything I can do?? The BOA card had a zero balance, and I don't need the card, but the Barclays issue is obviously negatively affecting my credit.
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I just completed my first year using YNAB. It has been great. I paid off all my credit card debt. That feels so great. But...I had to replace my 25 year old car (I do keep them a LONG time). I did take the advice to buy a good used car. I’m pretty sure this one will last 25 years too. I invested in a hybrid (already spending half what I used to at the gas station). My goal is to pay off the car loan in about a third of the time. My car loan is $20,000. My goal is to pay down an additional $6,000 per year on the car (approximately $500 per month)
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Oy. Not a joiner, but becoming a believer. $30K this year or bust! Debt from my daughter's school,and from a program I took to get a credential that should give me a good chunk of extra income over the next couple of years. But want to trim my living expenses and frittering in order to get debt free faster!
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Line Claimed (381)
We just established a 3 year plan to pay down 2 credit cards, a personal line of credit, and 2 car loans.
With a total of $15,433.72 as the goal for 2020.This will clear up 1.5 car loans, both credit cards.
We're tackling highest interest first, which aligns with our lowest balances so hoping to ride that quick gratification motivation train right to the end.
The above is only principal (Not including the cars), we budget for our interest expenses and pay them every month, quite excited to start seeing those numbers dropping as well.
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claimed lined 393
House down payment: 6300
Car 1: 12,968.57
Car 2: 19,822.31
CC: 3,925.73
Peloton: 2,285
Total: 45,301.61
Goal is to pay off $13,200 in total for 2020 or $1095 per month. Ideally the credit card would be paid off this year, but we'll see how that goes. With new habits, we're more focused on being much more aware of what we're spending rather than trying to dump all the money towards the credit card.
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claimed line 378!
$46,728 in CC, LOC, and personal loans. My bad money spending habits still haunting me from when I moved out at 17. Hoping after 10 years I can nip it in the butt and finally get rid of this burden that has been following me for far too long. I'm keeping my goal manageable at $1200 a month, with the hopes of adding more to it when I can. Debt free 2022 here I come.. lol
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Hi friends! I'm coming in a bit late but better late than never? (Which is kind of the whole theme for my debt recovery...)
Without getting into too many gory details, I have $47,287 in debt as of today. I would ideally love to pay off $13,000 of it this year (more, if possible, but I'm trying to start conservative so I don't get over-zealous and do what I've done in the past and get into MORE debt because I funnel all my money into my debt and leave myself no money for, like... food). Currently I'm using the system on Undebt.it to snowball my debts. I clear the debts off of my low-interest credit line first and then transfer as much high-interest debt as I can from my credit cards onto the credit line to hopefully save interest in the long run.January check-in: So far so good, I've paid a good chunk down even after having to pay off some lingering Christmas costs. I'll have paid about $1,400 by the end of the month. Still need to rein in my food spending which is always what trips me up.
Can't wait to see how we all do this year! 🎉 And I'm at line 397 of the Google Sheet.