
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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Count me in!! I participated last year, but didn't quite achieve my goals. I'm back this year to crush them! I'm looking to pay off $30,000 of my debt this year. It's a lofty goal, but I figure I might as well aim high. I am going to count money put towards the reduction of my credit card, line of credit and mortgage balances.
I look forward to starting this journey with each of you! I can't see what we can do collectively to reduce the burden of debt! Here's to the best year yet!
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Hello! Joining for the first time along with the Debt Bootcamp Facebook group. We've used YNAB for 3.5 years now, which helped us with a down payment and affording to have a baby. This means we have a mortgage to take care of, as well as some lingering student loans and an auto loan.
I'd like to knock out the $20k on the auto loan and end up paying $35k toward the entire set of loans.
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Oh I'm a Magenta Wildebeest - already so glad I joined!
Soo, in total GBP I owe £12, 088.23. A bank loan of £2996.42, one CC at £3,581.48 and one at £1,970.33, and a loan to a family member of £3,540 (Ouch). I'm on a very low income and have only just been managing minimum payments.
This year I would like to set myself what might sound a modest challenge of paying off the smaller CC. Interest payments are currently frozen on it and I'm suposed to pay £50 each month. My money is only aged about 8 days and frequently less. I don't have emergency or sinking funds yet and, although I was paying next month's bills with this month's wage until November, paying for two rental properties meant this started to fall behind.
This year will also be rocky emotionally and financially which is why I've just picked the one balance. It will be a huge boost if I can fund those true expenses a little further ahead and knock out one debt completely!
Looking forward to following along with you all!
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Hello! This year our intention is to pay off our credit card (currently interest free) and our 2 cars. I anticipate orthodontia to come up this year for both our children and I have some dental issues that will have to be taken care of soon as well. I am hoping to be able to not accumulate debt as a result. We also have an interest free credit line that we will continue paying on as scheduled monthly payment and then determine if we are going to knock that debt completely out or build up our sinking funds.
Current debts:
Visa- $8218.36
Car 1- $1517.64
Car 2- $2030.14
—-——-———————> $11758.14Credit line (Interest free for 22 months)- $5679.16
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Hi, I am planning to pay some some of my debt in 2020. Still waiting on my ambulance bill to come since Data iSight is trying to lower the bill with the provider, hopefully they are successful otherwise i will add another $1700, that is so high to be told in the ER that i was dehydrated and that's why my heart rate was high. Now i am drinking more water so i don't find myself in a situation like that i could have controlled and prevented in the first place (so mad at myself) 😣 I will use the snowball method and tackle this in 2020 Yoohooooooooooooo i can do this
PERSONAL LOAN: $1705
AMEX: $2498
MACY'S: $3255
AMEX: $3133
PAYPAL: $3770
VISA: $7742 -
Line claimed!
I want to try get €10K paid off, just like my 2019 goal. I have 2 debts to focus on this year, credit card (€2,500) and personal loan (€7,500) the personal loan is a bit Kee but I know that I have to be realistic with this goal
I managed 98% in 2019 I want to try push it that small bit further this year!
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I have $11,221 left on a Home equity loan I got last year during a messy divorce, and that's my only debt other than my mortgage. I plan to pay off $7k of debt this year, while saving up for an Emergency fund at the same time. This will slow down my debt payoff progress but will also help me to stay out of debt once I finish up. I was a pretty strict Dave Ramsey follower last year and this year I plan to slow down and enjoy life a little more, build up my Efund and catogory balances (to feel more safety and security) while I continue to pay off the debt, in addition to also maxing out my Roth IRA.
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First time joining the debt smackdown and excited to get reduce my debt this year.
My main goal is reducing my mortgage principle. This is my stretch goal, but with some snowballing help I should get there.
I am still using my CC so the goal there is to not add new debt.
CarMortgage: $5,000 in additional payments
Car Loan: $4,828
Fridge @ 0% until 2021: $840
CC 1 @ 0% until April: $6,122
CC 2 @ 0% until June: $746Total debt to pay off in 2020: $17,536
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Claimed line 86 to start tracking paying off my LOC debt of $28,514. Have maxed out my allowed payments to $123.77 / week * 52 = $6436.04 for 2020. I'm using Undebt.it and with a snowball of and additional $105/month it will have me debt free in March 2024. That's not good enough. I'm going to aim for more and have set a goal of $10,000 to pay off in 2020. I'm allowed an additional $7500 off the principal each year. I'll try my best! :)
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Here goes nothing.
I currently owe $158,000 in student loans (spread out over 5 loans).
My goal is to pay $50,000 towards them this year. This would eliminate 2 of the 5 loans.
I started paying off my student loans at the start of 2019 and managed to pay down $32,000 in 12 months (due to money lost to interest I had to put about $42,000 towards loans to accomplish that). I'm really happy with my progress but I'd like to try and improve upon that this year. I'm hoping this forum will help me stay focused.
In order to make progress last year I lived on less than half of my income. It was ultimately manageable but definitely not easy or fun and I'm worried I'll burn out this year.
I didn't know about this challenge group last year and I'm excited to cheer everyone on to achieving their goal!
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Hi! I nabbed Line 92, this is my first year doing the smack down. We have dug ourselves into a debt hole and been floating along not making any real progress, we have been inconsistent with our goals and our accountability. This year will be different, I am hoping by joining a group like this that seeing everyone's success will help me stay motivated throughout the year.
A basic rundown of our debt is:
Credit Cards- $41,150 (spread out over 6 cards)
Car Loan- $17,876
Truck Loan- $34,530
Grand Total *cringe*- $93,555
This years goal is to pay off at least 2 of our credit cards and to finally embrace our true expenses and budget for them properly.
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Line 95 claimed. I can't believe this is the third year I'm doing this challenge. I’m ready to knock out my credit card debt (just two cards left) and hopefully both of my private student loans (which have interest rates >10%. Eeek.). This year’s goal is 15,000 again. It’s going to be a stretch because I have two out of state weddings to attend this year, so I’m also budgeting for that. But I think I can do it! I’m in school full time again this semester, so some of my student loans are in deferment – I’m making interest only payments on them, so at least the balance isn’t growing.
Barclay Card $ 4,387.76 Discover Card $ 4,537.23 Wells Fargo $ 2,780.47 Sallie Mae $ 3,029.84 Navient $ 5,382.25 Nelnet $ 10,648.49 2020 Starting Debt: $ 30,766.04 -
Claimed line 96!
I've got £13,512.35 of debt to pay off, not counting student loans cause they're paid off tax-style in the UK.
- Rent Arrears - £0.00/£4,788.35
- Loan from parents - £0.00/8,724
I recently got a new job which pays quite well, and I'm lucky enough not to have a huge amount of debt and not to be being charged interest on what I do have, so I'm hoping to end up completely debt-free by the end of the year.
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Claimed line 99.
Total
Family/Personal Loans 41,574 kr. ($6190)
We also have a mortgage of 299,100 kr. But aside form minimum payments we will do not plan to touch it this year.
Goals for 2020
Minimum Goal: 23,747kr. ($2046) -- pay of one side of the family + minimum payments on PL
Main Goal: 32,386kr. ($3333) -- pay off all family loans + minimum payments on PL
Stretch Goal: 41,574kr. ($4913) -- all paid off
Our plans so far include upping our hours at work (we are self-employed), improving the marketing for some of our products and selling some more stuff we own. We have heavily decluttered and cut our living costs in 2019, so there's not that much more to do there. Though I'm looking forward to seeing other people's journeys and getting inspired. -
Hey All,
It's been a while since i've been on the forums. I used to be so obsessed with Ynab a few years ago. It changed my life. I still use it all the time and have my 1 month buffer with a few years but I've become complacent. Credit card debt with a few months is unusual for me. Always cleared it off monthly. Time to reign it in.
So:
Goal:
Credit Card Debt: €1021.54
Also claimed line #100
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I'm laying claim to line 101 this year. My final months of paying off this debt: $2,861.23.
I'm pretty excited. I'm going into 2020 like last year, with zero credit card debt. I paid down over my $7,000 goal last year (I think I forgot a payment on the spreadsheet from last year as my YNAB category shows I hit the target).
My first semester of school is $2000+, which I have saved up. It is about $800 more than I thought, so my extra debt payments have been dedicated to tuition. So I might not be completely out of debt by my 41st birthday (EEP!), but I'll be so close that I am planning a birthday/debt free party anyways.
High fives to everyone taking part and let's do this!
Now to look at the 34-day challenge. ;)
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I'm in and have claimed line number 94!
I have $139,442.38 in debt as of Deceberm 31, 2019.
Per undebt.it - 62% of my total debt is student loans.
I have a car loan (about $34k), $12k in credit cards, $3k to the orthodonist (no interest) and $3200 on a personal loan.
I hope to knock down $20,000 in debt in 2020!