In this issue of The Payoff Challenge:
Total Debt Payoff for January!
Community Debt Payoff Snapshot
Submit your debt payoff totals for this week!
Weekly Action: Adjust Your Tax Withholdings
Debt Payoff Shout Out: Adam and Destinee
My Home Payoff Update
JANUARY UPDATE
In January 2026, the members of The Payoff Challenge paid off a combined total of $14,881.23! Congrats everyone!
That’s real progress — and a strong foundation heading into February.
Now let’s jump to the debt payoff snapshot for this week.
Community Debt Payoff Snapshot
Congrats to the everyone who paid off some debt this week! It’s another big week! Let’s put it into perspective.
We paid off a total of $5803 last week, nearly matching the biggest week we’ve had so far! This is like the cost of one semester at my alma mater, The Ohio State University.
$967.30 was the average paid off, which is almost the cost of the Lego Star Wars Death Star which tbh, I’d love to get someday when we don’t have a mortgage (I know, I’m a nerd). Kinda mind-blowing how expensive it is but hey, props to everyone for that average pay off.
Also $967 is the equivalent of 262 gallons of chocolate milk.
Numbers only move if people act—which brings us to this week’s check-in!
Caleb’s Actionable Strategy
Choose 1 Budget Category to Improve
It’s difficult to focus on paying off debt if it feels like you have no margin in your finances for additional payments. But if you’re like most people, you probably have a weak spot in your spending that does more damage to your debt payoff goals.
Action: Look at your transactions from the last month and pick ONE category to improve on in your spending.
Your problem may be going out to eat or random purchases on Amazon or buying too much at the grocery store. It all adds up and it adds up QUICK (geez, I bet you haven’t heard that before).
We’ve had Amazon Prime recently (anyone else have it for watching Beast Games right now?) and I’ve kinda surprised myself how many things we’ve purchased from Amazon just because we have free two-day shipping. What category do you have a tendency to overspend in? Consciously focus on what you need to change in it this week to put more towards debt!
It may mean deleting your card number from Amazon, or meal planning on Sunday so you know exactly what to buy at the store AND so you have less excuse to eat out.
You’re not fixing everything at once — you’re just improving one thing this week. You got this!
Member Spotlight
Focusing Amid Tragedy
Shout out to Adam and Destinee for the progress they’re making towards paying off their debt! Since they started, they’ve paid off $1695!
Adam was very transparent and told me that the passing of his mother last year along with home and vehicle repairs actually caused them to take steps backward and acquire more debt. And you know what, sometimes that happens. It sucks, but it happens. Having a plan, though, is what will keep you moving forward if that’s where you find yourself.
Adam says their biggest challenge so far has been staying on track and not making impulse purchases (trust me, I get that). But he just got a job promotion and that along with all his overtime opportunities are helping them pay off their debt faster.
This was a tough one because of the deeply personal loss of Adam’s mom. It’s so easy to get discouraged in your plan when something like this happens. But stick to the plan and it will pay off.
If you want to be featured in the Payoff Challenge Newsletter or related videos on YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok, this is your chance! Any amount of debt payoff is worth celebrating here in the member spotlight.
Caleb’s Challenge Update
Progress We Made Towards Our Payoff
Goal: Pay off our remaining mortgage ($70k) by our 10-year anniversary on June 17, 2027.
493 days left
Mortgage Balance on January 1st, 2026: $70,000
Current Mortgage Balance: $67,416.84 (▼$1093 since last week)
Balance paid off since start of challenge: $2583.16
Source: Paycheck, Savings
*This includes monthly principal payments as well as additional payments.
Current Mortgage Balance
Our automatic mortgage payment hit a day early so we had a bit of a boost this week. Nice!
Refer a friend and receive my quick-start guide for saving money TODAY on your existing expenses.
That’s it for this week! I already can’t wait for next couple week’s editions as we start getting numbers to include. If you have any feedback, respond to this email or drop me a line at [email protected].
Till next week!
Caleb
