In this issue of The Payoff Challenge:
Community Debt Payoff Snapshot
Submit your debt payoff totals for this week!
Weekly Action: Adjust Your Tax Withholdings
Debt Payoff Shout Out: Miranda
My Home Payoff Update
Community Debt Payoff Snapshot
Congrats to the everyone who paid off some debt this week! Let’s put it into perspective.
We paid off a total of $1097 last week, more than a whole $1k starter emergency fund for one family!
$182.83 was the average paid off, which is almost a whole year of ad-free Disney+. Legit, I remember when it was $80/year. I used to watch Star Wars so affordably. Inflation has clearly gone to the Dark Side.
Numbers only move if people act—which brings us to this week’s check-in!
Caleb’s Actionable Strategy
Adjust Your Tax Withholdings
It might feel good to get a tax refund (feels like free money!), but a tax refund means this was cash you could have put towards debt throughout the year.
I did a coaching call with someone last year who told me she got a $1200 tax refund in April. Perfect! My recommendation to her was to contact HR the next day and reduce her withholding taxes by $100 per month. Then she’d get zero tax refund, BUT she would then have an additional $100 of cashflow every month to put straight towards her student loans.
Member Spotlight
4 Credit Cards Gone in 5 Months (and $8k Paid Off)
Shout out to Miranda for the progress she’s making towards paying off credit card debt!
In the last 5 months, she’s paid off $8500! That’s 4 credit cards — gone. And a lot of additional cashflow that’s not going to monthly minimums.
This is what she said about her journey so far:
I realized that we were spending a fortune on credit card minimums every month and barely getting anywhere because of the interest being charged. I decided I wanted to take back that income we’re throwing at interest rates so I can invest it into something better.
It takes some serious discipline to fight a spending addiction, but she’s doing it. She’s also sharing her journey on YouTube if you want to follow along.
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.
507 days left
Mortgage Balance on January 1st, 2026: $70,000
Current Mortgage Balance: $68,710.28 (▼$300 since last week)
Balance paid off since start of challenge: $1289.72
Source: Paycheck, Savings
*This includes monthly principal payments as well as additional payments.
Current Mortgage Balance
While this week’s additional payment was from savings, we made a bit of indirect progress in the earning and the selling side of things.
First off, I actually had a consulting call with a budget app developer which was cool. The fee I charged went into the business funds. My next step is to figure out the “proper” way of getting personal payments from my LLC so everything’s above board with how businesses should run. I don’t really pull money from the business for personal use so this is new to me. I need to talk with a CPA to get the down low on how to handle that kind of thing.
Second, we had a Dell laptop sitting around for a bit that I want to sell. So this week, I FINALLY sat down and cleared it off, then reset it. Next step, listing it on Marketplace. Hopefully we can sell it for $200-$300 and we’ll put it towards the mortgage when it sells.
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
