In this issue of The Payoff Challenge:
Community Debt Payoff Snapshot
Submit your debt payoff totals for this week!
Weekly Action: Unsubscribe From 10 Retail Emails
Money News: Fed Keeps Interest Rates The Same
My Home Payoff Update
Disclaimer: Some links in this newsletter are affiliate links and provide compensation for clicks and sign ups.
Community Debt Payoff Snapshot
Congrats to the everyone who paid off some debt this week! Let’s put this into a fun comparison.
We paid off a total of $340 last week! That’s 9 tanks of fuel for a normal car (at Columbus, Ohio gas prices). That’s enough fuel to get you from LA to NYC!
$170 was the average paid off, which is close to the average household electric bill. Noice.
$170 is also the equivalent of 46 gallons of chocolate milk. That is a lot of protein. And sugar, but let’s focus on the protein.
Numbers only move if people act—which brings us to this week’s check-in!
Weekly Check In!
How Much Did You Pay Off This Week?
⏱ Takes under 60 seconds. Any amount. Any debt.
This isn’t about how big the number is—it’s about progress. If you haven’t made a payment yet, consider this your nudge to go make one right now. Missed a week? Just submit the total since your last entry.
Submissions will be included in future week’s Snapshots!
Caleb’s Actionable Strategy
Unsubscribe From 10 Retail Emails
Okay, I don’t know about you all but I’m kind of a sucker for the promotions tab of my Gmail. Hey, I’m not proud of it. Mostly, I watch for food deals.
Action: This week, unsubscribe from 10 retail emails.
If you’re like me, you’re probably scouring this promotions tab quite a bit (curse you weekly pizza deals). Which is why I want you to unsubscribe from retail emails this week, especially if this is a weakness that regularly causes you to overspend your budget.
It doesn’t even have to be 10; just go through and pick some that are regular budget offenders. You can’t spend money on deals you don’t know about.
Member Spotlight
I Want To Celebrate Your Wins!
But I can’t do that if you don’t tell me about it. So fill out this short form about the debt you’ve paid off and your current wins!
Any amount of debt payoff is worth celebrating here in the member spotlight.
Personal Financial News
Fed Keeps Interest Rates The Same
Looks like rates are sticking around at the same level for a bit longer. Part of this is due to the conflict in the Middle East right now. There’s still a chance for rates to be lowered later in the year but don’t hold your breath.
Your take-away: Keep paying off your debt with intentionality.
Bet you didn’t see that coming from me, yeah? In all seriousness, if rates aren’t going down, there’s no better time than to knock out your debt as quickly as possible. Read more here.
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.
444 days left
Mortgage Balance on January 1st, 2026: $70,000
Current Mortgage Balance: $65,255.36 (▼$190 since last week)
Balance paid off since start of challenge: $4744.64
Source: Paycheck, Savings, Interest, Etsy Sales
*This includes monthly principal payments as well as additional payments.
Current Mortgage Balance
Guess what, I sold some old mirrors I replaced on my truck when I got towing mirrors a couple years ago! I got $90 for them which wasn’t bad at all. I put it all towards the mortgage and pulled another $100 from savings to boost that a bit.
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
