In this issue of The Payoff Challenge:
Community Debt Payoff Snapshot
Submit your debt payoff totals for this week!
Weekly Action: Map out your next 90 days of irregular expenses
Money News: Big News for Small Businesses!
My Home Payoff Update
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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 $327 last week! It may not seem like a lot but it’s still progress. That’s like the cost of an Apple Watch. You know, so it can tell you how you killed it at standing up in the last hour.
$163 was the average paid off, which is like 40 gallons of gas here in Ohio.
$163 is also the equivalent of 44 gallons of chocolate milk. What a time when gasoline and chocolate milk are basically the same price. One makes me happier, I’ll tell you that much.
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
Prepare for Next 90 Days of Irregular Expenses
Sinking funds are one of my favorite things ever for irregular expenses (anything that isn’t a monthly expense).
Action: This week, list out the next 90 days of irregular expenses and set up sinking funds for them in your budget.
Go through your calendar for the next 3 months (or even longer) and list out all events that may have a surprise expense. Then, begin to prepare for them so you can avoid putting it on your credit card.
Create a sinking fund in your budget that allows you to set aside a set amount on a monthly basis (as if it were a regular expense) and it’ll be all saved up by the time the event comes around.
Think birthdays, weddings, vacations or long weekends, insurance payments, and most of all, Christmas.
Now, I think during a season of debt payoff, you have to be careful with this. Yes, it may feel like you deserve vacations but consider how much of an opportunity cost your regular Disney trip will have when you’re trying to destroy the monthly interest you’re paying. Same with gifts. Paying off debt is a great reason to be making a lot of gifts or generally getting creative with gifts to save on cost. Not everything has to be expensive.
Regardless of the direction you go, create sinking funds to help you not be surprised by a non-monthly expense!
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
Small Business Just Got More Profitable
As a small business owner, I was a huge fan of this news. Basically, the 20% tax deduction for small businesses is now permanent.
And it applies to small businesses that are sole-proprietorships too. So if you have a small business and it’s not an LLC or S-Corp, you still get to benefit!
Your take-away: Having small business income can really help you kick that debt out of your life and now it’s even better at tax time.
I’m also a fan of the minimum reported amount for 1099s getting bumped from $600 to $2000. Let’s gooo. 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.
416 days left
Mortgage Balance on January 1st, 2026: $70,000
Current Mortgage Balance: $63,697.36 (▼$140 since last week)
Balance paid off since start of challenge: $6302.64
Source: Paycheck, savings, interest, Etsy poster sales, selling scrap metal, bicycle, TV cabinet
*This includes monthly principal payments as well as additional payments.
Current Mortgage Balance
This week, I sold a couple of things! First was a TV cabinet for $100 on Marketplace. Best part of this is we bought it for $100 back in 2020 so we didn’t lose any money on it. I also sold an old bike I wasn’t using for $40. The whole $140 was put to the payoff challenge this week.
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
