In this issue of The Payoff Challenge:
Total paid off in August
Community Debt Payoff Snapshot
Submit your debt payoff totals for this week!
Dollar Designator: A simple envelope system budget app
Weekly Action: Pay off your smallest debt!
My Home Payoff Update
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Total August Payoff
August was a high payoff month for the challenge. Let’s go!
Now let’s jump into this week’s community payoff snapshot.
Community Debt Payoff Snapshot
Congrats to everyone who paid off debt this week! Let’s put this into a fun comparison.
We paid off a total of $3577 last week! This is enough to buy a zero-turn mower. And boy would I love to get one of these sometime. My riding mower does okay right now, though. As long as it doesn’t rain too much.
$715 was the average paid off, which is about how much the Lego LOTR Minus Tirith castle costs (plus tax). Fine, call me a nerd, I don’t care.
$715 is also the equivalent of 183 gallons of chocolate milk.
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!
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Caleb’s Actionable Strategy
Pay Off Your Smallest Debt Quickly!
We’re getting back to the basics of this Payoff Challenge with this week’s actionable strategy — paying off debt as quickly as possible.
Action: This week, work on paying off your smallest debt as quickly as you can.
This is called the debt snowball method and it’s a huge motivational boost. Essentially, you pay the minimums on all your debts except the smallest and you throw everything extra at it. When you pay it off, then put all the extra cash at your next smallest debt. This builds momentum and progress because every time you pay off a debt, you have more cash to put at the next debt!
It’s important to note, the debt snowball doesn’t account for interest rate. Only focus on the size of the debt and pay them off from smallest to largest.
It isn’t the most mathematically efficient way to pay off debt, but it is the most motivating. And if you have tried paying off debt in the past and it hasn’t worked, you need motivation to keep up the momentum. Who cares if it’s not the most efficient if you ACTUALLY pay off your debt?
Member Spotlight
I Want To Celebrate Your Wins!
But I need your help to do it. Get featured here for your wins!
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 (less than a year left).
290 days left
Mortgage Balance on January 1st, 2026: $70,000
Current Mortgage Balance: $49,245.18 (▼$1,261.96 since last week)
Balance paid off since start of challenge: $20,754.82
Source: Paycheck, a bonus, savings, interest, an Escrow surplus payment, Etsy poster sales, selling scrap metal, a bicycle, a TV cabinet, and a laptop
*This includes monthly principal payments as well as additional payments.
Current Mortgage Balance
Guess what! We’re now sub $50k on our mortgage! Between our mortgage payment this September and our extra we had in our budget from wrapping up August, we crossed the mark. Feels so good to knock off another $10k from the total!
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
