In this issue of The Payoff Challenge:
Community Debt Payoff Snapshot
Submit your debt payoff totals for this week!
Dollar Designator: A simple envelope system budget app
Weekly Action: Make a Fun Money Fund!
My Home Payoff Update
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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 $527 last week! This is like a couple round trip flights to Orlando. And if you wait it out, usually you can get it even cheaper. You just gotta track flights with google.
$263 was the average paid off, which is about how much a Ninja Creami Scoop & Swirl costs. I’m not gonna lie, one of these things has been tempting to purchase for a while, even with my blow fund.
$263 is also the equivalent of 67 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!
Sponsorship
Here’s a Guilt-Free Budget App!
Based on the envelope system, Dollar Designator makes it incredibly easy to spend and save within your means.
Just make envelopes and split up your income and expenses across them. It’s that easy!
Check out my how-to video right here:
This is a budget app I had a direct hand in bringing to you all, so I’m really excited about it. You can try it completely risk free (no credit card required).
Intro Offer:
The first 100 to sign up will get it for only $24.95 for the first year. Again, when you sign up, you’ll get a 60-day free trial which doesn’t require a credit or debit card.
Caleb’s Actionable Strategy
Make a Fun Money Fund!
This seems counterintuitive for a debt-payoff newsletter, but I highly recommend making a fun money sinking fund for you and your spouse (if you have one)!
Action: This week, actually designate a small amount of money for monthly fun expenses.
When we got married, we paid off a student loan, were cash flowing college for my wife, AND saving for a house downpayment. We didn’t have a lot of extra cash. But from the start, we agreed each of us would get $30 a month for whatever we wanted to blow it on. We called it our “blow funds” lol. Since then, we’ve increased it fortunately.
The thing is, this counterintuitive budget move has guaranteed saved us a lot of money. Because now, instead of buying something for the fun of it with our cumulative money, we have to be very intentional about what we want to blow our fun money on because it comes out of our personal blow funds.
Good news is, we can save it for many months if we want to! I saved up long enough to buy a 2KWh power station. That was a fun purchase.
The caveat is, if you are paying off debt, I wouldn’t recommend making this fund very large. Focus on paying off that debt as quickly as possible. But give yourself a little bit of fun money to help keep you from falling off the wagon. Stay motivated!
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).
269 days left
Mortgage Balance on January 1st, 2026: $70,000
Current Mortgage Balance: $48,370.90 (▼$277.96 since last week)
Balance paid off since start of challenge: $21,629.10
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
This week, we had some extra from our jobs and also some debit cashback we applied to the mortgage. Not too bad.
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
