If you’ve seen our new BIG goal, you know we’ll be pretty focused in 2019. We’re excited to have a huge goal to keep ourselves making financial progress.
I know so many of you are working hard to make financial strides in the new year, too. I love hearing what you’re doing to reach your goals.
You’re making sacrifices to lower your expenses. You’re working extra jobs to increase your income. And you’re making progress! You’re reminding yourself that the financial freedom will be worth it!
I’m always thinking about ways I can help each of you stay focused and make progress on your financial goals, especially paying off debt.
I recently had a reader reach out to me with an idea that I think will be fabulous for our community! She suggested that at the end of each month participating readers could report how much each paid off in debt that month. Then we can keep track of how much we pay off as a group!
I’m calling it Debt Smash-athon 2019!
I’m excited to see the total grow throughout the year. That big number will represent the positive change we have made in our personal finances, which is definitely worth celebrating!
I’m also excited for you to have a place to report your progress and success each month! Tracking your progress and celebrating your success are so important when you’re on a debt-free journey, especially one that’s long.
Many of you feel lonely when it comes to finances because paying off debt isn’t something most people chat casually about. Here, you’re among friends! Fellow Debt-Smashers unite!
What if you’re already debt-free?
I know there are also some of you who are debt-free already (hooray!) but who are still working hard toward saving for retirement or other financial goals. We’ll have a place for you to report that each month, too.
Are you in? Join the Debt Smash-athon below!
The best way to get involved is to sign up for Debt Smash-athon emails. That way I can easily send you the monthly reporting form, send you monthly progress reports, share encouraging emails, and contact you if you win the monthly drawing!
Let's Do This!
When you subscribe, you'll get monthly reminders to report your numbers and be able to see how we're doing as a group!
I'll also send encouraging frugality and finance emails to help you along the way!
What to expect in the Debt Smash-athon!
Joining the Debt Smash-athon will give you the extra oomph of motivation you need for your debt payoff journey! Knowing that you’ll be reporting your progress each month will keep you accountable.
At the end of each month I’ll send you a link to a little survey form where you can report your payoff (or saving/investment) amount for the month. I’ll have a place where you can share special wins or milestones from the month. There might also be a thoughtful question to help you look carefully at your finances and give you a chance to share with the rest of us.
Each month I’ll share how much debt we smashed as a group along with some other stats just for fun. I might do some congratulatory shout-outs, as well!
As a fun bonus incentive, we’ll have a drawing each month among those who have submitted their numbers from the month.
If you have any other ideas or suggestions for our Debt Smash-athon I would love to hear them! You can comment on this post or email me.
I can’t wait to get started and I hope you’ll join me! You can do this!
Let's Do This Together!
We're banding together to pay off some serious debt in 2020! We want you to join in the debt-smashing fun!
When you subscribe, you'll get monthly reminders to report your progress and you'll see how we're doing as a group!
You'll also receive frugal inspiration and financial motivation in your inbox to help you along the way!
Are you ready to smash debt with us?!
I finally joined! I have decided to make a blog this year about my debt repayment as I pursue applying to medical school but this is the year of not making excuses and then using those excuses to procrastinate other tasks further. There are still a couple of more things I need to do before the blog goes live, but that doesn’t mean I can’t join here now.
As Candace stated, “this is the year of not making excuses and then using those excuses to procrastinate other tasks further.”
Its only 3 weeks into January and I am.making changes.
So incredibly excited for this! I have a long road ahead before I can announce “debt free” and appreciate the support and accountability of others. Thank you for this!
I’m excited too! It helps to know you’re not alone. You’ll do great Elizabeth!
This is such a great idea- count me in! We have some big debt-smashing goals for 2019, so this is totally perfect! Excited to see how we all do!
Glad you’re in Tara! 2019 is going to be awesome! 🙂
Hi Stephanie, I currently track my debt balances month-to-month and compare to the previous month. In 2018, my husband and I paid off $11k in debt (not including our mortgage). YAY! But we actually paid more than that due to interest. So, what will you be tracking for the Debt Smash-athon? Money spent on payments or reduction in overall balance?
Hi Jackie! That’s a good point– it’s hard to decide what to track!
When we were paying off student loans we tracked everything that went to the loans (interest and all) because that was easiest (the student loan servicing website gave very very little info and much of the interest had capitalized anyway). This time we’re just tracking how much we reduce the principal because with a mortgage that’s easy to track.
I’m going to let everyone decide what they are going to track personally and then report that number. I want this to be easy for everyone rather than make things more complicated.
Thank you for bringing it up Jackie! That’s definitely something I should explain more clearly as the Debt Smash-athon begins!
I’m excited to get to smashing!