Debt Dumpers 2026

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

I've been thinking about my goals for 2026, and I really want to make them achievable. And specific. Not just pay off all debt. Or not just more exercise. But actual numbers. So after some thought, here goes.

Financial
- Stop the late fees!
I was paying all bills before their cutoff dates and not when they were actually due. I thought it was fine because I was paying before stuff was cut off (electric and internet). However, I was around $50-$60 in late fees every month. So my first goal is to everything on track, stop paying behind and quit paying late fees.
- Keep adding to my newly created Fidelity retirement plan!
I opened a Fidelity account in December, and I made my first contribution of $25. I would like to keep adding $20-$25 per paycheck (mine not DWs) to keep pushing the total up. As of right now, I'm 50, DW is 43 and we have less than $50k in our combined 401ks. Trying to convince DW that retirement needs to be a point of emphasis.
- Building our EF to $2k!
This seems simple enough, but when you're constantly paying behind and paying late fees, it's not possible. So after getting all bills up to date, I would like to add to an EF to get it to $2k. I open an account at Ally in December for this goal. We've been using an extra checking account, and we just transfer money back and forth as we need it. So hopefully having it at Ally will help not use it freely and whenever we need it.
- Set up sinking funds!
Would like to start sinking fund envelopes for car/auto (repairs, registrations, inspections, oil changes, routine maintenance, stuff like that), birthday/special (7 of the 8 members of my family have birthdays in July, plus we have Christmas stuff and that usually hits hard), medical (this is for when we need to go to urgent care or the doctor unexpectedly or when we need to go get prescriptions), hair/nails (DW gets her nails done the weekend after her paycheck on the 15th, and I get my haircut every 2 months, so want to start a sinking fund for those items).

Personal
- Continue to meal plan!
We've started doing meal plans on Sundays and then go to Walmart on Monday to buy groceries for the week. We seem to do better about not wasting food when we just buy one week at the time. We still need to try and find something we can get for grab-and-go breakfasts as that seems to still be our biggest time to eat out.
- Eat out less!
This has GOT to be an achieved goal. We spent nearly $10k eating out in 2025. I have to eat out 1-2 times a week at work. But we're going to try and cut back to just those couple of days then maybe Sunday after church with friends. That will help tremendously. Also, cutting out the little expenses (like buying a $3 tea at Chickfila for lunch, or a side of fries for $4 at Cane's cause I don't have chips or a $4 breakfast sandwich ... those littles add up quickly).
- Step, step, step!
Right now, my step goal is 4k steps per day. I'd like to push that to $5k or possibly even 6k per day. I don't have much help at home on my exercise goals, so this one will be harder. I have to basically hide it from DW because she thinks it's stupid.
- Attend more card shows and buy to flip.
Over November and December, I decided to start attending card shows to buy cards just to flip. And I was able to make money. Not much in November, but I made quite a bit in December. I've got that money set aside to buy more cards to flip. And I keep track of all buys and sales on a spreadsheet. Would like to start making enough to make it a side hustle.
- Read the Bible completely through!
I have a bible app, and I'd like to try and read the Bible completely through. I've never done that, and I think it would be a neat idea. So I've downloaded a 365 day plan to read the entire thing.

Home
- Purge items not used!
We opened a storage unit in July for $50. But they were up to $90 in December. So we canceled it. I've decided to start going through and getting rid of stuff. Would like to sell what I can and use the money to pay down debt. I'd like to donate what we can't sell. Just have to find the best way to sell since I'm not big on Marketplace (scared to meet people in public).
- Get the green thumb going!
I did a bucket garden last spring, and it didn't take. So I'd like to try again. Just minor stuff. Cucumbers, carrots, small things. I think it'll help our grocery budget (about $600-$700 per month). DW doesn't eat veggies, so I don't want to grow too much and end up wasting stuff. Also, I'd like to remove the rose bush in the front of the house and put a magnolia bush (this is what DW wants since her grandmother had them in her front yard). Also would like to freshen up the front yard (trim back a tree, week the flower bed, etc).
- Just do what we can!
There's not a lot we can do as we rent. But I'd like to do what I can in purging stuff, gardening, keeping the yard and flower beds up, stuff like that.

 

[barkley]

(electric and internet

one thing that helped us tremendously when we were working on our debt that we still do to this day is utilize what most electric company's call a 'balanced budget payment plan'. if you've had utilities under a company for a year or more you tend to meet their eligibility criteria-they look at your total usage for the past year, figure in their anticipated increases for the next year and come up with a monthly payment-THE SAME PAYMENT EVERY MONTH so those months of high usage don't come as a financial hit to your budget. at the end of the year they set you may have a balance owing (they are very good at estimating though-we've never owed much if any) OR a credit balance which they will apply to the next budget year (or if you opt out-to your next month's bill).

way easier for us to budget when something is a fixed monthly cost,

We still need to try and find something we can get for grab-and-go breakfasts as that seems to still be our biggest time to eat out.

just got one of these for my son-the entire household has now tried it out over the past week. I was doubtful but DANG it's quick, easy, no mess and so much less expensive than buying (we've done it with canadian bacon and sausage patties-both worked great). if you don't like runny yokes you can whisk the eggs to make them scrambled, it's crazy how fluffy they get-

 

[Nettlelondon]

I've been thinking about my goals for 2026, and I really want to make them achievable. And specific. Not just pay off all debt. Or not just more exercise. But actual numbers. So after some thought, here goes.

Financial
- Stop the late fees!
I was paying all bills before their cutoff dates and not when they were actually due. I thought it was fine because I was paying before stuff was cut off (electric and internet). However, I was around $50-$60 in late fees every month. So my first goal is to everything on track, stop paying behind and quit paying late fees.
- Keep adding to my newly created Fidelity retirement plan!
I opened a Fidelity account in December, and I made my first contribution of $25. I would like to keep adding $20-$25 per paycheck (mine not DWs) to keep pushing the total up. As of right now, I'm 50, DW is 43 and we have less than $50k in our combined 401ks. Trying to convince DW that retirement needs to be a point of emphasis.
- Building our EF to $2k!
This seems simple enough, but when you're constantly paying behind and paying late fees, it's not possible. So after getting all bills up to date, I would like to add to an EF to get it to $2k. I open an account at Ally in December for this goal. We've been using an extra checking account, and we just transfer money back and forth as we need it. So hopefully having it at Ally will help not use it freely and whenever we need it.
- Set up sinking funds!
Would like to start sinking fund envelopes for car/auto (repairs, registrations, inspections, oil changes, routine maintenance, stuff like that), birthday/special (7 of the 8 members of my family have birthdays in July, plus we have Christmas stuff and that usually hits hard), medical (this is for when we need to go to urgent care or the doctor unexpectedly or when we need to go get prescriptions), hair/nails (DW gets her nails done the weekend after her paycheck on the 15th, and I get my haircut every 2 months, so want to start a sinking fund for those items).

Personal
- Continue to meal plan!
We've started doing meal plans on Sundays and then go to Walmart on Monday to buy groceries for the week. We seem to do better about not wasting food when we just buy one week at the time. We still need to try and find something we can get for grab-and-go breakfasts as that seems to still be our biggest time to eat out.
- Eat out less!
This has GOT to be an achieved goal. We spent nearly $10k eating out in 2025. I have to eat out 1-2 times a week at work. But we're going to try and cut back to just those couple of days then maybe Sunday after church with friends. That will help tremendously. Also, cutting out the little expenses (like buying a $3 tea at Chickfila for lunch, or a side of fries for $4 at Cane's cause I don't have chips or a $4 breakfast sandwich ... those littles add up quickly).
- Step, step, step!
Right now, my step goal is 4k steps per day. I'd like to push that to $5k or possibly even 6k per day. I don't have much help at home on my exercise goals, so this one will be harder. I have to basically hide it from DW because she thinks it's stupid.
- Attend more card shows and buy to flip.
Over November and December, I decided to start attending card shows to buy cards just to flip. And I was able to make money. Not much in November, but I made quite a bit in December. I've got that money set aside to buy more cards to flip. And I keep track of all buys and sales on a spreadsheet. Would like to start making enough to make it a side hustle.
- Read the Bible completely through!
I have a bible app, and I'd like to try and read the Bible completely through. I've never done that, and I think it would be a neat idea. So I've downloaded a 365 day plan to read the entire thing.

Home
- Purge items not used!
We opened a storage unit in July for $50. But they were up to $90 in December. So we canceled it. I've decided to start going through and getting rid of stuff. Would like to sell what I can and use the money to pay down debt. I'd like to donate what we can't sell. Just have to find the best way to sell since I'm not big on Marketplace (scared to meet people in public).
- Get the green thumb going!
I did a bucket garden last spring, and it didn't take. So I'd like to try again. Just minor stuff. Cucumbers, carrots, small things. I think it'll help our grocery budget (about $600-$700 per month). DW doesn't eat veggies, so I don't want to grow too much and end up wasting stuff. Also, I'd like to remove the rose bush in the front of the house and put a magnolia bush (this is what DW wants since her grandmother had them in her front yard). Also would like to freshen up the front yard (trim back a tree, week the flower bed, etc).
- Just do what we can!
There's not a lot we can do as we rent. But I'd like to do what I can in purging stuff, gardening, keeping the yard and flower beds up, stuff like that.

Clear, achievable (but requiring effort) goals are always the best. Make sure you have some sort of step tracker on you at all times and try to sneak steps in at random times - in the UK boiling a kettle for tea is a regular task during the day which gives a few minutes to pace around the kitchen whilst it boils. I can get about 300 steps in that way each time. I used to go to work by train and would walk up and down the platform whilst waiting for the train. Thanks to the poor punctuality I could often get 2000 steps in. Walk on the spot whilst cooking dinner? Climb the stairs during ad breaks in TV shows?

One of the things on my 60 before 60 list is "60 days of Duolingo". There was no requirement for them to be consecutive but once I wrote the goal in the book on Wednesday I have done a session each day - somehow having to write it down in the book means I want it to look nice by being consecutive.

I doubt I will achieve that with the "eat 5 fruit and veg a day" goal though - I normally manage one or two a day so the idea of 5 is a real challenge for me and I don't see that being done regularly! But a challenge is not menat to be easy.

I have also determined that my goal of 60 hours of volunteering was way too low - I have already done 24 since October 6th and as there are still 21 months to go I think I need to up that one. Partly because DH was persuaded to help out at a charity event for 2 days in November and he decided to drag me along too. And then his dad had a medical appointment on day 1 so DH only did 3 hours that day, I did 8! I am still trying to work out what happened there!

 

[mmbrad02]

Our NYE/NYD were pretty chill which was definitely needed after the two weeks prior. My dad was in their local ER on Thursday, Dec 18 with chest pains, but stable. Stress test on Friday showed abnormalities and was transferred that evening to a larger hospital for a heart cath. DH and I made the unplanned trip to the town with the larger hospital and stayed two nights - at the time it didn't matter, but now that things have settled down - I am very thankful for my travel credit card points as it covered both nights hotel expenses. My parents are about 3 hours from us.

Dad's heart cath showed 3-4 blockages at 50-60% and they want him to see a cardiac surgeon but felt he was fine to go home with meds in the meantime. That appointment takes place on January 22. My mom has earlier stages of dementia and that adds stress to the situation all together Christmas doesn't seem restful for anyone but it definitely added to our load!

Then on the way to my parents post Christmas to celebrate, DH hit a dog with my car. it was a dark country road and he locked the brakes up but there was no way to avoid it. My car grill has some broken pieces (though you have to get down low and know what you are looking for, to even notice it) and the dampers on my transmission are messed up. It's drivable but has a knocking noise. This is the one we were planning to trade this year but this snafu may move that up a bit. We haven't found the time to do any research or test drive anything but I have a feeling it will happen more in the first half the year verses the latter half like I had thought.

In brighter news, DH and I both got promotions (his in November, mine in December) that had both been discussed but neither of us felt extremely confident they would go through. So that will help offset some of these financial goals!