In this January 2026 debt payoff update, I’m sharing a huge milestone in my debt-free journey: I officially crossed from six figures to five figures of consumer debt. I started this whole thing in 2020 with over $229,000 in debt (credit cards, a car, federal student loans, and my private student loan being the problem child), and now we’re in year six. I’m proud of the progress, but I’m also being honest that I’m tired—and that sustainability matters because burnout is real. I walk through my end-of-2025 totals ($15,515.73 remaining at the time) and what changed in January. I paid off my Apple financing balance (0% interest) and then made a massive $10,000 principal-only extra payment on my private student loan by cashing out vested stock. The wild part: what used to be a “horrific” process now takes me two minutes in the portal, which totally shifted my mindset (shoutout to the “how long does it actually take?” mentality). My new total consumer debt balance is $93,117, and it genuinely feels like a weight lifted—because now, outside of my house, it’s my only debt.