Merch Challenge Q4 FINAL Update

As a reminder, we’re trying to pay off our mortgage and take our family on a 27-day Europe trip with just t-shirt sales in what we call the Great Banks Merch Challenge.

This update is the 2018 Q4 FINAL update:

The FINAL Merch Challenge Numbers

Final Trip Costs: Reminder that this was a 4-week, 27-night trip through NYC (2 nights), England and Wales (16 nights), Norway (5 nights) and Iceland (4 nights) for 5 humans! It was absolutely spectacular and the best use of money ever.

For a complete break-down of each of these categories, check out our Merch Challenge Q2 Update.

• Flights: $2,035.48
• Lodging: $2,859.50 
• Transportation: $1,712.29
• Stuff: $1,487.17 (The Gear + Souvenirs)
• Experiences: $1,468.95
• Food: $849.47

TOTAL SPENT: $10,412.86

Verdict: DONE! Paid for with our first 8 months of t-shirt sales. How amazing is that?!

Mortgage Costs: 

For Merch to cover the rest of our mortgage, we’re including any payments we make above our minimum monthly payments. So, these costs are the extra payments we made starting with the November mortgage payment:

• $2,100 (November)
• $1,700 (December)
• $1,500 (January)
• $0 (February)
• $100 (March)
• $0 (April)
• $0 (May)
• $0 (June)
• $0 (July) – Man, the trip really stunted our mortgage payments! No regrets, but we better hit it hard in the fall!
• $900 (August)
• $400 (September)
• $0 (October – we actually put $8000 extra toward it, but that was PFD money, so we’re not counting it as part of the challenge)
• $1600 (November)
• $2400 (December)

TOTAL EXTRA PUT TOWARD MORTGAGE: $10,700

Current Merch Earnings (earnings are 2 months behind as that’s when we get and report the money):

• June: $7.07
• July: $218.24
• August: $810.78
• September: $1,065.67
• October: $3,352.58
• November: $1,837.50
• December: $2,627.96
• January: $1,076.85
• February: $695.83
• March: $783.40
• April: $852.67
• May: $854.17
• June: $474.21
• July: $531.01
• August: $440.94
• September: $512.85
• October: $1,575.31
• November: $1,499.42
• December: $1,945.40
• TOTAL: $21,161.86

minus our trip costs of $10,412.86: $10,749

then we subtract our extra mortgage payments of $10,700 to get our

Merch Challenge Total: $49

Verdict: WE DID IT!!!!

We haven’t entirely paid off our mortgage yet, but in the next two weeks, with our regular mortgage payment, the mortgage will be gone. Can you believe that we managed to make all the remaining mortgage payments with JUST t-shirt sales?! AND take a month-long trip through Europe?! Squeaking by with $49 extra dollars!!!! My mind is BLOWN. It will definitely take me a long time to internalize all this! When I started this challenge I thought there was no possible way it could happen, but it would be fun to track anyway! AND LOOK AT AS BEING AMAZING!!!! I’m so excited to see what’s possible in 2019 with a paid off mortgage and the possibility of growing our side business and saving the money! Thanks for being along for the ride!