Crushing Debt

Why do resolutions die?

How do you beat the odds and make your resolutions a reality?

On January 1, we all believe that we are about to become someone who meal preps, budgets, and never impulse buys. Does that always happen?

On this week's episode of the podcast, Shawn & George talk about why resolutions die, including:

• Rebellion spending
• Waning motivation
• Shame or avoidance
• February
• Lack of tracking or monitoring
• Lack of specificity.

More important, we also discuss how to beat the odds, including:

• Shrinking the goals
• Building systems
• Budgeting
• DIY
• Accountability
• Calendars

Let us know if you enjoy this episode and, if so, please share it with your friends!

Or, you can support the show by visiting our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/crushingDebt

To contact George Curbelo, you can email him at [email protected] or follow his Tiktok channel - https://www.tiktok.com/@curbelofinancialcoach

To contact Shawn Yesner, you can email him at [email protected] or visit www.YesnerLaw.com.

And please consider a donation to Pancreatic Cancer research and education by joining Shawn's team at MY Legacy Striders: http://support.pancan.org/goto/MyLegacy2026

Happy New Year from the Crushing Debt Podcast!

How do you manage your credit card debt after the holidays?

What are some tips for starting the new year on the path to being debt free?

Did you know that the average American household spends approximately $1,100 per person for gifts?

In this week's episode of the podcast, Shawn & George talk about managing credit card debt after the holidays, including tips like:

• Budgeting & Planning
• Pausing new spending
• Using the Snowball or Avalanche Debt payment strategies
• Setting up Automatic Payments
• Doing a new year no spend challenge
• Resisting Impulse Buys
• Saving for next year NOW

Let us know if you enjoy this episode and, if so, please share it with your friends!

Or, you can support the show by visiting our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/crushingDebt

To contact George Curbelo, you can email him at [email protected] or follow his Tiktok channel - https://www.tiktok.com/@curbelofinancialcoach

To contact Shawn Yesner, you can email him at [email protected] or visit www.YesnerLaw.com.

And please consider a donation to Pancreatic Cancer research and education by joining Shawn's team at MY Legacy Striders: http://support.pancan.org/goto/MyLegacy2026

Merry Christmas from The Crushing Debt Podcast !!

How much "stuff" does the average American home have?

How many people utilize off-site storage for their stuff?

Are you able to park your car in your garage?

How long do you take searching for "missing" items?

How much does the average American family spend on non-essential goods.

This week, Shawn & George talk to Beth Ruck with Conquering Clutter (www.ConqueringClutter.net) about

• Statistics regarding the average amount of possessions of U.S. households
• Mindset regarding shopping and managing your possessions
• Paper management and how it can save you money
• How de-cluttering can help you conquer your debt.

You can contact Beth at [email protected].

At a young age, Beth learned from her mother that you can accomplish a lot in just 15 minutes. She has applied this idea in her roles as a homemaker, wife, and mother of two grown children. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Accounting from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. She has worked as a bank teller, staff accountant for a commercial real estate firm, bookkeeper for three different non-profits, a substitute teacher, and a sales associate in a Christian book/gift store. She enjoys meeting new people, taking walks with her husband and dog, singing, knitting, reading and spending time with her granddaughter.

In 2015, Conquering Clutter was established. Over the past 10 years Beth has enjoyed working with clients and hearing their stories.

Her motto is: Helping people simplify their spaces so they have more time for what they love and who they love.

Let us know if you enjoy this episode and, if so, please share it with your friends!

Or, you can support the show by visiting our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/crushingDebt

To contact George Curbelo, you can email him at [email protected] or follow his Tiktok channel - https://www.tiktok.com/@curbelofinancialcoach

To contact Shawn Yesner, you can email him at [email protected] or visit www.YesnerLaw.com.

And please consider a donation to Pancreatic Cancer research and education by joining Shawn's team at MY Legacy Striders: http://support.pancan.org/goto/MyLegacy2026

What are your 2026 Resolutions?

What are your 2026 Goals?

What is the difference between a Resolution and a Goal?

In this week's episode, Shawn & George flip the script on last week's episode and instead of looking back on 2025, they look forward to 2026, talking about things like:

• One Word for 2026
• Goals for 2026, personally and professionally
• Trends for 2026, like
  • Housing
  • Interest
  • Student Loans
  • AI
  • Homeowner & Condo Associations.
  • And more!

Let us know if you enjoy this episode and, if so, please share it with your friends!

Or, you can support the show by visiting our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/crushingDebt

To contact George Curbelo, you can email him at [email protected] or follow his Tiktok channel - https://www.tiktok.com/@curbelofinancialcoach

To contact Shawn Yesner, you can email him at [email protected] or visit www.YesnerLaw.com.

And please consider a donation to Pancreatic Cancer research and education by joining Shawn's team at MY Legacy Striders: http://support.pancan.org/goto/MyLegacy2026

As we near the end of 2025, how was this year for you? Personally? Professionally?

What was some of the biggest financial news in 2025?

What are you looking forward to in 2026?

As the year comes to an end, Shawn & George take a look back, and a small look forward at 2025 and 2026, including topics like:

• Mortgage / Interest Rates
• Grocery and Utility costs
• Government Shut Down
• Student Loan Adjustments
• Credit Card Debt
• Personal Guarantees
• Housing Market

Let us know if you enjoy this episode and, if so, please share it with your friends!

Or, you can support the show by visiting our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/crushingDebt

To contact George Curbelo, you can email him at [email protected] or follow his Tiktok channel - https://www.tiktok.com/@curbelofinancialcoach

To contact Shawn Yesner, you can email him at [email protected] or visit www.YesnerLaw.com.

And please consider a donation to Pancreatic Cancer research and education by joining Shawn's team at MY Legacy Striders: http://support.pancan.org/goto/MyLegacy2026

What can you learn about budgeting from Santa's Holiday preparation?

What lessons do the holiday bring?

On this week's episode of The Crushing Debt Podcast, Shawn & George talk about:

• Overhead costs
• Supply chain issues
• Labor force issues
• North Pole budgeting
• Budgeting among multiple celebrations
• Gift-giving expectations
• Holiday season cash-flow

We hope you had an amazing Thanksgiving break and a great holiday season.

For Thanksgiving, it would mean a lot to us for you to please share this episode with your friends!

Or, you can support the show by visiting our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/crushingDebt

To contact George Curbelo, you can email him at [email protected] or follow his Tiktok channel - https://www.tiktok.com/@curbelofinancialcoach

To contact Shawn Yesner, you can email him at [email protected] or visit www.YesnerLaw.com.

And please consider a donation to Pancreatic Cancer research and education by joining Shawn's team at MY Legacy Striders: http://support.pancan.org/goto/MyLegacy2026

What Thanksgiving traditions do you have?

Do you eat a big meal surrounded by family, a smaller meal with less people, or Thanksgiving is not really your thing?

In this week's episode of The Crushing Debt Podcast, we wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. As has become our tradition, because we release the show every Thursday, Shawn & George talk about:

• Black Friday and Sales / Shopping
• Financial Advice around the dinner table
• What business owners can be thankful for this year
• Gratitude mindset
• Using Thanksgiving to air out financial dirty laundry
• Using Thanksgiving as a time to reflect and set goals for next year.

Whether you celebrate, whehter you work tonight, whether you keep it low key or skip the holiday altogether, at The Crushing Debt Podcast, we do want to know what you're thankful for and we hope you have a great holiday season.

Let us know if you enjoy this episode and, if so, please share it with your friends!

Or, you can support the show by visiting our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/crushingDebt

To contact George Curbelo, you can email him at [email protected] or follow his Tiktok channel - https://www.tiktok.com/@curbelofinancialcoach

To contact Shawn Yesner, you can email him at [email protected] or visit www.YesnerLaw.com.

And please consider a donation to Pancreatic Cancer research and education by joining Shawn's team at MY Legacy Striders: http://support.pancan.org/goto/MyLegacy2026

Do you know what taxes are dischargeable in bankruptcy and which are not?

Do you owe Trust Fund Tax? What if you cannot pay it?

On this week's episode of the Crushing Debt Podcast, Shawn & George talk to Tax Attorney Alena Miles. Alena has an L.L.M. in taxation, and is a CPA. She is the founder of Attorney Legal and focuses her practice on federal tax law and international tax matters. She provides services in business tax planning, tax transactions, tax consulting, and tax controversy for a wide range of clients, including businesses, partnerships, corporations, LLCs, private equity funds, single-purpose entities, and individuals.

With over 15 years of experience in public accounting, Alena has a strong background in tax compliance, tax planning, and tax dispute resolution. Before becoming an attorney, she worked as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), assisting clients in industries such as asset management, real estate, McDonald's franchisees, professional services, investment, and construction.

Alena has worked at leading Big Four accounting firms like PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and KPMG, where she provided tax services to billion-dollar clients in asset management. As a Tax Manager at KPMG, she managed complex private equity funds and multi-tiered partnership structures, ensuring compliance with complex tax laws and regulations and meeting time-sensitive deadlines.

Shawn & George talk to Alena about:

• Trust Fund Taxes
• Not Filing Your Tax Return
• Filing Late Returns
• Forced Filings by the IRS
• Negotiations with the IRS
• The Difference between a Tax Attorney and CPA
• FIRPTA (Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act)

Let us know if you enjoy this episode and, if so, please share it with your friends!

Or, you can support the show by visiting our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/crushingDebt

To contact George Curbelo, you can email him at [email protected] or follow his Tiktok channel - https://www.tiktok.com/@curbelofinancialcoach

To contact Shawn Yesner, you can email him at [email protected] or visit www.YesnerLaw.com.

And please consider a donation to Pancreatic Cancer research and education by joining Shawn's team at MY Legacy Striders: http://support.pancan.org/goto/MyLegacy2026

What lessons can you learn about selling from your kids?

What lessons can you learn about debt from your kids?

While we didn't get to participate in this year's community garage sale, my son did collect, clean and sell golf balls at a golf tournament recently.

Some of the lessons he learned:

• Timing - know your market and their needs
• Networking - with other kids selling other items (like lemonade)
• Preparation - collecting, cleaning, sorting, labelling and pricing
• Investors - (dad, Shawn) to help buy supplies, provide the table for selling, etc.
• Using Revenue to Grow the Business (listen for the story of the golf ball cleaner)

Let us know if you enjoy this episode and, if so, please share it with your friends!

Or, you can support the show by visiting our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/crushingDebt

To contact George Curbelo, you can email him at [email protected] or follow his Tiktok channel - https://www.tiktok.com/@curbelofinancialcoach

To contact Shawn Yesner, you can email him at [email protected] or visit www.YesnerLaw.com.

And please consider a donation to Pancreatic Cancer research and education by joining Shawn's team at MY Legacy Striders: http://support.pancan.org/goto/MyLegacy2026

Who's in more debt, Landlord or Tenant?

How can landlords reduce costs and increase the profitability of their rentals?

How can a property manager increase your profits and save you money?

In today's episode, I interview Mark Sorokurs of Central Pinellas Realty and Collman Properties. I've known Mark about seven years and he's been in real estate for about eight years now after "retiring" from IT in 2012.

You can also hear Mark in Episode 245 - Saving Money by Using a Property Manager

You can reach Mark at www.centralpinellasrealty.com or [email protected]., or 727-738-RENT (7368).

Let us know if you enjoy this episode and, if so, please share it with your friends, like and subscribe to the show!

Or, you can support the show by visiting our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/crushingDebt

To contact George Curbelo, you can email him at [email protected] or follow his Tiktok channel - https://www.tiktok.com/@curbelofinancialcoach

To contact Shawn Yesner, you can email him at [email protected] or visit www.YesnerLaw.com.

And please consider a donation to Pancreatic Cancer research and education by joining Shawn's team at MY Legacy Striders: http://support.pancan.org/goto/MyLegacy2026