WASHINGTON Like the service men and women they are, the participants in my yearlong money-management challenge have hunkered down and are attacking their debts with mighty force.

In less than four months, Kim and George Colon have drastically cut their household expenses and have managed to pay off more than $8,800 in consumer and tax debt. Kim, 43, is a senior master sergeant in the Air Force. She has been in the military for almost 20 years. George is 52 and retired from the Army after serving 22 years.

Tarek and Evibeth Bathiche, both 24-year-old Army personnel stationed at Fort Meade, Md., have paid off more than $16,000 in consumer debt since being put on my debt diet by cutting expenses and using a re-enlistment bonus Tarek received. Evibeth is a sergeant and Tarek just got promoted to staff sergeant.

Amber and Trenton Holmes have paid off more than $1,200 owed in credit-card and retail debt. Trenton is an aircraft mechanic and tech sergeant with the Air Force. Amber is a paralegal specialist with the federal government.

In this year's challenge, I wanted to work with military personnel. Throughout the year these three families in the Color of Money Military Challenge will open up their financial lives and follow debt-reduction plans I've laid out for them.

So why focus just on military families?

Several reports by the Defense Department and the Government Accountability Office have found that many military personnel are in financial trouble and that in turn may be affecting our country's military readiness. Given the current deployment of our troops in the Middle East, it's key to have soldiers who are focused on their duties and not their debts.

Family separations resulting from duty-station changes and deployments often put additional financial stress on military personnel, says Janet Pearson, publisher of Military-MoneyMatters.com.

"I think the other part of the problem is a lack of financial education," said Pearson, who spent five years as an attorney in the Navy's Judge Advocate General's Corps. As a Navy attorney she frequently provided advice to service members and their families on financial issues.

Serious financial problems can have a negative impact on service members' careers. They could lead to loss of security clearance and other adverse personnel actions, including discharge.

Unchecked spending and the overuse of credit are what has landed the three military families in trouble.

The first step in their plan was to give up their credit cards. To participate in this challenge, all three couples were required to cut up or store away their cards. When you are in debt, you cannot continue to add to your problems by using credit.

Cutting off their credit supply forced the families to budget better.

Overall, I'm pleased with all the challengers' results so far. These military families are displaying the kind of discipline any drill sergeant would require.
Michelle Singletary welcomes comments and column ideas but cannot offer specific personal financial advice. Readers can write to her c/o The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, DC 20071, or e-mail her at singletarym@washpost.com.