Debt Dumpers - 2015

[Dentam]

My house closes in about 3 weeks. I am in countdown mode still - can't wait to be rid of the financial drain it has been on me for the past few years since I moved!

 

[Angeejoe]

Non active means not currently paying, he was in school deferment but can no longer do that.

Thanks for explaining! Student loan stuff confuses me

I fumbled a bit but mostly because I've been working so much. In two days I've put in 28 hours, last week I worked 6 days so we ate out quite a bit more than planned. I'm hoping to get back on track soon. I'm salary so I don't get OT, but I'm hoping for a little something extra. It's never guaranteed but they've been generous recently with bonuses and extra PTO because of how much extra effort I've been putting into my work.

I don't feel as secure with my finances since my car so I'm concentrating on getting my bills paid and then extra goes into savings. I really want to dump my debt but I need to feel at ease with a slightly larger bank account.

I find that when I work extra I end up eating out more also. It's like after all that work, I don't want to come home & cook. That's why I try to figure out crock pot meals, so then when I get home it's already, but I need that forethought to get it ready the night before or in the early am.

My house closes in about 3 weeks. I am in countdown mode still - can't wait to be rid of the financial drain it has been on me for the past few years since I moved!

 

[Ava]

Hi Dept Dumpers! I haven't been on this thread in, oh, 3 months or so. I think I got discouraged when my tax refund was only about half of what I thought it would be - turns out the (fairly large) raise I got at the end of 2013 bumped me up enough that I no longer qualified for as many tax credits. So I only got a little over $1500 - not enough to pay off the smaller of the CC's and not enough for a full one-month buffer on YNAB either. I actually haven't done anything with it, it's still sitting in the savings account waiting for me to decide. At least it's earning 0.75% interest, lol.

We've also had a fairly expensive last couple of months - both of my girls had birthdays, we had to sign up for our summer CSA and DD6's summer camp, plus a lot of birthday parties and school events to go to that all end up costing money. At least school is over in another month so we'll have a break from that stuff. I need to get back on track with YNAB too; sometimes I'll go a few weeks without entering anything in and then catch up. We've still been okay, but it's definitely not as effective as budgeting the money as it comes in.

Mostly I just wanted to check in here and try to get myself back on track by spilling to you all that I've gotten off track! Someone please chastise me, nicely.

 

[gracie1]

My house closes in about 3 weeks. I am in countdown mode still - can't wait to be rid of the financial drain it has been on me for the past few years since I moved!

Yay!! Let the countdown begin!!

 

[gracie1]

Hi Dept Dumpers! I haven't been on this thread in, oh, 3 months or so. I think I got discouraged when my tax refund was only about half of what I thought it would be - turns out the (fairly large) raise I got at the end of 2013 bumped me up enough that I no longer qualified for as many tax credits. So I only got a little over $1500 - not enough to pay off the smaller of the CC's and not enough for a full one-month buffer on YNAB either. I actually haven't done anything with it, it's still sitting in the savings account waiting for me to decide. At least it's earning 0.75% interest, lol.

We've also had a fairly expensive last couple of months - both of my girls had birthdays, we had to sign up for our summer CSA and DD6's summer camp, plus a lot of birthday parties and school events to go to that all end up costing money. At least school is over in another month so we'll have a break from that stuff. I need to get back on track with YNAB too; sometimes I'll go a few weeks without entering anything in and then catch up. We've still been okay, but it's definitely not as effective as budgeting the money as it comes in.

Mostly I just wanted to check in here and try to get myself back on track by spilling to you all that I've gotten off track! Someone please chastise me, nicely.

It's always a bummer when you get back less than your expecting. You could either just leave it in savings as a build up for your emergency fund or just apply it to the smaller cc to reduce how much you will owe.

 

[milwaukeemommy]

FD=Free Dining (offered at WDW)

Thank you!

So, when you stay at a Disney resort, you get totally free dining?? Or just breakfast/ dinner?? Is that a given, or something you add on? I've only been once, & we stayed at Shades of Green. We are going again next year, but again .... Shades of Green (which is awesome, BTW)

 

[Dentam]

There are a bunch of threads on here about free dining that go over all of the info and you can also find the offer details on the WDW website. It's usually offered in the fall at select resorts on a limited number of rooms in order to fill rooms during a slower time of the year.

 

[gracie1]

So...... I took my car to the shop today to get regular routine things (oil, tire rotation,etc) and to see what the noise was coming from underneath. The estimate to repair - $1200. Hmm, can we say welcome back Murphy? Lol. The plus side - it doesn't have to be done right this minute but within the next couple months. I plan on shopping around to get more prices. The other plus side is there is a mechanic who opened a shop around us on his own and doesn't charge like Goodyear and everyone - so I will be stopping by to talk to him. Oh, and the last time I had work done on the rear the struts and all had to be replaced so I expect that will happen in the front - so more like $1500. But I just keep telling myself - at least you don't have a car payment! I really want my car to last at least 2 - 3 more years!! That's all I ask of it without draining my funds!!!
How is everyone else doing?

 

[HubbDave]

We will be paying off one of our final 3 non-house debts this month. We put in a new hardwood floor last summer ( I did the labor) so we owed Lumber Liquidators a good chunk of change.
My wife had an old whole life insurance policy her parents took out when she was born so we cashed it to help pay this off

2 to go. Half way there!

 

[Ava]

My wife had an old whole life insurance policy her parents took out when she was born so we cashed it to help pay this off.

My wife has some sort of life insurance policy that her parents took out when she was born too. I should ask her to find out the details. I know we pay a small (~$5) premium on it every month and get an almost equally small dividend payment once per quarter, but I have no idea how much the policy is worth or even what type of policy it is. It may be worth cashing it in to pay off some debt if we can. Thanks for inadvertently giving me the idea, I usually forget the policy even exists.

 

[dayvewc]

Ok. I'm not off track yet, but not sure I'm making headway right now. Nothing unexpected has come up, just probably shouldn't have planned my summer trip this year and caught up on debt instead. But I'm gonna make it. Between stipend from work, paying roommates, and 2nd job, I can afford the trip on cash instead of using my CC. So .... I'm not adding to the debt - I count that a win. (Would be a win-win if I was decreasing the debt by the amount I'm spending on the trip).

 

[LilacBarries]

My wife has some sort of life insurance policy that her parents took out when she was born too. I should ask her to find out the details. I know we pay a small (~$5) premium on it every month and get an almost equally small dividend payment once per quarter, but I have no idea how much the policy is worth or even what type of policy it is. It may be worth cashing it in to pay off some debt if we can. Thanks for inadvertently giving me the idea, I usually forget the policy even exists.

I just found out from my in-laws that my DH has a whole life policy from babyhood as well. They thought for sure they had told us eons ago and we never followed up. I don't remeber a thing about it but my FIL is going to get us the info, well probably cash it out and put it towards debt.

 

[Eureka]

This month is kicking our butts a bit - basically too many people have birthdays this month, plus Mother's Day so it's a lot of 'extras' that other months might not have lol
Last weekend my youngest went to a bday party for her best friend; that same weekend I went to a birthday brunch for two of my bff's. This weekend it's mothers day. Later this month my oldest has two more birthday parties. Ordinarily I don't say yes to all birthday parties because let's face it, my kids don't play with everyone in their class. But these two (in fact 3, as the first party is for twin girls) are kids she plays with a LOT and I'm friendly with their mom's so how can you say no? ;-) Luckily dh has picked up lots of overtime the past 2 weeks and it's a 5 paycheque month (he gets paid every Friday) so things are evening out ;-)

My DH gets paid every Friday too so it's a 5-check month for him. (I get paid twice a month). Wish just once that extra check could get us ahead instead of catch us up, you know?

 

[bcwife76]

I totally agree Eureka! Because of the way this month is laid out, 3 of those 5 pay cheques this month are actually going toward our mortgage (not the entire paycheque, but a good chunk of each one). Grrrrrr.

Now the tv in our main living area has gone 'wonky', the screen has a white bar at the bottom, squiggly white lines through the rest of the picture on and off and the picture 'moves'. Ugh. Why isn't anything built to last any more?? That tv is only about 5 years old!! So I suggested swapping it out with the tv in our den because that one is not used very often but nooooooo dh wants to buy a brand new tv. Um....no....not in the budget at the moment. So I'm sure we'll be arguing about this alllllll weekend

 

[Eureka]

I totally agree Eureka! Because of the way this month is laid out, 3 of those 5 pay cheques this month are actually going toward our mortgage (not the entire paycheque, but a good chunk of each one). Grrrrrr.

Now the tv in our main living area has gone 'wonky', the screen has a white bar at the bottom, squiggly white lines through the rest of the picture on and off and the picture 'moves'. Ugh. Why isn't anything built to last any more?? That tv is only about 5 years old!! So I suggested swapping it out with the tv in our den because that one is not used very often but nooooooo dh wants to buy a brand new tv. Um....no....not in the budget at the moment. So I'm sure we'll be arguing about this alllllll weekend

I so get it. My DH is into electronics too, but I think we're "done" for awhile I posted last week about my PT bill and I'm calling tomorrow to schedule the car to get tires. But on the good side, at least those things are/will be funded without whipping out the plastic.....

 

[bcwife76]

DH has a Best Buy gift card with a balance of $100 or $150 on it. We have enough mastercard reward points on our PC Financial card to redeem for another $150 gift card. So if I can at least convince dh to bring the second tv downstairs and buy a smaller tv we might be able to buy it with gift cards only. Still....I hate that he might get 'his' way lol I much prefer it when I get 'my' way teeheeeeee!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

My DH gets paid every Friday too so it's a 5-check month for him. (I get paid twice a month). Wish just once that extra check could get us ahead instead of catch us up, you know?

I know exactly how you feel. We went through this last year with every 3 check month. It's so frustrating.
This year I was determined to be able to apply them to bills. Dh and I get paid Thursdays biweekly on opposite Thursdays so every week one of us gets paid. I always apply the Oct & Dec extra checks to Christmas. This year I kept my spending to a bare minimum, truly needs-only (with the exception of our Easter vacation).
For the first time ever I was able to apply all except $350 of dh's spare April check to debt and I'll be doing the same, hopefully, with my July check.

Of course having no summer vacation this year is making this much easier. I expect to be very cranky by Oct having gone 6 months with no fun but if I can stick to The Plan, all our cc debt will be gone by then.
So when the urge hits to book a little getaway, I ask myself, "Do you want to get out of debt? or keep dragging it out?" Then I have my answer.

 

[gracie1]

I know exactly how you feel. We went through this last year with every 3 check month. It's so frustrating.
This year I was determined to be able to apply them to bills. Dh and I get paid Thursdays biweekly on opposite Thursdays so every week one of us gets paid. I always apply the Oct & Dec extra checks to Christmas. This year I kept my spending to a bare minimum, truly needs-only (with the exception of our Easter vacation).
For the first time ever I was able to apply all except $350 of dh's spare April check to debt and I'll be doing the same, hopefully, with my July check.

Of course having no summer vacation this year is making this much easier. I expect to be very cranky by Oct having gone 6 months with no fun but if I can stick to The Plan, all our cc debt will be gone by then.
So when the urge hits to book a little getaway, I ask myself, "Do you want to get out of debt? or keep dragging it out?" Then I have my answer.

You should be very proud of yourself!! You are doing a fantastic job sticking to your plan - and just think that in around 5 - 6 months you will be out of debt!!!!!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

You should be very proud of yourself!! You are doing a fantastic job sticking to your plan - and just think that in around 5 - 6 months you will be out of debt!!!!!

I keep hoping. This is all assuming we can stick to The Plan.
Part of the plan was taking $4k that we set aside for a car for our ds18 toward our debt. When he 1st got his DL we told him we'd buy him a car if he got a job, as in having NEED of a car. So he applied to several places but not hired and since he'd be leaving for college in the fall (not really needing a car there) dh & I agreed that if he didn't have a job by July 1st, the car savings would go toward debt.
Well it's mid-May and he is not good with managing his time & lately with completing homework. So he is on the verge of failing English his senior year and since that's a required course for graduation, he would not be able to graduate with his class if he does fail English. He is plenty bright enough; in all accelerated or AP classes but just not making smart choices lately. I know for certain that they don't joke around or take these requirements lightly (set by the set). My brother failed gym his senior year and couldn't graduate with his class. He had to attend summer school and simply get a diploma in the mail. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
So now I need a Plan B. If he doesn't graduate, needs to attend summer school, then the university that accepted him probably wouldn't be too happy with all of that. I can't see them putting up with that. So if we need to do a last minute switch to attend our local county college, he will definitely need a car to get there.

So I'm excited that it could all work out but not feeling very certain that it will.
If I had a $ for every time I pleaded to my kids to get their HW done, clean their room, do the right thing, etc. I'd be so rich it would make Bill Gates look homeless.

 

[Ava]

My DH gets paid every Friday too so it's a 5-check month for him. (I get paid twice a month). Wish just once that extra check could get us ahead instead of catch us up, you know?

I so feel you on this! I just updated the budget last night, and looks like my extra check this month (or at least most of it) will be needed to get us caught up.

I did talk to DW last night about her old insurance policy, and she's on board with cashing it in to pay off debt. She couldn't get onto the website last night to check the value but if what she remembered is correct it should be enough to almost completely pay off our CC debt, maybe just $2000 short. But even having $2000 left in CC debt would be a huge improvement over where we are currently!