Debt Dumpers - 2017

[Deffenm]

So far January is going well (knock on wood). If everything goes as they are right now I should have an extra $500 to put in emergency fund. Once this is at 1k then I will start putting extra money towards debt. We have 2 credit cards, DH truck, and mortgage. My goal is to pay off credit cards this year along with have the emergency fund in place. We are taking 2 vacations this year. We have rented a beach house in OBX for a week, which we are sharing the cost with my family. I already have paid our portion for the trip so just need to save spending money. We plan to bring food and eat at the house. Our 2nd vacation is a cruise which DH is paying for with money he earns coaching soccer. We essentially live off of my paycheck and his pays for the one vacation we take a year that is for him and I. We do this instead of Birthday, Anniversary, or Christmas Gifts. His paychecks this year will also help me pay down the debt since I cover all other expense and I don't have a ton left over.

We usually only get a couple hundred back on taxes since we try to get as close to 0 as possible. I will just put this away as spending money for our OBX trip. I will also get a raise in March, which I am using to up my 401k contribution to ensure I am taking full advantage of company match, and then I get a bonus in March as well. I plan to use this to tackle debt as well.

We have done a really good job and have not eaten out once this month. For a family of 5 (with 3 teenagers) it adds up fast. Surprisingly we all have agreed we don't miss it and I am enjoying trying new recipes. Groceries is where I am trying really hard. I budgeted $600 for the month for both gas and groceries to see if I could do it. I have $250 left for the month so it will be close. I normally spend between 800 - 1k so this was a challenge. I may have to bump it up a little but I wanted to see if it was possible.

If anyone has ideas on how to reduce the grocery budget that would be great. I do shop sales, use coupons if it makes the item cheaper, and shop multiple stores including Aldi. One other thing I have made a priority is to NOT waste food. It is amazing how much food we wasted last year.

I am excited we have a plan in place now Murphy just needs to stay away! Have a great weekend everyone.

 

[megveg]

Okay, I'm back here. The past 3 weeks have thrown me off as I've been dealing with some heath stuff but I am determined to get myself on track again.

as my planning goes, my car should be paid off by memorial day weekend. once thats done, my other debts will be easy to crush through summer as my car payments wont exist. once car is paid off in may, my car insurance renews in june so I can lower that rate if i need to (but its pretty reasonable right now)

I'm going to bookmark this thread so I can keep myself accountable.

 

[Aurora_Australis]

Not a good end to the month coming up here.

-Dental appointments that will be at least $100 in copay I think
-gonna have to book the dog in for his op by the end of the month, $400
-speech therapy intensive for youngest DD, just paid $320 up front but should get $200 back from insurance
- $200 professional fees for DH and I

Plus a whole bunch of car stuff coming up early Feb. This is our worst time of year for bills though and we still have over $1k in the emergency fund and ahead on all the utilities bills. DH only gets paid $125 this fortnight as he has a gap before his next contract starts next pay.

We have been
- eating cheap! Luckily stocked up on a whole bunch of 50% off meat before Christmas and that should last us another week or two. Plus just being conservative with what we are meal planning and not eating out. Has been about $50-70 groceries per week so not too bad. Usual budget is $100pw!
- working the free activities for the kids. Even just not having coffees when we all go out has been good for the wallet. We're all back at school in a week too.
- just not buying things! So much I wanted in the sales. We *should* get new work clothes but will make do etc.


I *did* want to get our DL tickets this pay as they seem to have gone up late Feb for the last couple of years but that will just have to wait and risk it.

I am very impressed with how we're doing though. Last year it would have very much been an attitude of put it on the card and sort it out later.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Not a good end to the month coming up here.

-Dental appointments that will be at least $100 in copay I think
-gonna have to book the dog in for his op by the end of the month, $400
-speech therapy intensive for youngest DD, just paid $320 up front but should get $200 back from insurance
- $200 professional fees for DH and I

Plus a whole bunch of car stuff coming up early Feb. This is our worst time of year for bills though and we still have over $1k in the emergency fund and ahead on all the utilities bills. DH only gets paid $125 this fortnight as he has a gap before his next contract starts next pay.

We have been
- eating cheap! Luckily stocked up on a whole bunch of 50% off meat before Christmas and that should last us another week or two. Plus just being conservative with what we are meal planning and not eating out. Has been about $50-70 groceries per week so not too bad. Usual budget is $100pw!
- working the free activities for the kids. Even just not having coffees when we all go out has been good for the wallet. We're all back at school in a week too.
- just not buying things! So much I wanted in the sales. We *should* get new work clothes but will make do etc.


I *did* want to get our DL tickets this pay as they seem to have gone up late Feb for the last couple of years but that will just have to wait and risk it.

I am very impressed with how we're doing though. Last year it would have very much been an attitude of put it on the card and sort it out later.

Well, try to look on the bright side, at least your emergency fund is enough to cover the things you listed above. It is very frustrating but they are all important things that you can't skip out on. Going out to eat and having coffee from a shop are small amounts that add up quickly, so it's good that you can cut those out. I know it's not popular but dh and I are quite content with our little Mr. Coffee drip coffeemaker and plain old grocery store coffee grinds. (yeah, I'm a cheap date. lol)
We set the alarm clock feature on it so that when our alarm clock sounds, the coffee is almost done brewing. Really, it's the first thing I do besides open my eyes and walk to the kitchen.
I can't imagine having to get ready for work and leave home, all with no coffee, then stop and pay a few dollars per day to get my fix. Whew it would be ugly...

 

[Aurora_Australis]

We've become quite big fans of cold brew coffee (it's summer heatwave time here!) and making that at home is cheap and easy so that is working well.

 

[Dentam]

We've become quite big fans of cold brew coffee (it's summer heatwave time here!) and making that at home is cheap and easy so that is working well.

I make these in the summer months also. They're very good and much cheaper than going to Starbucks!

 

[mrsabbott]

We buy Starbucks coffee and make it at home. It is one of the few "splurges" that I won't give up. I like good coffee!! I have the Starbucks app and collect points from the bagged coffee and it goes towards free coffee drinks. Also, I usually get Starbucks gift cards as gifts so I will occasionally use them to splurge.. especially on double points days! Occasionally, there are deals where you can purchase gift cards for half off on groupon or recently if I reloaded $10 then I got a free $10 gift card, so I did that. I like to save up the $$ and points for when we travel.

 

[mco65]

I hear ya on coffee.. but i am not a gourmet coffee drinker.. any old brand will do for me. My wife is a bit on the higher end and she brought a Keurig home from work just before Christmas with a ton of k cups. They are moving her office building and were getting rid of a some of those things.. Once all those K Cups are gone, i suspect i will go back to my cheap coffee grounds/coffee maker.

ANother thing i do to cut/save pennies is drink water when we do go out to eat. We go out once or twice a week (too much) i know.. but my wife travels and is gone a lot so when she gets home, we often go out vs eating in.. if i and at least one other person drinks water vs soda, that's $5-7.. it usually me and my daughter..

 

[sweetpeama]

So far so good this month. I haven't over drafted the account once even on paper. Plus I haven't used the credit card though it is looking like I might have to use that next week. Plan is by the end of February to be current with all payments and to start putting the money we were spending extra to get caught up into savings in case we need to pay taxes. I plan to file as soon as we get everything in and I find all the social security cards or get new ones. I just can't remember where I filed them and we got notification from our tax accountant that due to changing from a paper work filing system in the office to an electronic one even returning customers have to have those when they come in for their appointments. I am figuring by getting things done early if we do owe we can divide it out between what we have in savings and a few different paychecks so that it's not all at once. Most of what we owe is usually the first time home buyers repayment because even though we closed on our house in 2009 ( February) somehow it is down as being purchased in 2008 because it was set on the foundation ( modular) in December of that year. I had the paperwork to send to our congressman but misplaced it and now that I have found it I don't know if I should or not due to the fact of a presidential appointment and waiting for the senate to approve so we might have someone else once they have a special election. So the question is do I contact one of our senators offices or even both of them, or wait and see who the representative is and start from there.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Speaking of Starbucks, I decided on a new plan going forward this year. I have cut back a lot on Starbucks, but every once in a while I treat myself. I've decided that from now on, whenever I think to myself that I want to stop for a peppermint cafe mocha, I'm going to take my $5 and donate it to worthy charity instead. No extra calories plus helping those in need!

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Speaking of Starbucks, I decided on a new plan going forward this year. I have cut back a lot on Starbucks, but every once in a while I treat myself. I've decided that from now on, whenever I think to myself that I want to stop for a peppermint cafe mocha, I'm going to take my $5 and donate it to worthy charity instead. No extra calories plus helping those in need!

I like having a treat every now and then, so I use my Bing points towards Starbucks gift cards. It adds up to about $110 per year, which is enough for 2-3 drinks per month. To me, that is enough to treat myself without being excessive. And it doesn't come out of my "Jen money."

 

[Dentam]

I got a Starbucks gift card for Christmas, and have kept it and registered it. Just got an emailed coupon for a free drink, even though I've only used the card once since registering it. I decided to just put $25 on it and allow myself one drink a week there. It's baby steps, but a lot better than going their every other morning.

 

[seb65]

I got a Starbucks gift card for Christmas, and have kept it and registered it. Just got an emailed coupon for a free drink, even though I've only used the card once since registering it. I decided to just put $25 on it and allow myself one drink a week there. It's baby steps, but a lot better than going their every other morning.

My one vice is my Dunkin Donut's iced tea. My local dunkin's has it for 99 cents. I used to go daily, but now I just go about 3 times a week. I always say, though, if the price is ever raised to the $2.25 of the other Dunkin's, that is the end for me!

 

[hmack]

I have just three words for today - prom. dress. shopping.

sigh.

 

[Aurora_Australis]

I usually restrict myself to whe I'm out doing my shopping once a week and DH and I will usually have one on the weekends if we are out somewhere, especially when it is netball and its only a degree or two above freezing.

At the moment our favoyrite pods just went on half price so I stocked up on those yesterday, should keep us in coffee for ages once I buy more beans at Costco this afternoon.

 

[arlinar]

My one vice is my Dunkin Donut's iced tea. My local dunkin's has it for 99 cents. I used to go daily, but now I just go about 3 times a week. I always say, though, if the price is ever raised to the $2.25 of the other Dunkin's, that is the end for me!

Oh how I wished the DD near me had the sweet tea for 99 cents. It's the $2.00 over here.

Been really busy between Resort Certification and working date entry from home. Seems like I'm becoming a workaholic. I ended up getting two more jobs as well. One is a temp job with the state of Arizona for a few months and the other is part time at Amazon. It should help me pay off unemployment debt as tax returns is going to pay off collections (another dropped from my credit report, only 3 to pay now!) and to pay off credit cards. I will still have money left over for Disney and maybe another car.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

We have done a really good job and have not eaten out once this month. For a family of 5 (with 3 teenagers) it adds up fast. Surprisingly we all have agreed we don't miss it and I am enjoying trying new recipes. Groceries is where I am trying really hard. I budgeted $600 for the month for both gas and groceries to see if I could do it. I have $250 left for the month so it will be close. I normally spend between 800 - 1k so this was a challenge. I may have to bump it up a little but I wanted to see if it was possible.

If anyone has ideas on how to reduce the grocery budget that would be great. I do shop sales, use coupons if it makes the item cheaper, and shop multiple stores including Aldi. One other thing I have made a priority is to NOT waste food. It is amazing how much food we wasted last year.

I am excited we have a plan in place now Murphy just needs to stay away! Have a great weekend everyone.

I struggle with groceries too, we spend so much on food! I budget $1000 a month just for food. The kids school lunches get a separate line item in the budget as well.
One of the things I use for groceries is the Ibotta app, I go through it and if there is something I buy I'll load it onto my app. Then I scan the receipt and I get credit for it. When you get $20 you can have the money transferred to your paypal account. It's not immediate savings but I can roll that money into next months food budget.
I also use my stores reward card and have their app as well. They have started doing virtual coupons on the app itself. I load it on the card and when they scan the rewards card it takes the money back off.

As for Starbucks, I use shopkicks. You scan items in the store and when you hit a certain amount of points you can get a gift card. It's how I pay for most of my coffees now. These apps are also how I paid for the majority of my Disney trip last year.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

I hear ya on coffee.. but i am not a gourmet coffee drinker.. any old brand will do for me. My wife is a bit on the higher end and she brought a Keurig home from work just before Christmas with a ton of k cups. They are moving her office building and were getting rid of a some of those things.. Once all those K Cups are gone, i suspect i will go back to my cheap coffee grounds/coffee maker.

ANother thing i do to cut/save pennies is drink water when we do go out to eat. We go out once or twice a week (too much) i know.. but my wife travels and is gone a lot so when she gets home, we often go out vs eating in.. if i and at least one other person drinks water vs soda, that's $5-7.. it usually me and my daughter..

You can buy reusable K-cup baskets for the Keurig. That way you can use your regular coffee.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Nice news for the budget. Found out last night that the deposit we had to pay for electric service at our house last year just got reimbursed to our account. So nothing owed in February, and we shouldn't owe for March or April, and I would say it should cover at least part of the May bill, if not all of it. Traditionally, our February payment is always our highest since that's when we get our coldest weather. We are on budget billing, so $92 back in our budget for the next couple months!

Still waiting on W2s here... haven't gotten anything from either of the two jobs I worked last year. I don't know why both the state and local government has to drag their feet.

 

[mco65]

Didn't know that about K-Cups.. do you get those through their web site?

That reminds me, I have to hit the grocery store sometime today.. we get low on food and its EAT OUT time.. i did balk at going to OUTBACK on Friday night as well as TACO MAC last night.