Debt Dumpers - 2019

[imbatman]

Thank you, everyone. I know her service will be a hard one (Feb. 2nd). But, I truly feel so very blessed to have loved her.

No New Year's miracle in the budget for me for spending this week. The payments finally posted from the 0% CC to the payments. Of course, the payment to the new 0% card is due, since the transfers took so long. And I was charged a month of interest. But we are moving forward. And forward is good.

In totally unrelated news, I have a hobby that will hopefully turn into a side job. It's a lot of work on my part, but I love it. Not that it'll bring me fame and fortune (I want neither), but if I can earn some money, that'd be fantastic! DH told me that I am not allowed to pay off bills if I earn money. So I told him that I'd put it aside for another WDW trip.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I figured this was a good place to ask for advice. I have a budget line item I have been carrying over since JULY 2018. It's from an Instacart order in the amount of $74.50. It authorized but never charged. The tip to the delivery person did charge. I have been a good little bee and carried this over every month to make sure if and when they decide to pull it, the money is there and I was not screwed over. It's getting annoying. Has this ever happened to anyone? Should I ask my bank? Should I email Instacart? Should I carry it over on my budget for 5 years? Any advice is helpful. Thanks guys

Have you carefully looked through your credit card statement just to be sure? I have overlooked things before and then my budget wasn't reconciling correctly. I had to go back and figure out why, then account for the problem. If you double check and it indeed hasn't posted in the past 7 months, then I think you are alright to stop carrying it forward and reallocate those funds.

 

[fifthdimensiondweller]

DH is trying to figure out if we messed up his withholdings last year (not in our favor) could pretty much wipe out any chance of a refund which may mean cancelling our cruise (not the end of the world but definitely disappointing). Really frustrated because he used his work calculator. Oh well, it's a lesson learned. I'm just trying to remember how lucky we are that a mistake means cancelling (or really just pushing back) an honestly very luxurious vacation considering our age and income and not going without basic needs or into debt.

In good news, I took a part time job offer and will go to fill out paperwork today! They can work with my schedule and it's right on my street!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

I figured this was a good place to ask for advice. I have a budget line item I have been carrying over since JULY 2018. It's from an Instacart order in the amount of $74.50. It authorized but never charged. The tip to the delivery person did charge. I have been a good little bee and carried this over every month to make sure if and when they decide to pull it, the money is there and I was not screwed over. It's getting annoying. Has this ever happened to anyone? Should I ask my bank? Should I email Instacart? Should I carry it over on my budget for 5 years? Any advice is helpful. Thanks guys

I worked in the card department for a bank for a couple years helping with issues with charges. Legally a merchant has 180 days to process a payment that authorized but didn't complete. After 180 days you can write it off, but until the 180 day mark they legally can still take the money from your account. So I'd count out 180 days from when they authorized it and at day 181 you can know they cannot legally charge you.

Edited to add: In the around 2 years I worked in that department I saw charges processed after 4 months only 3 times, and all 3 times it was when the merchant discovered they hadn't completed any charges on a specific date or dates. It can happen, but it is rare that you will get charged by a merchant after that much time, just know legally (in the US) any merchant can take up to 180 days to process a payment.

 

[DLgal]

DH is trying to figure out if we messed up his withholdings last year (not in our favor) could pretty much wipe out any chance of a refund which may mean cancelling our cruise (not the end of the world but definitely disappointing). Really frustrated because he used his work calculator. Oh well, it's a lesson learned. I'm just trying to remember how lucky we are that a mistake means cancelling (or really just pushing back) an honestly very luxurious vacation considering our age and income and not going without basic needs or into debt.

In good news, I took a part time job offer and will go to fill out paperwork today! They can work with my schedule and it's right on my street!

Use the IRS Withholding calculator going forward. It has been almost exact for us. I tweak our withholdings a couple times a year by using that calculator, and last time I did it was last July, and it told me we would owe $89. We owe $90 (but are getting back almost $500 from State, so that's nice).

You should be able to change your withholdings at your jobs whenever you want to. It's very easy (we can do it online for both our jobs).

 

[Shughart]

Have you carefully looked through your credit card statement just to be sure? I have overlooked things before and then my budget wasn't reconciling correctly. I had to go back and figure out why, then account for the problem. If you double check and it indeed hasn't posted in the past 7 months, then I think you are alright to stop carrying it forward and reallocate those funds.

Yes! Each month when I carry it over I look back over carefully on our online checking and search parameters pretty large for transactions from $64 to $84 to swing in either direction to make sure I didn't miss it because sometimes with grocery orders it can change a little due to weight, etc, even thought my account does show $74.50 as the amount for that specific order.

I worked in the card department for a bank for a couple years helping with issues with charges. Legally a merchant has 180 days to process a payment that authorized but didn't complete. After 180 days you can write it off, but until the 180 day mark they legally can still take the money from your account. So I'd count out 180 days from when they authorized it and at day 181 you can know they cannot legally charge you.

Edited to add: In the around 2 years I worked in that department I saw charges processed after 4 months only 3 times, and all 3 times it was when the merchant discovered they hadn't completed any charges on a specific date or dates. It can happen, but it is rare that you will get charged by a merchant after that much time, just know legally (in the US) any merchant can take up to 180 days to process a payment.

Thank you for that! I knew there had to be some legal threshold, but I wasn't sure what it was! I placed the order on 7/13/18, so this is day 186!

 

[fifthdimensiondweller]

Use the IRS Withholding calculator going forward. It has been almost exact for us. I tweak our withholdings a couple times a year by using that calculator, and last time I did it was last July, and it told me we would owe $89. We owe $90 (but are getting back almost $500 from State, so that's nice).

You should be able to change your withholdings at your jobs whenever you want to. It's very easy (we can do it online for both our jobs).

Thank you so much! I will definitely sit down with DH tonight and look this over (I actually have a new W-4 to fill out today so it's a perfect time to reassess everything).

 

[barkley]

Thank you so much! I will definitely sit down with DH tonight and look this over (I actually have a new W-4 to fill out today so it's a perfect time to reassess everything).

if you've itemized deductions in the past just remember that it has changed drastically for this year's returns forward for allot of people so that could greatly impact how you decide to fill out that w-4 (i know so many people who will be slammed by the caps on state taxes-being able to write those off in the past was the only thing that somewhat offset living in high tax states for them).

 

[confettiandkale]

A little mid-month update/vent:

The good:
1. My raise is actually 5%, not the 3.3% I had originally thought. I will not see it reflected on my checks until early February.
2. An apartment finally opened up in the complex I’ve been waiting months for! Yes, I’m going to attempt moving out AND paying off as much debt as I can at the same time..I must be crazy!
3. Made all my payments for month and have started “snowballing” my lowest card as of yesterday (balance is only $565 so hopefully I can knock it out soon).

The bad:
Had a talk with my mom about her finances. We’ve lived together the past 10-years (I’m 31, moved back after the Disney College Program at 21 and was only planning on being with her for 6 months...HAHA!). She is about to turn 62 and I really want her to start taking better of herself and preparing for retirement.
Living in expensive SoCal & being a single mom, she still works two jobs, one full time & one part time (that actually ends up being about 9 more months of full-time hours), but has no idea where her money goes every month. I’ve been pestering her for months, and finally we had a large argument and she reluctantly laid it all out...and wow, it was definitely a wake up call. With her full-time pay, she is about $900 short from her monthly obligations, not including things such as savings, gas, or even groceries!! This means she basically has to make $900 (or another 60 hours of part time work) just to break even...still not including the savings, gas, & groceries!
Even more surprising was how there was really no room or place to cut back from.There are no real erroneous subscriptions, gambling habits, or a taste for super expensive things...she’s just very bad with money and always has been.

I was so upset to see this, and instead of being excited about moving out and making positive changes for myself (hello! I’d like a house of my own one day!!), I’m terrified when I leave she won’t be able to handle it and things will just get worse, and then I really won’t know what to do!

On the upside of this, there were some things we were able to change.. I took over the $15 for the Netflix subscription, she was able to call and renegotiate the SiriusXM contract she got me for Christmas to $10 instead of $20 (which I later called and had switched my billing info), and she is going to renegotiate/cancel the cable subscription tomorrow. She is also making an extra $250 payment for the next 4 months to a delinquent account she has-I thought she was done with this last November, so hopefully these are all steps in the right direction to getting her on track!

Im just praying that if I keep making positive changes for myself, and correct the bad habits I learned from her, that won’t be me in 30 years!

 

[Katie Little]

I found a thing! It’s not a scam! Www.rev.com

Basically you are a freelance captioner. Meaning you caption videos and transcribe audio and they pay you. The pay ranges from $0.40- $0.80 per min of video/audio.

They pay you every Monday to PayPal and there are no minimums you have to reach before getting paid.

You have to type pretty fast to be paid well. I figured it up and I’m making around $4 and hour because I’m new and not very fast, but it’s legit.

You don’t have to set a certain schedule, you just pop on when you can and claim work. They always seem to have work during the week, this weekend was slow and I couldn’t find anything.

They are strict about their formatting and QC standards, but they give a lot of feedback.

Like I said, if your slow it’s not the best money out there, but I personally can’t get a 2nd job because I have to have a flexible schedule for my main gig, and im salary, so overtime isn’t an option. This little bit of extra really helps with our debt so I thought I’d share.

I wanted to make sure it wasn’t a scam before telling y’all about it, so I have been doing it for a week. My first “check” cleared my PayPal account yesterday.

Good luck! Let me know if you try it!!!

 

[Shughart]

Im just praying that if I keep making positive changes for myself, and correct the bad habits I learned from her, that won’t be me in 30 years!

I wish you luck! I am 33 and grew up with 2 spenders. Shopping with my Mom was hobby/quality time. I am 33 with a 12 year old daughter and I am leading her down the same path. I have 11k in credit card debt (please note this is not all taking her shopping, much of this was down payment on car, dental work, medical bills and car repairs as well) but I have not been setting the best example. I am curbing that starting now. And humbling myself along the way and being blunt about it. I tell her that I have set an awful example for her, and delayed our goals for years by spending irresponsibly. I am trying to set us back on track and set a better example for her and her brother so pay attention. If you have self control from the start, you learn not to depend on going out to eat quite so much, and are not quite so dependent on Mom taking you to the mall when you're bored.

 

[barkley]

I wish you luck! I am 33 and grew up with 2 spenders. Shopping with my Mom was hobby/quality time. I am 33 with a 12 year old daughter and I am leading her down the same path. I have 11k in credit card debt (please note this is not all taking her shopping, much of this was down payment on car, dental work, medical bills and car repairs as well) but I have not been setting the best example. I am curbing that starting now. And humbling myself along the way and being blunt about it. I tell her that I have set an awful example for her, and delayed our goals for years by spending irresponsibly. I am trying to set us back on track and set a better example for her and her brother so pay attention. If you have self control from the start, you learn not to depend on going out to eat quite so much, and are not quite so dependent on Mom taking you to the mall when you're bored.

don't beat yourself up too much on this. you're teaching them 2 lessons now-good spending habits and that habits CAN be changed.

sometimes it a choice to change a habit but sometimes life throws you a curve ball and you have no choice but to change. job loss, illness, economic recessions...something comes along and turns your income upside down at which point it's better to be able to recognize that you can make the less comfortable choices and change your non essential spending habits. i think it's better for our kids to learn that they can make choices and they can correct their path/choices if the desire/need occurs.

 

[jen7233]

I found a thing! It’s not a scam! Www.rev.com

Basically you are a freelance captioner. Meaning you caption videos and transcribe audio and they pay you. The pay ranges from $0.40- $0.80 per min of video/audio.

I tried this thing in the past and didn't qualify.

I was so upset to see this, and instead of being excited about moving out and making positive changes for myself (hello! I’d like a house of my own one day!!), I’m terrified when I leave she won’t be able to handle it and things will just get worse, and then I really won’t know what to do!

I understand to some degree, I have a similar though not quite the same situation happening with family where I worry about them and their future.

 

[DLgal]

I found a thing! It’s not a scam! Www.rev.com

Basically you are a freelance captioner. Meaning you caption videos and transcribe audio and they pay you. The pay ranges from $0.40- $0.80 per min of video/audio.

They pay you every Monday to PayPal and there are no minimums you have to reach before getting paid.

You have to type pretty fast to be paid well. I figured it up and I’m making around $4 and hour because I’m new and not very fast, but it’s legit.

You don’t have to set a certain schedule, you just pop on when you can and claim work. They always seem to have work during the week, this weekend was slow and I couldn’t find anything.

They are strict about their formatting and QC standards, but they give a lot of feedback.

Like I said, if your slow it’s not the best money out there, but I personally can’t get a 2nd job because I have to have a flexible schedule for my main gig, and im salary, so overtime isn’t an option. This little bit of extra really helps with our debt so I thought I’d share.

I wanted to make sure it wasn’t a scam before telling y’all about it, so I have been doing it for a week. My first “check” cleared my PayPal account yesterday.

Good luck! Let me know if you try it!!!

Thanks for sharing. I'm going to check this out! I have a lot of free time during the week. This would be great.

 

[DLgal]

Darn. Rev.com isn't currently accepting applications from my area (southern CA). Bummer.

 

[Katie Little]

Darn. Rev.com isn't currently accepting applications from my area (southern CA). Bummer.

Oh no! I’m sorry!!! Th thought it was everywhere!!

 

[potterfanatic]

I found a thing! It’s not a scam! Www.rev.com

Basically you are a freelance captioner. Meaning you caption videos and transcribe audio and they pay you. The pay ranges from $0.40- $0.80 per min of video/audio.

They pay you every Monday to PayPal and there are no minimums you have to reach before getting paid.

You have to type pretty fast to be paid well. I figured it up and I’m making around $4 and hour because I’m new and not very fast, but it’s legit.

You don’t have to set a certain schedule, you just pop on when you can and claim work. They always seem to have work during the week, this weekend was slow and I couldn’t find anything.

They are strict about their formatting and QC standards, but they give a lot of feedback.

Like I said, if your slow it’s not the best money out there, but I personally can’t get a 2nd job because I have to have a flexible schedule for my main gig, and im salary, so overtime isn’t an option. This little bit of extra really helps with our debt so I thought I’d share.

I wanted to make sure it wasn’t a scam before telling y’all about it, so I have been doing it for a week. My first “check” cleared my PayPal account yesterday.

Good luck! Let me know if you try it!!!

I've actually worked for Rev for almost four years. I'm so glad it's been able to help you! I started working there when I bought a new car and in April I will have it paid off using what I have made from Rev. I think it's a fantastic way to make extra money. If anyone has any questions about it I'm happy to answer them.

 

[DLgal]

Okay. Talk me into or out of this.

I want to take $4500 of my Roth IRA contributions out to pay off my remaining CC debt, and then increase my Roth IRA contributions to $500 from $100/month immediately.

I need the cc debt to be wiped out for my mental well being. I hate having it hanging over us.

Here's the deal. My Roth IRA had a NEGATIVE return last year (-2%). It is currently losing me money. My debt is at 0% (most of it) and I have a balance of around $1k on a cc with a 14.9% interest rate. I don't have much in there. Just about $8k at the moment. This account is pretty low priority, to be honest. We will have a nice pension at retirement that is guaranteed (military pension) and my husband has a quite large TSP balance that we continue to fund using 7% of his income (no matching for his military branch, unfortunately). My Roth IRA will be "fun money" or we will just continue to let it grow and it will become part of our children's future inheritance.

I mean, the money will be replaced in 9 months time anyway. I feel much better about having my Roth IRA contributions be $500/month instead of putting $500/month towards debt payment for the next 5 months. Mentally, it is a more positive thing to see the $500 going towards that. Seeing how the market currently is, I'm not going to miss out on too much growth of that small amount of money, right?

Should I just do it?

 

[DLgal]

Oh no! I’m sorry!!! Th thought it was everywhere!!

It's probably due to CA labor laws. Somehow.

 

[pblack]

Okay. Talk me into or out of this.

I want to take $4500 of my Roth IRA contributions out to pay off my remaining CC debt, and then increase my Roth IRA contributions to $500 from $100/month immediately.

I need the cc debt to be wiped out for my mental well being. I hate having it hanging over us.

Here's the deal. My Roth IRA had a NEGATIVE return last year (-2%). It is currently losing me money. My debt is at 0% (most of it) and I have a balance of around $1k on a cc with a 14.9% interest rate. I don't have much in there. Just about $8k at the moment. This account is pretty low priority, to be honest. We will have a nice pension at retirement that is guaranteed (military pension) and my husband has a quite large TSP balance that we continue to fund using 7% of his income (no matching for his military branch, unfortunately). My Roth IRA will be "fun money" or we will just continue to let it grow and it will become part of our children's future inheritance.

I mean, the money will be replaced in 9 months time anyway. I feel much better about having my Roth IRA contributions be $500/month instead of putting $500/month towards debt payment for the next 5 months. Mentally, it is a more positive thing to see the $500 going towards that. Seeing how the market currently is, I'm not going to miss out on too much growth of that small amount of money, right?

Should I just do it?

I'd say if it's not going to really affect you negatively and you won't have any fees/penalties for pulling the money out, go for it. It'll make you feel better and you'll put it back in there over the next few months.