Debt Dumpers 2023

[barkley]

For my job, the legislature has to approve our raises and there is talk this year of a significant one, like 12% to try to lessen wage compression. I would be thrilled with it.

that would be spectacular! fingers crossed for you. i was just trying to explain wage compression to my oldest the other day and how despite paying above minimum his employer would do well to raise salaries with the new year to retain staff. nice surprise on today's paycheck-they bumped up across the board at the same 8.6% our state did with minimum wage. even nicer that they didn't tell folks about it but did it retro back to 12/25 so all 3 of their holiday pay rate days on this paycheck will be at the higher wage.

 

[pblack]

Mid-January Update (or lack there of):

2023 Financial Goals:

• Pay off our Highlander loan (Roughly $19500 at the start of the year) - Made our minimum payment for January due to extra holiday spending, but hope to increase the payment for February.
• Increase my contributions to my "other" savings accounts (pets/gifts/CC fees). - Have not increased this yet, will look more into it in February/March.

2023 Personal Goals:

• Travel more - aiming for a trip 4th of July weekend (undecided on where), going out to Texas at least once, a cruise or a trip out of the country - I actually ended up going out to Texas to visit my best friend last week while I was off. It was just me since my DH didn't have the time off. Looking at possibly hitting up Galveston (or the surrounding areas) for 4th of July weekend. Also putting together little "goodie bags" of things that I think my in-laws may forget about for our upcoming family cruise.
• Finish replacing the fence that needs to be replaced - Has not happened yet. We've had nothing but storms/rain/wind since the beginning of the year. Hopefully in the next couple months we can get this done.
• Live life and be happy - I feel like this one is just a constant work in progress.

No major updates for me at this time. We bought a Total Gym from Costco right after Christmas and both DH and I are trying to get a workout schedule in place. I've been alternating between using the Total Gym and using our exercise bike. I've done pretty well with using one or the other consistently so far, with the exception of the days I was in Texas. Hoping to slim down a bit before our family cruise in April.

I'm also working on going through things in my house to give away or try to sell. I actually sold a couple things on Mercari so far so yay for adding extra money to my travel savings (which is where I usually put this kind of money.) I have a bunch of items I need to list to my local buy nothing group, I'm just lacking the energy to do so since I hate trying to coordinate with people and then people flake.

I still have some Christmas stuff up inside my house that I've been slowly trying to take down and put away. (Outside items have already been put away.) I hate that the house looks so sad once all the lights and everything are gone, so I've not been in a rush to put things away. I think I'm going to try and get most of it done this weekend, but I may leave our tree up a little while longer since it's been so dreary here and it makes me happy.

I think that's it for me. I've been enjoying reading everyone's goals and updates so far!

 

[barkley]

I still have some Christmas stuff up inside my house that I've been slowly trying to take down and put away. (Outside items have already been put away.) I hate that the house looks so sad once all the lights and everything are gone, so I've not been in a rush to put things away. I think I'm going to try and get most of it done this weekend, but I may leave our tree up a little while longer since it's been so dreary here and it makes me happy.

our 2 cats have been giving us the stink eye since yesterday when dh took the tree down-they no longer have their jungle habitat to hide under.

 

[pblack]

our 2 cats have been giving us the stink eye since yesterday when dh took the tree down-they no longer have their jungle habitat to hide under.

How can you deny the kitties?! I feel like this is the facial expression they gave you.

 

[jackers]

I think I've settled into a good routine for my cash budget. I am just doing a lump sum amount each week and then tracking the different expense categories in my spreadsheets, by receipt. Worked a lot better this week, and only takes a few minutes to do.

Another hiccup I didn't really think about is that there are some things that I really can't pay cash for - for example gifts I can only get online, or my moisturizer that I can never find on stores, but can on Amazon. So, to accommodate that, whenever I need to buy something online and use my credit card, I will reduce my next weekly allocation of funds by that amount to account for the fact that it *should* have come from the cash budget.

Going to have a big one coming up - last year we got a quarter of a cow in February and plan to do so again this year. That will far exceed my monthly budget for food, so the plan will to split that cost over the next few months and reduce my future weekly food budgets until it's "paid back" so to speak. Once we find out how much that will cost, I'll do the math and figure out what makes sense - based on what we spent last year, it most likely will get spread over the full year. But we made it stretch almost the entire year and only just now are starting to have to buy ground beef again from the store so it was well worth it.

'Bout this time every January I start getting impatient for W2s to be ready (even though logically I know it will probably be at least another 10 days). I have already started some work in TurboTax so should be able to file by end of the month. My son started a part time job last year so I get to walk him through how to do it as well (obviously nothing complicated for him at all).

 

[zebrastreyepz]

I think I was in the 2022 thread and went off the rails.

But 2023 is going to be different because there have been a lot of changes around here.

I have a budget laid out for the year...for every paycheck. We have assignments for all overtime, bonus money, and tax refund money which is debt freedom.

I have 12 goals altogether:

1. Lose 50 pounds
2. Reduce debt by $15,000
3. Teach 1 cardmaking class
4. Complete 48 new scrapbook pages
5. Finish editing four books from my friend's back catalog
6. Edit four new books for her this year
7. Complete my first book series, which means completing one book
8. Complete my second series, which means writing four books
9. Stick to the budget
10. Organize my scrapbooks and get completed pages into albums
11. Produce content for all four blogs consistently
12. Read and review 48 books

Sunday update:

1. Down 4.2 pounds, so 45.8 to go. The main effort was no sweets and no soda of any kind.
2. Down $447.42, so $14,552.58 to go. The main effort was to stick to the budget.
3. Not yet.
4. Not yet, but supplies arrive today!
5. Not yet.
6. I'm halfway through book 1 of the year.
7. Got new covers situated and put a few words into the story. As soon as I'm done editing, I'll be pushing at this.
8. Not yet.
9. YES!
10. Not yet.
11. I've written 3 new pieces out of the goal of 8 to this date. I did gut it, reorganize it, and get all the links cleaned up.
12. I've read 2 and written 1 review.

I bought a new planner which incorporates all my stuff (calendars, budget, to-do, house, writing, scrapbooking) into ONE place, which has eliminated one app, one calendar, and one planner that was pretty much geared to writing only. I took time to set it up and transfer things, and so far, this is making things much easier.

 

[slightly_obsessed]

Mid month check in.

It feels like Dec/Jan was one big spending spree that I am trying to halt immediately, so I have added a few goals.

1. Emergency fund - back up to $10,000 and into a better interest earning account. I've had to dip in this a bit and will have to take a chunk to cover my husband's surgery from October. No progress. Most of this will probably come out of our refund.

2. Debt Focus - husband's student loan #1 is currently sitting at just under $3400. I'm hoping to pay this off by the end of the year and then will switch my focus to either his other student loan or my car loan. I haven't decided which one yet though - I go back and forth. Switched focus to my husband's second student loan. It's at a variable APR that jumped a few times last year and went from 4% to 8% . I didn't catch it until this month because it's been on an autopayment for more than the minimum payment. I plugged numbers into an online calculator and will save a bit more on interest this way in the long run. It's currently sitting at $4247.47.

3. Vacation savings - No change. What I autosave is actually going to our credit card to cover the last few expenses from last months vacation. Half of my paychecks from subbing will go towards this and other money will probably come from tax refund, our auto savings in the budget, and "found money."

4. Additional $5000 to either my IRA or our non retirement investment account before the end of the year. This is in addition to what we already invest retirement wise. No change. I'll be putting the other half of my subbing paychecks towards this.

5. Be smarter about food - we need to get healthier and stop wasting money on food. It's rude that dinner happens every night! But we are a family of 3... we shouldn't need to spend $1500/month where we live. I'm donating what's left of a half pig we bought because we didn't like it- it was underfed and apparently that changes the taste. Who knew?! Then planning an inventory of the freezer and pantry. I don't know everything we have right now.

6. Finish taxes asap. I know everyone's opinion on how much a refund, if any, you should get is different. We err on the side of caution after we had to pay quite a bit back one year. I'd like that money! Between vacation, Christmas and my husbands surgery bills, we spent a lot of money last month and our savings account balance is lower than I'd like. I'm starting to get tax documents so I think I'm going to start TurboTax and enter as I receive so I can submit by early February.

7. Make the rest of January and February no/low buy months. Exceptions will be household projects we have in the works (laundry room is getting a makeover next week with the help of a friend) and buying plane tickets. Mainly I want to cut down on impulse buying and work on those food costs.

 

[jen7233]

This is just January, and already did some financial moves. Maybe it's due to getting older, but I decided with DH's agreement to scale down to one taxable fund. I'm trying to scale things down to simplicity for 2023. I am getting rid of alot of excess items with moving, I did alot of asking myself do I really need this. I didn't have alot of time to do it all before moving, but two weeks ago went through all my clothes and tried to ask myself the same questions, do I really need this? Next on my list is all my scrapbook supplies, since I haven't scrapbooked in ages and have no more plans to. Terrible as it may sound to the holiday enthusiasts, I feel the same way about holiday decorations, and they will get the next look for keep or don't keep later in the year, since those got put away early in the move.

Something shifted in my thoughts later in 2022 and I just want to keep things simple. Same with credit cards, and bank bonuses, putting a temporary at least hiatus on opening anything new for now. Recently I cancelled the Alaska Air card about two weeks ago, glad I did as I see the annual fee went up, and I just couldn't justify why that card had any value to me.

 

[zebrastreyepz]

This is just January, and already did some financial moves. Maybe it's due to getting older, but I decided with DH's agreement to scale down to one taxable fund. I'm trying to scale things down to simplicity for 2023. I am getting rid of alot of excess items with moving, I did alot of asking myself do I really need this. I didn't have alot of time to do it all before moving, but two weeks ago went through all my clothes and tried to ask myself the same questions, do I really need this? Next on my list is all my scrapbook supplies, since I haven't scrapbooked in ages and have no more plans to. Terrible as it may sound to the holiday enthusiasts, I feel the same way about holiday decorations, and they will get the next look for keep or don't keep later in the year, since those got put away early in the move.

Something shifted in my thoughts later in 2022 and I just want to keep things simple. Same with credit cards, and bank bonuses, putting a temporary at least hiatus on opening anything new for now. Recently I cancelled the Alaska Air card about two weeks ago, glad I did as I see the annual fee went up, and I just couldn't justify why that card had any value to me.

I love the holidays but hate decorating my house. I had no traditional tree this year and we only brought out these acrylic light up trees for the tabletop that run on batteries. It was way less stressful for me.

I, too, plan on donating a lot of Christmas decor in my apartment storage closet.

Everyone needs to do what works for them.

 

[jen7233]

I love the holidays but hate decorating my house. I had no traditional tree this year and we only brought out these acrylic light up trees for the tabletop that run on batteries. It was way less stressful for me.

I, too, plan on donating a lot of Christmas decor in my apartment storage closet.

Everyone needs to do what works for them

I like some of the festive things to go purposely do and see, such as the way the WDW parks are decorated and holiday treats. Otherwise, I just don't feel so inclined anymore. I had a really rough Thanksgiving and Christmas, and once they were over and into the New Year I feel relieved. But aside from personal issues, the amount of decorations I've kept is too much!

I have a project with paperwork to do as well. I have alot of work binders I've kept over the years, like HR step-by-step SOPs I've built for various jobs. I need to go through the same process, what's the chance I'll be doing this line of work again, or keep it until I retire. Same with my medical records, I have a massive binder, I need to digitize them.

 

[Tygerlilly]

Went ahead and filed taxes today. We're getting about $1100 back between fed and state. I tried to make it so we'd get bigger checks and less of a massive return and I feel like I nailed the deductions. Going to earmark that money for our April Vegas trip.

 

[barkley]

Went ahead and filed taxes today. We're getting about $1100 back between fed and state. I tried to make it so we'd get bigger checks and less of a massive return and I feel like I nailed the deductions. Going to earmark that money for our April Vegas trip.

we are still waiting on stuff. i think we may need to up our withholdings in '23-one of the downsides to snagging one of those 5% cd's.

 

[DLgal]

Went ahead and filed taxes today. We're getting about $1100 back between fed and state. I tried to make it so we'd get bigger checks and less of a massive return and I feel like I nailed the deductions. Going to earmark that money for our April Vegas trip.

I am itching to file because we are owed about $1400 between Fed and State, but I'm still waiting on 2 tax forms to come through before I can actually file. Grrr...

No matter what I do to our W4s, we can NEVER get the state taxes to come out even. CA owes us nearly $800 this time. People complain so much about CA taxes, but I feel like we hardly pay anything.

 

[barkley]

No matter what I do to our W4s, we can NEVER get the state taxes to come out even. CA owes us nearly $800 this time. People complain so much about CA taxes, but I feel like we hardly pay anything.

i remember every year going in and reminding my payroll person that i used different filing statuses for california and the feds. if i didn't do it that way it also threw everything way off.

i do not miss filing california let alone any kind of state income taxes.

 

[Tygerlilly]

I am itching to file because we are owed about $1400 between Fed and State, but I'm still waiting on 2 tax forms to come through before I can actually file. Grrr...

No matter what I do to our W4s, we can NEVER get the state taxes to come out even. CA owes us nearly $800 this time. People complain so much about CA taxes, but I feel like we hardly pay anything.

It seems like I'd either get a few hundred back or owe something ridiculous like $42. This is 2 years in a row where I've gotten it to getting around $600 back. I'm gonna just call that good.

 

[DLgal]

i remember every year going in and reminding my payroll person that i used different filing statuses for california and the feds. if i didn't do it that way it also threw everything way off.

i do not miss filing california let alone any kind of state income taxes.

It's so bizarre. We have it at Married with like 6 exemptions and they STILL owe us money back. I don't understand. We are only a family of 4. I'd have to dial it up to 8 for it to break even.

The IRS calculator didn't work for us either. I adjusted our withholding a few times according to their instructions and should have gotten like $50 as a refund, but instead it's $750. We could have used that extra $750 the last few months.

 

[Nettlelondon]

I like some of the festive things to go purposely do and see, such as the way the WDW parks are decorated and holiday treats. Otherwise, I just don't feel so inclined anymore. I had a really rough Thanksgiving and Christmas, and once they were over and into the New Year I feel relieved. But aside from personal issues, the amount of decorations I've kept is too much!

I have a project with paperwork to do as well. I have alot of work binders I've kept over the years, like HR step-by-step SOPs I've built for various jobs. I need to go through the same process, what's the chance I'll be doing this line of work again, or keep it until I retire. Same with my medical records, I have a massive binder, I need to digitize them.

A few years ago I bought a pretty good scanner that converted to PDF as it scanned (which was new at the time) and just scanned, scanned, scanned every document I could find. They came through the scanner straight in to a bag from our local shredding company. It was cathartic.

Now there is a little scanner on my desk - it comes in, keep? yes - scan & shred, no - in the shredding bag. The bags cost about £15 (I am in the UK) to get shredded but as they hold about 30lbs and I don't have to sit and shred/fight with little bits of paper that always seem to go everywhere I am happy to pay it.

 

[slightly_obsessed]

A few years ago I bought a pretty good scanner that converted to PDF as it scanned (which was new at the time) and just scanned, scanned, scanned every document I could find. They came through the scanner straight in to a bag from our local shredding company. It was cathartic.

Now there is a little scanner on my desk - it comes in, keep? yes - scan & shred, no - in the shredding bag. The bags cost about £15 (I am in the UK) to get shredded but as they hold about 30lbs and I don't have to sit and shred/fight with little bits of paper that always seem to go everywhere I am happy to pay it.

I am glad you mentioned this - my husband was fantastic at doing this when the paperwork/bills were his responsibility. Me… not so much. But it’s amazing how much better this system works, especially when having to find old documents. I might need to just start scanning with this months stuff, then try and work my way through the backlog.

 

[dayvewc]

Hello again!!

I kind of fell off the radar last year.

Life happened. Long story as quickly as possible:

• I switched jobs,
• moved,
• got shanghaied by my movers,
• started my new job,
• wound up driving further to work even after the move,
• had a lot more responsibilities and duties at the new job (all teaching related, so not like I'm climbing a corporate ladder and raking in benefits),
• still fighting with the VA over medical issues from my time in service,
• still having medical problems from the car wreck last April,
• Mom fell in September and broke her hip
  • had hip replacement surgery
  • went to rehab
  • wound up with some other issues
  • went back to the hospital
  • was diagnosed with an aggressive and untreatable infection (due to heart valve replacement years earlier)
  • went home on hospice and passed the week before Thanksgiving
• My sisters and I spent Thanksgiving through the end of the year settling moms estate
• I am frankly still in shock. Not sure which stage of grief that is, but I know I am not done with them yet.

The good news out of everything that has happened is that I absolutely love the new school I am teaching in; and mom had enough life insurance policies that I am able to shave about 5 years off of my plans to be debt free. I'd rather have my mom, though.

 

[pblack]

I'm so sorry to hear about your mom's passing @dayvewc.