ariel1025
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2008
- Messages
- 1,375
Jumping back on board.
At one point, just a few years ago, we had all of our debts paid off except for the house. Unfortunately, we are back on the debt train - almost as bad as it was before. Mostly because my husband unexpectedly had to have brain surgery this past September for a (non-cancerous) brain tumor. Between neverending medical bills (we hit our insurance max last year and have already hit it again this year) and him being out of work for 5.5 months getting ~30% of his normal pay on LTD - our savings is long gone and the credit cards are all at scary levels. Then to add salt to the wound, I had to get a crown, my oldest daughter had to get orthodontic work (it was vital and could not be postponed) and my youngest daughter had to have an unexpected surgery in April. How's that saying go - when it rains, it pours?
In full disclosure, we also made some less-than-smart spending decisions for a bit before the series of unfortunate medical events. We also relied on food delivery way too often during my husband's recovery, which is still happening and the biggest habit we need to break.
Anyway. The goals.
Financial:
* Catch up on all (non-medical) past due bills - 0/9
* Pay off husband's medical bills - 9/26
* Pay off daughter's medical bills - 2/3
* Pay off my dental bill - 0/1
* Pay off daughter's orthodontic bill - 0/1
* Request medical "gift card" from employer
* Readjust budget for our new situation - I should have done this far earlier but kept ignoring it because I didn't want to accept our new reality
* Find a free budgeting app I like - currently use YNAB but is coming up for renewal in June and want to cut that cost
* Restart emergency fund - $0/$1,000 to start...
* Update budget daily so there aren't any surprises with the numbers that sneak up on me
* Update debt numbers monthly - even little changes keep me motivated
* Max out husband's Roth -$??/$7,000 - I know many will say to hold this while paying off debt but we are not exceptionally young and also don't want to lose his employer match
* Look at where we are # wise with Roth contributions
* Become more educated on investing/retirement - online class or book recommendations?
* Pay off oldest's DC trip - this is a school honors trip he earned for next spring that we do not want to take away from him
* "Find" an extra $100/wk average for the rest of the year (selling stuff, extra work hours etc.) - $0/$3,400
* Get back in the debt snowball habit - CC 3 $0/$922.64 - 2/22 debts paid off (not including above medical bills/past due items - the two paid off were done prior to the surgery)
Non-Financial:
* Purge all rooms/closets/spaces - 0/24
* Post maximum number of items for summer (online) consignment sale - 0/200
* Put in maximum number of items for fall (in person) consignment sale - 0/200
* Estate planning
* ICOD binder
* Read 52 books - 4/52
* 8,000 steps/day average rest of year - 0/1,864,000
* Average 2 hours/wk exercise rest of year - 0/466
* Complete a C25K program - have started more times than I want to admit and never finished - 0/27
* Help oldest daughter set-up her Etsy shop
* Potty train youngest daughter
* Completely decorate 1 room in our house - we've lived here 3 years and not a single space is decorated
* Watch new to me movies - 0/24
* Cook meals with oldest daughter - 1/52
* Try making new recipes - 6/104
* Use up 2023 meat before using any more of the 2024 meat - we are very blessed that my FIL is a rancher and gifts us 1/2 (sometimes more) a beef every year for Christmas. I need to make note of what cuts we don't particularly love or don't use up fast enough to adjust for this year's butcher request - 0/30
* 30-day pantry challenge - this will be really difficult to get my husband on board for - 0/30
* Start shopping in-store instead of delivery - will save on tips, subscription fees, and be able to check out clearance options
* Take family photos
* Back up all digital photos in one spot - 0/???
* Make photo albums for each year and vacation - 0/???
* Go back to daily planner usage - it helps me feel so much less scatter brained and I get more done having it in writing
* Make the most of our CO trip - already paid for prior to surgery - we originally were doing this (my husband's preferred vacation style) and a WDW/Disney Cruise (my preferred vacation style). We cancelled the Disney trip but kept CO. We rented a cabin and will pick up groceries and just spend the week playing board games, roasting s'mores, playing outside...being a family without outside distractions.
Ok, so that was a lot to unpack and scary to hit submit on. I know it will be impossible to get it all completed in a year. Or even 2 or 3...but accountability will help me stay focused. Let's do this!!
At one point, just a few years ago, we had all of our debts paid off except for the house. Unfortunately, we are back on the debt train - almost as bad as it was before. Mostly because my husband unexpectedly had to have brain surgery this past September for a (non-cancerous) brain tumor. Between neverending medical bills (we hit our insurance max last year and have already hit it again this year) and him being out of work for 5.5 months getting ~30% of his normal pay on LTD - our savings is long gone and the credit cards are all at scary levels. Then to add salt to the wound, I had to get a crown, my oldest daughter had to get orthodontic work (it was vital and could not be postponed) and my youngest daughter had to have an unexpected surgery in April. How's that saying go - when it rains, it pours?
In full disclosure, we also made some less-than-smart spending decisions for a bit before the series of unfortunate medical events. We also relied on food delivery way too often during my husband's recovery, which is still happening and the biggest habit we need to break.
Anyway. The goals.
Financial:
* Catch up on all (non-medical) past due bills - 0/9
* Pay off husband's medical bills - 9/26
* Pay off daughter's medical bills - 2/3
* Pay off my dental bill - 0/1
* Pay off daughter's orthodontic bill - 0/1
* Request medical "gift card" from employer
* Readjust budget for our new situation - I should have done this far earlier but kept ignoring it because I didn't want to accept our new reality
* Find a free budgeting app I like - currently use YNAB but is coming up for renewal in June and want to cut that cost
* Restart emergency fund - $0/$1,000 to start...
* Update budget daily so there aren't any surprises with the numbers that sneak up on me
* Update debt numbers monthly - even little changes keep me motivated
* Max out husband's Roth -$??/$7,000 - I know many will say to hold this while paying off debt but we are not exceptionally young and also don't want to lose his employer match
* Look at where we are # wise with Roth contributions
* Become more educated on investing/retirement - online class or book recommendations?
* Pay off oldest's DC trip - this is a school honors trip he earned for next spring that we do not want to take away from him
* "Find" an extra $100/wk average for the rest of the year (selling stuff, extra work hours etc.) - $0/$3,400
* Get back in the debt snowball habit - CC 3 $0/$922.64 - 2/22 debts paid off (not including above medical bills/past due items - the two paid off were done prior to the surgery)
Non-Financial:
* Purge all rooms/closets/spaces - 0/24
* Post maximum number of items for summer (online) consignment sale - 0/200
* Put in maximum number of items for fall (in person) consignment sale - 0/200
* Estate planning
* ICOD binder
* Read 52 books - 4/52
* 8,000 steps/day average rest of year - 0/1,864,000
* Average 2 hours/wk exercise rest of year - 0/466
* Complete a C25K program - have started more times than I want to admit and never finished - 0/27
* Help oldest daughter set-up her Etsy shop
* Potty train youngest daughter
* Completely decorate 1 room in our house - we've lived here 3 years and not a single space is decorated
* Watch new to me movies - 0/24
* Cook meals with oldest daughter - 1/52
* Try making new recipes - 6/104
* Use up 2023 meat before using any more of the 2024 meat - we are very blessed that my FIL is a rancher and gifts us 1/2 (sometimes more) a beef every year for Christmas. I need to make note of what cuts we don't particularly love or don't use up fast enough to adjust for this year's butcher request - 0/30
* 30-day pantry challenge - this will be really difficult to get my husband on board for - 0/30
* Start shopping in-store instead of delivery - will save on tips, subscription fees, and be able to check out clearance options
* Take family photos
* Back up all digital photos in one spot - 0/???
* Make photo albums for each year and vacation - 0/???
* Go back to daily planner usage - it helps me feel so much less scatter brained and I get more done having it in writing
* Make the most of our CO trip - already paid for prior to surgery - we originally were doing this (my husband's preferred vacation style) and a WDW/Disney Cruise (my preferred vacation style). We cancelled the Disney trip but kept CO. We rented a cabin and will pick up groceries and just spend the week playing board games, roasting s'mores, playing outside...being a family without outside distractions.
Ok, so that was a lot to unpack and scary to hit submit on. I know it will be impossible to get it all completed in a year. Or even 2 or 3...but accountability will help me stay focused. Let's do this!!
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