Debt Dumpers 2024

[Tygerlilly]

I just got the best phone call ever.

Last year P!nk was coming to our town in concert. She's been my favorite singer since her first song released 24 years ago. My best friend and I got tickets for the show...and then the tour got canceled. Fast forward to this year, she's finally back on Friday and my casino host here just called and asked me if I wanted box seats to the concert! So we are going to sell the tickets we bought and now we have amazing seats FOR FREE!! It's literally a dream come true.

Plus I went to go get lunch for us today with my food credit and won $300 off freeplay, so even better!

 

[pblack]

I just got the best phone call ever.

Last year P!nk was coming to our town in concert. She's been my favorite singer since her first song released 24 years ago. My best friend and I got tickets for the show...and then the tour got canceled. Fast forward to this year, she's finally back on Friday and my casino host here just called and asked me if I wanted box seats to the concert! So we are going to sell the tickets we bought and now we have amazing seats FOR FREE!! It's literally a dream come true.

Plus I went to go get lunch for us today with my food credit and won $300 off freeplay, so even better!

Congrats!! That's awesome on both counts!

 

[goofytinkerbell]

I've been putting off doing an update, but it's time. This is all since the last time I posted., and the totals are with my updates included.

Financials:
1. Put an extra $2000 on my mortgage. DONE (I'll give the total at the end of the year)
Added an extra $600

2. Put $2000 in savings to help pay for yearly bills (comes out in November). DONE (I'll give the total at the end of the year)
Minus $1630. Some of the bills I was saving for have come due. Next bunch are early in the new year, so the savings are still needed. On the bright side, this means I didn't have to put these bills on credit.

I earned $10 in gift cards since the last update. Been saving these to help with Christmas.

Other:
1. Clean out 500 items of junk. DONE!! Will give final total at the end of the year
+58
2. Make an "in case of death" folder (containing will, important info). 1/1 DONE
3. Get 60 minutes of exercise per week. 45/52
+5. I feel like I might have miscounted my weeks in my total, but so far I haven't missed a week.
4. Read at least 1 non fiction book related to professional development. DONE
5. Do 12 hours of skills development (example, take a course). 62/12 DONE
-2 hours on the online course I've been working on. Technically done the goal, but not done the course.
6. Find a new job! (carryover from previous year). 0/1
-Checked job sites, and applied for 1 job. still no bites. Hiring usually slows down between now and the end of the year, so I might be out of luck until January when places get their 2025 budgets.
7. Finish some of the partially done craft projects I have (carryover from previous year). 2/2 - DONE!!
-Worked on a project, which probably won't be done by the end of the year
8. Organize my "stuff" - DONE
In the middle of trying to rearrange my basement, which is a long slow process
9. Do at least 1 home improvement project. DONE

Getting rid of the holidays and trying to get my work tasks done by the end of the year is limiting my ability to do everything else, and is starting to put pressure on the finances. I'm hoping I've put myself in a position to handle it this year.

 

[pblack]

Been pretty quiet around here lately. Just wanted to see how everyone's doing as we approach the end of the year.

 

[Tygerlilly]

Had a little Christmas market event today that I set up at to sell the sensory kits. I think I made about $150? I think I sold more than I thought I would, but not as many as I expected to. Still happy with it and now I have quite a bit to take to my booth in the artesian market down town.

I'm running (very loose term there) a half marathon on Sunday, so tomorrow I'm heading to the expo to pick up my bib and look for a new runners belt to hold my phone, keys, and ID while I run. I'm severely undertrained for this, so who knows how it's going to go, but I'm going to try my best.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

Just got back from a trip to WDW and now getting decorated for the holidays. Other than splurging on food, holidays are pretty low key around here, which we love. Gives us all a chance to relax and enjoy each other's company.

We had an issue with our elderly dog while we were at WDW and she was at the pet-sitter, but she seems to be doing much better now that we're home. So grateful she's feeling better (and that it didn't disrupt the entire vacation budget as we had the money set aside in our emergency fund).

Cold weather and snow are settling in here, so we're preparing to hunker down and hibernate as much as possible until Spring.

Happy Holidays everyone!

 

[barkley]

it's wet and soggy here but we don't have to go anywhere for the the next week or so (fingers crossed) so we can deal with it. I think our tree will go up today. dh has always been very anti any holiday decor pre Thanksgiving but we bought a new tree about a month ago and I told him I would'nt toss the old one until we were sure the new one worked (this one is pre-lit) so between next week being our garbage pickup and the thought of having to face black Friday crowds to do an exchange if there's an issue with the new one he decided to go ahead and get it put up (i'll hold off on decorating it till Thanksgiving day while everything is cooking).

went to get the turkey yesterday so that's the last food item we need for this week. going to eat our way through some frozen items to make room for all the anticipated leftovers (got a 22 pound bird b/c I LOVE turkey).

physical Christmas shopping is pretty much done but i've got 4 returns to do before the holiday so at some point we'll hit those stores and I may see something that catches my eye. I'll likely do the Christmas cards this week (sticker shock on stamp costs-i have not bought any for a couple of years ).

 

[piglet1979]

We are plugging along here. I am so thankful that I have great insurance. Once we hit our out of pocket, we pay nothing. DD has been really sick this year and have had several appointment and tests this year. We did confirm she has POTS as well as Hypogammaglobulinemia (basic term she has low antibodies). She is still getting a lot of tests done to see how bad the low antibodies are. This does explain why she is always so sick. We have only known this for about a month so it is all so knew but depending on how these next tests come back will depend on how we move forward. She might need to be on antibody replacement therapy for the rest of her life. So it has been a bit stressful here. I am already worried for the 1st of the year when the out of pocket starts over. It is looking like DD with get tubes and not sure what else.

 

[Bellex917]

Well, my goal for 2024 had been to get out of debt and we did. I had hoped to get a jump start on my goal for 2025 which was to double our savings. Unfortunately, my husband is in the tech world and was laid off 2 weeks ago so all plans are on hold. We are now in "emergency mode" and have cut back on everything. However, the pros:

- We have zero debt, so way less bills.
- With unemployment and my salary we are ok for the next six months and can hopefully get through this without touching our savings at all (except if anything big comes up, which could happen).
- He has a very in demand career so hopefully he will find something in the new year (I don't expect much to happen between now and the NY, I feel like companies aren't majorly hiring, but he is trying and working on his skills).

Getting debt free and having a nice emergency fund has turned this into a much less stressful experience. So while it sucks, nobody is panicking. That is the benefit of truly keeping on this "debt dumper" journey.

 

[Tygerlilly]

My biggest personal goal has been completed. I wanted to run a half marathon before I turned 40 (I turned 39 in October). I was actually on pace to beat my expected time until around mile 9 when I slid on some leaves on a hill and twisted my knee. I gimped for a couple more miles and ended up finishing the last 2 miles in a limping walk, but I finished! And now I'm looking for a redemption run in the spring. And you better believe I'll be back to Route 66 next year to get my revenge.

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

We just got back this weekend too. Late flight on Friday night and then just relaxed both Saturday and Sunday with only trip out of the house to go to church and get lunch.

Just got back from a trip to WDW and now getting decorated for the holidays. Other than splurging on food, holidays are pretty low key around here, which we love. Gives us all a chance to relax and enjoy each other's company.

We had an issue with our elderly dog while we were at WDW and she was at the pet-sitter, but she seems to be doing much better now that we're home. So grateful she's feeling better (and that it didn't disrupt the entire vacation budget as we had the money set aside in our emergency fund).

Cold weather and snow are settling in here, so we're preparing to hunker down and hibernate as much as possible until Spring.

Happy Holidays everyone!

 

[Tygerlilly]

Hubby finally got his extra discount code to use so I can finish Christmas shopping next weekend. It's an extra 15% on top of the normal 10% on one transaction. I've been waiting for it to buy the more expensive items (I already got the stocking stuffers and some smaller things) because 25% off is a deal too good to pass up. You better believe I'm adding some groceries to that cart too.

As soon as I'm done getting the last of Christmas paid for, I'm going to be going fully into saving for our fall trip next year. I turn 40 and our oldest daughter turns 10 and we decided to do it up big for the big milestones. Hubby will take two weeks off (8 days) which gives us 17 days total of vacation time. We're going to do 3 days at Disneyland, 2 at Universal, a couple days exploring the area there, followed by a few days in San Diego. We're about 21 hours away driving from each location. Theoretically we can do it in one overnight stop, but I'm planning 2 stops, because kids. We've never done a west trip before (aside from me and hubby flying to Vegas), so we're super excited to do that instead of going to Orlando like we originally planned.

 

[disney-inspired]

Hubby finally got his extra discount code to use so I can finish Christmas shopping next weekend. It's an extra 15% on top of the normal 10% on one transaction. I've been waiting for it to buy the more expensive items (I already got the stocking stuffers and some smaller things) because 25% off is a deal too good to pass up. You better believe I'm adding some groceries to that cart too.

As soon as I'm done getting the last of Christmas paid for, I'm going to be going fully into saving for our fall trip next year. I turn 40 and our oldest daughter turns 10 and we decided to do it up big for the big milestones. Hubby will take two weeks off (8 days) which gives us 17 days total of vacation time. We're going to do 3 days at Disneyland, 2 at Universal, a couple days exploring the area there, followed by a few days in San Diego. We're about 21 hours away driving from each location. Theoretically we can do it in one overnight stop, but I'm planning 2 stops, because kids. We've never done a west trip before (aside from me and hubby flying to Vegas), so we're super excited to do that instead of going to Orlando like we originally planned.

but next year Epic universe opens!
We're going in Sept

 

[pblack]

DH and I just booked our first cruise on Royal Caribbean for January (instead of going to an AI in Puerto Vallarta in february). Since we're new to Royal (but not cruising in general) figured I'd see if anyone here has been on Royal and could share some tips i may not know about. Or if anyone has some tips about Navigator of the Seas that would be awesome too.

 

[Tygerlilly]

but next year Epic universe opens!
We're going in Sept

I know, I know. That and the homeschool group discounts were the main reason we wanted to do Orlando in the fall, but we think the kids would enjoy DL more at the ages they are now. Plus we want to hit the zoo in San Diego.

Middle daughter turns 10 in April of 2027, so we'll probably do a spring trip to Orlando then (thinking bookend a cruise with Disney for 4 days, a 5 day cruise, then a few days at Universal) for her big event. And hopefully by then the opening insanity of it will have calmed down and all the new fun renovations at DW will be complete.