Debt Dumpers - 2015

Angeejoe · Mar 4, 2015

Hello All! I want to join in if that's ok. I've been reading over your thread the last couple of days & now I'm caught up. I find you guys inspirational. I'm looking at paying off credit cards & saving more. You guys inspired me to cancel A gym membership today that I never use as the pools never available when I want to swim & my employer has a work outroom with all the same equipment just less quanties for free- just no pool. So that's saving $35/mo. Then I called my cable company & removed some items we never use & now saving $14/mo. So that's an extra $49 dollars/mo!!!!

My bad news is that I had a pcp appt today & have referrals to 2 different types of specialists for different things for probable outpatient surgery. I also had a X-ray today that will cost $153 OOP for deductible. Then a rx for $11 today. There's no avoiding the health costs though. I'm just glad it's not serious.

gracie1 · Mar 5, 2015

Angeejoe said:
Hello All! I want to join in if that's ok. I've been reading over your thread the last couple of days & now I'm caught up. I find you guys inspirational. I'm looking at paying off credit cards & saving more. You guys inspired me to cancel A gym membership today that I never use as the pools never available when I want to swim & my employer has a work outroom with all the same equipment just less quanties for free- just no pool. So that's saving $35/mo. Then I called my cable company & removed some items we never use & now saving $14/mo. So that's an extra $49 dollars/mo!!!!

My bad news is that I had a pcp appt today & have referrals to 2 different types of specialists for different things for probable outpatient surgery. I also had a X-ray today that will cost $153 OOP for deductible. Then a rx for $11 today. There's no avoiding the health costs though. I'm just glad it's not serious.

Welcome to the thread!! You hit the nail on the head - there's no avoiding health costs!! But with the extra $49 a month your saving you can apply that towards your cc balance or offset the health costs. We are all on here to support and help each other so don't be afraid to ask questions if you have any! We also have a 2013 thread that has a lot of ideas if you need any.

Angeejoe · Mar 5, 2015

gracie1 said:
Welcome to the thread!! You hit the nail on the head - there's no avoiding health costs!! But with the extra $49 a month your saving you can apply that towards your cc balance or offset the health costs. We are all on here to support and help each other so don't be afraid to ask questions if you have any! We also have a 2013 thread that has a lot of ideas if you need any.

Thanks Gracie1! I'm getting ready now for an 11:20a specialist appt which will include my $25 copay for the specialist. $49 is a good chunk of change, so I'm looking forward to figuring out where that will go.

yupikgal · Mar 5, 2015

gracie1 said:
Excellent point! Most cc will apply your payment to the amount with interest first - so if your going to transfer the amount then you definitely want to do it on a card that has no balance.

No worries about this anymore! I set up the Discover to pay in full on the 13th! (2 days before it's due) But thanks for looking out for me!

gracie1 said:
Have you looked into getting a personal loan? If you were to do it through your bank you could do the paperwork and see if your approved. You won't get an interest rate extremely low - probably 12.9% - but you would put everything in the loan and know that after a certain number of years it's done! Maybe a 2 or 3 year loan. Or do the balance transfer on the one card - if your uncomfortable thinking that you can't have it paid off in 12 months but know that you can in 18 months then the 3.9% Is not that bad.

No, I haven't done that. I don't know why I wrote 3.99% for the DC 18 mo. transfer deal, I think it was wishful thinking! It's actually 5.99%. Also, through their Discover "loan" which is a different offer, although granted they show the minimum loan amount time as 48 months (this is where I would want to call & see if there is any penalty for early payment) that one can be as low as 6.99%, which is what I'm thinking we should get based on our excellent credit due to me paying on time every month. The only thing that may sway that amount is the debt amount. I will look at all options, including personal loan through a credit union.

ruadisneyfan2 said:
I don't know how we got that. We did open the card with a BT offer so maybe that's how. ?? Also even after using the DV checks to pay off other balances, they still keep sending us new checks, still at 2% fee.
ETA: Ooops. My bad. The BT fee for Discover is 3%. I'm confusing the BT fee with the calculated minimum payment. MP is 2%.
Even at 3% it was worth it. Dh's DV was 14.24% with almost 7000 on it.
The happy part is that this is the Discover card I paid off over the weekend! yay!

Ok, thanks for the explanation! His overall interest rate was less than what we have been paying on ours~ours was over 17%. Just glad it will be paid off this month, even if we have to end up transferring another card's balance onto it! Good for you, I can't wait until we can say that about each & every card, that will certainly be a day to celebrate!! Just think of how all that $$ could be going into savings or a Roth IRA (I have one of these) or any retirement account?

yupikgal · Mar 5, 2015

Another thing to say about the Discover card that I am paying off this month. It started out as over $7500, so I am so eternally grateful to be able to pay it off now!! I have to celebrate my successes!

I also paid off a Sears card last year, and now they are trying to woo us back with a 0% balance transfer as well, although they are offering a higher 5% transfer fee. their 18 mo. one is only 3.99% interest, that's probably where I came up with that amount. The credit limit is small than the Discover, it's $4000, enough to put the smallest balance card on, so I'll have to think about this. I wonder if the BT fee is negotiable? I can try I guess, it doesn't hurt to do that, right?

gracie1 · Mar 5, 2015

yupikgal said:
No worries about this anymore! I set up the Discover to pay in full on the 13th! (2 days before it's due) But thanks for looking out for me!

No, I haven't done that. I don't know why I wrote 3.99% for the DC 18 mo. transfer deal, I think it was wishful thinking! It's actually 5.99%. Also, through their Discover "loan" which is a different offer, although granted they show the minimum loan amount time as 48 months (this is where I would want to call & see if there is any penalty for early payment) that one can be as low as 6.99%, which is what I'm thinking we should get based on our excellent credit due to me paying on time every month. The only thing that may sway that amount is the debt amount. I will look at all options, including personal loan through a credit union.

Ok, thanks for the explanation! His overall interest rate was less than what we have been paying on ours~ours was over 17%. Just glad it will be paid off this month, even if we have to end up transferring another card's balance onto it! Good for you, I can't wait until we can say that about each & every card, that will certainly be a day to celebrate!! Just think of how all that $$ could be going into savings or a Roth IRA (I have one of these) or any retirement account?

That is a huge accomplishment getting those two cards paid off! Those are big amounts you've gotten rid of! Great thinking on checking to make sure there's no prepayment penalty with discover. If you were able to do it 6.99% is not a bad rate.

yupikgal · Mar 6, 2015

gracie1 said:
That is a huge accomplishment getting those two cards paid off! Those are big amounts you've gotten rid of! Great thinking on checking to make sure there's no prepayment penalty with discover. If you were able to do it 6.99% is not a bad rate.

Thnk you Gracie! I have a couple of procedures at the hospital this morning, otherwise I'd do the checking now, but it can wait

Thanks for all your support & positivity in this thread. Good to have a cheering squad on our side!

Dentam · Mar 6, 2015

Looks like I will have dental bills to contend with trying to get my cc debt paid off. Sometimes it feels like you can never get ahead, especially when living in an expensive city. Oh well, will do the best I can!

dayvewc · Mar 6, 2015

Dentam said:
Looks like I will have dental bills to contend with trying to get my cc debt paid off. Sometimes it feels like you can never get ahead, especially when living in an expensive city. Oh well, will do the best I can!

You'll make it, but hugs!! :grouphug:

It can get rough at times, but keeping an eye on the goal you'll make it.

Think how much further those dental bills would have set you back if you hadn't already started getting ahead of the game.

Just keep swimming!

gracie1 · Mar 6, 2015

Dentam said:
Looks like I will have dental bills to contend with trying to get my cc debt paid off. Sometimes it feels like you can never get ahead, especially when living in an expensive city. Oh well, will do the best I can!

Ugh - dentist is a dirty word to me!! Just went today to finish out my root canal. Man my mouth is worth a lot of money

gracie1 · Mar 6, 2015

yupikgal said:
Thnk you Gracie! I have a couple of procedures at the hospital this morning, otherwise I'd do the checking now, but it can wait Thanks for all your support & positivity in this thread. Good to have a cheering squad on our side!

You will find tons of support on here! A lot of times we just come here to vent about the unexpected expenses that pop up too - so feel free to do that!!

dayvewc · Mar 6, 2015

gracie1 said:
You will find tons of support on here! A lot of times we just come here to vent about the unexpected expenses that pop up too - so feel free to do that!!

And occasionally some of us just come to vent. :rolleyes1

I love this group. :grouphug:

Dentam · Mar 6, 2015

dayvewc said:
You'll make it, but hugs!! It can get rough at times, but keeping an eye on the goal you'll make it.

Think how much further those dental bills would have set you back if you hadn't already started getting ahead of the game.

Just keep swimming!

Thanks.

I have some cracked teeth so will need crowns on them. It is amazing to me how expensive it is... sigh.

Yep, just keep swimming seems to be my motto lately!

gracie1 said:
Ugh - dentist is a dirty word to me!! Just went today to finish out my root canal. Man my mouth is worth a lot of money

Yeah, my mouth is increasing in value quite a bit this year - ugh indeed!

dayvewc · Mar 6, 2015

Dentam said:
Thanks. I have some cracked teeth so will need crowns on them. It is amazing to me how expensive it is... sigh.

Yep, just keep swimming seems to be my motto lately!

A couple of years ago, I had to have some dental work done. Several (5?) cavities filled, some repair work on work done by a prior dentist, plus the regular cleaning etc. Due to the placement and the exact work, it was scheduled in, I think, 4 visits over a 6 week period. Total bill was something around $1400. I had insurance, but they didn't think it would pay more than about $700, so I had to pay the rest up-front. I got lucky (twice).

Turns out my specific plan did a "roll-over" of benefits that weren't used, so they actually paid all of it. Found that out at the 3rd visit. I've been going back to that office for 2 1/2 years now every 6 months on the credit from the original payment.

I think I'm almost done with that though, so my next visit will probably actually cost me. :-(

Second part I got lucky on was that about 3 weeks earlier I had applied for a CareCredit credit card to pay the vet bills on one of my dogs. Turned out she didn't need the surgery they thought she was going to need, but I've found that CareCredit is accepted at vets, dentists, eye doctors, eye-glass places (I use Vision 4 Less), pretty much everywhere any sort of medical expertise is needed EXCEPT my primary care physician. CareCredit has continuously run different promotions of 6, 12, and 18 month interest free. Depending on the initial charge. My only semi-complaint is that they start the x-month interest free from the day of the charge, not the first day of the next billing cycle, so it is really 5, 11, and 17 months AND they charge deferred interest on the whole amount if not paid in time. (I guess I got lucky 3 times, as I caught the notice on the statement about "special offer ends on xx/xx/xx and deferred interest will be$ xxx.xx" 2 months before, so had time to increase my last payments)

Now, when I have medical expenses I can't pay OOP, I use that card if possible, and set up payments to pay it off automatically.

I know that this is a debt dumping board, and applying for a new line of credit may not quite fit with everyone's idea of dumping debt, but given the limited places (medical only) this can be used, it might be an option. Especially if you can get the interest free offer and pay it off in time. I count that as "dumping" since you are managing to avoid adding to the interest amount.

gracie1 · Mar 6, 2015

Dentam said:
Thanks. I have some cracked teeth so will need crowns on them. It is amazing to me how expensive it is... sigh.

Yep, just keep swimming seems to be my motto lately!

Yeah, my mouth is increasing in value quite a bit this year - ugh indeed!

Yeah the crowns are expensive!! We did a filling but eventually I need 2 more crowns. I had 2 put in a couple years ago - wow, sticker shock on the prices!!!

gracie1 · Mar 6, 2015

dayvewc said:
A couple of years ago, I had to have some dental work done. Several (5?) cavities filled, some repair work on work done by a prior dentist, plus the regular cleaning etc. Due to the placement and the exact work, it was scheduled in, I think, 4 visits over a 6 week period. Total bill was something around $1400. I had insurance, but they didn't think it would pay more than about $700, so I had to pay the rest up-front. I got lucky (twice).

Turns out my specific plan did a "roll-over" of benefits that weren't used, so they actually paid all of it. Found that out at the 3rd visit. I've been going back to that office for 2 1/2 years now every 6 months on the credit from the original payment. I think I'm almost done with that though, so my next visit will probably actually cost me. :-(

Second part I got lucky on was that about 3 weeks earlier I had applied for a CareCredit credit card to pay the vet bills on one of my dogs. Turned out she didn't need the surgery they thought she was going to need, but I've found that CareCredit is accepted at vets, dentists, eye doctors, eye-glass places (I use Vision 4 Less), pretty much everywhere any sort of medical expertise is needed EXCEPT my primary care physician. CareCredit has continuously run different promotions of 6, 12, and 18 month interest free. Depending on the initial charge. My only semi-complaint is that they start the x-month interest free from the day of the charge, not the first day of the next billing cycle, so it is really 5, 11, and 17 months AND they charge deferred interest on the whole amount if not paid in time. (I guess I got lucky 3 times, as I caught the notice on the statement about "special offer ends on xx/xx/xx and deferred interest will be$ xxx.xx" 2 months before, so had time to increase my last payments)

Now, when I have medical expenses I can't pay OOP, I use that card if possible, and set up payments to pay it off automatically.

I know that this is a debt dumping board, and applying for a new line of credit may not quite fit with everyone's idea of dumping debt, but given the limited places (medical only) this can be used, it might be an option. Especially if you can get the interest free offer and pay it off in time. I count that as "dumping" since you are managing to avoid adding to the interest amount.

I don't have care credit but it's a great thing since you can set up payment plans with no interest. I wish I had your dental bill!! In 2013 I put in over $7,000 in dental. That included 2 crowns and a root canal - and no dental insurance. I had multiple cavities also - plus X-rays, a broken tooth and cleanings. Man what a vacation I could've taken!!!!

Dentam · Mar 6, 2015

Yeah I was quoted $1,500 per crown and insurance will only cover about half I think. I'm holding out for my house to sell since the cracked teeth aren't painful right now and I'm chewing very carefully! My house should go on the market next weekend and it sounds like the housing market has finally improved a bit so I'm really hoping it'll sell fairly quickly. I just keep telling myself that I just need to get through the spring and things are going to be pretty tight for awhile then it should get better. It's stressful though.

Dentam · Mar 6, 2015

I'm also going to look into setting up a payment plan with the dentist's office. I have heard of the card you're talking about, dayvewc, but didn't realize it could be used for human health care too - might have to check into that a bit more.

Dentam · Mar 6, 2015

gracie1 said:
I don't have care credit but it's a great thing since you can set up payment plans with no interest. I wish I had your dental bill!! In 2013 I put in over $7,000 in dental. That included 2 crowns and a root canal - and no dental insurance. I had multiple cavities also - plus X-rays, a broken tooth and cleanings. Man what a vacation I could've taken!!!!

Over $7,000! :faint:

I don't know how people with lower incomes can even afford dental care in this country with prices like that, it's crazy!

dayvewc · Mar 6, 2015

gracie1 said:
I don't have care credit but it's a great thing since you can set up payment plans with no interest. I wish I had your dental bill!! In 2013 I put in over $7,000 in dental. That included 2 crowns and a root canal - and no dental insurance. I had multiple cavities also - plus X-rays, a broken tooth and cleanings. Man what a vacation I could've taken!!!!

I've found it to be really useful. And so far I've been pretty lucky with dental bills.

Dentam said:
Yeah I was quoted $1,500 per crown and insurance will only cover about half I think. I'm holding out for my house to sell since the cracked teeth aren't painful right now and I'm chewing very carefully! My house should go on the market next weekend and it sounds like the housing market has finally improved a bit so I'm really hoping it'll sell fairly quickly. I just keep telling myself that I just need to get through the spring and things are going to be pretty tight for awhile then it should get better. It's stressful though.

It is stressful, but you'll make it. Just keep reminding yourself that every day you are one day closer to being where you want. We know you are working toward it, and you'll make it.

Dentam said:
I'm also going to look into setting up a payment plan with the dentist's office. I have heard of the card you're talking about, dayvewc, but didn't realize it could be used for human health care too - might have to check into that a bit more.

Yeah, I didn't realize that it did anything other than the vet bills. It was actually the receptionist at the vet the recommended I apply for one since we were considering surgery for my girl. When I got the card, it came with some extra information about where it was accepted, and then I started looking whenever I went in.

Dentam said:
Over $7,000! I don't know how people with lower incomes can even afford dental care in this country with prices like that, it's crazy!

I sure wouldn't want to try to afford any medical care without insurance. I got a bill for a doctor visit from January. Total visit was a consultation and writing a prescription for a cold. Total bill was $135. For maybe 15 minutes. No lab work, no in-office shot. Just weighed me, looked in ears, nose, and throat, and listened to heartbeat and breathing then write the scrip. And my medical insurance doesn't pay anything until I've spent $4500 in a year. That's why I have my HSA, but next year I may have to up my monthly contribution. Currently, I have them deduct $150 a month, but if a full months deduction only covers 1 basic office visit, ugh. :confused3

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