Debt Dumpers - 2013

[jenny105]

Jenny
It's good that you haven't responded to them but next time they try adding something to your credit report....Report them to the FTC agency, call the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's toll-free hotline at (877) FTC-HELP. They also have a website.

One of these companies came after my Mom, when I finished with them she ended up with a letter of apology. "Ya Don't mess with a Southern Girls Mama."

They said my Eighty + year old mother owed for a Gym membership. She has never even been to a gym.

Thanks for the advice. I'll do this next time. They just sent me a letter a few days ago and I tossed it. Wish I had kept it! I'm sure there will be a next time.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Hi Peeps! I could use some advice. I have a week by week plan to pay off our bills. I know don't your chicks before they hatch but I even scheduled payments online for the next few weeks. My mother has a big birthday coming up and we're going in on a group gift. (I can't elaborate, she lurks on the Dis but mostly on the cruise boards.) I didn't set $ aside for this since I've been paying every spare penny toward eliminating bills but it will probably be a few hundred $.

Do I tap my emergency fund or pay off fewer bills & recalculate my whole plan? I'm thinking if I tap my emergency fund, I'm less likely to pay it right back then it may not be there when I need it. I can't honestly say this is an emergency.

I just dread redoing my whole plan but I'm leaning this way.

 

[PrincessKymm]

Hi Peeps! I could use some advice. I have a week by week plan to pay off our bills. I know don't your chicks before they hatch but I even scheduled payments online for the next few weeks. My mother has a big birthday coming up and we're going in on a group gift. (I can't elaborate, she lurks on the Dis but mostly on the cruise boards.) I didn't set $ aside for this since I've been paying every spare penny toward eliminating bills but it will probably be a few hundred $. Do I tap my emergency fund or pay off fewer bills & recalculate my whole plan? I'm thinking if I tap my emergency fund, I'm less likely to pay it right back then it may not be there when I need it. I can't honestly say this is an emergency. I just dread redoing my whole plan but I'm leaning this way.

Redo your whole plan. It's a lot of work but remember that being flexible is key to making your plan work in the end. Good luck with the redo. I'm sure everything will work out beautifully.

 

[ceemys]

Hi Peeps! I could use some advice. I have a week by week plan to pay off our bills. I know don't your chicks before they hatch but I even scheduled payments online for the next few weeks. My mother has a big birthday coming up and we're going in on a group gift. (I can't elaborate, she lurks on the Dis but mostly on the cruise boards.) I didn't set $ aside for this since I've been paying every spare penny toward eliminating bills but it will probably be a few hundred $.

Do I tap my emergency fund or pay off fewer bills & recalculate my whole plan? I'm thinking if I tap my emergency fund, I'm less likely to pay it right back then it may not be there when I need it. I can't honestly say this is an emergency.

I just dread redoing my whole plan but I'm leaning this way.

My first option would be just pull it out of the emergency fund. You are paying interest on those bills. Emergencies can be anything. But you would have to be strict to put it back. Now if you say putting it back will be hard for you, then go ahead and adjust your bills. Sounds like your mom is getting an awesome birthday gift.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

My first option would be just pull it out of the emergency fund. You are paying interest on those bills. Emergencies can be anything. But you would have to be strict to put it back. Now if you say putting it back will be hard for you, then go ahead and adjust your bills. Sounds like your mom is getting an awesome birthday gift.

I hope she enjoys it. It's a milestone birthday and she's a 2x breast cancer survivor, 20 yrs in April since the first one.
Every day I have her is a gift to me & my family. My BFF lost her mom when we were in 1st grade, then her dad when we were in 10th grade so I'll never stop being grateful. My kids don't know how lucky they are to be teens & have all 4 grandparents alive and still married to each other. What we're doing is not outrageous. If I didn't have so many stinking copays this month I wouldn't need to adjust anything or tap but sometimes you can't do it all.
Soon, I can spill the beans.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

My first option would be just pull it out of the emergency fund. You are paying interest on those bills. Emergencies can be anything. But you would have to be strict to put it back. Now if you say putting it back will be hard for you, then go ahead and adjust your bills. Sounds like your mom is getting an awesome birthday gift.

I would have to adjust bills to pay it back anyway. My first few snowballs were just to build up the emergency fund. Then I redirected them toward bills. Once I start dipping in there I'm afraid I would keep doing it. My idea of emergency is like, darn the AC died in my car and will cost $800 to fix. I don't want to have to charge stuff like that.

My first reaction was just, oh no! what do I do now? Once I think it over a while I was ok. I should get used to this though. After reading other people's posts it just seems like "life". Sometimes there's a few bumps in the road. Just gotta stay on track & all will be fine.

Thanks!

 

[ceemys]

I would have to adjust bills to pay it back anyway. My first few snowballs were just to build up the emergency fund. Then I redirected them toward bills. Once I start dipping in there I'm afraid I would keep doing it. My idea of emergency is like, darn the AC died in my car and will cost $800 to fix. I don't want to have to charge stuff like that.

My first reaction was just, oh no! what do I do now? Once I think it over a while I was ok. I should get used to this though. After reading other people's posts it just seems like "life". Sometimes there's a few bumps in the road. Just gotta stay on track & all will be fine.

Thanks!

yep! Glad you have a plan in mind and on paper.

 

[ceemys]

OK So I'm posting a lot. LOL I just emailed my mortgage contact and asked her what the status was on the loan approval. I told her closing is 7 business days away and I am getting nervous about not having an answer. She emailed back and said "Don't be nervous. ". And even included the smiley face. I have had to submit different paperwork and prove that my kids are mine. Anyway, I had to send in birth certificates and a letter of explanation that my oldest actually has two names. She was adopted from China and I changed her name. But part of her Chinese name is in her adopted name. So ALL of my stuff is done! She said I should find out something NLT Tuesday. She is hoping for something today. But since Monday is a holiday, it might be Tuesday. Closing on the following Tuesday.

Please keep me in your thoughts/prayers that I can stay sane until I hear a confirmation. I am SO SO SO nervous and excited at the same time. My Credit score went up again...9 additional points!

 

[xCourxCorex]

Thanks to a larger than normal check last week, (yay OT and extra shift bonus!) my car loan balance is under $4,000!! My goal of getting that paid off in full by the end of January 2014 is looking like a reality

 

[peigirl]

Great news today...my husband got bumped up to 30 hours from 15 hours at his grocery store job...we are so excited.

Hoping to get the van paid off by Jan 15th to free up $530 per month to put on another loan plus his wages from 30 hours a week and my 25 hours per week at my 2nd job!

Paula

 

[SpaceGirl]

Please keep me in your thoughts/prayers that I can stay sane until I hear a confirmation. I am SO SO SO nervous and excited at the same time. My Credit score went up again...9 additional points!

Christine
OK like you don't have enough to be stressed and nervous about, your Credit Score just keeps getting higher and higher you were preapproved for your loan back when your score was much lower, you have a substantial down payment saved but let's give our self an ulcer worrying about a last minute credit check....Ya see where I'm going here?

Take a deep breath and just dance around the room girl ...IT'S A DONE DEAL !!!

I will be keeping you in my Thoughts/Prayers just to make sure you don't implode.

Only a few days too go try and relax just a little.

Beckie

 

[SpaceGirl]

Thanks to a larger than normal check last week, (yay OT and extra shift bonus!) my car loan balance is under $4,000!! My goal of getting that paid off in full by the end of January 2014 is looking like a reality

Great Job...you'll be saving for your down payment for your new home soon.

 

[SpaceGirl]

Great news today...my husband got bumped up to 30 hours from 15 hours at his grocery store job...we are so excited.

Hoping to get the van paid off by Jan 15th to free up $530 per month to put on another loan plus his wages from 30 hours a week and my 25 hours per week at my 2nd job!

Paula

WOW that's great he has doubled his hours in such a short time, guess you will be rearranging all your schedules once again. Any possibility they will up him to full-time employee any time soon? As far as his hours he is almost working full time.

Glad to see you are working on that goal to get rid of your van loan so soon.

Keep dancing

 

[dtr_angel]

I don't know where to start... have been lurking on this thread all year.

My husband and I have been married 5 years. We bought a house in the first 6 months we were married and I keep thinking how little we were making back then. We are in such a different place now. My husband has a great job and makes close to double what we were making combined then. Other than mortgage, our only debt was a car loan that we took on about 2.5 years ago (I think I posted about it, it's was an impulse buy...) and then last year we had to start paying on my husband's student loans. When I started my nursing job we were doing really well and stopped watching every penny. When our son was born last year I went back part time for 3 months, and then in January I went down to PRN (I work 16 hours month if they need me). Somehow it's taken me since then to realize that we are spending more than we are making... we had a decent savings account build up and had to dip into it. It probably didn't help that my husband broke his foot and had to stay off work for 8 weeks and his STD checks were basically a joke. Anyway... I'm back to budgeting and watching every penny. We really don't spend a lot of money on things, we're not "stuff" people. We don't have credit card bills. Last month was a wake up call when I realized this Anyway... we've talked about it and we would love to be debt free but I don't know where to start... right now we have the house, which I'm not worried about but would love to get rid of the car payment, and my husband's student loans. The payment is small on the student loans but at this rate we will be paying on them until 2031 - no thanks! I keep seeing posts on this Dis about people that used Dave Ramsey's method and were debt free in 2 years, and it sounds like they had a whole lot more debt than we have. We're working on building our savings account back up, but my husband also wants us to continue going to Disney. I'm not sure we can get rid of the car payment, student loans AND still keep up with Disney. We aren't "stuff" people, we would rather spend our money on vacations and memories with our son and I'd hate to give that up while he's little (and still free!) how do you find a balance? We don't live paycheck to paycheck and we don't go on vacations unless we have the money to pay for them (we save the money in a vacation savings account). Do we have to give up Disney or is there a way to save for Disney AND pay down those loans?

 

[danielle79]

I have a ticker finally!!!!! I haven't been posting on here lately but I have been reading about everyones progress! ceemys -don't stress everything will be fine! How very exciting for you!!!! Well my debt snowball has stalled because I decided to slow down and cash flow a Disney vacation!!! I made our reservations this morning and now have a ticker again, its been three years! I am so excited to be getting out of the cold North in February and heading to sunny Florida! My commission checks have been good so my debt snowball should start rolling again soon!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I don't know where to start... have been lurking on this thread all year.

My husband and I have been married 5 years. We bought a house in the first 6 months we were married and I keep thinking how little we were making back then. We are in such a different place now. My husband has a great job and makes close to double what we were making combined then. Other than mortgage, our only debt was a car loan that we took on about 2.5 years ago (I think I posted about it, it's was an impulse buy...) and then last year we had to start paying on my husband's student loans. When I started my nursing job we were doing really well and stopped watching every penny. When our son was born last year I went back part time for 3 months, and then in January I went down to PRN (I work 16 hours month if they need me). Somehow it's taken me since then to realize that we are spending more than we are making... we had a decent savings account build up and had to dip into it. It probably didn't help that my husband broke his foot and had to stay off work for 8 weeks and his STD checks were basically a joke. Anyway... I'm back to budgeting and watching every penny. We really don't spend a lot of money on things, we're not "stuff" people. We don't have credit card bills. Last month was a wake up call when I realized this Anyway... we've talked about it and we would love to be debt free but I don't know where to start... right now we have the house, which I'm not worried about but would love to get rid of the car payment, and my husband's student loans. The payment is small on the student loans but at this rate we will be paying on them until 2031 - no thanks! I keep seeing posts on this Dis about people that used Dave Ramsey's method and were debt free in 2 years, and it sounds like they had a whole lot more debt than we have. We're working on building our savings account back up, but my husband also wants us to continue going to Disney. I'm not sure we can get rid of the car payment, student loans AND still keep up with Disney. We aren't "stuff" people, we would rather spend our money on vacations and memories with our son and I'd hate to give that up while he's little (and still free!) how do you find a balance? We don't live paycheck to paycheck and we don't go on vacations unless we have the money to pay for them (we save the money in a vacation savings account). Do we have to give up Disney or is there a way to save for Disney AND pay down those loans?

Are you paying the minimum on the student loans to afford a Disney trip? Also, it's nice when kids are free but really it's because he won't remember it. Now believe me, I'm not one of those who says wait til their older. My first ds went at 3 and younger ds at 18 months. But I have to say since then we've been around 15x and they are now 13 & almost 17. The most magical time is around 4-6. (Think along the lines of Santa Claus. Young enough to believe but old enough to know what's going on & really enjoy all that WDW has to offer. ie: tall enough for Splash, etc. Well, maybe it was 7 when they went on RnR.)


So my vote would be pay down the loans now while he's a baby & go back when he's 4. Is there any way you can pick up more hours? I work in xray & see the great perk in nursing is you can get some weekend hours maybe while your dh is home if you don't want him in day care. Actually I had a coworker who worked part time, 12 hr days every Sat & Sun just to avoid day care. That may be more than you want but I'm just saying with hospital work, it can be done.

Of course, I'm here because I'm not so good at budgeting either so you might take my advice with a grain of salt.

 

[PrincessKymm]

I don't know where to start... have been lurking on this thread all year. My husband and I have been married 5 years. We bought a house in the first 6 months we were married and I keep thinking how little we were making back then. We are in such a different place now. My husband has a great job and makes close to double what we were making combined then. Other than mortgage, our only debt was a car loan that we took on about 2.5 years ago (I think I posted about it, it's was an impulse buy...) and then last year we had to start paying on my husband's student loans. When I started my nursing job we were doing really well and stopped watching every penny. When our son was born last year I went back part time for 3 months, and then in January I went down to PRN (I work 16 hours month if they need me). Somehow it's taken me since then to realize that we are spending more than we are making... we had a decent savings account build up and had to dip into it. It probably didn't help that my husband broke his foot and had to stay off work for 8 weeks and his STD checks were basically a joke. Anyway... I'm back to budgeting and watching every penny. We really don't spend a lot of money on things, we're not "stuff" people. We don't have credit card bills. Last month was a wake up call when I realized this Anyway... we've talked about it and we would love to be debt free but I don't know where to start... right now we have the house, which I'm not worried about but would love to get rid of the car payment, and my husband's student loans. The payment is small on the student loans but at this rate we will be paying on them until 2031 - no thanks! I keep seeing posts on this Dis about people that used Dave Ramsey's method and were debt free in 2 years, and it sounds like they had a whole lot more debt than we have. We're working on building our savings account back up, but my husband also wants us to continue going to Disney. I'm not sure we can get rid of the car payment, student loans AND still keep up with Disney. We aren't "stuff" people, we would rather spend our money on vacations and memories with our son and I'd hate to give that up while he's little (and still free!) how do you find a balance? We don't live paycheck to paycheck and we don't go on vacations unless we have the money to pay for them (we save the money in a vacation savings account). Do we have to give up Disney or is there a way to save for Disney AND pay down those loans?

My answer to your question is Yes you can go to Disney and get out of debt BUT it will take longer. Budget and track and you will see a difference. Is the car loan smaller than your student loan? If yes then just tackle that. Take your car payment and throw it at the student loans once the car is paid off. Calculate how long it will take to pay those off then work out a plan to pay off your house. If you can pay off everything within a year or two ask yourself is it worth not going to Disney? And then ask yourself is it worth going to Disney to be in debt X amount of time longer?

Only you and your husband can answer those questions. Ask yourselves what else you can do to increase income to be able to do both. Good luck with whatever you decide and ask away if you have questions!

 

[ceemys]

Christine
OK like you don't have enough to be stressed and nervous about, your Credit Score just keeps getting higher and higher you were preapproved for your loan back when your score was much lower, you have a substantial down payment saved but let's give our self an ulcer worrying about a last minute credit check....Ya see where I'm going here?

Take a deep breath and just dance around the room girl ...IT'S A DONE DEAL !!!

I will be keeping you in my Thoughts/Prayers just to make sure you don't implode.

Only a few days too go try and relax just a little.

Beckie

I'm one of those that if things aren't in place in advance then I stress. But the 1st time buyers program I was approved for last year ran out of money. So now it is a regular FHA loan. Different hoops. Thanks for the support!

 

[ceemys]

My answer to your question is Yes you can go to Disney and get out of debt BUT it will take longer. Budget and track and you will see a difference. Is the car loan smaller than your student loan? If yes then just tackle that. Take your car payment and throw it at the student loans once the car is paid off. Calculate how long it will take to pay those off then work out a plan to pay off your house. If you can pay off everything within a year or two ask yourself is it worth not going to Disney? And then ask yourself is it worth going to Disney to be in debt X amount of time longer?

Only you and your husband can answer those questions. Ask yourselves what else you can do to increase income to be able to do both. Good luck with whatever you decide and ask away if you have questions!

Are you paying the minimum on the student loans to afford a Disney trip? Also, it's nice when kids are free but really it's because he won't remember it. Now believe me, I'm not one of those who says wait til their older. My first ds went at 3 and younger ds at 18 months. But I have to say since then we've been around 15x and they are now 13 & almost 17. The most magical time is around 4-6. (Think along the lines of Santa Claus. Young enough to believe but old enough to know what's going on & really enjoy all that WDW has to offer. ie: tall enough for Splash, etc. Well, maybe it was 7 when they went on RnR.)


So my vote would be pay down the loans now while he's a baby & go back when he's 4. Is there any way you can pick up more hours? I work in xray & see the great perk in nursing is you can get some weekend hours maybe while your dh is home if you don't want him in day care. Actually I had a coworker who worked part time, 12 hr days every Sat & Sun just to avoid day care. That may be more than you want but I'm just saying with hospital work, it can be done.

Of course, I'm here because I'm not so good at budgeting either so you might take my advice with a grain of salt.

Great advice!! It really is easy to give others advice because we are not close to the situation and more often than not a better perspective. Only you and your husband can make the final decision. Maybe you can work on your debt for the next two years see how you match up to your goals and if you are satisfied then go to Disney the third year.. Good luck. You can do it!

 

[SpaceGirl]

I'm one of those that if things aren't in place in advance then I stress. But the 1st time buyers program I was approved for last year ran out of money. So now it is a regular FHA loan. Different hoops. Thanks for the support!

Christine

I understand what you are going through but really you have done everything possible to be ready for this. Hopefully everything will go smoothly and there will be no problems so try not to worry. Post and let us know as soon as you hear any news.

How is the packing going? Have you picked out any new furniture?

Don't forget you must dance girl.

Beckie