Debt Dumpers - 2017

[Eureka]

Got back last night from a wonderful week in WDW. Stayed on budget too!

Jealous! Please give us some highlights when you have a chance.

 

[MrsTurnerLovesDisney]

Here for a check in. We got taxes filed now waiting on the return.

We will take some of the money and pay off DH credit card that has the interest. Has a balance of a little less than $1200

DH passed his exam to make him qualified for the state pay of $500 month which should kick in in May. The state works slow. We plan on snowballing that into something but not sure what? Probably student loan payments.

Just now to get serious about really staying in our budget lanes...ugh I say that every time and we have good intentions then we fall off the wagon

Lastly DH thinks he would like to sell our travel trailer and use the money to pay off his truck. Because we would no longer need such a heavy duty gas guzzling truck without a travel trailer we would sell the truck also and buy a nice used Tacoma outright. This all sounds like a good plan but it depresses me to sell our nice camper and only come out with a used truck in the deal.

We owe $17K on DH truck and its valued close to $25K and we don't want to spend more than $20K on a used truck (we want a newer model we can keep for many many years)

The travel trailer is valued at close to $23K If we sell both at their value prices (which I doubt) and pay off his current truck and then turn around and buy another one we might end up with $10K?

Then comes the debate of what to do with that? part of me wants to invest it. Part of me wants to throw it at student loans. I guess we will just wait and see.

 

[disneyduonj]

Jen - make sure you and/or your husband leave some vacation days for when you are back at work - the first year babies can get sick quite often, especially in day care - they catch every single thing there is to catch there.

 

[Eureka]

Jen - make sure you and/or your husband leave some vacation days for when you are back at work - the first year babies can get sick quite often, especially in day care - they catch every single thing there is to catch there.

Oh yeah. This is more true than you'll ever know.

 

[jenm2878]

Jen - make sure you and/or your husband leave some vacation days for when you are back at work - the first year babies can get sick quite often, especially in day care - they catch every single thing there is to catch there.

Yes, 1000 times, yes. Both of my kids were sick constantly for the first 18 mths-2 years. It got MUCH better once they had all of their teeth and stopped putting everything in their mouths, and once they were walking and not crawling around on the floor/putting hands in their mouths. Two was also about the age that the daycare really pushed washing their hands multiple times a day (with soap/water rather than wiping with baby wipes) and that helped a TON. Now my oldest is 5 and hasn't had more than a runny nose in the last 2-2.5 years, and my 2 yr old is getting sicker fewer and further between.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Jen - make sure you and/or your husband leave some vacation days for when you are back at work - the first year babies can get sick quite often, especially in day care - they catch every single thing there is to catch there.

I have given this a lot of thought, don't worry.

Including subtracting the time off for our cruise, I will have about 7 weeks of vacation time saved up by October. I plan on needing 3-5 weeks of that vacation time for my maternity leave. The amount I will need in vacation time will depend on if I have a natural birth (6 weeks medical leave) or c-section (8 weeks medical leave). I would prefer natural, but we will see how things go. The medical leave qualifies to be paid from my extended medical leave balance at 100% salary. I am not sure if I accrue vacation time while on medical leave. This is still something I need to check on.

There will be also be several holidays during my maternity leave which will allow me to use less vacation time. I get Thanksgiving and Black Friday as paid leave (though I may still be on medical leave at this time, so I am not sure if I get the vacations or not). I also get Christmas, the days between Christmas and New Years and New Years day as paid leave. This saves me about 1-1.5 weeks in vacation time during that period.

Also, my normal sick leave resets in October, so I will have that throughout the year if I need to care for the baby when ill. I get 14 days of sick leave each year. My husband also gets the same sick leave too, so if necessary, he could use his. And finally, I accrue vacation at a rate of 2 days per month even while taking vacation time, so I should earn 3-4 more days of vacation during my leave and even more if I still accrue vacation while on extended sick leave.

So that would mean that I should have another 3 weeks or more of vacation time even after my maternity leave is over. And I may consider discussing with my boss the idea of starting back as part time over that first month of work, maybe 2 days, then 3 days, then 4 days and finally 5 days, just to help me ease back.

 

[Eureka]

I have given this a lot of thought, don't worry.

Including subtracting the time off for our cruise, I will have about 7 weeks of vacation time saved up by October. I plan on needing 3-5 weeks of that vacation time for my maternity leave. The amount I will need in vacation time will depend on if I have a natural birth (6 weeks medical leave) or c-section (8 weeks medical leave). I would prefer natural, but we will see how things go. The medical leave qualifies to be paid from my extended medical leave balance at 100% salary. I am not sure if I accrue vacation time while on medical leave. This is still something I need to check on.

There will be also be several holidays during my maternity leave which will allow me to use less vacation time. I get Thanksgiving and Black Friday as paid leave (though I may still be on medical leave at this time, so I am not sure if I get the vacations or not). I also get Christmas, the days between Christmas and New Years and New Years day as paid leave. This saves me about 1-1.5 weeks in vacation time during that period.

Also, my normal sick leave resets in October, so I will have that throughout the year if I need to care for the baby when ill. I get 14 days of sick leave each year. My husband also gets the same sick leave too, so if necessary, he could use his. And finally, I accrue vacation at a rate of 2 days per month even while taking vacation time, so I should earn 3-4 more days of vacation during my leave and even more if I still accrue vacation while on extended sick leave.

So that would mean that I should have another 3 weeks or more of vacation time even after my maternity leave is over. And I may consider discussing with my boss the idea of starting back as part time over that first month of work, maybe 2 days, then 3 days, then 4 days and finally 5 days, just to help me ease back.

You must work at a university or college. That sounds familiar to when I worked at a college and had the kids. Especially helped with my DS born in December before the holidays. We also had a sick leave pool which helped too. Anyway, both times I did what you describe, gradually working back to full time. It was a nice way to stretch out maternity leave and ease back into working and ease the family into a new normal.

 

[Solid Snake]

Well, we've been debt-free (excluding mortgage) for about 16 months now and I have to tell you all it feels great. It took 7-8 years of tremendous sacrifice but it all feels worth it. We decided that we would enjoy ourselves in 2016 and refocus on financials in 2017. That doesn't mean going back into debt, but money we normally would have put towards debt we spent on joining DVC. DVC has been a dream of mine for years, and something I used as motivation as I was eating oatmeal for breakfast and ramen for lunch everyday. I couldn't be happier. We just decided to move this year, which is going to add to our overall debt a great deal but since it's a mortgage it's OK with me. I love our house and would've stayed for years if the neighborhood wasn't declining. Oh well. I must admit, around the time we were down to just one loan left (my wifes student loan) I was having severe 'frugal fatigue'. It felt like we would never get there.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Woke up feeling very thankful this morning. Last night, I received a facebook message from a girl I went to law school with but didn't really know that well. She said that she is currently working at my old job in the same position I was in and wanted to know if she could talk with me about my experience there. I gave her my phone number and told her to call me. As soon as I answered the phone, the poor girl just burst into tears. As some of you may remember, that job caused me to have severe anxiety to the point that I almost quit with nothing else lined up. I had to go on antidepressants and lost quite a bit of weight as a result of how I was treated there. They are treating this girl the exact same way they treated me. They have been awful to her to the point that on her very first day at work, one person told her they didn't really want her in the position and was hoping that someone else would be hired. I feel awful for her because I know exactly what she's going through. She said she felt a lot better after talking with me because she said she was starting to feel like maybe she was truly terrible at this job, but I told her they acted the same way towards me and my other coworker before we both quit.

Thankfully, there was a light at the end of the tunnel for me with the job I'm currently in, which I truly love and I enjoy coming to work every day. I'm going to keep my eyes open for any job I can for her so she can try to get out sooner than later.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Well, we've been debt-free (excluding mortgage) for about 16 months now and I have to tell you all it feels great. It took 7-8 years of tremendous sacrifice but it all feels worth it. We decided that we would enjoy ourselves in 2016 and refocus on financials in 2017. That doesn't mean going back into debt, but money we normally would have put towards debt we spent on joining DVC. DVC has been a dream of mine for years, and something I used as motivation as I was eating oatmeal for breakfast and ramen for lunch everyday. I couldn't be happier. We just decided to move this year, which is going to add to our overall debt a great deal but since it's a mortgage it's OK with me. I love our house and would've stayed for years if the neighborhood wasn't declining. Oh well. I must admit, around the time we were down to just one loan left (my wifes student loan) I was having severe 'frugal fatigue'. It felt like we would never get there.

That is awesome. Congratulations!!!

Thanks for sharing your story and best wishes with your new home.

 

[Ngwira]

Woke up feeling very thankful this morning. Last night, I received a facebook message from a girl I went to law school with but didn't really know that well. She said that she is currently working at my old job in the same position I was in and wanted to know if she could talk with me about my experience there. I gave her my phone number and told her to call me. As soon as I answered the phone, the poor girl just burst into tears. As some of you may remember, that job caused me to have severe anxiety to the point that I almost quit with nothing else lined up. I had to go on antidepressants and lost quite a bit of weight as a result of how I was treated there. They are treating this girl the exact same way they treated me. They have been awful to her to the point that on her very first day at work, one person told her they didn't really want her in the position and was hoping that someone else would be hired. I feel awful for her because I know exactly what she's going through. She said she felt a lot better after talking with me because she said she was starting to feel like maybe she was truly terrible at this job, but I told her they acted the same way towards me and my other coworker before we both quit.

Thankfully, there was a light at the end of the tunnel for me with the job I'm currently in, which I truly love and I enjoy coming to work every day. I'm going to keep my eyes open for any job I can for her so she can try to get out sooner than later.

I remember how miserable you were. Doesn't it feel good to know that it wasn't you or something you did that resulted in the maltreatment? It was the job that was truly toxic. My heart goes out to your law school colleague. I hope she lands somewhere great. When she moves on, she will truly value an employer and boss that treats her well.

 

[Ngwira]

I have given this a lot of thought, don't worry.

Including subtracting the time off for our cruise, I will have about 7 weeks of vacation time saved up by October. I plan on needing 3-5 weeks of that vacation time for my maternity leave. The amount I will need in vacation time will depend on if I have a natural birth (6 weeks medical leave) or c-section (8 weeks medical leave). I would prefer natural, but we will see how things go. The medical leave qualifies to be paid from my extended medical leave balance at 100% salary. I am not sure if I accrue vacation time while on medical leave. This is still something I need to check on.

There will be also be several holidays during my maternity leave which will allow me to use less vacation time. I get Thanksgiving and Black Friday as paid leave (though I may still be on medical leave at this time, so I am not sure if I get the vacations or not). I also get Christmas, the days between Christmas and New Years and New Years day as paid leave. This saves me about 1-1.5 weeks in vacation time during that period.

Also, my normal sick leave resets in October, so I will have that throughout the year if I need to care for the baby when ill. I get 14 days of sick leave each year. My husband also gets the same sick leave too, so if necessary, he could use his. And finally, I accrue vacation at a rate of 2 days per month even while taking vacation time, so I should earn 3-4 more days of vacation during my leave and even more if I still accrue vacation while on extended sick leave.

So that would mean that I should have another 3 weeks or more of vacation time even after my maternity leave is over. And I may consider discussing with my boss the idea of starting back as part time over that first month of work, maybe 2 days, then 3 days, then 4 days and finally 5 days, just to help me ease back.

Sounds like my current employer (a large non profit). Our leave time is just as generous, but in addition, we get paid maternity leave through the State of NJ (60 percent of pay capped to a certain amount). I was able to take 4 months off with my second child by combining my paid leave and my state temporary disability payments. We also have access to a part time schedule when we return from maternity leave ( I chose to remain full-time).

Good for you. Sounds like you have a plan which is more than many people have when they give birth. Just be prepared to throw that plan out the window if need be . Being out for four months (which is WAY more than most women get) actually enticed me to become a stay at home Mom. I wasn't prepared for that. I knew for sure that I would always be a working mom. Not sure what it was, hormones etc..but you never know.
(I'm not trying to start a debate about working vs. stay at home moms). Just advising Jen to be flexible.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I remember how miserable you were. Doesn't it feel good to know that it wasn't you or something you did that resulted in the maltreatment? It was the job that was truly toxic. My heart goes out to your law school colleague. I hope she lands somewhere great. When she moves on, she will truly value an employer and boss that treats her well.

It certainly does feel good to know that it was not just me- something I came to realize while working there but was hard to grasp initially as I'm at the beginning of my career. I just hate that she has to suffer through it too. Unfortunately, it's not a situation where she, or I, can go to a higher up or to HR and complain. Other than direct confrontation, there's not really anything to do but get out. It's sad because it has the potential to be a wonderful learning experience in a specialized area of law, and is actually what I focus in now, but is tainted by the work environment. I am thankful everyday that I can now work in this area with coworkers I love!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Sounds like my current employer (a large non profit). Our leave time is just as generous, but in addition, we get paid maternity leave through the State of NJ (60 percent of pay capped to a certain amount). I was able to take 4 months off with my second child by combining my paid leave and my state temporary disability payments. We also have access to a part time schedule when we return from maternity leave ( I chose to remain full-time).

Good for you. Sounds like you have a plan which is more than many people have when they give birth. Just be prepared to throw that plan out the window if need be . Being out for four months (which is WAY more than most women get) actually enticed me to become a stay at home Mom. I wasn't prepared for that. I knew for sure that I would always be a working mom. Not sure what it was, hormones etc..but you never know.
(I'm not trying to start a debate about working vs. stay at home moms). Just advising Jen to be flexible.

Oh it's the hormones for sure. I would have given my left arm to be able to stay home with ds. Besides that we couldn't afford it, dh was often laid off so it wasn't even reliable income back then.
I have a former neighbor who left her medical residency to be a stay home mom. (This is AFTER 4 years of college + 4 years of medical school.)
She had 2 more children and is still very happy.
NOTHING on the planet truly prepares you for motherhood.

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

So far in 2017, I have paid off $10,000 in debt and am about to refinance my mortgage and pay off another $20,000 in debt.
We helped my parents financially and my inlaws. At one point we were paying THREE mortgages a month. But we love them and were happy to do it!

In July of 2018, we will have paid out $85,000 in credit card/parent debt/inlaw debt. Taking three years to do it - but I still want to have SOME fun!

 

[beansmom]

we are hoping to pay off everything except our Jeep by the first of June with the sale of our home. It will certainly be nice to end my friendship with certain plastic friends. Then we will start squirreling cash away hot and heavy for the down payment on our new house. Scary and exciting!!

 

[Ngwira]

So far in 2017, I have paid off $10,000 in debt and am about to refinance my mortgage and pay off another $20,000 in debt.
We helped my parents financially and my inlaws. At one point we were paying THREE mortgages a month. But we love them and were happy to do it!

In July of 2018, we will have paid out $85,000 in credit card/parent debt/inlaw debt. Taking three years to do it - but I still want to have SOME fun!

Wow, inspiring...care to share specifics? What income were you working with, how much did you save vs. use for debt.. etc

 

[DnA2010]

I have given this a lot of thought, don't worry.

Including subtracting the time off for our cruise, I will have about 7 weeks of vacation time saved up by October. I plan on needing 3-5 weeks of that vacation time for my maternity leave. The amount I will need in vacation time will depend on if I have a natural birth (6 weeks medical leave) or c-section (8 weeks medical leave). I would prefer natural, but we will see how things go. The medical leave qualifies to be paid from my extended medical leave balance at 100% salary. I am not sure if I accrue vacation time while on medical leave. This is still something I need to check on.

There will be also be several holidays during my maternity leave which will allow me to use less vacation time. I get Thanksgiving and Black Friday as paid leave (though I may still be on medical leave at this time, so I am not sure if I get the vacations or not). I also get Christmas, the days between Christmas and New Years and New Years day as paid leave. This saves me about 1-1.5 weeks in vacation time during that period.

Also, my normal sick leave resets in October, so I will have that throughout the year if I need to care for the baby when ill. I get 14 days of sick leave each year. My husband also gets the same sick leave too, so if necessary, he could use his. And finally, I accrue vacation at a rate of 2 days per month even while taking vacation time, so I should earn 3-4 more days of vacation during my leave and even more if I still accrue vacation while on extended sick leave.

So that would mean that I should have another 3 weeks or more of vacation time even after my maternity leave is over. And I may consider discussing with my boss the idea of starting back as part time over that first month of work, maybe 2 days, then 3 days, then 4 days and finally 5 days, just to help me ease back.

Sounds like you have a great plan! Lots of vacation- awesome! I wish we got those extra days like the ones between Christmas! I'm currently on maternity, and while I do accrue vacation, it's unpaid - boo
I''m not complaining though, as I'm in Canada and we get up to a year maternity/paternity leave and get some $$ from the government..our current plan is for me to take 9-10 months and my DH to take 2-3 months..I'm currently on month 6 and in some ways am looking forward to being back at work..I'm sure it will be hard when it actually happens...I'm the higher earner also, so no doubt I will be going back...

 

[Ngwira]

State deposit was put in our account and Costco refund too. Added about $650 to our checking account which was a nice amount.
I ended up opening an Ally bank high yield savings account to earn the 1 percent interest rate on our savings. So far I'm very happy with them.

 

[DisneyMandC]

State deposit was put in our account and Costco refund too. Added about $650 to our checking account which was a nice amount.
I ended up opening an Ally bank high yield savings account to earn the 1 percent interest rate on our savings. So far I'm very happy with them.

I just hit my one year anniversary with Ally. Very happy with them; easy transfers and nice to get a couple extra dollars for doing nothing.