Debt Dumpers 2024

[piglet1979]

So this month has has been crazy money wise. I had to have an MRI of my liver. They found 2 masses when doing a scan for something completely unrelated. Thankfully they are just cysts and I am fine. Finally saw the neurologist for DD and now she will have an MRI of her brain. We also were in the ER Saturday and Monday for her migraines. I am also doing PT for my hip. It has just been crazy.

After doing the elimination diet for DD we found what bothers her digestive system. High Fructose Corn Syrup. Thankfully it is easier to avoid then dairy or gluten for the most part and cheaper then getting gluten free. We also found that she has an immune issue that can affect the digestive track so more appointments for that. Seriously the last month has been crazy for medical stuff.

Thankfully I have hit my out of pocket for me and once we hit the out of pocket insurance picks up 100%. We are almost there for the family half too. Thankfully I have an HSA that is really helping. If not we might be hurting by now.

Our next big thing is trying to get DS to understand loans. We are in the process of picking a college and the one that he wants to go to didn't give him much. It has been a struggle so far but I think we are getting through to him that taking $20,000 a year is not a good choice.

 

[barkley]

So this month has has been crazy money wise. I had to have an MRI of my liver. They found 2 masses when doing a scan for something completely unrelated. Thankfully they are just cysts and I am fine. Finally saw the neurologist for DD and now she will have an MRI of her brain. We also were in the ER Saturday and Monday for her migraines. I am also doing PT for my hip. It has just been crazy.

After doing the elimination diet for DD we found what bothers her digestive system. High Fructose Corn Syrup. Thankfully it is easier to avoid then dairy or gluten for the most part and cheaper then getting gluten free. We also found that she has an immune issue that can affect the digestive track so more appointments for that. Seriously the last month has been crazy for medical stuff.

Thankfully I have hit my out of pocket for me and once we hit the out of pocket insurance picks up 100%. We are almost there for the family half too. Thankfully I have an HSA that is really helping. If not we might be hurting by now.

Our next big thing is trying to get DS to understand loans. We are in the process of picking a college and the one that he wants to go to didn't give him much. It has been a struggle so far but I think we are getting through to him that taking $20,000 a year is not a good choice.

i was curious b/c our oldest graduated college in '18 so i just googled how much even the subsidized fed student loans are running-from what i can see they just announced them today for the 2024/2025 academic year. according to what i read the fed direct staffords loans will be going up 1% for a minimum rate of 6.533% and the federal direct parent plus loans wil be increasing to a minimum of 9.083%

 

[Tygerlilly]

i was curious b/c our oldest graduated college in '18 so i just googled how much even the subsidized fed student loans are running-from what i can see they just announced them today for the 2024/2025 academic year. according to what i read the fed direct staffords loans will be going up 1% for a minimum rate of 6.533% and the federal direct parent plus loans wil be increasing to a minimum of 9.083%

I'm so glad we're still 10 years from college. I'm not getting much put back yet, and I really don't see my oldest picking a college vs a trade, but at least I can attempt to start saving for it so they don't need to do that. Who knows what it'll look like by then.

 

[barkley]

I'm so glad we're still 10 years from college. I'm not getting much put back yet, and I really don't see my oldest picking a college vs a trade, but at least I can attempt to start saving for it so they don't need to do that. Who knows what it'll look like by then.

i would so encourage a young person to go into the trades if they have any inclination towards them. we have so many tradespeople that are ageing up and a severe shortage of young people learning those skills. the pay can far exceed what many college majors result in esp. when you consider that there are buisnesses that will pay good wages to learn on the job vs. racking up student debt.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

i would so encourage a young person to go into the trades if they have any inclination towards them. we have so many tradespeople that are ageing up and a severe shortage of young people learning those skills. the pay can far exceed what many college majors result in esp. when you consider that there are buisnesses that will pay good wages to learn on the job vs. racking up student debt.

I agree. Ds23 grossed 6 figures last year.
We paid the $9k for his 4 months of welding school. I used a blank check offered by our Discover card for 0% for 12 months. We paid it off before the deadline.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

i would so encourage a young person to go into the trades if they have any inclination towards them. we have so many tradespeople that are ageing up and a severe shortage of young people learning those skills. the pay can far exceed what many college majors result in esp. when you consider that there are buisnesses that will pay good wages to learn on the job vs. racking up student debt.

This. Trades jobs will be the high-wage jobs of the next 30 years thanks to the shortage of them as the current population retires. I run a training program for one of the trades and we can’t get enough student through fast enough. They are making 80-100k easily their first year even in LCOL states where salaries are generally lower.

 

[jen7233]

So this month has has been crazy money wise. I had to have an MRI of my liver. They found 2 masses when doing a scan for something completely unrelated. Thankfully they are just cysts and I am fine. Finally saw the neurologist for DD and now she will have an MRI of her brain. We also were in the ER Saturday and Monday for her migraines. I am also doing PT for my hip. It has just been crazy.

Thankfully the masses were not serious health issues. The migraines must be really hard on your DD. I used to have them and they were terrible.

I'm also going through PT right now on my hip! Hope for good results.

I agree. Ds23 grossed 6 figures last year.
We paid the $9k for his 4 months of welding school. I used a blank check offered by our Discover card for 0% for 12 months. We paid it off before the deadline.

That's incredible!

 

[newski_mom]

i would so encourage a young person to go into the trades if they have any inclination towards them. we have so many tradespeople that are ageing up and a severe shortage of young people learning those skills. the pay can far exceed what many college majors result in esp. when you consider that there are buisnesses that will pay good wages to learn on the job vs. racking up student debt.

This. Trades jobs will be the high-wage jobs of the next 30 years thanks to the shortage of them as the current population retires. I run a training program for one of the trades and we can’t get enough student through fast enough. They are making 80-100k easily their first year even in LCOL states where salaries are generally lower.

Any trades in particular? Honestly, I don't know much about that career path, but my DS is 21 and just kind of coasting. He's taking part time classes and working part time, so he's doing ok, but really needs direction. He's looking for direction too (not just me pushing), but our family has basically been the 4 year college path and I really just don't think it's for him, but I don't know how to help or give him ideas to think about / look at.

 

[afan]

Any trades in particular? Honestly, I don't know much about that career path, but my DS is 21 and just kind of coasting. He's taking part time classes and working part time, so he's doing ok, but really needs direction. He's looking for direction too (not just me pushing), but our family has basically been the 4 year college path and I really just don't think it's for him, but I don't know how to help or give him ideas to think about / look at.

It's anything from plumbing and construction (which is more than just houses, I work for a mechanical contractor that does hvac and plumbing), to various types of mechanics and electricians.

Really comes down to what he might like to do. There are some where trade school helps and some that have apprenticeship positions and you learn on the job. Some of our jobs require a certain % of apprentices on the job. Some are union jobs and some aren't.

 

[AJollyHoliday]

Well, we narrowly avoided a tornado last night. It wiped out 1/3 of a town just south west of us, tore a line up heading directly for us, destroyed several homes 3 blocks away and miraculously lifted, went over our house, and touched back down 2 miles north east of us where it caused a lot more damage. I think they're saying it was a strong F3 at this point. We shoved the kids in the closet under the stairs (a la Harry Potter). The wind was absolutely unreal and then got silent as it went over before you could hear this insane rumble.

We got so lucky.

I had a bunch of clothes and baby items ready for a yard sale, but I'm going to just donate it to anyone who might be able to use it. The girls decided they wanted to go thru some toys tomorrow and donate to some of the kids who lost everything. I'm pretty proud of them.

(Pic of the town just sw of us. I haven't even left our house to see our town.)

My gosh! I am so happy that you all are well and safe. That is wonderful that your daughters are willing to help out like that.

 

[pblack]

Any trades in particular? Honestly, I don't know much about that career path, but my DS is 21 and just kind of coasting. He's taking part time classes and working part time, so he's doing ok, but really needs direction. He's looking for direction too (not just me pushing), but our family has basically been the 4 year college path and I really just don't think it's for him, but I don't know how to help or give him ideas to think about / look at.

I'd also suggest checking out any adult schools in your area. Adult schools offer a lot more than just high school diploma/GED and ESL classes, at least in my area. And a lot of times the schools have worked out deals with particular trades where you're basically guaranteed work after the training period. Sometimes they even have deals where you make money while you're training. It's at least worth looking into.

 

[barkley]

This. Trades jobs will be the high-wage jobs of the next 30 years thanks to the shortage of them as the current population retires. I run a training program for one of the trades and we can’t get enough student through fast enough. They are making 80-100k easily their first year even in LCOL states where salaries are generally lower.

the 'tech school' that juniors and seniors can attend part time here has such high demand for enrollment that they have instituted a lottery for enrollment but they still can't push out enough grads to meet the demand so i suspect many of the private buisnesses are doing paid on the job. i've noticed in the past year or so that all of the 5 trades we've had out all included at least one extra person in attendance who was introduced as a 'trainee'. when i go on any of their websites they have information on paid on the job training (with full benefits and 401K).