Debt Dumpers 2024

[DanceDisney23]

i don't even want to think about what private school tuition runs these days-ours went to one that was very inexpensive as compared to most but DANG it added up what with the tuition and the fees and the uniforms and the mandatory donations....(we settled an estate for a family member whose adult kids were i think rather surprised at how much less was there than what they anticipated-i was surpised there was anything given their parents had funded private school for 5 kids k-12).

There is a private high school about a 5 minute drive from our house. The annual tuition is currently $58k. Only families making less than that qualify for financial aid.

DH once suggested we should consider it for DD. I thought he’d lost his mind. I’d rather save that for college. We save much less than that for college every year. We already got a higher mortgage a few years ago, partially to get out of a problematic school system.

 

[Matty B13]

Every bill we pay is used with our current paycheck. We're one of the few that lives paycheck to paycheck.

Most do, so don't feel bad. Keep up the good work!

 

[DisneyHardin]

I appreciate you thinking about me/us. Things didn't go as planned.

Don't let a rough week derail all the progress you have already made. Just keep chugging along.

 

[DanceDisney23]

Every bill we pay is used with our current paycheck. We're one of the few that lives paycheck to paycheck.

Several surveys estimate that anywhere between 60-80% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. So you are in good (bad?) company. Your goal is to belong to the exclusive club of those who don’t. You will get there eventually. Keep working at it!

 

[Nettlelondon]

It took us a long time, and a couple of very lucky breaks along the way, to be able to stop worrying too much about money. For the first few years we were married we ate at our parents at least one night per set per week as that was 2 meals we didn't need to budget for and the coin jar in the corner formed the entirety of our safety net. I knew there was always a week's food in there.

I once lost a job at very short notice, which doesn't happen very often in the UK as our labour laws are rather different, but it can sometimes happen. We were very worried about how we would keep the roof over our head but DH's best friend, who had landed on his feet with a fantastic job, stepped in and offered to cover the mortgage until I could find another job. As it turned out I got one almost straight away but the few weeks whilst we waited to know how that would go was very, very scary.

We then accidentally had a year living with my parents - we sold our apartment without having anywhere else because the market conditions were not great and we didn't want to end up in a long chain. The plan was it would only be a few weeks but a couple of purchases then fell through which took us to December, nothing comes on the market in December so we decided to hold off for a few weeks. Early in the new year DH decided to apply for a position with his employer that would involve us moving across the country so we decided to rent in the new location. Before I could quit my job to join him the employer decided the job might be moved to London, which was close enough to commute so we waited. They put DH in a hotel Monday to Friday for 6 months whilst they decided and we stayed with my parents until the employer confirmed, in writing, where the job would be as then they would be responsible for moving us if they then changed their minds again.

My parents wouldn't take any rent as long as we saved what we had been paying as a mortgage towards the deposit for when we did move. That made a huge difference to our finances and after 14 months we finally managed to move - and I am not sure who rejoiced the most, DH and I or my parents! But all relationships survived intact.

A few years later he was transferred to a different employer whilst still doing the same job via an outsourcing agreement. Labour laws meant that they had to ensure his new package was as good as his old one. His old contract included various things, such as an additional day PTO for every week of PTO taken outside school holiday time that couldn't be replicated by his new employer so they gave them a cash value and added that to his salary which was a huge cash boost.

But I still keep a couple of weeks food money in cash in the coin jar in the corner! I might not live paycheck to paycheck any more, but I still remember that feeling. Keep plugging away, change will come - if only because you will get to a point of not paying fees to card companies and that will start to be your money, not some corporate fatcat.

 

[goofytinkerbell]

That should improve once your debt is gone and you learn to live below your means. Those of us who are no longer living check to check are doing it because we changed our old ways that were causing that. Eventually savings start to build up and you have some room to breathe a little.

Not necessarily. The only debt I have is my mortgage and I still live pay to pay. It's not a matter of living beyond my means so much as I simply don't make enough money. Most people can't understand how I make as little as I do and haven't lost my home yet.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Not necessarily. The only debt I have is my mortgage and I still live pay to pay. It's not a matter of living beyond my means so much as I simply don't make enough money. Most people can't understand how I make as little as I do and haven't lost my home yet.

In not all cases, but in many, it is debatable about what exactly is “needed” to live.
We all have different comfort levels and perceptions.

 

[amylevan]

Not necessarily. The only debt I have is my mortgage and I still live pay to pay. It's not a matter of living beyond my means so much as I simply don't make enough money. Most people can't understand how I make as little as I do and haven't lost my home yet.

I don’t think someone who is putting extra towards their mortgage meets the definition of living paycheck to paycheck. Someone who lives pay to pay has no extra money and no savings.

 

[AJollyHoliday]

We used to live paycheck to paycheck and my DH would talk about how all he wanted was $10k in the bank. That seemed about as possible to me as seeing a unicorn! Now, after our debt-free journey with gazelle intensity, we have well over that in various savings, one is an emergency fund of about 3 mths expenses in a high yield account. Another big account is to pay cash for our next car. We paid cash for DH's recent car and it was an incredible feeling to drive off that lot and have nothing following us!

With HS tuition, yes our tuition is almost college level. DD has been in private school her whole school life. For K-8th grade it was a montessori school which was amazing and tuition was very very reasonable. Now she is at a boarding and day school (she's a day student) and tuition is not nearly as reasonable. One saving grace is I am a college professor with a very favorable tuition benefit and we have be saving for college. We may actually pay less for college than HS .

All this to say, continue taking those steps to being debt free. It is hard for sure. If it was easy everyone would be debt free. But remember your goal and dreams. I can remember those feelings of living paycheck to paycheck and it is a place we hope to not be in again. Something as simple as a credit card statement stresses me out so we don't use one, unless we are renting a car or paying for a hotel since they are really funny about debit cards.

 

[barkley]

Every bill we pay is used with our current paycheck. We're one of the few that lives paycheck to paycheck.

as someone else pointed out-many people live paycheck to paycheck esp. as inflation has outpaced earnings. as an example-my oldest received a very small raise at work recently only to receive his annual apartment lease renewal which indicated he will be operating at a net 7% loss. it's HARD to pay off debt, even harder when basic living expenses keep increasing up, up, up.

just keep trying your best, every little bit thrown at the debt truly does help and not adding to it except in the most dire of circumstance will pay off in the end.

I don’t think someone who is putting extra towards their mortgage meets the definition of living paycheck to paycheck. Someone who lives pay to pay has no extra money and no savings.

it's interesting to see how differently people view this. my late mom considered herself as living paycheck to paycheck yet she had good savings. her mindset was that if she could'nt have something to put INTO savings at the end of each month she was living 'paycheck to paycheck'. she was paying all her bills, had no debt and living on dad's pension, her social security and interest from her cd's but as inflation went up (and cd interest rates went down) it drove her nuts to not be able to at least throw a few dollars a month into savings (and when it got to a point where she had to start pulling a small amount from her savings each month it was mind blowing to her).

my personal mindset on living paycheck to paycheck is when we had to arrange all of our financial obligations around when we were paid-not nesc. when they were due (and boy-can that lead to extra fees and penalties). once we were able to dig out a bit and get ahead of our bills the savings on those fees and penalties helped tremendously towards reducing the debt. then it was developing a mindset where we paid ourselves vs. rewarding ourselves. diverting the money towards savings vs. viewing it as extra spending money took time and some trial and error.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

To me, living check to check would mean that if you didn’t receive the next check (for whatever reason) then some bills would not be able to be paid.

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

This is us. We get 2 paychecks on Friday, and both will go to rent. We'll cover that and have about 1/4 of our checks left over to live on for 2 weeks. I want to get out of that to where we can save it up over the 4 checks from the month and not have to rely on the last 2 checks. For example, we had 2 doc appointments this paycheck we didn't know about that wiped out our budget. I want to not be able to stress over the stuff that's not budgeted like that.

To me, living check to check would mean that if you didn’t receive the next check (for whatever reason) then some bills would not be able to be paid.

 

[dpswift]

In not all cases, but in many, it is debatable about what exactly is “needed” to live.
We all have different comfort levels and perceptions.

Very true. What is a priority for one person is an unnecessary extravaganze for another. I remember my mother telling me about the purchase of their first home. They bought at the upper end of their budget because a great school system was important to them. The taxes turned out to be more than they expected and almost canceled the deal

 

[DanceDisney23]

This is us. We get 2 paychecks on Friday, and both will go to rent. We'll cover that and have about 1/4 of our checks left over to live on for 2 weeks. I want to get out of that to where we can save it up over the 4 checks from the month and not have to rely on the last 2 checks. For example, we had 2 doc appointments this paycheck we didn't know about that wiped out our budget. I want to not be able to stress over the stuff that's not budgeted like that.

That’s understandable and also really hard to do while you’re still in debt. It requires some serious short and long term behavior changes, but our brains are unfortunately wired to resist any new behaviors and go back to what feels familiar, even if it hurts us in the long run.

You are keeping at it and fighting the good fight every day. I commend you for that. I know it’s really, really difficult to keep trying when it seems there is no end in sight or when an unexpected expense derails your budget. Don’t give up! Once your debt payments disappear, you will have more money freed up. You will have rent money in your account before the last paychecks hit your account. You will also be able to budget some money for unforeseen expenses. Because if there is something you can count on, it’s that there will always be unforeseen expenses.

 

[dpswift]

This is us. We get 2 paychecks on Friday, and both will go to rent. We'll cover that and have about 1/4 of our checks left over to live on for 2 weeks. I want to get out of that to where we can save it up over the 4 checks from the month and not have to rely on the last 2 checks. For example, we had 2 doc appointments this paycheck we didn't know about that wiped out our budget. I want to not be able to stress over the stuff that's not budgeted like that.

I get it. Most of us have been there(or are still there). Do you have access to a flexible spending account? They take money out pretax so you can use it to go to the doctor.

If it isn’t hard to find food for the next few weeks check sales. Breakfast for dinner is another inexpensive dinner. I don’t know if you eat smoked sausage but that and a jambalaya mix make an inexpensive meal. Also ham is super cheap this week.

Just keep chugging along. I have a cookie jar where I am putting cash towards Christmas (emergency money if necessary). I will also buy gift cards for our favorite restaurants when they go on sale. It is important to keep going along and not feel overwhelmed.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

This is us. We get 2 paychecks on Friday, and both will go to rent. We'll cover that and have about 1/4 of our checks left over to live on for 2 weeks. I want to get out of that to where we can save it up over the 4 checks from the month and not have to rely on the last 2 checks. For example, we had 2 doc appointments this paycheck we didn't know about that wiped out our budget. I want to not be able to stress over the stuff that's not budgeted like that.

It will improve over time if you continue to live below your means AND apply all spare funds toward debt reduction.

 

[bababear_50]

disney-inspired​

I had 6 small contracts but over the last few years I have sold all of them off except for 2 OKW contracts ,,,I thought I would regret it but I'm ok with it now.

 

[disney-inspired]

disney-inspired​

I had 6 small contracts but over the last few years I have sold all of them off except for 2 OKW contracts ,,,I thought I would regret it but I'm ok with it now.

You went through that process 6 times?! I was stressed and anxious over just the two. Eventually, I think I want to buy directly from Disney to get all the 'official' perks but honestly, don't think I could convince myself to spend that kind of money for perks that could easily go away (as we saw during pandemic).

I definitely want to share my points within my family, so that may convince me to sell both contracts at some point and buy just one contract with more points. But that's something to think about much further in the future.

We may be moving states in the next few years and may end up taking more frequent but shorter trips. Again, who knows what will happen in the 1, 5, 10 years with DVC.

 

[barkley]

I will also buy gift cards for our favorite restaurants when they go on sale.

i buy the gift cards for youngest's end of february bday dinner when they go on black friday sale for 20% off.

disney-inspired​

I had 6 small contracts but over the last few years I have sold all of them off except for 2 OKW contracts ,,,I thought I would regret it but I'm ok with it now.

i've never regretted selling our 2 back in '07.

 

[tinkerbellandpeterpan]

Just a curious poll/question. What do families of 2 usually spend at the store? I did a budget for the very fist time this month, and I budgeted $500 for groceries for the month. That's $125/week. Of course, now we're eating at home a lot more. Up until a year or 2 ago, we were eating out 2, sometimes 3, meals a day. Now I've budgeted for 1 lunch out, one dinner and then Sunday after church. So 3 meals out. That leaves 12 meals, if my math ir right, at home. So curious if $500. I know every family is different, and every family's habits are different. But just curious what others spend.

We usually spend $60-70 at Shoprite and $20-30 at Aldi to fill in. Sometimes a little more at Aldi, sometimes a little more at Shoprite which balances out. But we are usually under $100 or right there. I will say my husband and I eat fairly small portions (I'm only 5' and about 115lbs- I only mention this to say that's why I eat fairly small portions), BUT we do snack a lot. I stalk sales and combine with coupons. This does include paper items like napkins and paper plates and can include tissues, toilet paper, and paper towels although sometimes we do a BJs run and don't go back for a few months. We have pretty much cut out eating out. We tried it as a challenge in October and just kept going.

ETA- Just for reference we are in Philadelphia. And I don't think I made it clear but that's per week (not that anyone thought I was feeding the 2 of us on $100 a month LOL)