Debt Dumpers - 2013

[gracie1]

Thanks everyone. Reading all the stories on here is exciting too... we've been at that place where you think you are getting on top of things, and then you are hit with a medical bill, a car repair, and a broken water heater all at once. It's no fun, and very disheartening. I am going to be 38 in another 2 months, so I am proof that if you keep plugging away at it, you will get there. It may not be next week, but it can happen for you!

You are so right in your post!! I was over $20k in the hole before, took out a personal loan and then put myself back in debt. Then I paid off the personal loan and took out another one. After that was paid off I went right back in debt. Then I bought a house and took enough out to pay off my credit cards and went right back in debt. Then I did a home equity loan and went back into debt. Then I finally woke up!!!!! I am happy to be debt free except for the equity line and the mortgage. I know that I will not get myself into debt again for buying frivolous items.
It's almost embarrassing how long it took me to learn my lesson, and how much extra money I ended up spending on interest!

 

[gracie1]

Bumping

 

[lady9]

Debt just stinks! We are a bit behind on what we felt was a good schedule to get us debt free by next year. We forgot all those little things that add up-baseball registrations (DS plays on a travel team so we also have hotel room costs for a few tournaments) DD recital fees, camp, etc. We can afford to do these things for our kids and pay cash, but it has to come from the extra we were paying on the debt. Then we got hit big time-the central AC on the 20 year old house is not repairable, need new unit and DH's car is shot. It has 225,000 miles on it and repair shop said repair cost will be $1500-2000 and he see struts going bad. We decided to replace it with a "new to us" car that has a low payment (but still a payment) but didn't increase our insurance much-$28 a year. I sometimes feel so frustrated! But I will look on the bright side- we do have the cash to replace the AC so we are not adding to our debt.

 

[gracie1]

Debt just stinks! We are a bit behind on what we felt was a good schedule to get us debt free by next year. We forgot all those little things that add up-baseball registrations (DS plays on a travel team so we also have hotel room costs for a few tournaments) DD recital fees, camp, etc. We can afford to do these things for our kids and pay cash, but it has to come from the extra we were paying on the debt. Then we got hit big time-the central AC on the 20 year old house is not repairable, need new unit and DH's car is shot. It has 225,000 miles on it and repair shop said repair cost will be $1500-2000 and he see struts going bad. We decided to replace it with a "new to us" car that has a low payment (but still a payment) but didn't increase our insurance much-$28 a year. I sometimes feel so frustrated! But I will look on the bright side- we do have the cash to replace the AC so we are not adding to our debt.

Ouch lady9!! You have definitely been hit with some high unexpected expenses! Good for you for looking on the bright side - you are paying cash and not adding to the debt. You should be very proud of this Yes, it may set you back a little bit because your not able to put extra towards your payments, but your not getting yourself further in debt which would also delay paying it back, and actually paying more by accumulating interest!

 

[AuroraRora]

So sorry you have to deal with all that, lady9! But you're totally going about it the right way, taking the money from your extra debt payments instead of just accruing more debt. I can see that happening for me too in the future - I have a tooth that was hurting the other day and most likely my snowball payment one month will have to cover that instead. But in the past I'd have whipped out my credit card, so still progress! You're doing great!

I made a budget for this month, and set aside (in envelopes) specific amounts for groceries, transportation and treats for the month. It'll force me to always control what I'm spending and hopefully motivate me to try and have some left over at the end too. I also wrote out all my bills I'll be needing to pay, so there should be no reason to spend anything over that. Here's hoping it works!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

So sorry you have to deal with all that, lady9! But you're totally going about it the right way, taking the money from your extra debt payments instead of just accruing more debt. I can see that happening for me too in the future - I have a tooth that was hurting the other day and most likely my snowball payment one month will have to cover that instead. But in the past I'd have whipped out my credit card, so still progress! You're doing great!

I made a budget for this month, and set aside (in envelopes) specific amounts for groceries, transportation and treats for the month. It'll force me to always control what I'm spending and hopefully motivate me to try and have some left over at the end too. I also wrote out all my bills I'll be needing to pay, so there should be no reason to spend anything over that. Here's hoping it works!

Does your dentist allow you to make payments? I had a cracked molar so I needed a crown. Our dental ins only covers half so $400 was still my share. The next month dh had a cracked molar too. (Maybe we grind our teeth in our sleep?)
She let me pay $100/month til it was paid off with no interest or penalties.

 

[zy144622]

So many inspiring stories here. Thank you all for sharing. I started to really try to take control of our debt as soon as we returned from WDW in Feb. My plan has been working ok but needs revamped. a big part of my plan was getting a refi done on our home giving us a few hundred dollars a month right away. It's official there will be no refi. We have almost perfect credit but are upside in our mortgage. so this month I am getting a budget and snowball plan started.

My debt was incurred when my second child was born in Oct 2012. I choose to take a full 12 week maternity leave with him as I did my first. Well benefits had changed much more than I realized. Ins. deductible went from $250 to $6k, my std pay went from full 12 weeks to 85% for first 6 and no pay for last 6 weeks. I was not prepared for this at all. My mistake well worth time with my baby. Thanking I'm not paying any interest on any of it. Medical bills are all on payment plans and 0% card offers on the rest.

Now to dig into the nitty gritty ad crunch the numbers....

 

[arwood82]

I haven't gotten off track the last month or two but I am still making progress. We managed to pay off our highest credit card last week. Now I have 3 small things I am trying to get paid off so will work in those next. About $1500 will get these 3 small things paid off then we can focus on the 1 big loan we have, student loans, car, and medical bills. We are hoping to make a big dent in debt by the end of the year so we can buy a home instead of renting.

 

[gracie1]

I haven't gotten off track the last month or two but I am still making progress. We managed to pay off our highest credit card last week. Now I have 3 small things I am trying to get paid off so will work in those next. About $1500 will get these 3 small things paid off then we can focus on the 1 big loan we have, student loans, car, and medical bills. We are hoping to make a big dent in debt by the end of the year so we can buy a home instead of renting.

Way to go! Sounds like you will have a huge amount paid off by the time the end of the year rolls around

 

[gracie1]

So many inspiring stories here. Thank you all for sharing. I started to really try to take control of our debt as soon as we returned from WDW in Feb. My plan has been working ok but needs revamped. a big part of my plan was getting a refi done on our home giving us a few hundred dollars a month right away. It's official there will be no refi. We have almost perfect credit but are upside in our mortgage. so this month I am getting a budget and snowball plan started.

My debt was incurred when my second child was born in Oct 2012. I choose to take a full 12 week maternity leave with him as I did my first. Well benefits had changed much more than I realized. Ins. deductible went from $250 to $6k, my std pay went from full 12 weeks to 85% for first 6 and no pay for last 6 weeks. I was not prepared for this at all. My mistake well worth time with my baby. Thanking I'm not paying any interest on any of it. Medical bills are all on payment plans and 0% card offers on the rest.

Now to dig into the nitty gritty ad crunch the numbers....

Good luck with getting your budget set up! That is crazy how your insurance deductible jumped from $250-$6k!! Then they wonder why people don't want health insurance!

 

[hayesb2]

If ya'll want some motivation on what happens with sound financial planning straight out of high school, I make 75K a year (which is good but not great by any stretch), my wife doesn't work because shes a stay at home mom to our 3 kids...yet we've never been one to take on debt and always saved and paid cash for things. I'm 35 yrs old and have zero debt with 2 houses/properties, and 120K in emergency savings, along with 100K in my 401K...

My oldest kid is turning six and we're just now taking our first Disney vacation...I did the 10.5% orbitz deal to save on ticket prices, and towing our 30 ft travel trailer to a campground 3 miles from Disney which only costs us $178 for an entire week.

The travel trailer was bought new and paid for in cash about 6 yrs ago as I figured if we took one family vacation per year the entire thing will pay for itself in about 10 years with the savings by not paying for hotels/resorts. And its a lot more fun too, at least we think so.

So anyways, that's our little story...can't wait for Disney we leave in 3 days!

 

[momtosam]

So many inspiring stories here. Thank you all for sharing. I started to really try to take control of our debt as soon as we returned from WDW in Feb. My plan has been working ok but needs revamped. a big part of my plan was getting a refi done on our home giving us a few hundred dollars a month right away. It's official there will be no refi. We have almost perfect credit but are upside in our mortgage. so this month I am getting a budget and snowball plan started.

My debt was incurred when my second child was born in Oct 2012. I choose to take a full 12 week maternity leave with him as I did my first. Well benefits had changed much more than I realized. Ins. deductible went from $250 to $6k, my std pay went from full 12 weeks to 85% for first 6 and no pay for last 6 weeks. I was not prepared for this at all. My mistake well worth time with my baby. Thanking I'm not paying any interest on any of it. Medical bills are all on payment plans and 0% card offers on the rest.

Now to dig into the nitty gritty ad crunch the numbers....

That deductible jump is crazy! So sorry about that one!

 

[kim532]

Love reading everyone's success stories. to all of those who had issues pop in.

I feel like I am treading water now. We have my children's birthdays this summer and I know that with extra daycare costs, I have come to the conclusion I will not be making as much progress as I would like.

I am still going to hang in there and take whatever gain I can take. Debt is DUMB! (to steal a Ramsey phrase)

Kim

 

[mebbradley]

Our goal is to pay off our three smaller credit cards by the end of the year! We have about 2,300 or less to go.

We are buying our first house in a few weeks and have student loan/car debt that we want to try and knock as much as we can away from.

Gah never mind. Looks like a decent chunk of this is now going towards our wedding

Well...I'm proud to say that even after our wedding [which is this month]....We just paid off one of the credit cards! That was 500 dollars and it is finally gone!

 

[AuroraRora]

Well...I'm proud to say that even after our wedding [which is this month]....We just paid off one of the credit cards! That was 500 dollars and it is finally gone!

Awesome job!! It feels so good to see that zero balance on them!

Kim, I think its great you're sticking to your debt-dumping where you can and still putting any gains towards your debt even with the birthdays and everything. Every little helps!

 

[Eureka]

Feeling a little discouraged today. Yesterday, I got a good check in (I freelance) and put aside for vacation, credit cards (we have a little bit on there that I'd like to be done with this summer), an upcoming hair appointment and for our niece's graduation gift. Updated our "debt chart" of our mortgage and car loan balances as well as our current savings account balance. Felt good about everything.

Today, I get a $700 bill for the anesthesia from a procedure I had done in March. This is after insurance. I had already paid the doctor's office and lab bills off a couple months ago. Thought I was done. Luckily, the billing office will let me do installments, but it's going to be $200/month through Sept (well, that last one is a half-payment, but still). Suddenly, I don't feel so great about everything anymore. This is going to slow down our plan. I am taking off a week for our first of two summer vacations soon, and when I don't work, I don't get paid. So, I will try to get a lot done the rest of this week and next, I guess. It will all be fine but mostly, I am just bummed.

 

[zy144622]

Feeling a little discouraged today. Yesterday, I got a good check in (I freelance) and put aside for vacation, credit cards (we have a little bit on there that I'd like to be done with this summer), an upcoming hair appointment and for our niece's graduation gift. Updated our "debt chart" of our mortgage and car loan balances as well as our current savings account balance. Felt good about everything.

Today, I get a $700 bill for the anesthesia from a procedure I had done in March. This is after insurance. I had already paid the doctor's office and lab bills off a couple months ago. Thought I was done. Luckily, the billing office will let me do installments, but it's going to be $200/month through Sept (well, that last one is a half-payment, but still). Suddenly, I don't feel so great about everything anymore. This is going to slow down our plan. I am taking off a week for our first of two summer vacations soon, and when I don't work, I don't get paid. So, I will try to get a lot done the rest of this week and next, I guess. It will all be fine but mostly, I am just bummed.

Your working in the right direction. Enjoy your vacations and be proud you saved for them. You'll be past this hiccup in no time.

 

[AuroraRora]

Feeling a little discouraged today. Yesterday, I got a good check in (I freelance) and put aside for vacation, credit cards (we have a little bit on there that I'd like to be done with this summer), an upcoming hair appointment and for our niece's graduation gift. Updated our "debt chart" of our mortgage and car loan balances as well as our current savings account balance. Felt good about everything.

Today, I get a $700 bill for the anesthesia from a procedure I had done in March. This is after insurance. I had already paid the doctor's office and lab bills off a couple months ago. Thought I was done. Luckily, the billing office will let me do installments, but it's going to be $200/month through Sept (well, that last one is a half-payment, but still). Suddenly, I don't feel so great about everything anymore. This is going to slow down our plan. I am taking off a week for our first of two summer vacations soon, and when I don't work, I don't get paid. So, I will try to get a lot done the rest of this week and next, I guess. It will all be fine but mostly, I am just bummed.

I'm really sorry you're having to deal with that! It's great you had the money available from your check to cover everything, but it still sucks when you had another plans for it. It's so disappointing when you feel like you're getting ahead and then a bill comes through that sucks it up. I'm always terrified of that happening and I've found that sometimes I'll hoard money I should be putting towards my debt, just in case. I work independently too.

I've been hacking away at my smallest student loan - it was $6500 and I put a check from work plus my tax refund that I've kept from April towards it, which totalled $2400. That cleared the other day and I felt really motivated so I took a bonus I got from work, plus what I felt comfortable taking out of my checking account, and paid another $2750 towards it today. When that clears, my balance will only be $1400 Apparently my parents want to give me $500 for my birthday which will make it $900 and then I'm going to be obsessed with getting that paid off!!

My goal was to pay this one off by the end of Summer and then get through a good chunk of my $14K student loan by the end of the year. Now, I think I might be done with this one by the end of the month I'm instead hoping to be done with my $14K one by the end of Fall.

 

[Eureka]

I'm really sorry you're having to deal with that! It's great you had the money available from your check to cover everything, but it still sucks when you had another plans for it. It's so disappointing when you feel like you're getting ahead and then a bill comes through that sucks it up. I'm always terrified of that happening and I've found that sometimes I'll hoard money I should be putting towards my debt, just in case. I work independently too.

I've been hacking away at my smallest student loan - it was $6500 and I put a check from work plus my tax refund that I've kept from April towards it, which totalled $2400. That cleared the other day and I felt really motivated so I took a bonus I got from work, plus what I felt comfortable taking out of my checking account, and paid another $2750 towards it today. When that clears, my balance will only be $1400 Apparently my parents want to give me $500 for my birthday which will make it $900 and then I'm going to be obsessed with getting that paid off!!

My goal was to pay this one off by the end of Summer and then get through a good chunk of my $14K student loan by the end of the year. Now, I think I might be done with this one by the end of the month I'm instead hoping to be done with my $14K one by the end of Fall.

Well, the beach house (vacation number 1) is paid off, but number 2 isn't quite. It's Disney/Universal and I have not yet bought the UO tickets or made the final Disney payment. But I do feel good that I am working towards it. Thanks to both of you for your nice words.

 

[gracie1]

I'm really sorry you're having to deal with that! It's great you had the money available from your check to cover everything, but it still sucks when you had another plans for it. It's so disappointing when you feel like you're getting ahead and then a bill comes through that sucks it up. I'm always terrified of that happening and I've found that sometimes I'll hoard money I should be putting towards my debt, just in case. I work independently too.

I've been hacking away at my smallest student loan - it was $6500 and I put a check from work plus my tax refund that I've kept from April towards it, which totalled $2400. That cleared the other day and I felt really motivated so I took a bonus I got from work, plus what I felt comfortable taking out of my checking account, and paid another $2750 towards it today. When that clears, my balance will only be $1400 Apparently my parents want to give me $500 for my birthday which will make it $900 and then I'm going to be obsessed with getting that paid off!!

My goal was to pay this one off by the end of Summer and then get through a good chunk of my $14K student loan by the end of the year. Now, I think I might be done with this one by the end of the month I'm instead hoping to be done with my $14K one by the end of Fall.

Wow, great job on the student loans!!!