Debt Dumpers - 2013

[ceemys]

Well looks like there may be a dent in our snowball for a while. New daycare cost will be triple the last 3 years even though my oldest will be in school full time . We planned ahead for 1 medical procedure but not 2 that it turns out we need. Last but not least we had to get a new fridge at our cabin. We are here now and it's no longer working properly. Thankful it doesn't need to be anything with bells and whistles. I'm hoping to find a deal in the scratch and dent area. Not letting it get o me just facing reality. Now to focus on saving somewhere else to make up some of the gap!

Day care costs are the pits and I'm sorry about the medical costs! Just those two alone are stressful. Hugs.

We have an easy way that we handle Christmas, we don't do it! Except for my DS age 9, any and all gifts for other family, teachers, coaches people at work etc...are gifts of food. I don't have a huge family and DH has a larger family but is not real close with them so it just makes sense for us. I am a retail store manager so Christmas for me is stressful enough without the added pressure of buying things. We will be spending a couple Sundays in December baking and preparing gifts of food. My DH is an amazing cook and loves to do it so that's a bonus. We feel Christmas is not what it should be, not about the real point, and so that's another reason it makes sense for us. We also will be serving for Christmas, serving the homeless, those who are sick and alone. These gifts of service will be random acts of kindness that we do when we feel led to. My DS loves to do this and it is creating a heart of giving within him. I will be done buying for DS and everything wrapped by Nov 1st so that way we can enjoy the whole season without stress.

That is very sweet serving the homeless.

No no no no no no no. Too early for Christmas talk. It's August people! Concentrate on Halloween if you want to talk about holidays lol.

LOL. But it's the best budget way! I normally used to start shopping in July and only get the one gift they want later. Stocking stuffers are more often than not filled with fruit and clearance items.

 

[ceemys]

I sold a couple of things and put $70 in my savings. It only moved my ticker up 1/2%. Sigh. But I guess at least I am back to moving forward and not backward. More will go in on Friday.

How's everyone doing?

 

[honeybunches]

I sold a couple of things and put $70 in my savings. It only moved my ticker up 1/2%. Sigh. But I guess at least I am back to moving forward and not backward. More will go in on Friday.

How's everyone doing?

Hey, but 1/2% is still going UP!! That is good news!

We have guests coming this week, they'll be staying for 6 days....which means my SIL's family will also be here for 6 days to visit with them, too. 10 extra people to feed will not be cheap. Sigh. And our fridge is doing crazy things tonight, DH is trying to fix it.

 

[pryncess527]

I made another post about this, but also wanted to bump this thread and mention it again here:

YNAB -- You Need a Budget -- is on sale for $15

http://store.steampowered.com/app/227320/

This is the best price I've never seen on it, only Steam sales get the price that low. The sale ends tomorrow.

You Need a Budget is hands down the best thing that ever happened to my family's finances. It's a great program, no subscription fee, that makes it easy to budget-to-zero. We've gotten incredible clarity about our finances, and been able to eliminate numerous extra accounts while still tracking our various savings goals. There is also a free android and iphone app (and a third party windows phone app) that lets you track spending and view your budget on the go.

Anyway, I know many people on here use it and love it, and since this is such a huge discount that lasts a short time I thought I'd draw it to everyone's attention.

http://www.youneedabudget.com/

There is also a 30 day free trial you can try out. Steam ran this same 75% off sale over the summer, and will likely run it again at Christmas, so IMHO it's worth exploring even if you aren't prepared to buy now. It's really hard for me to over emphasize how amazing this program has been for our family and our conversations about money.

I swear I don't work for them, I just love YNAB that much. Proselytizing is a common side effect experienced by new users

 

[gracie1]

I sold a couple of things and put $70 in my savings. It only moved my ticker up 1/2%. Sigh. But I guess at least I am back to moving forward and not backward. More will go in on Friday.

How's everyone doing?

That is still good!! Don't get discouraged. You are doing a fantastic job

 

[pryncess527]

I sold a couple of things and put $70 in my savings. It only moved my ticker up 1/2%. Sigh. But I guess at least I am back to moving forward and not backward. More will go in on Friday.

How's everyone doing?

Moving forward is good!!!

I'm ready for August to be OVER!!! I have to get our grocery budget under control, it really got away from me this month. Sadly, so did our dining out. I'm not going to be able to make as large of an extra CC payment as I had hoped.

DH's dental visit also put a dent in our plans. We do have insurance (he actually has two policies atm, which is great), but we had to pay the dentist 1200 up front and I'm waiting for reimbursement checks. It's not a problem but it is annoying, I just hate having so many outstanding things.

And the raise DH was expecting looks like it may not come through (the upside is, that also means some added work stress won't go on his shoulders). I hadn't spent his raise yet, so it's no loss not to get it, but I was looking forward to more breathing room. I hope things go better with my raise negotiation (because in my case, the work is on my shoulders whether I get paid more or not!)

Hope everyone else weathered August!

 

[peigirl]

Things seem to be getting easier to handle in my house. I am loving my new second job which I started in July at a fast food joint close to home. It was comical though the other day, I got off of my office job at 3:30, had to report to the restaurant at 4, so my husband picked me up and I changed into my uniform while he drove lol...thank goodness we did not get in an accident when I was partially dressed

My DD21 did not get as much as she thought she needed in student loans to go to University in another province so has decided to take a year or two off and get rid of her current small student loan from 2 years in college...she works fulltime and I knew she was stressing about taking on more debt right now so I am relieved of her decision, and she seems happier. Now I don't have to take her over so am saving hotel, bridge fee, meals, gas, etc likely to the tune of $400 because the entire family wanted to go with us.

My DD18 found out a couple of weeks ago that she is accepted to the local college for the Resident Care Worker program which starts in October. Two weeks ago she applied at a Seniors Home to get experience in that setting and they offered her a job as a Care Worker and are willing to work around her school hours, she is picking up shifts left and right....I have been putting out alot of $ to get all the requirements she needs but she wants to pay me back.

Both of my girls seem to have noticed me working hard to make things easier and now they want to pitch in to help. I am just happy that they appreciate me...they brought me flowers to work on Monday.

My husband's resume is updated and he will drop it into the local grocery store on Friday when the owner returns...he had spoken to him previously about getting a PT job when our DS8 returns to school next Thursday. This will be our snowball money!

Paula

Oh yeah, my stepson and his wife have parted ways...I was hoping for a friendly split but she is now alienating all of us (hopefully, she will come around eventually to be friends with us because we do miss her and do not want to take sides) ...oh well, less Christmas presents to buy this year

 

[SpaceGirl]

Well August has been a rough month for me, once again my own doing. I decided to rotate all my credit cards that I don’t use on a regular basis. I was going to charge a small amount on each card just to keep them active, high credit limits with Zero balances help with your credit score, but to keep high limits you need to keep all your cards active so I needed to make sure each of my cards reported.

My nemesis is Williams-Sonoma (I love this store/website) I had a gift card for a small amount remaining on it so I thought I would use the gift card plus my credit card to make a purchase. Great move I love my new teapot; I would have been fine if I had stopped with that one item.

When I received my teapot they sent me a store gift card as a Thank You so I went shopping again, again, again see were I’m going….I spent way too much so this month was crazy.

I have been so good for over two years yet found it is was so easy just to slide right back into the easy no brainer of the "Just Charge It" mentality...

I am so ready for September.

 

[Eureka]

Well, we are back from Orlando and the credit card bill is huge. And I am waiting on invoices to be paid. Not a good combination. Good news is I am in the process of interviewing for a full time job (I freelance part time at the moment), and they seem very interested, so we'll see what happens with that. I also bought my nephews and niece their Chanuka presents at Universal so fewer holiday gifts to worry about.

 

[ceemys]

Well August has been a rough month for me, once again my own doing. I decided to rotate all my credit cards that I don’t use on a regular basis. I was going to charge a small amount on each card just to keep them active, high credit limits with Zero balances help with your credit score, but to keep high limits you need to keep all your cards active so I needed to make sure each of my cards reported.

My nemesis is Williams-Sonoma (I love this store/website) I had a gift card for a small amount remaining on it so I thought I would use the gift card plus my credit card to make a purchase. Great move I love my new teapot; I would have been fine if I had stopped with that one item.

When I received my teapot they sent me a store gift card as a Thank You so I went shopping again, again, again see were I’m going….I spent way too much so this month was crazy.

I have been so good for over two years yet found it is was so easy just to slide right back into the easy no brainer of the "Just Charge It" mentality...

I am so ready for September.

You are right, it is VERY easy to get back into the charging if it is there. How many cards to do you have? Maybe you can just start getting rid of them? Do you keep them for extra points? At least you know what to do now.

Things seem to be getting easier to handle in my house. I am loving my new second job which I started in July at a fast food joint close to home. It was comical though the other day, I got off of my office job at 3:30, had to report to the restaurant at 4, so my husband picked me up and I changed into my uniform while he drove lol...thank goodness we did not get in an accident when I was partially dressed

My DD21 did not get as much as she thought she needed in student loans to go to University in another province so has decided to take a year or two off and get rid of her current small student loan from 2 years in college...she works fulltime and I knew she was stressing about taking on more debt right now so I am relieved of her decision, and she seems happier. Now I don't have to take her over so am saving hotel, bridge fee, meals, gas, etc likely to the tune of $400 because the entire family wanted to go with us.

My DD18 found out a couple of weeks ago that she is accepted to the local college for the Resident Care Worker program which starts in October. Two weeks ago she applied at a Seniors Home to get experience in that setting and they offered her a job as a Care Worker and are willing to work around her school hours, she is picking up shifts left and right....I have been putting out alot of $ to get all the requirements she needs but she wants to pay me back.

Both of my girls seem to have noticed me working hard to make things easier and now they want to pitch in to help. I am just happy that they appreciate me...they brought me flowers to work on Monday.

My husband's resume is updated and he will drop it into the local grocery store on Friday when the owner returns...he had spoken to him previously about getting a PT job when our DS8 returns to school next Thursday. This will be our snowball money!

Paula

Oh yeah, my stepson and his wife have parted ways...I was hoping for a friendly split but she is now alienating all of us (hopefully, she will come around eventually to be friends with us because we do miss her and do not want to take sides) ...oh well, less Christmas presents to buy this year

Your daughters seem to have a great head on their shoulders. Good luck to your husband on his job search! Sorry about your sons marriage.

Well, we are back from Orlando and the credit card bill is huge. And I am waiting on invoices to be paid. Not a good combination. Good news is I am in the process of interviewing for a full time job (I freelance part time at the moment), and they seem very interested, so we'll see what happens with that. I also bought my nephews and niece their Chanuka presents at Universal so fewer holiday gifts to worry about.

Welcome back! Was it the trip you charged or just souvenirs/food? Good luck with the job!!

 

[Eureka]

Welcome back! Was it the trip you charged or just souvenirs/food? Good luck with the job!!

Just souvenirs (we don't buy much, usually a few shirts) and food, which was a pretty penny. Had a balance on that card already that we've been chipping away at all summer, so it will just take longer. But we knew that going in. Have another interview for the job today....I just want to know if they're going to make an offer or not, you know? This will be #4 in a series of 6 interviews in their hiring process!

 

[gracie1]

Just souvenirs (we don't buy much, usually a few shirts) and food, which was a pretty penny. Had a balance on that card already that we've been chipping away at all summer, so it will just take longer. But we knew that going in. Have another interview for the job today....I just want to know if they're going to make an offer or not, you know? This will be #4 in a series of 6 interviews in their hiring process!

Wow, that is a lot of interviewing! Congrats on making it to interview #4!! That sounds promising!

 

[gracie1]

So today is Friday (and pay day for some - I mean bill paying day!) How is everyone making out?

 

[peigirl]

Good luck on your interview, Eureka!

Paula

 

[ceemys]

So today is Friday (and pay day for some - I mean bill paying day!) How is everyone making out?

Staying on top of my super strict budget for the extra closing money I need is very hard! But we are doing it.

Have fun paying bills everyone!! It's a 3 day weekend!

 

[Eureka]

Good luck on your interview, Eureka!

Paula

Thanks

 

[summersalt]

I am sick too death of bills and debt!

We had a family meeting after dinner last night and discussed plans to dump our debt this year. Made a budget and plan to stick to it. Glad I found this thread!

 

[zy144622]

I am sick too death of bills and debt!

We had a family meeting after dinner last night and discussed plans to dump our debt this year. Made a budget and plan to stick to it. Glad I found this thread!

Welcome and congrats on making the first steps in the right direction!

 

[ceemys]

I am sick too death of bills and debt!

We had a family meeting after dinner last night and discussed plans to dump our debt this year. Made a budget and plan to stick to it. Glad I found this thread!

congrats on taking control. And !

 

[pryncess527]

So today is Friday (and pay day for some - I mean bill paying day!) How is everyone making out?

I just went over our budget in preparation for our weekend family budget meeting. Things ended in August tighter than I'd hoped for which is also putting some stress on September. Which motivated me to get back to eBaying some old comic books of DHs that he's ready to get rid of.

I also got some good news that is going to cost me money, lol. I've been trying to get my father in law to come to town for the last 2 years to tile my kitchen floor (he does amazing work) -- he just booked a trip for October, so now I have to come up with money for tile between now and then! But I'm not going to pass up free labor

I am sick too death of bills and debt!

We had a family meeting after dinner last night and discussed plans to dump our debt this year. Made a budget and plan to stick to it. Glad I found this thread!

Welcome to the thread! Good luck sticking to that budget