Debt Dumpers - 2014

[Sew into Disney]

Nice savings! Did you do anything special like reduce your coverage? Or did your insurance company drop the rates on their own?

Gracie I didn't do anything to get the lower rate. I am guessing it is because I have reached 3 years of being a customer.

 

[GAGirlInVA]

You have to post after you get your refund and make that last payment! I know your excited!!!!

Oh I will. Our filing has been accepted so we are just waiting for the direct deposit now.

Murphy hit last night, but it could have been a lot worse. Our furnace broke last night -- no heat and less than 10 degrees outside We got the kids to safety at our inlaws and we were okay with our fireplace, but now come the repair. Thankfully the needed part is only about $150. Unbudgeted, but could have been A LOT worse. DH is able to do the repair himself, so that helps a ton, too! Heats back on now, but we'll be skipping dinner out this weekend. It's okay -- priorities

UGH! That stinks. But YAY that your DH can do it!

I don't think I have ever been this excited about car insurance. I got my renewal letter yesterday and my rates dropped. They dropped $117 for the next 6 month period. That is $19.50 a month that I can apply to savings. Oh maybe I should apply it to the student loans.

Awesome!

Anyone else just want to crawl into a corner and sob uncontrollably? Ever think it's just not worth it? I've seen my son 4.8 hours the last 4 days because I've been killing myself at work trying to prove that I'm worth the promotion they are giving me. Is it worth the extra $$? Right now i don't know. I can't keep up. I'm working so much I can't sleep when I finally have time to and my house is a wreck because I have no energy to clean or even cook.

Please tell me it will be worth it in the end. I'll pay off my car and the $300 payment will go away (really towards student loans instead) and it will all be worth it right?

Only you can decide that. After years of having a sucky work/life balance, we are finally in a sweet spot. It's been amazing for our family and we count ourselves blessed because we remember exactly how badly it sucked to be there. We are rooting for you!

 

[Eureka]

Today we both got paid and this month, DH had an extra check. I had set aside money all month for our homeowners dues and had half of it already. I planned to continue next month but had enough with these paychecks to just send it in. Usually we are scrambling to come up with this payment and I've now paid it a month before the due date, which I am happy about.

Also made a credit card payment, not as much as I would have liked but I basically pay on it every couple of weeks so it will be fine. Basically, this extra check got us back on track after the holidays. I had hoped it would but wasn't sure if we'd curb our spending enough to let it. My next plan is to start setting aside money from every paycheck for the beach house payment due in early July so we won't have to take it out of savings.

Got our electric bill and our usage was a doozy with this cold. We're on a plan where we pay the same amount every month based on the previous 12 months and let's just say this spring they are sure to adjust our payment UP a bit!!

Hope everyone is doing well, have a great weekend!

 

[GAGirlInVA]

Got our electric bill and our usage was a doozy with this cold. We're on a plan where we pay the same amount every month based on the previous 12 months and let's just say this spring they are sure to adjust our payment UP a bit!!

Hope everyone is doing well, have a great weekend!

Ugh! I hear that! Our last bill was the highest it has ever been at this house. Totally sucks. We are debating going to budget billing to help with our own planning, but I'm not sure how often our company re-evaluates. In our hometown, they seemed to reevaluate every couple months so it wasn't as helpful for planning as it could have been.

 

[Colleen27]

Ugh! I hear that! Our last bill was the highest it has ever been at this house. Totally sucks. We are debating going to budget billing to help with our own planning, but I'm not sure how often our company re-evaluates. In our hometown, they seemed to reevaluate every couple months so it wasn't as helpful for planning as it could have been.

I haven't gotten our bill for this month yet but I'm not looking forward to it. We don't do the budget billing, though, because when we did they had us overpaying by more than a full monthly payment and then in the same month they issued a refund from the overage they *increased* our budget payment amount. So rather than overpay by a couple hundred bucks and wait for them to issue a refund check at their leisure (you'd think they'd just apply it to your next statement, but no... you have to pay your bill as usual and they'll send a check ) we went back to managing the ups and downs of month-by-month billing.

 

[Eureka]

Ugh! I hear that! Our last bill was the highest it has ever been at this house. Totally sucks. We are debating going to budget billing to help with our own planning, but I'm not sure how often our company re-evaluates. In our hometown, they seemed to reevaluate every couple months so it wasn't as helpful for planning as it could have been.

Ours reevaluates once a year but I usually call after 6 months if it seems like it's way off by then. We also used way more than we paid in December but had had a credit up until then, so I didn't call. At this point, I'll just wait until April when it's due for reassessment.

 

[AquaDame]

Same here... having the same payment every month was just annoying since we are in a pretty temperate climate. It felt like we were being taken advantage of since it wasn't that much lower than it would be in the winter and much higher than it would be in the summer. I have a couple years of data on usages, and we just have manually adjusted the costs in our budget spreadsheet to reflect what it will likely be (plus 10-15 dollars just in case).

 

[dayvewc]

Ugh! I hear that! Our last bill was the highest it has ever been at this house. Totally sucks. We are debating going to budget billing to help with our own planning, but I'm not sure how often our company re-evaluates. In our hometown, they seemed to reevaluate every couple months so it wasn't as helpful for planning as it could have been.

I am on what they call "levelized billing" for both electric and gas. It is adjusted monthly based on the current month plus the last 11 months. It works well for me. Each month the amount changes, but only by a couple of dollars. It prevents having a $12 gas payment in May, June, July, August, and September and a $250 payment for December, January, and February. (Electric is not quite that extreme). Makes it easier to plan my budget for the bills. I know that gas is going to be about $50 (usually between $42 and $47) while electric is around $175 (ranges from $137 - $165). I always try to overestimate what the bill is, cause I'd rather have $8-$10 extra than be $8-$10 short when it's due.

 

[Ngwira]

Murphy visited me twice this week. Our tax refund shrunk by $1500 due to me forgetting about a w-2 for one month pay at my old job. Then I found out we owe state taxes-$550! So, have to shift things around a bit.

 

[gracie1]

Murphy visited me twice this week. Our tax refund shrunk by $1500 due to me forgetting about a w-2 for one month pay at my old job. Then I found out we owe state taxes-$550! So, have to shift things around a bit.

Ouch! Sorry for the bad news I really, really dislike Murphy

I am getting ready to schedule a surgery for my furbaby - talk about a hit in the emergency fund. I estimated my taxes (get them done tomorrow with my accountant) and if I calculated correctly, it will just cover the surgery. In one way, it's good, but I was really looking forward to using it to build up my fund.

 

[dayvewc]

Aaarrggghhhh!!!! I can't decide what's the better option.

My fur babies need a new pillow for their pen, and I found some I like for half price. But I don't have cash to pay for them, so I'd have to charge on my credit card and I've been really good to not use my cc this year.

Do I or don't I?

Suggestions?

 

[Kachina]

Aaarrggghhhh!!!! I can't decide what's the better option.

My fur babies need a new pillow for their pen, and I found some I like for half price. But I don't have cash to pay for them, so I'd have to charge on my credit card and I've been really good to not use my cc this year.

Do I or don't I?

Suggestions?

I'd jump on that, and then pay it off as soon as you have the money to do so. Gotta make sure our furbabies have what they need.

 

[dayvewc]

I'd jump on that, and then pay it off as soon as you have the money to do so. Gotta make sure our furbabies have what they need.

Thanks. I wasn't sure if I was just trying to justify the cc use or not. Someone else validating helps. That's what I'll do.

 

[gracie1]

Thanks. I wasn't sure if I was just trying to justify the cc use or not. Someone else validating helps. That's what I'll do.

What kind of fur babies do you have? I have dogs and have found that they like regular people pillows better than dog bed pillows (and it's a lot cheaper!). But if your using them in a crate I don't know if they would be too big. My fur babies aren't crated.... They run the house!

 

[dayvewc]

What kind of fur babies do you have? I have dogs and have found that they like regular people pillows better than dog bed pillows (and it's a lot cheaper!). But if your using them in a crate I don't know if they would be too big. My fur babies aren't crated.... They run the house!

I have 3 dogs. They're my babies. 2 cardigan Welsh corgis and 1 beagle -whippet mix. They rule the house most of the day but night time they sleep in an exercise pen. I've done the regular pillows but one's a chewer and I'm hoping these pillows will last longer than a week.

 

[PrincessKymm]

How much cash do you keep on hand for emergencies? I am specifically asking about cash kept at home for emergencies, like no power and ATM isn't working and you need cash or maybe cash to pay the two truck driver after you've had a really bad day and payday isn't until the end of the week?

I'm trying to decide what a fair amount is. I don't want a ton but I also don't want enough to be caught short in an emergency. I have a checking account for my emergency fund that is separate from my every day account but I like the idea of having a small stash at home for emergencies that I could handle that way.

Thanks! I really love this thread! Everyone is so nice and helpful not to mention completely supportive!!!!

 

[Colleen27]

How much cash do you keep on hand for emergencies? I am specifically asking about cash kept at home for emergencies, like no power and ATM isn't working and you need cash or maybe cash to pay the two truck driver after you've had a really bad day and payday isn't until the end of the week?

I'm trying to decide the same thing. I'm terrible about this - sometimes the kids will need a dollar or two for something at school and I have to hit the ATM even for that. One of the things I need to do as part of rebuilding our emergency funds is to establish a cash reserve here at the house, but I'm not sure how much I should have on hand.

 

[dmross]

Hi all. Love this thread. Just when I get a little overwhelmed, I sit and read for a while and the motivation begins to glow again.

Thanks!!! We can do this!

 

[gracie1]

How much cash do you keep on hand for emergencies? I am specifically asking about cash kept at home for emergencies, like no power and ATM isn't working and you need cash or maybe cash to pay the two truck driver after you've had a really bad day and payday isn't until the end of the week?

I'm trying to decide what a fair amount is. I don't want a ton but I also don't want enough to be caught short in an emergency. I have a checking account for my emergency fund that is separate from my every day account but I like the idea of having a small stash at home for emergencies that I could handle that way.

Thanks! I really love this thread! Everyone is so nice and helpful not to mention completely supportive!!!!

This is actually a really good question - and makes me think! Used to, I never had cash on hand. You would be lucky if I had $5 in my wallet. Now I normally keep $20 on hand, but never thought about keeping a small cash emergency fund for just in case items. Maybe a $100 (broken into all different denominations)? Then if you have to use it and it dwindles down under $50, replenish it? I think I may need to do this too now that you have me thinking about it

 

[dayvewc]

This is actually a really good question - and makes me think! Used to, I never had cash on hand. You would be lucky if I had $5 in my wallet. Now I normally keep $20 on hand, but never thought about keeping a small cash emergency fund for just in case items. Maybe a $100 (broken into all different denominations)? Then if you have to use it and it dwindles down under $50, replenish it? I think I may need to do this too now that you have me thinking about it

I used to keep about $100 in hand for cases like you mentioned. But bad experiences with a couple of roommates, and my current SO inability to control impulse spending I find it safer to not have any.

Having said that, I keep a $20 bill hidden in my car.

ETA I quoted the wrong person. Using my phone. I meant to quote PrincessKymm.