Debt Dumpers - 2014

[LilacBarries]

Just found this thread and it's so fun and encouraging to read everyone's story.

We did Dave Ramsey's FPU 4 years ago and because of both my husband and I loosing our jobs at varying times are just now getting some momentum on our debt snowball.

We had 4 credit cards that we haven't used since 2009. We paid one off last November, will pay off another one this week and have the last two and our bed paid off by the end of the year.

We've also been saving since last September for our first real vacation- a Disney cruise to the Bahamas in 219 days.

We just went over some eating out spending we did the last few months and were flabbergasted. After that we're going back to meal planning and envelope system- too easy to get in trouble with our debit cards.

 

[njmom47]

I know exactly what you mean! They really should teach financial classes in high school. As soon as I graduated, turned 18 the credit card offers started rolling in, and then it all went down hill from there for many years.

In NJ every student has to take a course in Financial Literacy.
Mine took it as HS Juniors.

And I'm in the "two steps forward, three steps back" club these days. Ugh.

 

[gracie1]

So our whole debt reduction plan is busted. We made the final payments from DS's car accident, got our tax refund and paid off a credit card and built up our emergency fund a little and then wham...... DS18 was diagnosed with a pituitary adenoma that is scheduled for removal in March (apparently common after head injuries) Then norovirus. Not just norovirus, but plague like norovirus. 4 of the 5 of us. DS18 was so sick, most likely from being already sick with the adenoma, that he ended up dehydrating so quickly that it resulted in one ambulance ride and two ER visits for fluids and meds. It was scary. Thankfully he's feeling better and we are all back on our feet and the house has been disinfected. I missed a ton of work staying home to take care of all the pukers and ended up sick myself. DH is the last one left but hopefully he's managed to escape it (please) I'm just so frustrated that we seem to keep going backwards instead of forward. We're supposed to be eliminating debt, not adding to it.

So sorry to hear about the illnesses hitting your family. This is a step back and we all understand how you feel. Everyone of is have had that exciting moment when we've gotten a step ahead and then bam, the unexpected happens and we go a couple steps behind. Just have patience and look forward - you will get back on track. Wishing your son well with his upcoming surgery.

 

[PrincessKymm]

So our whole debt reduction plan is busted. We made the final payments from DS's car accident, got our tax refund and paid off a credit card and built up our emergency fund a little and then wham...... DS18 was diagnosed with a pituitary adenoma that is scheduled for removal in March (apparently common after head injuries) Then norovirus. Not just norovirus, but plague like norovirus. 4 of the 5 of us. DS18 was so sick, most likely from being already sick with the adenoma, that he ended up dehydrating so quickly that it resulted in one ambulance ride and two ER visits for fluids and meds. It was scary. Thankfully he's feeling better and we are all back on our feet and the house has been disinfected. I missed a ton of work staying home to take care of all the pukers and ended up sick myself. DH is the last one left but hopefully he's managed to escape it (please) I'm just so frustrated that we seem to keep going backwards instead of forward. We're supposed to be eliminating debt, not adding to it.

I wouldn't call this a giant leap backward, maybe some stumbles but this is exactly what the EF is for. I do hope the sickness is over and that your DS will be ok.

You will be able to fund everything again, don't lose hope. Count everything you've done right on one hand and then call all the rest Murphy.

Definitely see about setting up a payment plan for the surgery BEFORE he goes in. It will ease your mind knowing your costs up front and you'd be surprised what you can accomplish with negotiating. If they say you owe $500 and you have $300 saved see if they will take it as payment in full. You'd be surprised what cash can do in the medical world. Before I filed bankruptcy I would do this when I could. If I owed a doctor $80 I'd offer $50, sometimes they'd say yes and sometimes not. Doesn't hurt to ask!!! Also make sure you check those medical bills!!! Missing information and wrongly coded items can cost you lots of money. If you don't understand call and ask both the doctors office and your insurance company. Get both sides and make them fix what they need to before you pay!

 

[dayvewc]

I wouldn't call this a giant leap backward, maybe some stumbles but this is exactly what the EF is for. I do hope the sickness is over and that your DS will be ok.

You will be able to fund everything again, don't lose hope. Count everything you've done right on one hand and then call all the rest Murphy.

Definitely see about setting up a payment plan for the surgery BEFORE he goes in. It will ease your mind knowing your costs up front and you'd be surprised what you can accomplish with negotiating. If they say you owe $500 and you have $300 saved see if they will take it as payment in full. You'd be surprised what cash can do in the medical world. Before I filed bankruptcy I would do this when I could. If I owed a doctor $80 I'd offer $50, sometimes they'd say yes and sometimes not. Doesn't hurt to ask!!! Also make sure you check those medical bills!!! Missing information and wrongly coded items can cost you lots of money. If you don't understand call and ask both the doctors office and your insurance company. Get both sides and make them fix what they need to before you pay!

Definitely before you pay! It is a whole lot easier to have something corrected beforehand than to get a refund after the fact.

 

[ceemys]

Just upped our extra principle payment on the house today and in 36 months will should be mortgage free!!
Plugged the numbers into the computer and it will save us $28,000 in interest to pay off the house early. By then DH car will be 14 yrs old and we can get him a new one. So the amt saved on the mtg will pay for his car.

That's amazing!! I have only been in my house for 2 months but I am already formatting a plan to have it paid off in 10-15 years. NOT 30.

 

[ceemys]

See, that's what's really making me think of going back to basics I don't use fb on there, nor do I even use the radio on it. I can transfer my iTunes songs onto iTunes and use it whether I pay for the phone or not. And the only game that I play on there is candy crush. So to me it's a matter of paying $30 a month to play candy crush

And, as I was researching today, it seems that I would still be able to play candy crush since I would still be able to get on a wifi connection whether I am using it as a phone or not (like having an ipod). So that has really got me thinking now

Yikes! I only pay $37/month for my smartphone - 300 anytime minutes (I don't talk on it much lol) but unlimited data and text.

I have to have it for work. I work from home a lot and call into meetings so I need to have the land line minutes. My work email is also on there. But if you don't use it and can use your phone as an ipod and be happy...go for it! 30 bucks is 30 bucks...adds up over the year.

I am getting frustrated with this car loan...

In January I made my first extra payment. The payment is 394.75 and I had that amount pending (it was due 2/4) online to be taken out of our account on 2/1. The payment was mailed in January and I wrote a note that it was an extra payment and apply it to principal only. When it posted to my account, they took interest out. I see they probably didn't realize that it wasn't my regular payment okay simple mistake (even thought I wrote a note!) so I called and he said he would fix it. After the February payment had posted, I mailed another $400 check with a note saying it was extra and to apply it to principal only. I was just online checking and niether of the 2 $400 extra payments were applied entirely to principal, they took about $30 interest out both times. I'm so frustrated! I have never had problems with this before. Our other 2 car loans were both paid off super early (years early) and every time I made an "extra" payment it was always applied to principal only. I really dislike the company that has my auto loan. I wish I would've gone through my credit union again.

I would definitely call and get that fixed!! These banks just want to suck the money right out of you. They don't like it when we want to pay it off early. Let us know if they will fix it.

So our whole debt reduction plan is busted.

We made the final payments from DS's car accident, got our tax refund and paid off a credit card and built up our emergency fund a little and then wham......

DS18 was diagnosed with a pituitary adenoma that is scheduled for removal in March (apparently common after head injuries) Then norovirus. Not just norovirus, but plague like norovirus. 4 of the 5 of us. DS18 was so sick, most likely from being already sick with the adenoma, that he ended up dehydrating so quickly that it resulted in one ambulance ride and two ER visits for fluids and meds. It was scary. Thankfully he's feeling better and we are all back on our feet and the house has been disinfected. I missed a ton of work staying home to take care of all the pukers and ended up sick myself. DH is the last one left but hopefully he's managed to escape it (please)

I'm just so frustrated that we seem to keep going backwards instead of forward. We're supposed to be eliminating debt, not adding to it.

I'm so sorry! Illness is just sucky. I really hope everyone gets and stays better.

 

[AirGoofy]

Just upped our extra principle payment on the house today and in 36 months will should be mortgage free!!
Plugged the numbers into the computer and it will save us $28,000 in interest to pay off the house early. By then DH car will be 14 yrs old and we can get him a new one. So the amt saved on the mtg will pay for his car.

That is terrific news. The only extra $ that we could allocate would be Disney vacations. I'm tempted, but just not that gazelle intense.

Just found this thread and it's so fun and encouraging to read everyone's story.

We did Dave Ramsey's FPU 4 years ago and because of both my husband and I loosing our jobs at varying times are just now getting some momentum on our debt snowball.
.

Excellent progress and that cruise sounds fun. We didn't do FPU, but I read The Total Money Makeover and have those teachable moments with my dds.

See, that's what's really making me think of going back to basics I don't use fb on there, nor do I even use the radio on it. I can transfer my iTunes songs onto iTunes and use it whether I pay for the phone or not. And the only game that I play on there is candy crush. So to me it's a matter of paying $30 a month to play candy crush

We cancelled home phone. DW and I both carry cell phones for work, and get to deduct the plan cost for business expense. We never used our land line and thought about the "what ifs". They haven't happened in five years -knock on wood.

That's amazing!! I have only been in my house for 2 months but I am already formatting a plan to have it paid off in 10-15 years. NOT 30.

Great idea and stick to it. We tried that, but just always found more fun stuff to spend the money on.

So, when we refinanced the house into those even lower interest rates, i selected a 10 year term. Ultimately, our home will be paid off in 20 years. I wish I had planned better to pay it off in 15.

 

[PrincessKymm]

Bad news today...DS may have been misdiagnosed with seizures (non convulsive type) and it may in fact be his heart causing the episodes he's having. So now along with all the emotional stuff I'm going through I'm trying to figure out how to pay for all the testing he will need. Worst case is it's not a misdiagnosis and he's got a very rare form of epilepsy, as in he would be the only child acknowledged in the US with it (there are some in India and Dubai but not the US). I'm just grateful my insurance changed last year and any specialist is only $60 a visit vs. Having to pay my deductible until doc visits were covered at 80% sucked big time. My max out of pocket is $4k so my new goal is to do what I can to keep costs down but I will start a savings account for these potential costs and pay these off as they roll in. I'm doing my best to not accrue any new medical debt. All this testing and office visits and ER visits topped $10k last time, I'm hoping it doesn't come down to that.

On a happy note, once the federal government finally gets their stuff together my car will be paid off with my refund!!! I made my payment this month since I heard there were problems and I'm glad I did. Friday is day 21 and my refund is still not approved. I just can't wait until I can make that last payment and only owe my student loans!!

 

[gracie1]

Bad news today...DS may have been misdiagnosed with seizures (non convulsive type) and it may in fact be his heart causing the episodes he's having. So now along with all the emotional stuff I'm going through I'm trying to figure out how to pay for all the testing he will need. Worst case is it's not a misdiagnosis and he's got a very rare form of epilepsy, as in he would be the only child acknowledged in the US with it (there are some in India and Dubai but not the US). I'm just grateful my insurance changed last year and any specialist is only $60 a visit vs. Having to pay my deductible until doc visits were covered at 80% sucked big time. My max out of pocket is $4k so my new goal is to do what I can to keep costs down but I will start a savings account for these potential costs and pay these off as they roll in. I'm doing my best to not accrue any new medical debt. All this testing and office visits and ER visits topped $10k last time, I'm hoping it doesn't come down to that. On a happy note, once the federal government finally gets their stuff together my car will be paid off with my refund!!! I made my payment this month since I heard there were problems and I'm glad I did. Friday is day 21 and my refund is still not approved. I just can't wait until I can make that last payment and only owe my student loans!!

So sorry to hear about your son. I hope they find out what's going on for the sake of both of you!! How old is he?
Paying your car off will definitely be something worth celebrating!! And kudos to you for planning in advance on the medical bills. They really are the worst.

 

[gracie1]

Bumping thread : How is everyone doing?

 

[PrincessKymm]

So sorry to hear about your son. I hope they find out what's going on for the sake of both of you!! How old is he? Paying your car off will definitely be something worth celebrating!! And kudos to you for planning in advance on the medical bills. They really are the worst.

My DS is 11. We've been dealing with this the last 4 years. Good news is today I found out if he has this heart condition that they think it is very manageable!!! Like take pills every day manageable!!!! My gut says this is what it is but I'm just the mom not a doctor so hopefully we get a good cardiologist and he will listen and search for the reason why this is happening.

 

[gracie1]

My DS is 11. We've been dealing with this the last 4 years. Good news is today I found out if he has this heart condition that they think it is very manageable!!! Like take pills every day manageable!!!! My gut says this is what it is but I'm just the mom not a doctor so hopefully we get a good cardiologist and he will listen and search for the reason why this is happening.

A lot of times a mom's gut instinct is right on!! Wishing you luck at the doctors appointment I hope that they can get everything under control and manageable for your little guy. Keep us updated!!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Bumping thread : How is everyone doing?

Things are looking up. With all the crazy amount of snow here, dh has been working lots of OT, like 20 hrs in 2 days then additional weekend shifts. He repairs plows to keep them on the road. You wouldn't believe how much they get beaten up/broken when plowing.
The good part is that the OT brought our car ins fund up to its full amount and I can return back to our snowball next Thursday instead of waiting til March 6. He only asks for 1 small request and that's to have the 2 of us go out to dinner to a place nearby that's reasonable and has really good seafood fra diablo, his fav. It's the least I can do for really pulling us out of a hole.

My DS is 11. We've been dealing with this the last 4 years. Good news is today I found out if he has this heart condition that they think it is very manageable!!! Like take pills every day manageable!!!! My gut says this is what it is but I'm just the mom not a doctor so hopefully we get a good cardiologist and he will listen and search for the reason why this is happening.

I would get a pediatric cardiologist if you have access to a children's hospital or at least get a 2nd opinion. Any time you're faced with something big or a chronic condition, it's always good to get another opinion. At least you'll feel doubly sure what you're dealing with.
Best wishes for happiest news possible for your son.

 

[gracie1]

Things are looking up. With all the crazy amount of snow here, dh has been working lots of OT, like 20 hrs in 2 days then additional weekend shifts. He repairs plows to keep them on the road. You wouldn't believe how much they get beaten up/broken when plowing.
The good part is that the OT brought our car ins fund up to its full amount and I can return back to our snowball next Thursday instead of waiting til March 6. He only asks for 1 small request and that's to have the 2 of us go out to dinner to a place nearby that's reasonable and has really good seafood fra diablo, his fav. It's the least I can do for really pulling us out of a hole.



I agree, your dh does deserve a dinner out

 

[dayvewc]

*sings* Got my re-fund. Got my re-fund. *happy dance*

Tomorrow I'll be broke again, but tonight my dreams are of caviar.

(Ok, tonight my dreams are of actual fish filets and not reprocessed fish-like sticks.)

 

[thiabelle]

So excited. Just got the letter that we no longer have to pay PMI! Gonna snowball that extra $107 per month towards other debt.

 

[gracie1]

So excited. Just got the letter that we no longer have to pay PMI! Gonna snowball that extra $107 per month towards other debt.

Yay! That is great! I was fortunate when we took our mortgage that we didn't have to have the pmi

 

[Holly Quinlan]

*sings* Got my re-fund. Got my re-fund. *happy dance*

Tomorrow I'll be broke again, but tonight my dreams are of caviar.

(Ok, tonight my dreams are of actual fish filets and not reprocessed fish-like sticks.)

It's a vicious cycle

So excited. Just got the letter that we no longer have to pay PMI! Gonna snowball that extra $107 per month towards other debt.

 

[eangel12]

Bad news today...DS may have been misdiagnosed with seizures (non convulsive type) and it may in fact be his heart causing the episodes he's having. So now along with all the emotional stuff I'm going through I'm trying to figure out how to pay for all the testing he will need. Worst case is it's not a misdiagnosis and he's got a very rare form of epilepsy, as in he would be the only child acknowledged in the US with it (there are some in India and Dubai but not the US). I'm just grateful my insurance changed last year and any specialist is only $60 a visit vs. Having to pay my deductible until doc visits were covered at 80% sucked big time. My max out of pocket is $4k so my new goal is to do what I can to keep costs down but I will start a savings account for these potential costs and pay these off as they roll in. I'm doing my best to not accrue any new medical debt. All this testing and office visits and ER visits topped $10k last time, I'm hoping it doesn't come down to that.

On a happy note, once the federal government finally gets their stuff together my car will be paid off with my refund!!! I made my payment this month since I heard there were problems and I'm glad I did. Friday is day 21 and my refund is still not approved. I just can't wait until I can make that last payment and only owe my student loans!!

Can you apply for Medical Assistance for him?? I have a student who has the same type of issues. MA is very helpful in these types of situations. Good luck!!