Debt Dumpers - 2015

[DisneyMandC]

Well I had some accidental debt dumping this week. One of my student loan payments for $100 comes out of my account on autodraft on the 14th of every month. It didn't come out Monday, but sometimes it takes a day to show up so I figured I'd see it on the 15th. Well it still wasn't there on the 15th, so I was worried that something was wrong and decided to just go online and pay it to avoid any late issues. So the $100 came out of my account yesterday, and then they autodrafted another $100 this morning Oh well. Fortunately it wasn't a problem for them to take the extra money, but I don't know why the autodraft was so late this time!

 

[dayvewc]

Well I had some accidental debt dumping this week. One of my student loan payments for $100 comes out of my account on autodraft on the 14th of every month. It didn't come out Monday, but sometimes it takes a day to show up so I figured I'd see it on the 15th. Well it still wasn't there on the 15th, so I was worried that something was wrong and decided to just go online and pay it to avoid any late issues. So the $100 came out of my account yesterday, and then they autodrafted another $100 this morning Oh well. Fortunately it wasn't a problem for them to take the extra money, but I don't know why the autodraft was so late this time!

I get that with some of my accounts. It will show up as having been paid for 3-5 days before my bank shows it as being drafted out. And then it can be another 2 days before it is reconciled and actually deducted from my balance. I don't ever worry about it as long as it shows up as credited on the account even if it hasn't been deducted from my account. Plus, except for one, all of my scheduled bills are set up through the different companies, so if I figure it they delay the draft it is on them and not me. And yes, I have managed to have late fees waived when they did not draft the bill on time.

On another note, I got in touch with my medical clinic yesterday, and apparently I make little enough that I qualified as Schedule B pay-rates. So, according to my understanding, they will bill my insurance and then of whatever the insurance doesn't pay, there is a minimal fee for each service they have to collect, but any amount above that is waived. Don't know exactly how much that will help, I still haven't seen an updated bill yet, but it has to be less than what it was before.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I get that with some of my accounts. It will show up as having been paid for 3-5 days before my bank shows it as being drafted out. And then it can be another 2 days before it is reconciled and actually deducted from my balance. I don't ever worry about it as long as it shows up as credited on the account even if it hasn't been deducted from my account. Plus, except for one, all of my scheduled bills are set up through the different companies, so if I figure it they delay the draft it is on them and not me. And yes, I have managed to have late fees waived when they did not draft the bill on time.

On another note, I got in touch with my medical clinic yesterday, and apparently I make little enough that I qualified as Schedule B pay-rates. So, according to my understanding, they will bill my insurance and then of whatever the insurance doesn't pay, there is a minimal fee for each service they have to collect, but any amount above that is waived. Don't know exactly how much that will help, I still haven't seen an updated bill yet, but it has to be less than what it was before.

See, mine was actually showing past due on their website. So I don't know what was going on. I think I get a 5 day grace period before there are any late fees, but lord knows the last thing you want to do is anger the almighty student loan gods! Glad your payment will hopefully be going down some soon. How is your back doing?

 

[stayhomemom77]

Hi everyone! I just started stalking this thread last night (so excited to see it) and skimmed through tons of the pages. I love that there is a place that holds us all accountable and to discuss the ups and downs of getting out of debt!

I have been wanting to do the Dave Ramsey FPU program for a while and finally bought the home study kit. My husband agreed to do it with me (with him being a firefighter, he doesnt have a set schedule where we can go to the classes), so hopefully we can both be on the same page soon for the start of the new years.

Also, I read on some earlier pages about people getting some part time jobs. Here's an idea if some of yall are artistic... I work day hours for a property mgmt company, but I also work part time for a Paint 'n Sip studio as an art instructor. In case you don't know what that is, you get to eat, drink, and be merry with friends while we teach you how to paint a picture for beginners. It's tons of fun! I have an art background, but majored in something else in school so you don't have to have an art degree. Just be outgoing, not afraid to teach crowds of 4-45 people and know how to paint. I get paid $18 an hour and the 2-4 week nights I work, I'm there from usually 6:15-9:30ish, give or take an hour or two if I'm teaching a longer class. I also work a few classes over the weekend. Just an idea if you want something that you don't need training or a degree for, but also want better than minimum wage I bring home about $1400 a month from working part time there. So look up a place near you if you're interested!

Welcome! And what a great idea. I sure hope someone here is able to follow up on that...I have NO artistic ability whatsoever, so unfortunately it can't be me.

Oh, I'm not so sure about this. I would judge that several of us (me first!!!) are quite mental.

You stole my joke! Well...you beat me to the punch, anyway. Good times, good times!!

Thank you! I actually had some good news right after I posted this. I got a call from a company I submitted my resume to! The owner said they were having a meeting soon to discuss the possibility of hiring new people, so he said he'll give me a call after Christmas to let me know what they decide. So here's hoping I get some good news from that!

We'll keep our fingers crossed for you. Glad to hear you are still hanging in there. And although it's not a nice thing for you or your poor coworker, it IS nice to know that the boss is just a jerk and it's not directed at you personally. Keep fighting the good fight!

 

[stayhomemom77]

Well, despite all my best efforts...December's costs are piling up. So we will have a bit less in savings than I had originally counted on. Still, so far, so good.

We take the car in on Monday though...so that might be a nightmare. I have $800 set aside, but I sure hope the repairs don't cost more than that. (Actually, if I'm hoping for things...I hope they don't cost as much as that!) The problem is that we don't really know how much of the stuff the "crooked" dealership reported actually needs doing. I just want a healthy vehicle...she needs to last 2-3 more years. So if the savings take a hit...they take a hit. It is what it is. But I'm hoping it ISN'T what it is.

 

[dayvewc]

See, mine was actually showing past due on their website. So I don't know what was going on. I think I get a 5 day grace period before there are any late fees, but lord knows the last thing you want to do is anger the almighty student loan gods! Glad your payment will hopefully be going down some soon. How is your back doing?

Oh, yeah, ouch. I never had that happen to me. Every bill I have (including my student loans when I had them - YAY they are gone now) would show that payment was made (or that the payment was processing) on the agreed payment date. I can completely understand not wanting to anger the student loan gods, they are vicious and vindictive.

My back, hip, leg, and knee are much better. They still hurt to varying degrees constantly, but at least it is something that is tolerable most of the time.

We had a Christmas party at work today and revealed our "secret Santa". We also each were given an "award" based on (generally) positive character traits. It was all in good fun, but I got the award for being "The Districts Mr. Disney - the biggest Disney fan and able to answer any Disney question." lol. Gee, I wonder why they would think that of me?

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Oh, yeah, ouch. I never had that happen to me. Every bill I have (including my student loans when I had them - YAY they are gone now) would show that payment was made (or that the payment was processing) on the agreed payment date. I can completely understand not wanting to anger the student loan gods, they are vicious and vindictive.

My back, hip, leg, and knee are much better. They still hurt to varying degrees constantly, but at least it is something that is tolerable most of the time.

We had a Christmas party at work today and revealed our "secret Santa". We also each were given an "award" based on (generally) positive character traits. It was all in good fun, but I got the award for being "The Districts Mr. Disney - the biggest Disney fan and able to answer any Disney question." lol. Gee, I wonder why they would think that of me?

Lol. I get that at work too. They say I should be a TA. It's only fun to plan my own trips.
Dh calls me the Park Ranger.

 

[bcwife76]

Alright, DH and I are back on the budget bandwagon for 2016, meaning we're actually going to try budget software again. We did YNAB for a while but abandoned it.....so now we've both got Mint on our phones and have it synced so we'll see how that goes.

 

[DisneyMandC]

We started YNAB last night... yikes! We've had an expensive month with the new house, but we've also eaten out WAAAY too much. This is really our first time putting together a budget, so it should be eye opening!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We started YNAB last night... yikes! We've had an expensive month with the new house, but we've also eaten out WAAAY too much. This is really our first time putting together a budget, so it should be eye opening!

It's hard to start with an atypical month.
Also any time we do a big house project we end up ordering take out for lunch & dinner so we can keep working til it arrives.

 

[dayvewc]

Alright, DH and I are back on the budget bandwagon for 2016, meaning we're actually going to try budget software again. We did YNAB for a while but abandoned it.....so now we've both got Mint on our phones and have it synced so we'll see how that goes.

Welcome back!! I haven't ever tried YNAB, probably should at some point but .... I did use Mint for a while but was just not impressed with it. I got the same functionality with Quicken, and Quicken had better options than Mint - at that time. I don't know if they have upgraded or changed Mint since then, this would have been around 2011-2012.

We started YNAB last night... yikes! We've had an expensive month with the new house, but we've also eaten out WAAAY too much. This is really our first time putting together a budget, so it should be eye opening!

Good luck!!

 

[DisneyMandC]

It's hard to start with an atypical month.
Also any time we do a big house project we end up ordering take out for lunch & dinner so we can keep working til it arrives.

Yup, that's what we've been doing. There are a lot of charges for chinese and pizza on my credit card this month. Plus Christmas doesn't help, even though we're not buying THAT much. I need to watch some more of the videos so I can really figure everything out, but so far I'm liking it. We're currently on one of those phases where we have good income, but it seems like we have no idea where our money goes. So I'm looking forward to figuring that out!

 

[Eureka]

Well I had some accidental debt dumping this week. One of my student loan payments for $100 comes out of my account on autodraft on the 14th of every month. It didn't come out Monday, but sometimes it takes a day to show up so I figured I'd see it on the 15th. Well it still wasn't there on the 15th, so I was worried that something was wrong and decided to just go online and pay it to avoid any late issues. So the $100 came out of my account yesterday, and then they autodrafted another $100 this morning Oh well. Fortunately it wasn't a problem for them to take the extra money, but I don't know why the autodraft was so late this time!

Our 529 payments are like that. They always do within a few days.

 

[stayhomemom77]

Alright, DH and I are back on the budget bandwagon for 2016, meaning we're actually going to try budget software again. We did YNAB for a while but abandoned it.....so now we've both got Mint on our phones and have it synced so we'll see how that goes.

I know it can be rough when you are first getting used to it, but if you stick with it (and you have software that you like...that's important) it can really be beneficial for your financial health. I haven't tried mint myself but I have heard really great things about it...here's hoping you guys are among the other users that love it!!

We started YNAB last night... yikes! We've had an expensive month with the new house, but we've also eaten out WAAAY too much. This is really our first time putting together a budget, so it should be eye opening!

December is a tricky month for many and then to add the new house on top of that....well I'm not surprised it's a wee bit scary. Good luck with your budget! After the "sticker shock" and newness awkwardness wears off, I'm sure you'll be in smoother waters.

 

[DisneyMandC]

So in a totally unexpected turn of events... I think I might be about to take my first trip to Disneyland!!!!

DH texted me yesterday to tell me he had to take a business trip out to LA in January. I didn't think anything of it, but I looked at my work schedule later and we have a four day weekend starting the day he's scheduled to fly back. I've never been to CA, so we started discussing the possibility of me going out there. DH has a $250 Delta flight voucher I can use, which would make my flight about $150 and enough Marriott points to get us a hotel for the stay! Plus I've got $550 worth of Disney gift cards saved up, which means I will have plenty for a day at Disney with a good chunk leftover!!! All I need to do is make sure my mom can watch my dog that weekend, which shouldn't be a problem. Here's hoping! I know it's not exactly "budget-friendly" considering I just posted about starting YNAB in my last post, but we haven't had a trip since our honeymoon in April, so I would definitely love this brief little weekend away!!

 

[stayhomemom77]

Well it sounds like a very budget friendly trip to me. You won't have much in the way of out of pocket expenses. I say go and have fun!

 

[bcwife76]

@DisneyMandC I think that sounds like the perfect quick getaway and something that won't break the bank! Go and have a fab time!!

 

[AlohaNow]

DisneyMandC - That sounds fantastic! Don't you love it when stuff like that works out? The first time I went to DL it was the same scenario - DH had a business trip to Anaheim so we were like, "If the hotel is free anyway...." Let us know if it happens......and have a great time if it does!

 

[DisneyMandC]

Just confirmed that my mom can watch our dog, so looks like we're going! Flying out Friday morning and flying home Monday afternoon! Now to determine if Saturday or Sunday is better to go to DL... Oh man, I really think this trip is the perfect little pick-me-up I need!

 

[PrincessKymm]

So I stopped by my old workplace today to make a charitable contribution to the charity they support (I do this every year and didn't want to skip just because I stopped working there) and my old boss handed me a card with $250 inside!

I bought myself a small cross body purse for our trip and some food for next week and our trip but I've still got a nice chunk left over. So now I'm considering taking this money and splurging on one day tickets to either Disney or Universal.

What do you guys think?