Debt Dumpers - 2015

[Angeejoe]

We got back Saturday night too! Wonder if we were at MCO the same time? Our 7:35 PM flight didn't leave until 9:05 due to the storm...we had to wait on a plane coming in w/ our crew, then it was so bad out MCO wouldn't send employees out on the tarmac to guide them in.

Heading O.T., but i feel you're all my friends and may enjoy the following:

Weather overall on our trip was great! We did the keys first and it rained in the wee hours or on another key. Rained on drive up to Disney, but once we hit the buses for our first evening the skies parted and the clouds went away! Not a bit of rain until "get away day" (the SAD say for me). We swam at BB until the storm rolled in, changed clothes & went to MCO.

Funny story, I lost my driver's license & all my credit cards on vacation...still haven't found them, but they weren't attempted to use so I must have misplaced them. (Still haven't found them.) So, I had no ID to get back through TSA with. My little one was worried we'd have to stay in Florida forever! (LOL!) So, the code is a 1+1 when you don't have an I.D. Luckily, between my auto insurance card & medical insurance card, they were satisfied with my proof of identity. I had the body scan, though, and the pat down, and the sifting through my luggage. Wonder if I'm earmarked for future trips w/ TSA!

On Monday I went to the DMV to get a new license, but it was my birthday AND THE DAY MY LICENSE EXPIRED!!!

But we had a great trip! I hope yours was, too, Dentam. Now I need to budget more money for Christmas and I'm sure the house payment will go up because our property taxes increased...do I want to pay the extra money to keep the montly payment down??? And, budget for the darned personal property tax because we own vehicles!!!! Taxed when you earn...taxed when you spend...taxed when you live...taxed when you vacation....

UGH!

I'm glad you had a great trip, sorry to hear you lost your wallet! That's a bummer, but I'm glad to hear that no fraudulent charges were made to it.

 

[dayvewc]

Look at it this way, you didn't get into this pickle in a few months and you won't get out of it that quickly either.
Once you get that first, smallest bill paid off your snowball will be a little bigger.

"The journey of 1000 miles begins with single step."

I must say, when I was in college "the journeys of 1000 miles began with a 3-day weekend and someone yelling "ROADTRIP!!!!" ;-)

I'm trying to follow this thread, everything looks doable, I just can't get the hang of the budget thing so I can pay bills down. I have my mortgage, car, utilities and 2 closed credit cards. I work 2 jobs and pick up as much OT as I can at the one but that will end in October. Any suggestions on how to tackel a budget? I guess I just can't figure out how to pinpoint what my exact bills are each month. There is always something that pops up each month, a field trip, kids need new shoes because the ones they have literaly have holes in the soles; vet bill; something brakes at home and needs to be repaired. It's never ending.

The first thing I can suggest is to write EVERYTHING down. You can always add to it as you remember new expenses. I created an excel spreadsheet that listed every bill I had in one column (gas, electric, water, rent, cable, car insurance, car gas, etc.) Then I went back and on the left of each bill I wrote in the frequency (monthly, quarterly, 6 month, yearly). On the right side I wrote an overestimate of what the monthly payment for each bill was, so if my water bill was usually in the $35 dollar range, I put $50. I figured this way I would be covered for months that the bills might be really high and would also give me a small cushion to work with as I improved the process. In the next column to the right, I would figure out how much I needed to save each month to pay the bill, so while the property taxes were only paid once a year I "saved" $10 a month to pay them. Then I totaled this column (function "=sum(<top cell in column>:<bottom cell in column>)". As long as that figure was less than my monthly income it was just a matter of figuring out when to pay what based on due dates and pay dates, and which debt bills to try to pay extra to.

And then I came back to it multiple times a week and month to fine-tune the numbers as I would remember or acquire new bills.

The last thing I did was got a business card that I carried in my wallet. It had my 4 questions on it.
"Can I pay cash for this right now?" yes meant I could get it as I only carried money that was not committed somewhere else; no meant question 2
"Is this a need or a want?" This was to make me think hard about spending any extra money, 'wants' I didn't buy
"Do I have to have it today?" Some things you just have no option on when you get them, but some I could wait and look for sales/coupons
"Is this the best possible value?" If I had to add to my debt, I'd actually rather have an abundance and not need to replenish for a long time. (That and my sister tends to be an extreme coupon hoarder, so at this point I usually would call her and see if she might already have whatever it was and if she'd be willing to give it to me - free beats any cost.)

That card helped me avoid spending a lot of money that I really didn't have to spare.

footballmouse - I use "the 60% solution". You can search for it to get all the details, but it breaks up your gross pay into chunks. You have to write down all of your committed (ie., regular) monthly expenses. It works on your gross figures, so include taxes and health insurance from your paycheck as committed bills. The goal is to have your committed expenses be no more than 60% of your gross income. (Ha! Ours is about 75-80 right now...) Then, your retirement savings is another 10% gross chunk. The next 10% chunk is short term savings (the "pop up" expenses you mention), and then a 10% chunk for long term expenses (knowing you'll need a new fridge or roof, for example). The final 10% is Fun Money! You can spend that any way you like - eating out, movies, etc.

Because our committed expenses are higher, I don't really have a long term chunk in my budget, and I reduce our fun money/short term savings. When I worked full time, we were close to it, but when I went part time and then had 4 kids...our income and expenses changed! What I liked about this was it allotted for the crazy random stuff that happens in a way that made sense for me. I even had different accounts set up. We had an investment account for our long term savings that we would send money to, a savings account at the bank for short term...

There are a lot of ways to budget. I would suggest finding one that makes sense to you. Some people like to write down everything they spend. I know I should but I can't keep it up, so I found a different way that works for me. And even though I can't hit the 60%, I can tweak it to still make it work for me. That's what a good budget should do. If it isn't something you think you will keep up on, find one you will. Good luck!

I like this idea. Just going off of your description. I'm going to look it up and see if I can start applying it to my bills. Thanks!! This is one of the reasons I love this board; I keep finding good nuggets of wisdom to help meet my goals.

 

[dayvewc]

And on a completely unrelated note ....

Went to the doctor this morning, and I have full-blown outright tested positive strep throat. That would explain why I've been feeling so "blah" all week. When I went to the pharmacy to pick up the antibiotics (which, I thought strep was a virus and didn't react to antibiotics?) I discovered that they did not have a record of my prescription medical card on file. We got that fixed, so instead of almost $75 for the medicine, it was only $25.50. But I'm wondering now if some of the really expensive prescriptions I got filled in the past were from the same reason? They didn't have my card on file.

 

[DisneyMandC]

And on a completely unrelated note ....

Went to the doctor this morning, and I have full-blown outright tested positive strep throat. That would explain why I've been feeling so "blah" all week. When I went to the pharmacy to pick up the antibiotics (which, I thought strep was a virus and didn't react to antibiotics?) I discovered that they did not have a record of my prescription medical card on file. We got that fixed, so instead of almost $75 for the medicine, it was only $25.50. But I'm wondering now if some of the really expensive prescriptions I got filled in the past were from the same reason? They didn't have my card on file.

Aren't you a teacher? Guess that's your welcome back to school! hope you're feeling better!

 

[Angeejoe]

And on a completely unrelated note ....

Went to the doctor this morning, and I have full-blown outright tested positive strep throat. That would explain why I've been feeling so "blah" all week. When I went to the pharmacy to pick up the antibiotics (which, I thought strep was a virus and didn't react to antibiotics?) I discovered that they did not have a record of my prescription medical card on file. We got that fixed, so instead of almost $75 for the medicine, it was only $25.50. But I'm wondering now if some of the really expensive prescriptions I got filled in the past were from the same reason? They didn't have my card on file.

I hope that you start feeling better Dayve!

 

[dayvewc]

Aren't you a teacher? Guess that's your welcome back to school! hope you're feeling better!

Yes I am. And yes it is. Every year it seems I get something new. Just most years I don't feel quite this bad. :-( thanks, I'm sure I'll get to feeling better soon.

I hope that you start feeling better Dayve!

Thanks, I'm sure I will soon. 10 days of antibiotics should have me up and running like normal in, oh, about 6 months.. ;-)

 

[bcwife76]

Ugh, strep is no fun! Hope you're on the mend soon Dayvewc!

 

[crazycatstacy]

Plugging along at our house still. We have paid off one credit card and hopefully on the 1st of October my husbands check should be higher than normal and we should be able to pay another one half off. That will still leave us about six million more dollars to go but it is a nice start. LOL. Little nervous about the upcoming holidays but trying to cash budget it and pick stuff up ahead of time. We are headed to Disney end of November (we had already paid cash for this trip) but need a few more things so trying to budget for those. My brother, his wife, and my favorite 5 year old moved to Florida in February and my nephew will be joining us for the weekend when we are in Disney. Super excited to see him! My brother and his wife are having issues and my mother thinks he needs family support so she offered to pay my ticket if I would fly with her. Sure! So we are headed there over Columbus Day weekend. My goal is to spend only cash and very little of it if possible. I am taking some things for my nephew that I would have otherwise mailed in October so that will save money. I have also made a countdown to Disney thing for him that he and I can put together while I am there so he can have a visual as to when he will get to see me again.

 

[edk35]

What happens when you pay off a card and you close it out?? We have 4 gas credit cards that we have had for EONS AND EONS. We don't use them except for maybe on a Disney trip when we drive. I see no reason to keep them really. I keep "hearing" or "reading" that you should never close them out. TIA

 

[crazycatstacy]

I have heard that it lowers your credit score because part of your credit score is how much credit you have available compared to how much you have used. So decreasing your available credit would lower your score. I don't know how much or for how long it would affect it.

 

[edk35]

I have heard that it lowers your credit score because part of your credit score is how much credit you have available compared to how much you have used. So decreasing your available credit would lower your score. I don't know how much or for how long it would affect it.

Thanks. Okay. I just feel like 4 gas cards is crazy and I don't know why we were dumb enough to do it. LOL We have had two for as long as we have been married. We have been married 26 years. YIKES!!!

 

[myhoney]

^ Right. If you close a card, you are affecting your available credit. For example, if you have 2 cards each with a $10,000 credit limit, your total available credit is $20k. If you close a card, you now only have $10k available credit, so your credit score takes a hit. You are not as "creditworthy" as someone who has $20k in available credit. They also look at longevity of accounts as a factor.

But you are talking about gas cards. I don't know what kind of limits you have on them, but I'm assuming we aren't talking thousands of dollars. Closing one shouldn't have too much of an effect. Try this - check you credit score. Close one gas card. Check your credit score again in two weeks or so. You will see how much change there is. If it's a big change, wait 6 months, and then check again. You will probably see it has come back up to normal. Then close another gas card. I wouldn't close all 4 at once. But spread it out and you should be fine.

 

[dayvewc]

What happens when you pay off a card and you close it out?? We have 4 gas credit cards that we have had for EONS AND EONS. We don't use them except for maybe on a Disney trip when we drive. I see no reason to keep them really. I keep "hearing" or "reading" that you should never close them out. TIA

I was going to quote your post and say almost exactly the same thing as "myhoney" below ...

^ Right. If you close a card, you are affecting your available credit. For example, if you have 2 cards each with a $10,000 credit limit, your total available credit is $20k. If you close a card, you now only have $10k available credit, so your credit score takes a hit. You are not as "creditworthy" as someone who has $20k in available credit. They also look at longevity of accounts as a factor.

But you are talking about gas cards. I don't know what kind of limits you have on them, but I'm assuming we aren't talking thousands of dollars. Closing one shouldn't have too much of an effect. Try this - check you credit score. Close one gas card. Check your credit score again in two weeks or so. You will see how much change there is. If it's a big change, wait 6 months, and then check again. You will probably see it has come back up to normal. Then close another gas card. I wouldn't close all 4 at once. But spread it out and you should be fine.

If my memory serves correctly about 30% of your score is based on the amount of credit you are using. (I know it is no higher, but there is a good chance it is as low as 10%. I used to know all the numbers, but I've forgotten them over the years.) So, if you have 4 gas cards with $2500 available on each of them, for a total credit available of $10000 and then [just for illustrative purposes] a single other maxed out card at $10000 (so a total of $20000 credit extended and $10000 in use) you are using 50% of your available credit so your score would reflect that. If you closed all the cards, you are now using 100% of your extended credit and the score would then reflect the new usage. (It would go down).

Another part of the score (somewhere between 5 and 10%) is based on the length of time you have had the account. So, closing multiple cards with a long credit history, but low balance can hurt your score even if you are completely debt free.

One thing I would point out about what "myhoney" said is, if you decide to close the card wait at least 6 weeks before you check your score. Companies can take 2-4 weeks to report to the credit scoring companies (usually done in batch dumps on a schedule), and then the credit scoring companies may not update the scores based on the new until their new monthly cycle, which theoretically could be as far as 4 weeks later. Most times, a month will be sufficient to see the changes, but 6 weeks should catch everything.

I do agree with the suggestion to not close everything at once, and to wait until the score is back to close to what it was before, and then close the next one.

You might also decide which one or two cards you like the best, and contact the companies to increase your limit on those so that the total credit available is about the same after you close the others. (with 4 cards at $2500, close 2 of them and see if you can get an increase on the other 2 to $5000). I'd actually ask about the increase before you close them though, and if it is approved close the others quick. (so you don't have much overlap of the increased credit available to bump up the score before it gets brought down).

 

[dayvewc]

I was off a little bit, but not by a whole bunch. This tells a little about how things affect your score.

 

[Dentam]

Went to the doctor this morning, and I have full-blown outright tested positive strep throat. That would explain why I've been feeling so "blah" all week. When I went to the pharmacy to pick up the antibiotics (which, I thought strep was a virus and didn't react to antibiotics?) I discovered that they did not have a record of my prescription medical card on file. We got that fixed, so instead of almost $75 for the medicine, it was only $25.50. But I'm wondering now if some of the really expensive prescriptions I got filled in the past were from the same reason? They didn't have my card on file.

I'm in the same boat. Strep and a sinus infection but the antibiotics are working wonders! Apparently mine may have started as a virus with a bad head cold that I picked up while on vacation (boo!) but the doctor said that often if it sticks around long enough bacteria can take hold which can cause strep, etc.

Hope you feel better soon!

 

[edk35]

^ Right. If you close a card, you are affecting your available credit. For example, if you have 2 cards each with a $10,000 credit limit, your total available credit is $20k. If you close a card, you now only have $10k available credit, so your credit score takes a hit. You are not as "creditworthy" as someone who has $20k in available credit. They also look at longevity of accounts as a factor.

But you are talking about gas cards. I don't know what kind of limits you have on them, but I'm assuming we aren't talking thousands of dollars. Closing one shouldn't have too much of an effect. Try this - check you credit score. Close one gas card. Check your credit score again in two weeks or so. You will see how much change there is. If it's a big change, wait 6 months, and then check again. You will probably see it has come back up to normal. Then close another gas card. I wouldn't close all 4 at once. But spread it out and you should be fine.

Thanks so much

 

[edk35]

I was going to quote your post and say almost exactly the same thing as "myhoney" below ...



If my memory serves correctly about 30% of your score is based on the amount of credit you are using. (I know it is no higher, but there is a good chance it is as low as 10%. I used to know all the numbers, but I've forgotten them over the years.) So, if you have 4 gas cards with $2500 available on each of them, for a total credit available of $10000 and then [just for illustrative purposes] a single other maxed out card at $10000 (so a total of $20000 credit extended and $10000 in use) you are using 50% of your available credit so your score would reflect that. If you closed all the cards, you are now using 100% of your extended credit and the score would then reflect the new usage. (It would go down).

Another part of the score (somewhere between 5 and 10%) is based on the length of time you have had the account. So, closing multiple cards with a long credit history, but low balance can hurt your score even if you are completely debt free.

One thing I would point out about what "myhoney" said is, if you decide to close the card wait at least 6 weeks before you check your score. Companies can take 2-4 weeks to report to the credit scoring companies (usually done in batch dumps on a schedule), and then the credit scoring companies may not update the scores based on the new until their new monthly cycle, which theoretically could be as far as 4 weeks later. Most times, a month will be sufficient to see the changes, but 6 weeks should catch everything.

I do agree with the suggestion to not close everything at once, and to wait until the score is back to close to what it was before, and then close the next one.

You might also decide which one or two cards you like the best, and contact the companies to increase your limit on those so that the total credit available is about the same after you close the others. (with 4 cards at $2500, close 2 of them and see if you can get an increase on the other 2 to $5000). I'd actually ask about the increase before you close them though, and if it is approved close the others quick. (so you don't have much overlap of the increased credit available to bump up the score before it gets brought down).

I am going to check the credit limit but honestly don't know off hand. We just paid them off when we did use them. I am thinking they can't be too high. Thanks for the help. I am going to do what was suggested and close them out over a year's time.

 

[dayvewc]

I am going to check the credit limit but honestly don't know off hand. We just paid them off when we did use them. I am thinking they can't be too high. Thanks for the help. I am going to do what was suggested and close them out over a year's time.

You might be surprised. My parents used to have a gas card through Shell (I think). It started with like a $500 limit originally, and how you talk about using yours was how they used theirs. Whenever they took a trip, they'd pay gas and hotels with it, then pay it off when they got home and got the bill. Fast forward 15-20 years, and they decided to cancel the card when it was changed to a $50 / year fee to have instead of free. When they canceled it, it had a $20,000 limit. Regular increases over long periods of time for being a "good customer" really added up. (I was the one that had to call and get it canceled, so I only knew the limit on it when I got the bill with the insert on the fee changes to get the number to call).

 

[gracie1]

What happens when you pay off a card and you close it out?? We have 4 gas credit cards that we have had for EONS AND EONS. We don't use them except for maybe on a Disney trip when we drive. I see no reason to keep them really. I keep "hearing" or "reading" that you should never close them out. TIA

Are they still open? I know some companies after so many years of inactivity they will close the accounts

 

[gracie1]

Okay everyone - I have to brag - I received a letter from my bank today letting me know that they pulled my credit score because I'm looking to refinance (still probably have 3 more weeks till they determine if im eligible) and m credit score was 846!!!!! I had to look at it 4 times! Now even with a score that great I may still be denied because I have a manufactured home and they are tougher about financing them but I am just very proud of my score!

Sounds like everyone is plugging along with their debt dumping!! Sorry to hear about the strep throat and sinus infections your both suffering with. Hope you feel better soon!