Debt Dumpers - 2015

[Gena001]

My credit score has taken a hit since selling my house. Apparently I'm being knocked down in points because I no longer have a good "mix" of debt. Just cc debt to pay off now. Sigh.

Awwwww, doesn't that figure? You're so far ahead personally, but they penalize you for it. Best wishes and I how you're feeling better!

 

[Gena001]

So here is my situation: we're 2 years into a 15 year house loan (refinanced). We've chopped off nearly $20K in principle, but that extra few hundred dollars has come at a cost. We haven't been able to enjoy going out nearly as much and I'm constantly checking our accounts before we make entertainment plans. It sucks.

I guess I need to go back to a longer term loan, but I think our credit score has taken quite a beating. Maybe I refinance with our current note-holder? Do you think that has any advantages?

Our DD16 is headed to Orlando in November for a high school publications conference. We initially told her no (because of the cost and we had just been to the Keys and WDW in September), but then they had 3 kids cancel and lose their non-refundable deposit. Her teacher pulled her aside and offered her the trip at nearly half price! I really hate for her to miss out on enhanced learning opportunities so we said ok. now I'm paying $450 for her to fly, hotel, 1 day at Universal and conference fees. Plus we need to throw in food costs. She just had a birthday and has money so that can be her souvenir spending. (She didn't buy ANYTHING there last month and they are staying at the Dolphin with time spent on the BW and DS....still DTD to me. Color me jealous. I got off topic, but the point is I doubt she will spend much.)

Plus Christmas...
Plus 2 more birthdays this year...
Plus personal property tax...

 

[dayvewc]

My credit score has taken a hit since selling my house. Apparently I'm being knocked down in points because I no longer have a good "mix" of debt. Just cc debt to pay off now. Sigh.

Hang on. It'll go back up and things will get better. It does seem like we get penalized for being responsible, but this too shall pass. Just keep swimming. :hugs

So here is my situation: we're 2 years into a 15 year house loan (refinanced). We've chopped off nearly $20K in principle, but that extra few hundred dollars has come at a cost. We haven't been able to enjoy going out nearly as much and I'm constantly checking our accounts before we make entertainment plans. It sucks.

I guess I need to go back to a longer term loan, but I think our credit score has taken quite a beating. Maybe I refinance with our current note-holder? Do you think that has any advantages?

My only question is - did you chop off the $20K in principle through the regular payments, or were/are you making additional principal payments? If you are making additional principal payments, maybe you could skip the extra like once every 4 months and use it for those other plans?

I would not recommend changing to a longer term, you will wind up paying so much more in interest over the course of the loan. Though it really comes down to "are you having difficulty making the current payments" vs. "making the current payments makes it difficult to satisfy our desires". Only you know the answer. Me, personally, I have discovered if I phrase any purchase as a need vs. desire, I am much less likely to spend money that could be put to a different/better use in eliminating debt. But I, myself, don't actually care for going out or entertaining except for my vacations. Lol. I'm either at work, at home, or at Disney.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

My credit score has taken a hit since selling my house. Apparently I'm being knocked down in points because I no longer have a good "mix" of debt. Just cc debt to pay off now. Sigh.

The same thing happened to us when we paid off our mortgage several years ago. It's funny that when I look at the factors affecting my credit score it says "lack of installment loans". You would think paying off a mortgage would improve a score, but the credit industry doesn't look at it that way. Fortunately, our scores are high enough that it doesn't matter, but it is very frustrating.

 

[Dentam]

Thanks, everyone. I do need to get a new (to me) vehicle still and am hoping to do that in the spring. I was just hoping to have a higher credit score to get that loan. I guess that ironically my score should improve once I have the car payment... I just won't get as good of a rate going into it.

 

[Ava]

Has anyone here heard of/used LearnVest financial planning services? My employer just started offering the service as a free benefit, so I signed up. I filled out the profile with ALL of our financial information and have the initial call scheduled with my planner in a couple weeks. I'm excited to have the opportunity to talk to a professional about a debt payoff strategy, and how to prioritize savings goals, but I'm also nervous that they're just going to say we need to bring in more income and not really be able to offer much help beyond that. I also won a free copy of a book written by the founder of LearnVest, which I've been skimming through, and we already do most of the "tips" in there to lower expenses/reduce spending.

Anyway... just curious if anyone here has used the service and what you thought of it.

 

[gracie1]

So after looking into the loan that was offered by the bank I have decided against it. It really wouldn't save any money in the long run. So I plan on just trying to pay off my home equity loan sooner by applying some extra principal each month. Oh well - it was fun while it lasted!!
You guys are all doing a great job!

 

[gracie1]

Has anyone here heard of/used LearnVest financial planning services? My employer just started offering the service as a free benefit, so I signed up. I filled out the profile with ALL of our financial information and have the initial call scheduled with my planner in a couple weeks. I'm excited to have the opportunity to talk to a professional about a debt payoff strategy, and how to prioritize savings goals, but I'm also nervous that they're just going to say we need to bring in more income and not really be able to offer much help beyond that. I also won a free copy of a book written by the founder of LearnVest, which I've been skimming through, and we already do most of the "tips" in there to lower expenses/reduce spending.

Anyway... just curious if anyone here has used the service and what you thought of it.

I've never heard of learnvest financial planning - I would think it must be a good group or reputable if your employer is offering it

 

[Angeejoe]

So after looking into the loan that was offered by the bank I have decided against it. It really wouldn't save any money in the long run. So I plan on just trying to pay off my home equity loan sooner by applying some extra principal each month. Oh well - it was fun while it lasted!!
You guys are all doing a great job!

Oh what a bummer!

 

[stayhomemom77]

So, one of my goals this fall was to try and restock the pantry and the chest freezer. We did a pantry clean out over the summer to use everything up and save on groceries (to help pay for the trip we took) so when the chest freezer was close to empty, I packed the fridge freezer with what little remained and defrosted it. We kept the weekly shop as low as possible, eating up what we already had and tossed the remainder into the vacation account.
I came home to an empty fridge, an empty chest freezer and some pretty bare cupboards. I used to stockpile--not hard core, but I usually had 2-3 months of food storage in the house at any given time back in the auld lang syne but I drifted away from that when we decided to get serious about getting out of debt. Now that we have done that, I decided it was high time to relive some of my former glory days in this area.

So, I plugged the chest freezer back in once we got home from vacation and began shopping to fill it. I also decided to dedicate $10 each week (I shop weekly) to shelf stable food storage for stockpiling. It was a pretty fun game actually, challenging myself to get those shelves filled as quickly as possible on such a small budget and with shopping the sales, price matching and couponing, I've managed to get quite a bit put by for my $70 so far. It's taken me seven weeks (hence the $70), but my shelves are filling fast and that chest freezer...well, that bad boy is nearly to the top...for the first time in years!!

The amazing thing is that I stayed within my food budget each week AND I managed to build up the kitchen pantry shelves as well as several shelves in the basement for a good stockpile start!! My secret...no junk food purchased with the grocery money. It's interesting how much more inclined I am to MAKE treats when they have to come from such a small MISC budget. Chips and ice cream used to take quite a bite out of our available food funds, but I think we've got that corrected now. We DO still buy nachos for when we have taco night and ice cream still makes the shopping list occasionally, but anything else comes from the MISC money and we are really strict with that budget!

I just can't believe how FUN this goal is, and I even got a few friends on board with it as well. We post photos of our $10 purchases each week on facebook and (because we are all local) tell each other of any especially good deals going on. So, I thought I'd share the info in case any of you think that is something you might like to try.

Anyway, I didn't come here only to brag about that...also to whine a bit...no one minds, do they?

So, we are two thirds of the way through the month and I am broke...like $2.47 in the hole broke once everything clears. I have enough gasoline and grocery money for this coming Friday, which is the final shop before the next payday and the savings and other bills are all there, but our MISC money was overtaxed this month...ridiculously so...because stuff just kept popping up! We only budget $20 a week for the irregular once in a while expenses and generally, that's more than enough...but for some reason, this month has been pretty costly.

Cubs popcorn $20 (And that was us cheaping out!!)
Girl Guide cookies $5 (Again, cheaping out!)
Home canned applesauce ($5...my girlfriend has apple trees in her yard and gave us nine jars of applesauce for free, but I paid her for the lids and liners)
We were $7 over budget on our TS dinner this month (apparently, my math skills aren't so great!! LOL If I'd have realized the mistake I would have ordered a cheaper entree)
Canadian thanksgiving was last weekend and my mom had no food for lunch for us though she assured us she'd feed us (she'd gone to Wendy's...gee, thanks mom!) so we got pizza $15
Tipping the paper girl $6
Various dollar store expenses (snack bags, sandwich bags, cheesies, gum, birthday card etc) $9
Halloween decorations $10
I paid the tip for DH and my Anniversary lunch with the last $3 I had in cash (luckily, DH's parents gave us enough cash to cover the meal)

Now, I DO have $50 in Murphy money in the account, so I've got a bit of wiggle room, but as this is the first month where I've actually put any by specifically for this reason, I kind of wanted not to have to use it for dumb little stuff--at least, not this early on, anyway.

I also have $100 of tomorrow's government money going towards the house, so I guess in a pinch that money could be made available as well. Here's hoping nothing else comes up until after the 28th!!

How is everyone else's month going?

 

[mrsabbott]

Well, we aren't dumping much debt. Hubs' checks continue to be VERY small. For the amount of hours he works, this is disheartening. I have paid the essential bills for the month (mortgage, insurance, loans) as well as a few of the credit cards. We downsized our grocery budget again and have been "making do", although we were blessed with some free food from family. We aren't going hungry. I have bill collectors calling me because we are late. Nothing to be done, I'm afraid. We have to pay for our plates and stuff for our vehicles this month. Sigh.. I get my first full time paycheck next week. Hope that it is enough to get caught up on a few things.

 

[stayhomemom77]

Well, we aren't dumping much debt. Hubs' checks continue to be VERY small. For the amount of hours he works, this is disheartening. I have paid the essential bills for the month (mortgage, insurance, loans) as well as a few of the credit cards. We downsized our grocery budget again and have been "making do", although we were blessed with some free food from family. We aren't going hungry. I have bill collectors calling me because we are late. Nothing to be done, I'm afraid. We have to pay for our plates and stuff for our vehicles this month. Sigh.. I get my first full time paycheck next week. Hope that it is enough to get caught up on a few things.

Sorry to hear about the setbacks. Hoping your first paycheck helps you get caught up on a few things.

 

[Gena001]

Grrr! I just have to share my week with you all...and it's only Wednesday morning!

Sunday night, going down the steps, as I came to the basement floor, my right calf tightened up. Like a big tennis ball inside. It did feel better before I went to bed, though.

Monday morning, heading out the door to drop my little one off at before care, I pushed the door open a bit wider and I hear a THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD...as our basement steps are right at our back door. I turned and expected to see one of DH's boots heading down the steps. But NOOOO, it was a full bottle of Clorox bleach! And, of course, the lid comes off and bleach is just gushing out GLUK, GLUK, GLUK, GLUK onto the floor. I screamed "Oh no!" (Glad I didn't use sailor talk in front of DD), threw down everything I was holding and scurried down the steps as fast as I could. I promptly found 3 sacrifical quality towels to sop up the mess and listed the area rug up from the ground to get air underneath. Thank goodness our basement isn't finished! However, when I got to the bottom of the steps, there went my calf muscle again! I limped all day.

Tuesday evening, I mention to my older DD that Wednesday is "Back to the Future Day" and that it would be fun to dress up for school. She was all over it and found some 1985 Marty McFly clothing items. Dad said he even had an orange vest! They went down stairs to retrieve the vest and I could hear him screaming some sailor words. He came up the stairs, quite wet and EXTREMELY mad... as he was getting the vest, the valve at the bottom of the hot water heater broke off and was spewing water everywhere! He plugged it up and turned off the water in the house until we could clean it up. We made a makeshift trail out of a cardboard box lid and trash bag to lay under the broken valve and direct the water to the basement drain. The valve was pretty calcified so I guess it was a matter of time. So, he stayed home today to see if he can fix it. I hope we don't need to get a new hot water heater... this one is a really LARGE capacity tank (would love to go tankless, but just too darned expensive)... and I don't want to spend the money on it! I don't really have an emergency fund, but I've squirlled away about $500. It would cover a 40 gallon tank, most likely, but then our standard vent may be oversized for a 40 gallon tank. He knows what he's doing...VERY handy in all things car, home, science... he's a building inspector with an architectural degree. Fingers crossed on this one: (1) that he can fix it; and (2) that he's not in a super bad mood when I get home from work. I guess this is also motivation that we need to tidy up the basement as well. When we cleaned out my parents' house, I brought quite a few things back to ours and need to go through it all. Ugh.

And, i still limped all day Tuesday.

On a good note, this morning my calf muscle is hurting quite a bit less. I'm not limping as bad either. Give it another couple days and I should be ready to run a marathon!

Hope everyones week goes smoother than mine!!!

 

[dayvewc]

Grrr! I just have to share my week with you all...and it's only Wednesday morning!

Sunday night, going down the steps, as I came to the basement floor, my right calf tightened up. Like a big tennis ball inside. It did feel better before I went to bed, though.

Monday morning, heading out the door to drop my little one off at before care, I pushed the door open a bit wider and I hear a THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD...as our basement steps are right at our back door. I turned and expected to see one of DH's boots heading down the steps. But NOOOO, it was a full bottle of Clorox bleach! And, of course, the lid comes off and bleach is just gushing out GLUK, GLUK, GLUK, GLUK onto the floor. I screamed "Oh no!" (Glad I didn't use sailor talk in front of DD), threw down everything I was holding and scurried down the steps as fast as I could. I promptly found 3 sacrifical quality towels to sop up the mess and listed the area rug up from the ground to get air underneath. Thank goodness our basement isn't finished! However, when I got to the bottom of the steps, there went my calf muscle again! I limped all day.

Tuesday evening, I mention to my older DD that Wednesday is "Back to the Future Day" and that it would be fun to dress up for school. She was all over it and found some 1985 Marty McFly clothing items. Dad said he even had an orange vest! They went down stairs to retrieve the vest and I could hear him screaming some sailor words. He came up the stairs, quite wet and EXTREMELY mad... as he was getting the vest, the valve at the bottom of the hot water heater broke off and was spewing water everywhere! He plugged it up and turned off the water in the house until we could clean it up. We made a makeshift trail out of a cardboard box lid and trash bag to lay under the broken valve and direct the water to the basement drain. The valve was pretty calcified so I guess it was a matter of time. So, he stayed home today to see if he can fix it. I hope we don't need to get a new hot water heater... this one is a really LARGE capacity tank (would love to go tankless, but just too darned expensive)... and I don't want to spend the money on it! I don't really have an emergency fund, but I've squirlled away about $500. It would cover a 40 gallon tank, most likely, but then our standard vent may be oversized for a 40 gallon tank. He knows what he's doing...VERY handy in all things car, home, science... he's a building inspector with an architectural degree. Fingers crossed on this one: (1) that he can fix it; and (2) that he's not in a super bad mood when I get home from work. I guess this is also motivation that we need to tidy up the basement as well. When we cleaned out my parents' house, I brought quite a few things back to ours and need to go through it all. Ugh.

And, i still limped all day Tuesday.

On a good note, this morning my calf muscle is hurting quite a bit less. I'm not limping as bad either. Give it another couple days and I should be ready to run a marathon!

Hope everyones week goes smoother than mine!!!

Hugs!!! Hope it gets better!

 

[OhMari]

Grrr! I just have to share my week with you all...and it's only Wednesday morning!

Sunday night, going down the steps, as I came to the basement floor, my right calf tightened up. Like a big tennis ball inside. It did feel better before I went to bed, though.

Monday morning, heading out the door to drop my little one off at before care, I pushed the door open a bit wider and I hear a THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD...as our basement steps are right at our back door. I turned and expected to see one of DH's boots heading down the steps. But NOOOO, it was a full bottle of Clorox bleach! And, of course, the lid comes off and bleach is just gushing out GLUK, GLUK, GLUK, GLUK onto the floor. I screamed "Oh no!" (Glad I didn't use sailor talk in front of DD), threw down everything I was holding and scurried down the steps as fast as I could. I promptly found 3 sacrifical quality towels to sop up the mess and listed the area rug up from the ground to get air underneath. Thank goodness our basement isn't finished! However, when I got to the bottom of the steps, there went my calf muscle again! I limped all day.

Tuesday evening, I mention to my older DD that Wednesday is "Back to the Future Day" and that it would be fun to dress up for school. She was all over it and found some 1985 Marty McFly clothing items. Dad said he even had an orange vest! They went down stairs to retrieve the vest and I could hear him screaming some sailor words. He came up the stairs, quite wet and EXTREMELY mad... as he was getting the vest, the valve at the bottom of the hot water heater broke off and was spewing water everywhere! He plugged it up and turned off the water in the house until we could clean it up. We made a makeshift trail out of a cardboard box lid and trash bag to lay under the broken valve and direct the water to the basement drain. The valve was pretty calcified so I guess it was a matter of time. So, he stayed home today to see if he can fix it. I hope we don't need to get a new hot water heater... this one is a really LARGE capacity tank (would love to go tankless, but just too darned expensive)... and I don't want to spend the money on it! I don't really have an emergency fund, but I've squirlled away about $500. It would cover a 40 gallon tank, most likely, but then our standard vent may be oversized for a 40 gallon tank. He knows what he's doing...VERY handy in all things car, home, science... he's a building inspector with an architectural degree. Fingers crossed on this one: (1) that he can fix it; and (2) that he's not in a super bad mood when I get home from work. I guess this is also motivation that we need to tidy up the basement as well. When we cleaned out my parents' house, I brought quite a few things back to ours and need to go through it all. Ugh.

And, i still limped all day Tuesday.

On a good note, this morning my calf muscle is hurting quite a bit less. I'm not limping as bad either. Give it another couple days and I should be ready to run a marathon!

Hope everyones week goes smoother than mine!!!

Wow, first watch your calf muscle. Have you been working out, doing lunges, exercising? If not, a muscle shouldn't just tighten up like that, otherwise eat banana's, this helps with leg muscle cramps.

I had a bottle of bleach spill on top of our wash machine and the liquid fell down behind our wash machine. We couldn't pull out the machine and it took well over a week for the vapors to clear out of the room. I seriously hate bleach, but it is a necessity.

Hope your dh can fix the water heater.

 

[Gena001]

Thaks all for the well wishes!!! Good news all around....

My calf is much better! I'd say it was 80% yesterday (Wednsday) and 95% today. I'm even managing the stairwells carefully. When it comes to working out, I'm a "sometimer." Usually I have house tasks and working out falls down the ladder. There is a church near our home with a fantastic fitness center - free of charge! Just make a donation when you can. REALLY nice machines. I love going there.

As for the bleach smell in the basement, I can initially sniff it for a minute or so then I don't notice it any longer. Of the 3 sacrificial towels, 1 was a white towel; 1 sustained NO bleaching; and 1 bleached out through the center of the image all the way down the towel's center. It had 3 hula monkey girls on it & my DD6 used it at the pool. Glad we got new Mickey towels last month!

And, the HWH... hubby stayed home yesterday to fix it. He texted me at 9 AM that our POWER WAS OUT! Who would have thought that? I checked & 65 houses in our area lost power. Probably a critter frying himself on the line. He used the power out opportunity to run to our friend's plumbing office and pick up a shiny brass fitting... those are expensive, but I don't think they charged us. Good 'ol boy system, ya know? The power came back on & he fixed it! Turned the water back on, filled the tank... it was actually hotter than normal because we cleaned all the bits out of the bottom of the tank. Amazing! Maybe that will save us some moo-lah!

Hugs to you all!!

 

[Eureka]

Hi all! Sorry, I don't remember who, but someone on this thread told me about the documentary The Imposter. Watched it tonight, and wow, what a riveting, horrifying, and sad story. (But I like watching intriguing stuff like this, so thank you for the recommendation.)

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Grrr! I just have to share my week with you all...and it's only Wednesday morning!

Sunday night, going down the steps, as I came to the basement floor, my right calf tightened up. Like a big tennis ball inside. It did feel better before I went to bed, though.

Monday morning, heading out the door to drop my little one off at before care, I pushed the door open a bit wider and I hear a THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD...as our basement steps are right at our back door. I turned and expected to see one of DH's boots heading down the steps. But NOOOO, it was a full bottle of Clorox bleach! And, of course, the lid comes off and bleach is just gushing out GLUK, GLUK, GLUK, GLUK onto the floor. I screamed "Oh no!" (Glad I didn't use sailor talk in front of DD), threw down everything I was holding and scurried down the steps as fast as I could. I promptly found 3 sacrifical quality towels to sop up the mess and listed the area rug up from the ground to get air underneath. Thank goodness our basement isn't finished! However, when I got to the bottom of the steps, there went my calf muscle again! I limped all day.

Tuesday evening, I mention to my older DD that Wednesday is "Back to the Future Day" and that it would be fun to dress up for school. She was all over it and found some 1985 Marty McFly clothing items. Dad said he even had an orange vest! They went down stairs to retrieve the vest and I could hear him screaming some sailor words. He came up the stairs, quite wet and EXTREMELY mad... as he was getting the vest, the valve at the bottom of the hot water heater broke off and was spewing water everywhere! He plugged it up and turned off the water in the house until we could clean it up. We made a makeshift trail out of a cardboard box lid and trash bag to lay under the broken valve and direct the water to the basement drain. The valve was pretty calcified so I guess it was a matter of time. So, he stayed home today to see if he can fix it. I hope we don't need to get a new hot water heater... this one is a really LARGE capacity tank (would love to go tankless, but just too darned expensive)... and I don't want to spend the money on it! I don't really have an emergency fund, but I've squirlled away about $500. It would cover a 40 gallon tank, most likely, but then our standard vent may be oversized for a 40 gallon tank. He knows what he's doing...VERY handy in all things car, home, science... he's a building inspector with an architectural degree. Fingers crossed on this one: (1) that he can fix it; and (2) that he's not in a super bad mood when I get home from work. I guess this is also motivation that we need to tidy up the basement as well. When we cleaned out my parents' house, I brought quite a few things back to ours and need to go through it all. Ugh.

And, i still limped all day Tuesday.

On a good note, this morning my calf muscle is hurting quite a bit less. I'm not limping as bad either. Give it another couple days and I should be ready to run a marathon!

Hope everyones week goes smoother than mine!!!

Ugh! This sounds awful but I have to confess I love your sound effects! Thud thud thud. Gluk, gluk, gluk.


It is great to have a handy hubby. It has saved us tons over the years. He always says one must either be really handy or make plenty of money to pay others to do things for you.

 

[gracie1]

Well, we aren't dumping much debt. Hubs' checks continue to be VERY small. For the amount of hours he works, this is disheartening. I have paid the essential bills for the month (mortgage, insurance, loans) as well as a few of the credit cards. We downsized our grocery budget again and have been "making do", although we were blessed with some free food from family. We aren't going hungry. I have bill collectors calling me because we are late. Nothing to be done, I'm afraid. We have to pay for our plates and stuff for our vehicles this month. Sigh.. I get my first full time paycheck next week. Hope that it is enough to get caught up on a few things.

Sorry to hear your struggle. It's nice to have family donate some food to you. You will get caught up!! I know it's hard to think positively at times especially when it feels like your sinking but you will be okay!! Remember to vent away here on this thread! No judgement from any of us because i think we've all been there and felt like we were drowning at some point. But it will work out. Congrats on getting your full time paycheck!!

 

[gracie1]

Soooo...... Has anyone started thinking about Christmas? Or started budgeting/shopping? I have started my shopping. Not much accomplished but started picking up a few things.