Debt Dumpers - 2016

[crazycatstacy]

My budget has gone as well as my diet- both are busted. We have had some unexpected expenses but so much of it is just eating out or thinking we "deserve" it. Daughter moved out yesterday. Although we won't be getting rent money from her anymore I think it might save us money because maybe we will be content to stay home and eat at home when it is just the two of us. We know what we need to do but man do we struggle in follow thru! Today is a new day and a new month so wish us luck!! lol

 

[amalone1013]

Paid off a student loan today! I'm down to 5.... 2 left have interest rates at 5% am 5.3%, so those are my big targets! After those would be gone, muy payment would be about $100 and the interest rates are so low, that paying them early doesn't save much, but I the Lutherans, they'd be hanging around almost 7 more years... Will have to evaluate at that point, will probably depend on life circumstances lol.

I calculated up what we'll earn the rest of the year to justify a 4 day disney trip in January or February.... December is a 3 paycheck month for us both, so that helps. We're getting married near Disney World but neither of us have been so I'd really like to see places in person... If my credit card rewards work out, I think r could stay around $1500... Decisions!

@crazycatstacy New month for us too! We've been going out way too much the last few months because we live with my in laws and they were doing a kitchen remodel. Every month that was the only area we were over. Hopefully we can crack down this month, because it's about 99% done...

 

[Eureka]

Hi all, I got my first paycheck in four months the other day (little freelance checks just didn't count in my mind). Direct deposit is still getting set up, so I had to deposit it and because of the amount, it's being held until Tuesday. Starting next check, we will have retirement and health insurance deductions. Because I'm behind on retirement, we are super maxing out until the end of the year, so my next checks are going to be tiny until Jan 1. So, I really wanted to make this one count.

This weekend my plan was to figure out where we were after paying mortgage so I could beef up my funds that I save for various things that are recurring or coming up. Well, our laptop that's been dying, finally died. So I had to piece together our finances from my notes that luckily I'd thought to be printing out for the last few months, knowing the computer was on its last legs, and our bank app. A lot is still up in the air until we know how much takehome I will really have, but it's a start. I will have to keep checking the bank app though to make sure I didn't make any errors, bc I'm used to using Quicken and we won't be getting a new laptop immediately. Luckily we got the kids laptops for the holidays last year so can use them when needed.

Good news is that with this big check, we were able to buy a new dishwasher before our current one finally stopped working, put aside money for DH to get new glasses (not sure how much it will really be but if it doesn't cover all of it, it'll be pretty close) and put aside $200 toward a new bed frame for DS. I also started saving for our HOA dues that are coming after the new year. DH also cancelled the health insurance we had through his work since mine went into effect on 10/1.

As for the actual job, it's going well. Tired, and busy on the weekends catching up on stuff, but that's fine. Better than being unemployed.

 

[dayvewc]

Just thought I'd share something. I found an app called "Checkout 51". Every Thursday it sends a list of (mostly) grocery items that they will pay cash back on if you purchase before the next Wednesday night. Then, you scan and upload the receipt and they will credit the amount to your account. Once you have $20 or more, you can request a check be sent to you. After 2 grocery visits, I "earned" $15.50 through it (and paid about $120 total) so it is working out to about a 15% rebate. I'm thinking that I can let the account build and cash it in either for Christmas or my trip next spring. Extra spending money.

Just wanted to share, so far it seems like it will be a good deal for me.

 

[Eureka]

Just thought I'd share something. I found an app called "Checkout 51". Every Thursday it sends a list of (mostly) grocery items that they will pay cash back on if you purchase before the next Wednesday night. Then, you scan and upload the receipt and they will credit the amount to your account. Once you have $20 or more, you can request a check be sent to you. After 2 grocery visits, I "earned" $15.50 through it (and paid about $120 total) so it is working out to about a 15% rebate. I'm thinking that I can let the account build and cash it in either for Christmas or my trip next spring. Extra spending money.

Just wanted to share, so far it seems like it will be a good deal for me.

I use this one too. Too bad they don't do PayPal or anything electronic for the funds, but a check is good too. I do tend to earn more quickly with Ibotta though.

 

[dayvewc]

I use this one too. Too bad they don't do PayPal or anything electronic for the funds, but a check is good too. I do tend to earn more quickly with Ibotta though.

Can you so both at once? I've heard of ibotta but know nothing about it.

 

[Eureka]

Can you so both at once? I've heard of ibotta but know nothing about it.

Sure....also take a look at Savingstar. Sometimes (not often but it does happen) you can double or triple dip with the same receipt for the same items. Ibotta has a lot of "any brand" rebates on things like cereal, milk, bread, produce. That's where most of my savings come from. Savingstar is more like Checkout 51 with specific brands you have to buy. I only just cashed out for my first Checkout 51 check and it was after several shopping trips. But hey, any amount helps, right?

 

[bcwife76]

Just thought I'd share something. I found an app called "Checkout 51". Every Thursday it sends a list of (mostly) grocery items that they will pay cash back on if you purchase before the next Wednesday night. Then, you scan and upload the receipt and they will credit the amount to your account. Once you have $20 or more, you can request a check be sent to you. After 2 grocery visits, I "earned" $15.50 through it (and paid about $120 total) so it is working out to about a 15% rebate. I'm thinking that I can let the account build and cash it in either for Christmas or my trip next spring. Extra spending money.

Just wanted to share, so far it seems like it will be a good deal for me.

I love this app, have been using it for ages! I wish they'd get on paypal too, a cheque is so....slow haha!

BTW, my mom was a school teacher too so yep, we too only took vacations during school time. Oh well, what can ya do?

 

[bcwife76]

So the hold was released on my inheritance cheque at our bank within 5 days....and less than a week after that we are officially mortgage-free!!!!!

It seems so surreal. Like it hasn't sunk in yet. Today our mortgage payment would normally be coming out....instead when I log into our online banking the account shows zero and I can't even click on it!

This past Saturday we met with another financial advisor and have a good idea of what we want to do with the rest of the money plus the remaining money I'll be getting in 2017 and of course, the money we would normally be putting towards our mortgage each month. Between retirement accounts, savings/rainy day accounts and kids college/university accounts I feel like we are making good strides. The only debt we have now is our car loan (still 3 1/2 years left on it) but it's at 0% so no point in paying it out.

One big purchase we did make last weekend was a new sofa (a sectional) as our current couch (leather....grrrrr) is really, really ripping now and springs are coming through. Uncomfortable! So our new couch should be coming by mid-October.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We are chugging along here. My grandmother just died so I haven't been doing much of anything. Funeral flowers are ridiculously expensive and I sooo wish I had spent that money last week when she was alive to enjoy them instead of splurging now.
Tell your loved ones how much you love them. Every day is a gift.

 

[DisneyMandC]

We are chugging along here. My grandmother just died so I haven't been doing much of anything. Funeral flowers are ridiculously expensive and I sooo wish I had spent that money last week when she was alive to enjoy them instead of splurging now.
Tell your loved ones how much you love them. Every day is a gift.

So sorry for your loss, that is tough. Funeral flowers are outrageously expensive. My best friend's mother died recently and I could not believe how much the flowers (and the funeral in general) cost.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

@ruadisneyfan2 sorry to hear that you lost your grandmother.

I've made kids promise that they'll cremate me without any service (or donate my body to science so there's no need for cremation) and take the $10-$12,000 and enjoy a fabulous trip to Disney. That's the best way they can honor me.

 

[Eureka]

We are chugging along here. My grandmother just died so I haven't been doing much of anything. Funeral flowers are ridiculously expensive and I sooo wish I had spent that money last week when she was alive to enjoy them instead of splurging now.
Tell your loved ones how much you love them. Every day is a gift.

I'm so sorry. My grandma died three years ago and my grandpa died last year and I think about them both every day.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I haven't been on here in a while. It has been very busy. Lots to talk about! DH started his new job just over 3 weeks ago. He seems to really like it, so I am really happy. He got his first paycheck last Friday and it was a bit more than I was expecting, though his health insurance premium isn't being deducted yet, so that will bring it down by $44 next cycle. And I also took DH off of my insurance, which should give us an extra $225 each month in my paycheck. I get paid monthly, while DH gets paid every 2 weeks. This is a bit of an adjustment for me because I am so used to doing all the budgeting just once for the entire month. I am glad that YNAB makes it really easy to budget additional income throughout the month. Since we have been living on just my income, his paychecks are "extra" that we are putting towards debt dumping and some other things (see below).

So DH's job is pretty much all good news, except on DH's second day, while driving to work, he got into an accident with his new car that we bought in April. I took the car to two shops for a quote and it ended up costing just $200 more than our deductible, so we decided to just pay out of pocket for the repairs. That pretty much ate up his first paycheck. Ugh. I picked the car up yesterday and it looks like nothing ever happened. I didn't get mad or anything. Things happen, but it does set up back a bit.

And on top of that, we were not given the full fee schedule for the IVF treatments, so we actually need another $2000 on top of what we had saved aside. I was supposed to start my medication and treatment this month, but I was also given the wrong information about how to take my current medication. It messed up my IVF schedule and now I can't start treatment until November. But I guess that gives us another month to come up with the necessary funds. I am both excited and scared for the IVF. It costs a lot of money, so I am hoping that the results are good. They will be doing genetic testing on the embryos which takes some time and so the embryos will be frozen and then implantation would take place in January, probably. I am hoping for some good news in the new year.

So between the car and the IVF costs, that has put us behind by about 1-2 months in our debt dumping plan. I was thinking we would have all of the credit card debt eliminated by the end of November, but now it is looking more like December or January. I guess this isn't the worst thing in the world, but it does feel a little frustrating because we were getting so close. And DH has also complained a bit that we are being too frugal, but I don't want to start acting irresponsibly. We will have an huge increase in available cash once we have finished paying off the credit cards and I really want to complete that by December. I think the symbolic reset of the new year as debt free will be pretty powerful. I am just hoping that we won't experience any more setbacks between now and then.

 

[Dentam]

We are chugging along here. My grandmother just died so I haven't been doing much of anything. Funeral flowers are ridiculously expensive and I sooo wish I had spent that money last week when she was alive to enjoy them instead of splurging now.
Tell your loved ones how much you love them. Every day is a gift.

I'm so sorry for your loss.

 

[fifthdimensiondweller]

Hi all! Haven't been on here in awhile- I mostly lurk ; )

Glad to report our debt dumping is going really well. We decided to wait to buy a house for a few years, since we aren't sure we want to live in our current city forever anymore, and don't want to set down roots and possibly hinder my husband's job prospects so early in his career if we had the option to take a promotion and move.

Therefore, we took some of the money we'd been saving for a down payment and paid off almost all of our credit card debt while still leaving about 4000 in savings to start the house down payment fund over again.

It stinks to have to start over there but having the credit cards at 0 is a good feeling! We accumulated some debt for our wedding and honeymoon so I'm really happy it's paid off. We still have about 1500 more in debt but are on track to have is paid off by january!

Looking into renting a house this year since we will be trying to have a baby in the near future now that all of our debt is either paid off or under control.

It feels so good. Picking up all those extra shifts at work and finishing my second degree so I could get a better job is finally starting to seem worth it now that we feel we can FINALLY afford a baby (as much as anyone feels they can afford kids- lol!)

I honestly never though we would get our of debt- it feels so good to know it IS possible and that we did it! Now to tackle student loans!

 

[fifthdimensiondweller]

I guess this isn't the worst thing in the world, but it does feel a little frustrating because we were getting so close.

I understand exactly how you feel : ( It seems like every time we get close to the finish line, something else comes up and we get set back. Good luck with your IVF! I'll be thinking of you in January!

 

[DisneyMandC]

I haven't been on here in a while. It has been very busy. Lots to talk about! DH started his new job just over 3 weeks ago. He seems to really like it, so I am really happy. He got his first paycheck last Friday and it was a bit more than I was expecting, though his health insurance premium isn't being deducted yet, so that will bring it down by $44 next cycle. And I also took DH off of my insurance, which should give us an extra $225 each month in my paycheck. I get paid monthly, while DH gets paid every 2 weeks. This is a bit of an adjustment for me because I am so used to doing all the budgeting just once for the entire month. I am glad that YNAB makes it really easy to budget additional income throughout the month. Since we have been living on just my income, his paychecks are "extra" that we are putting towards debt dumping and some other things (see below).

So DH's job is pretty much all good news, except on DH's second day, while driving to work, he got into an accident with his new car that we bought in April. I took the car to two shops for a quote and it ended up costing just $200 more than our deductible, so we decided to just pay out of pocket for the repairs. That pretty much ate up his first paycheck. Ugh. I picked the car up yesterday and it looks like nothing ever happened. I didn't get mad or anything. Things happen, but it does set up back a bit.

And on top of that, we were not given the full fee schedule for the IVF treatments, so we actually need another $2000 on top of what we had saved aside. I was supposed to start my medication and treatment this month, but I was also given the wrong information about how to take my current medication. It messed up my IVF schedule and now I can't start treatment until November. But I guess that gives us another month to come up with the necessary funds. I am both excited and scared for the IVF. It costs a lot of money, so I am hoping that the results are good. They will be doing genetic testing on the embryos which takes some time and so the embryos will be frozen and then implantation would take place in January, probably. I am hoping for some good news in the new year.

So between the car and the IVF costs, that has put us behind by about 1-2 months in our debt dumping plan. I was thinking we would have all of the credit card debt eliminated by the end of November, but now it is looking more like December or January. I guess this isn't the worst thing in the world, but it does feel a little frustrating because we were getting so close. And DH has also complained a bit that we are being too frugal, but I don't want to start acting irresponsibly. We will have an huge increase in available cash once we have finished paying off the credit cards and I really want to complete that by December. I think the symbolic reset of the new year as debt free will be pretty powerful. I am just hoping that we won't experience any more setbacks between now and then.

Good luck with IVF! I hope it goes well for you, I'm sure it will! My cousin ended up with two "good results" at once

DH and I have a good chunk leftover from our third paychecks last month, including after we budgeted some additional money to our horse show fund and a good chunk to shopping expenses this month. Our biggest horse show of the year is this month and it is a shopping mecca. I have several items I need to purchase for my horse and am planning to pick them up there. We've decided to make an extra payment to DH's car. With that and this month's regular payment, we will be under $3000. May try to throw a little extra once we assess the damage from shopping. Regardless, DH said he's blowing it out and getting rid of it before the end of the year.

 

[bcwife76]

We are chugging along here. My grandmother just died so I haven't been doing much of anything. Funeral flowers are ridiculously expensive and I sooo wish I had spent that money last week when she was alive to enjoy them instead of splurging now.
Tell your loved ones how much you love them. Every day is a gift.

I'm so sorry for your loss

 

[DnA2010]

Good luck with IVF! I hope it goes well for you, I'm sure it will! My cousin ended up with two "good results" at once

DH and I have a good chunk leftover from our third paychecks last month, including after we budgeted some additional money to our horse show fund and a good chunk to shopping expenses this month. Our biggest horse show of the year is this month and it is a shopping mecca. I have several items I need to purchase for my horse and am planning to pick them up there. We've decided to make an extra payment to DH's car. With that and this month's regular payment, we will be under $3000. May try to throw a little extra once we assess the damage from shopping. Regardless, DH said he's blowing it out and getting rid of it before the end of the year.

I've been meaning to ask, what sort of riding/showing do you do?