Debt Dumpers - 2016

[gracie1]

Yeah, I'm not going to talk you out of it either! If you are SURE that EX is covering park tickets and boyfriend is covering hotel, then I say go for it!

Finances SHOULD come before pleasure as a general rule, but there are exceptions to every rule. If you can make some special memories at a "steal" then it's worth the investment as far as I'm concerned.

But like rnorwo1 says, really be sure of that bottom line before you commit to this so that a couple more months of debt payments doesn't turn into a couple more years.

Best of luck deciding!!

This is exactly what I was going to say - as long as your positive that the ex pays for the tickets - which does seem to be the major expense. How long were you going for? Maybe you could pack foods to take to cut down on your dining expenses or do an order through garden grocer or something and only eat out one meal and do breakfast and lunches in the room? And you would have snacks that you could take into the park. Just a thought so you could save on dining.

 

[Shmily1]

Be sure if your ex is buying you military tickets that you have a military ID or you can't use them when you get there.

 

[Dentam]

Oh man, I'm in the same boat with wanting to book a Disney trip. We are going to DL in late April to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday but that seems so far away. I really HATE the winters and always find myself daydreaming of a short trip to FL for some warmth and Disney time. Doesn't help that orbitz is offering pretty cheap roundtrip fare right now for the last week of January. Oh so tempting to book a short solo trip to get out of here!

I'm with the others who are in favor of you booking the trip if it won't set you back too much with your debt dumping. This probably isn't the best forum to find people to talk you out of it, ha!

 

[gracie1]

Oh man, I'm in the same boat with wanting to book a Disney trip. We are going to DL in late April to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday but that seems so far away. I really HATE the winters and always find myself daydreaming of a short trip to FL for some warmth and Disney time. Doesn't help that orbitz is offering pretty cheap roundtrip fare right now for the last week of January. Oh so tempting to book a short solo trip to get out of here!

I'm with the others who are in favor of you booking the trip if it won't set you back too much with your debt dumping. This probably isn't the best forum to find people to talk you out of it, ha!

I think of vacations all the time! Especially when you see places on the travel channel!!

 

[Dentam]

I think of vacations all the time! Especially when you see places on the travel channel!!

Guess it's a good thing I don't have cable then, ha! I'm sure I would be wanting to go everywhere featured on those shows!

Turns out the cheap airfare was offered by Frontier, an airline that adds fees for everything including an actual seat on the plane (not included in the advertised rate apparently) - no thanks!

So, this got me thinking. I think it'll be helpful if I make a list of everything I'm looking forward to about being out of debt. I'll include mine here - others can feel free to post their own lists! It should help (I hope) during those weak moments when all I want to do is live like I just won the lottery. Speaking of which, I think I need to buy a ticket tomorrow!!

In no particular order, I'm looking forward to _________________ when I'm out of Debt:

-Contributing more to my retirement plan each month so I don't have to stress as much about my future. I did begin contributing again this month - I had stopped last year in order to throw more towards my debt, but I'm not comfortable contributing nothing for any longer. Luckily my employer contributes as well, regardless of whether we contribute anything, so last year wasn't a total loss.

-Taking vacations each year that are budgeted for without stressing about it putting me into debt. My top travel wish list includes Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Holland, and of course Disney parks (preferably all of the parks around the world). So yeah, no need for the travel channel over here, my list is already looking pretty spendy!

-Having an emergency fund built up to cover any unforeseen expenses.

-Purchasing a house someday? (This one seems pretty out there given the cost of houses in my area and the fact that my last experience with home ownership was less than stellar, but then again the thought of renting for the rest of my life isn't sounding too good either.)

For now, I will keep plugging away toward dumping my debt and will sprinkle in the occasional lottery ticket purchase to keep the dream alive!

 

[gracie1]

Guess it's a good thing I don't have cable then, ha! I'm sure I would be wanting to go everywhere featured on those shows!

Turns out the cheap airfare was offered by Frontier, an airline that adds fees for everything including an actual seat on the plane (not included in the advertised rate apparently) - no thanks!

So, this got me thinking. I think it'll be helpful if I make a list of everything I'm looking forward to about being out of debt. I'll include mine here - others can feel free to post their own lists! It should help (I hope) during those weak moments when all I want to do is live like I just won the lottery. Speaking of which, I think I need to buy a ticket tomorrow!!

In no particular order, I'm looking forward to _________________ when I'm out of Debt:

-Contributing more to my retirement plan each month so I don't have to stress as much about my future. I did begin contributing again this month - I had stopped last year in order to throw more towards my debt, but I'm not comfortable contributing nothing for any longer. Luckily my employer contributes as well, regardless of whether we contribute anything, so last year wasn't a total loss.

-Taking vacations each year that are budgeted for without stressing about it putting me into debt. My top travel wish list includes Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Holland, and of course Disney parks (preferably all of the parks around the world). So yeah, no need for the travel channel over here, my list is already looking pretty spendy!

-Having an emergency fund built up to cover any unforeseen expenses.

-Purchasing a house someday? (This one seems pretty out there given the cost of houses in my area and the fact that my last experience with home ownership was less than stellar, but then again the thought of renting for the rest of my life isn't sounding too good either.)

For now, I will keep plugging away toward dumping my debt and will sprinkle in the occasional lottery ticket purchase to keep the dream alive!

Do you have a ballpark idea when your debt will be paid off?

 

[Dentam]

Do you have a ballpark idea when your debt will be paid off?

Spring of 2018 is the current plan!

Forgot to include that I'm looking forward to a high credit score also! I finally got it back above 700 this past year and am aiming to get it back into the excellent category!

 

[gracie1]

Spring of 2018 is the current plan!

Forgot to include that I'm looking forward to a high credit score also! I finally got it back above 700 this past year and am aiming to get it back into the excellent category!

You should pick one of those trips off your list as your big trip for getting out of debt! You could maybe plan for it in the fall of 2018! I haven't been on a vacation in probably 5 years. So I'm getting the itch big time!

 

[Dentam]

You should pick one of those trips off your list as your big trip for getting out of debt! You could maybe plan for it in the fall of 2018! I haven't been on a vacation in probably 5 years. So I'm getting the itch big time!

I like your thinking! Although technically I should give myself at least a year to save up for it after getting out of debt so I wouldn't be jumping right back into debt again... we shall see though. I would have the extra money available each month by then to make payments on a trip if I was able to put it on a card with 0% interest for the time period I'd need to pay it off.

 

[ariel1025]

In no particular order, I'm looking forward to _________________ when I'm out of Debt:

1. Buying a house and FINALLY getting out of our less than stellar rental house
2. Going to Aulani (our reward trip for getting out of debt)
3. Being able to pay my son's private school tuition without a payment plan, thus getting a 10% discount on the tuition rate
4. Having a second vehicle that my kids can ride in (my husband has a pickup truck without second row seating, my kids are 2 and 5) AND that I'm not spending every day worried that I'm going to get the "I'm broke down on the side of the road" phone call
5. Not feeling guilty for every single (non-debt payment) penny that is spent

Solely paying minimums each month has us scheduled for payoff of all debt in May 2020. Our ultimate goal is to create enough snowballs/extra income etc to pay it all off by December 2018. I guess we shall see how (un)kind Murphy is to us with that goal

 

[DisneyMandC]

Spring of 2018 is the current plan!

Forgot to include that I'm looking forward to a high credit score also! I finally got it back above 700 this past year and am aiming to get it back into the excellent category!

Just out of curiousity (this is an open question for everyone, Dentam just brought it up), is there anything in particular you can do to raise your credit score? I'm already above 700 in the "very good" section, but didn't know if there were additional steps to take to increase my credit score. Credit card is completely paid off every cycle, student loans have never been late, etc. I think the only thing keeping my score from being excellent is "short credit history" since I'm in my 20s and haven't had a credit card THAT long. Just didn't know if there was anything else that built your credit.

 

[rnorwo1]

I like your thinking! Although technically I should give myself at least a year to save up for it after getting out of debt so I wouldn't be jumping right back into debt again... we shall see though. I would have the extra money available each month by then to make payments on a trip if I was able to put it on a card with 0% interest for the time period I'd need to pay it off.

Nah... After you've worked that diligently for that long, you will not want to put it on a card, even at 0%... It will still be debt. You'll have such a big snowball at that point, and you will be so accustomed to living below your means, you'll be amazed at how much free money you have and how quickly you'll be able to save for the trip. Start your coin and "free" money jar now so you can see some progress towards the trip... Even if it is just $100 a year, it will be encouraging.

Just out of curiousity (this is an open question for everyone, Dentam just brought it up), is there anything in particular you can do to raise your credit score? I'm already above 700 in the "very good" section, but didn't know if there were additional steps to take to increase my credit score. Credit card is completely paid off every cycle, student loans have never been late, etc. I think the only thing keeping my score from being excellent is "short credit history" since I'm in my 20s and haven't had a credit card THAT long. Just didn't know if there was anything else that built your credit.

The biggest thing (in addition to on-time payments) is your debt to credit ratio. So, to have excellent credit, you will have to have a good bit of credit offered to you, but owe very little. That doesn't mean you should go open a bunch of cards, but keep a few no fee ones and keep them open forever, using them occasionally (if you use other cards with rewards on a daily basis), and continue to keep them paid off each month. And most importantly, I wouldn't sweat it right now. If you keep up your good payment habits, as the student loan balances come down and you've lived in the world of credit longer, the score will come up on its own. That's a good score, so you shouldn't have any problem with a home loan or whatever you're wanting... Otherwise, the credit score isn't that important (yours should be high enough for the lower insurance premiums and such).

 

[DisneyMandC]

Nah... After you've worked that diligently for that long, you will not want to put it on a card, even at 0%... It will still be debt. You'll have such a big snowball at that point, and you will be so accustomed to living below your means, you'll be amazed at how much free money you have and how quickly you'll be able to save for the trip. Start your coin and "free" money jar now so you can see some progress towards the trip... Even if it is just $100 a year, it will be encouraging.



The biggest thing (in addition to on-time payments) is your debt to credit ratio. So, to have excellent credit, you will have to have a good bit of credit offered to you, but owe very little. That doesn't mean you should go open a bunch of cards, but keep a few no fee ones and keep them open forever, using them occasionally (if you use other cards with rewards on a daily basis), and continue to keep them paid off each month. And most importantly, I wouldn't sweat it right now. If you keep up your good payment habits, as the student loan balances come down and you've lived in the world of credit longer, the score will come up on its own. That's a good score, so you shouldn't have any problem with a home loan or whatever you're wanting... Otherwise, the credit score isn't that important (yours should be high enough for the lower insurance premiums and such).

Yeah, we just purchased our house so we don't really "need" a good credit score for anything in particular right now. I just honestly didn't know how you went about raising it if you were already just paying your bills like you should be. Thanks for the info! I have one student loan I'm hoping to pay off this year or early next year so maybe I'll see a little jump after that.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

Yeah, we just purchased our house so we don't really "need" a good credit score for anything in particular right now. I just honestly didn't know how you went about raising it if you were already just paying your bills like you should be. Thanks for the info! I have one student loan I'm hoping to pay off this year or early next year so maybe I'll see a little jump after that.

Or maybe not. We were so excited to pay off our house a few years ago, but were disappointed to see our credit score go down by a few points! The reason, lack of installment loan(s). Whatever!!!! Our scores eventually recovered those lost points and went up even more, but I found their logic silly.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Or maybe not. We were so excited to pay off our house a few years ago, but were disappointed to see our credit score go down by a few points! The reason, lack of installment loan(s). Whatever!!!! Our scores eventually recovered those lost points and went up even more, but I found their logic silly.

Ah, you're right. I actually do recall people posting on past year's threads that their scores actually went down after paying off a loan. Oh well! Like I said, we shouldn't really need for anything soon, and it's not like our scores are bad anyways. I'd much rather pay off these student loans and have my score drop some then keep shoveling money off to the Department of Education!

 

[rnorwo1]

Ah, you're right. I actually do recall people posting on past year's threads that their scores actually went down after paying off a loan. Oh well! Like I said, we shouldn't really need for anything soon, and it's not like our scores are bad anyways. I'd much rather pay off these student loans and have my score drop some then keep shoveling money off to the Department of Education!

Exactly! We have never had credit card, car loan, or other installment debt, and we paid off our house after 10 years. I open and close credit cards (for the bonuses) each year. All kinds of things will drop your score, but they tend to go back up if you are stable financially. We had zero problem being approved for our loan to open the business (which is the debt we have now), and our scores are still great. Just stop looking at it too often, lol! I know people who purposely borrow money for the purpose of raising their scores. It's absurd. I'll take financial freedom over a few points on our credit score any day (as long as a bad score isn't costing you more on insurance and all of that, of course).

 

[dayvewc]

Ok. I may need to be talked down. For the 25th anniversary of DVC, they are selling WDW tickets that are 1 free day for any ticket with 4 or more days. (5 day ticket for 4 day price, 7 day ticket for 6 day price, etc.). With the longest ticket purchasable being a 10 day ticket for a 9 day price. And you can add the Park Hopper for $50, and it includes the Water Parks Fun and More option.

So, for $405 + tax (at 6.5%) I can get up to 8 tickets, provided I purchase them before March 31. This makes the tickets about $432 each, compared to UnderCoverTourist price of $457 each. Not outstanding savings, but $25 per ticket less than the best price I've ever found. Plus, being WDW tickets, I could stockpile them for future years (cause, yeah, I'll be back).

It just means I'd have to add them to my credit card if I got them. And I really don't want to do that. Pretty sure I'd wind up paying the savings in interest before I could pay them off. But oh, it is tempting. So very tempting. So very, very tempting.

That could be the basis for bridging for an annual pass for the next 15 years or so, (if I get an AP every other year). Or it could just be my primary tickets for my next 8 years of travel.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Ok. I may need to be talked down. For the 25th anniversary of DVC, they are selling WDW tickets that are 1 free day for any ticket with 4 or more days. (5 day ticket for 4 day price, 7 day ticket for 6 day price, etc.). With the longest ticket purchasable being a 10 day ticket for a 9 day price. And you can add the Park Hopper for $50, and it includes the Water Parks Fun and More option.

So, for $405 + tax (at 6.5%) I can get up to 8 tickets, provided I purchase them before March 31. This makes the tickets about $432 each, compared to UnderCoverTourist price of $457 each. Not outstanding savings, but $25 per ticket less than the best price I've ever found. Plus, being WDW tickets, I could stockpile them for future years (cause, yeah, I'll be back).

It just means I'd have to add them to my credit card if I got them. And I really don't want to do that. Pretty sure I'd wind up paying the savings in interest before I could pay them off. But oh, it is tempting. So very tempting. So very, very tempting.

That could be the basis for bridging for an annual pass for the next 15 years or so, (if I get an AP every other year). Or it could just be my primary tickets for my next 8 years of travel.

I think it's safe to say at this point that no one on this board is ever going to talk anyone out of going to Disney

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Ok. I may need to be talked down. For the 25th anniversary of DVC, they are selling WDW tickets that are 1 free day for any ticket with 4 or more days. (5 day ticket for 4 day price, 7 day ticket for 6 day price, etc.). With the longest ticket purchasable being a 10 day ticket for a 9 day price. And you can add the Park Hopper for $50, and it includes the Water Parks Fun and More option.

So, for $405 + tax (at 6.5%) I can get up to 8 tickets, provided I purchase them before March 31. This makes the tickets about $432 each, compared to UnderCoverTourist price of $457 each. Not outstanding savings, but $25 per ticket less than the best price I've ever found. Plus, being WDW tickets, I could stockpile them for future years (cause, yeah, I'll be back).

It just means I'd have to add them to my credit card if I got them. And I really don't want to do that. Pretty sure I'd wind up paying the savings in interest before I could pay them off. But oh, it is tempting. So very tempting. So very, very tempting.

That could be the basis for bridging for an annual pass for the next 15 years or so, (if I get an AP every other year). Or it could just be my primary tickets for my next 8 years of travel.

It's not worth it if you won't be able to pay off the tickets before you owe interest on the tickets. As you said, you won't actually be saving any money. I would hold off or else save money from now until March 31. If you have the additional savings to purchase a few tickets by then, go ahead, but don't put them on your credit card.

 

[cherrybomb11]

This isn't what you want to hear but if you are admitting that you are swimming in 4-5 years of debt, and that taking your vacation will take up a few months of debt payments, I do not think you should be taking this vacation. Especially when you are relying on two other people to foot some of the expenses. That right there says you don't have the money to spend. Ask any financial advisor outside of this forum and they'd likely discourage you from this vacation. If we were given permission to take vacations if it was a "really good deal", we'd never get out of debt.