Debt Dumpers - 2016

[gracie1]

I would pay it off since you'll then save money from not paying the interest. Unless you don't have an emergency fund, then I'd say to fund that first and use the remainder to pay on the car. $300/month is a good chunk that you can then put toward other payments or savings!

I agree - I would pay off the car as well.

 

[stayhomemom77]

I just got some awesome work news! My employer launched a "Women in ____" (insert company name) a few years ago, talking about how they are going to encourage more women into the company, support them more etc (I work in mining so predominantly male industry) but so far nothing further had come out of it - well- I I contacted HR officially last week to let them know about my pregnancy, and see what I needed to do on my end, find out if I still get benefits/vacation etc, and the girl I talked to gave me some info, but said she thought a change in the policy was underway, and this morning I was sent the new company policy- I will get the first 19 weeks of leave paid at 100% of my pre-maternity base salary :thud: I just can't believe it!

Awesomesauce!!

 

[Gena001]

First post on here, though I've gone through and read all the posts over the last week... Just wanted to share!

Paid off 3 of my school loans just now! Leaves me with 5, too bad they're higher balances than the others, but I took care of the high interest ones first. DF is paying off 3 of his when he gets home tonight!

WELCOME! WONDERFUL NEWS! WOOT WOOT!

 

[Gena001]

First time posting on this forum and looking for some advice on a situation. We recently sold and purchased a new home and got a check from the sell of the old house. We have a balance of ~$7k on a car that would be paid by the end of the first quarter of 2018. We have roughly the same amount from the house deal. With a note of $300/month of the car, should we pay it off, or just save the money in our account?

WELCOME! There are loads of neat people here! Hope the collective can help!

 

[Gena001]

So, you guys may recall, about a month ago I mentioned throwing a 50th bday party for DH. Well, I did it! It was fantastic! And, I managed to suprise him!

I booked this little hall in a neighborhood (same idea as a clubhouse for some communities) for $250....6 hours party time plus 1 hr set up, that included two bartenders and they clean up.

The hall charges $15 for a case of soda from Sam's Club (35 cans) and iced them down.

I determined it would be a cash bar for alcohol. They are cheap: $1 25 for a can of beer, $2 for mixed drinks and $2.75 for top rail drinks.

One friend made shredded pork, his step mom made a pan of mostacholi and a pan of baked beans. His sister made TWO cakes: a round Watergate cake and a half sheet yellow cake.

I store bought prepackaged veggie tray, potato salad, Cole slaw,and chips. $60.

The night of the party both his dad and his step dad kicked in $50 each to begin to cover guests' drinks!

It all came together and we had so much fun!

 

[dayvewc]

So, you guys may recall, about a month ago I mentioned throwing a 50th bday party for DH. Well, I did it! It was fantastic! And, I managed to suprise him!

I booked this little hall in a neighborhood (same idea as a clubhouse for some communities) for $250....6 hours party time plus 1 hr set up, that included two bartenders and they clean up.

The hall charges $15 for a case of soda from Sam's Club (35 cans) and iced them down.

I determined it would be a cash bar for alcohol. They are cheap: $1 25 for a can of beer, $2 for mixed drinks and $2.75 for top rail drinks.

One friend made shredded pork, his step mom made a pan of mostacholi and a pan of baked beans. His sister made TWO cakes: a round Watergate cake and a half sheet yellow cake.

I store bought prepackaged veggie tray, potato salad, Cole slaw,and chips. $60.

The night of the party both his dad and his step dad kicked in $50 each to begin to cover guests' drinks!

It all came together and we had so much fun!

Ok, so in about 6 years and 3 months i want you to throw my 50th birthday party!

 

[momtosam]

Ok, so in about 6 years and 3 months i want you to throw my 50th birthday party!

And in X years and X days you can throw mine!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Hi all! Checking in here with just 6 weeks left til we pay off our Disney visa (the down payment for ds's car).

He has applied & interviewed at so many grocery stores, movie theaters, etc but no job offers. Dh was be able to get him an interview with a company that works at his place of business. They need laborers temp. through the summer so it would be perfect for ds. It's double our min wage here & hoping the money doesn't distract him from wanting to return to college. At this point he has to do something because we're paying on his student loan and his car payment. I don't mind the latter so much since it was my idea to splurge on the nicer/newer car. He would have been content with the one that cost what our down payment was. Still, I didn't want to hear about a bunch of emergency repairs; I need some peace of mind and this is worth it to me.
Anyway, if ds can take over his car insurance & student loan min payment, I can help him knock it out by next spring or at least save some more $ so he won't need any loans in the fall. (Community college is sooo much more affordable!)
Please send prayers, happy thoughts, pixie dust or whatever you believe in, our way that ds gets this job. Just please don't send Murphy.
He is not welcome here.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Argh! My car is leaking what my dad thinks is coolant. So I have to call and get it into the shop which I've been delaying so I need to come up with some cash. Worst case I'll put the repairs on my credit card BUT if the repairs are too much I need to get a new car. I don't want a used car and I know brand new cars are not a good investment so I have no idea what to do. I still need to get the left arm bushing and my rear struts replaced. If they find anything else that needs repairs I may just say screw it and drive it to a dealer. Murphy needs to stop coming into town. He is not welcome!

Find one that is slightly used. The first 3 years is when a car takes the biggest hit for depreciation. In Feb we got ds19 a 2013 Corolla with 26k miles on it. It's pretty much immaculate, barely a scratch on the exterior and it's under warranty for 1 yr. Since Toyota sells Certified Pre-Owned cars, they can offer financing that is the same rate as they offer on new cars. It was only 1.99% for up to 5 years. It's great on gas and only costs him something like $13 to fill the tank. lol.
After a while, old cars just become money pits. Good luck to you.

 

[bcwife76]

@Gena001 sounds like the party was a complete success!!! Yay, I'm glad you were able to pull off the surprise and that he had a great birthday!

 

[Shmily1]

Hi all! Checking in here with just 6 weeks left til we pay off our Disney visa (the down payment for ds's car).

He has applied & interviewed at so many grocery stores, movie theaters, etc but no job offers. Dh was be able to get him an interview with a company that works at his place of business. They need laborers temp. through the summer so it would be perfect for ds. It's double our min wage here & hoping the money doesn't distract him from wanting to return to college. At this point he has to do something because we're paying on his student loan and his car payment. I don't mind the latter so much since it was my idea to splurge on the nicer/newer car. He would have been content with the one that cost what our down payment was. Still, I didn't want to hear about a bunch of emergency repairs; I need some peace of mind and this is worth it to me.
Anyway, if ds can take over his car insurance & student loan min payment, I can help him knock it out by next spring or at least save some more $ so he won't need any loans in the fall. (Community college is sooo much more affordable!)
Please send prayers, happy thoughts, pixie dust or whatever you believe in, our way that ds gets this job. Just please don't send Murphy.
He is not welcome here.

I can relate. DS graduated with a MBA. He can't find a job because he has no experience or is overqualified. It is so aggravating for him. Not to mention, I'm paying for everything while he's searching so it's like paying for two households. I need him to get a job!!

 

[hmwinter85]

DH has decided to go back to school. He has been talking about it for a long time but never pulled the trigger on it until now. He has a teaching degree and is currently working selling furnaces and air conditioning units. I know in the long run it's going to be a good thing, the average salary for business degree he is going for would be more than double what he makes now, but the next two years are going to rough. He will have to take out student loans to cover almost all of the cost, which is fine. It will change my debt dumping plans a little but again in the long run we should be better off.

What I'm wondering is once he is officially back in school if I can divert the payments on his existing student loans and divert the monthly payment from that to pay off my higher interest CC faster? He has less than $5000 left on his existing loans and we pay about $200 a month on them. That $200 a month would go a long way to pay off my two remaining higher interest CCs.

 

[gracie1]

So, you guys may recall, about a month ago I mentioned throwing a 50th bday party for DH. Well, I did it! It was fantastic! And, I managed to suprise him!

I booked this little hall in a neighborhood (same idea as a clubhouse for some communities) for $250....6 hours party time plus 1 hr set up, that included two bartenders and they clean up.

The hall charges $15 for a case of soda from Sam's Club (35 cans) and iced them down.

I determined it would be a cash bar for alcohol. They are cheap: $1 25 for a can of beer, $2 for mixed drinks and $2.75 for top rail drinks.

One friend made shredded pork, his step mom made a pan of mostacholi and a pan of baked beans. His sister made TWO cakes: a round Watergate cake and a half sheet yellow cake.

I store bought prepackaged veggie tray, potato salad, Cole slaw,and chips. $60.

The night of the party both his dad and his step dad kicked in $50 each to begin to cover guests' drinks!

It all came together and we had so much fun!

Wow - what a great deal on the surprise party!! I can't even remember when drinks were that cheap! Lol!! Sounds like everyone had a great time and your dh enjoyed it! I'm with everyone else - I want you to throw me a party!!

 

[gracie1]

Hi all! Checking in here with just 6 weeks left til we pay off our Disney visa (the down payment for ds's car).

He has applied & interviewed at so many grocery stores, movie theaters, etc but no job offers. Dh was be able to get him an interview with a company that works at his place of business. They need laborers temp. through the summer so it would be perfect for ds. It's double our min wage here & hoping the money doesn't distract him from wanting to return to college. At this point he has to do something because we're paying on his student loan and his car payment. I don't mind the latter so much since it was my idea to splurge on the nicer/newer car. He would have been content with the one that cost what our down payment was. Still, I didn't want to hear about a bunch of emergency repairs; I need some peace of mind and this is worth it to me.
Anyway, if ds can take over his car insurance & student loan min payment, I can help him knock it out by next spring or at least save some more $ so he won't need any loans in the fall. (Community college is sooo much more affordable!)
Please send prayers, happy thoughts, pixie dust or whatever you believe in, our way that ds gets this job. Just please don't send Murphy.
He is not welcome here.

Way to go! That is great that the visa will be paid off in six weeks! Sending good vibes that your son will find a job soon.

 

[gracie1]

Argh! My car is leaking what my dad thinks is coolant. So I have to call and get it into the shop which I've been delaying so I need to come up with some cash. Worst case I'll put the repairs on my credit card BUT if the repairs are too much I need to get a new car. I don't want a used car and I know brand new cars are not a good investment so I have no idea what to do. I still need to get the left arm bushing and my rear struts replaced. If they find anything else that needs repairs I may just say screw it and drive it to a dealer. Murphy needs to stop coming into town. He is not welcome!

Any news on the car?

 

[dayvewc]

DH has decided to go back to school. He has been talking about it for a long time but never pulled the trigger on it until now. He has a teaching degree and is currently working selling furnaces and air conditioning units. I know in the long run it's going to be a good thing, the average salary for business degree he is going for would be more than double what he makes now, but the next two years are going to rough. He will have to take out student loans to cover almost all of the cost, which is fine. It will change my debt dumping plans a little but again in the long run we should be better off.

What I'm wondering is once he is officially back in school if I can divert the payments on his existing student loans and divert the monthly payment from that to pay off my higher interest CC faster? He has less than $5000 left on his existing loans and we pay about $200 a month on them. That $200 a month would go a long way to pay off my two remaining higher interest CCs.

Double-check with whoever is servicing the loan to make sure, but my understanding is that as long as you are enrolled, attending, and making progress, then you can forgo making the payments. Doing that may or may not be a good thing, though, as during the time you are not making payments it will continue to accrue interest that gets tacked back in to the principal when you start making payments again. You might want to check and see if you can defer full payments, but still make the interest payments. (Though, the interest on CC's is probably a lot more than the student loan interest, so it might be better to pay the lower interest later than the higher interest now).

 

[PrincessKymm]

Any news on the car?

I've got an appointment Saturday. my credit card is on standby

 

[arlinar]

First time posting here.

Been trying to repair credit score. I got a few collections removed from my credit report which dropped me to about a 480 around December. I got a secured credit card from Discover to help with repairs and up to 600 right now.

I have a underwater carloan right now which I'm trying to settle (losing my job recently doesn't help) and once I start working somewhere else, I plan on going to a local dealership who puts you in a newer car with a more affordable rate (I pay $406 a month for a 2009 Santa Fe)

Have some small student loans to pay off as well.

Hope I get up to 700 by the end of next year.

 

[hmwinter85]

Double-check with whoever is servicing the loan to make sure, but my understanding is that as long as you are enrolled, attending, and making progress, then you can forgo making the payments. Doing that may or may not be a good thing, though, as during the time you are not making payments it will continue to accrue interest that gets tacked back in to the principal when you start making payments again. You might want to check and see if you can defer full payments, but still make the interest payments. (Though, the interest on CC's is probably a lot more than the student loan interest, so it might be better to pay the lower interest later than the higher interest now).

Yeah he just started the whole process two weeks ago and it's moving very quickly. It's good for him for him since he will start in early June, but it doesn't give me a ton of time to figure out the money side of things. It theory it sounds great 2-4% interest on the student loans vs. 13% on the cc, I just have to do some research. I all of his loans are federal student loans but I don't know what portion is subsidized or not. I see a lot of spreadsheets in my future for this weekend.

 

[brooke789]

Hi all! I'm not officially a part of the group, but ever since August 15 we've been seriously paying off debt! We've never had CC debt, but we have a mortgage, 2 student loan payments and 2 car payments as of 8/15. The big change for us in Aug 2015 was our twins starting Kindergarten! We were pretty much just getting by + having enough money to put some into savings until that point. But public school began savings us approximately 1000 each month vs paying for childcare or private preschool. First we started sending every bit of extra money to our van (lowest debt amount) and paid it off about Jan 16. Then we've rolled that money and any extra into our other car which is now down to about $4500. Once that is paid off (hopefully by the end of the year) we'll begin sending our extra money to the two student loans which are about $9K today. After that we'll move on to our house which is about $79K. According to a payoff spst I downloaded based on paying what we currently owe plus any snowball (not counting extra we have each month) we'll be debt free in 5 years. It's really hard to believe, but we're going for it!

We've got our disney trip coming up (Room + Tickets paid for last year and 2K spending money in the bank...so shouldn't set us behind) and then we'll slow down over the summer when we have childcare costs again, but hoping to be back up and running full speed come August 16!