Debt Dumpers - 2016

[PrincessKymm]

That would be great having the condo where your monthly payment is half your rent! One question - what is the HOA fees? And also you would have to factor in condo insurance.
when does your new job start? I think once you start and see what everyone else wears it will help you with your wardrobe. And you will lose those 8lbs! But there's nothing worse than snug tops and pants to make you feel uncomfortable!

The HOA is $125 a month and I figured insurance wouldn't be more than $1,000 a year since I paid $1200 for my house when I was married. Still way cheaper than my rent!

I hate snug clothes....makes me feel like I'm choking and hurting my insides. I start Monday so I hope with the nerves my appetite will be scarce and I can drop a few pounds straight away.

 

[Eureka]

The HOA is $125 a month and I figured insurance wouldn't be more than $1,000 a year since I paid $1200 for my house when I was married. Still way cheaper than my rent!

I hate snug clothes....makes me feel like I'm choking and hurting my insides. I start Monday so I hope with the nerves my appetite will be scarce and I can drop a few pounds straight away.

Definitely need to be comfortable...I hate when clothes are tight. When I started my current job, I was coming off of some health issues and went shopping, had recently lost 18 lbs. Fast forward a couple years and things have gotten snug, and I had gained half of the weight back. Then I had my appendectomy, and suddenly my clothes aren't tight anymore. I know I didn't lose much, maybe three pounds, but enough that my pants feel better. Maybe with the new job you can walk at lunchtime. Will be good for you and will "force" you to bring food from home (eat at your desk?) and spend less money too. Good luck!

 

[PrincessKymm]

Definitely need to be comfortable...I hate when clothes are tight. When I started my current job, I was coming off of some health issues and went shopping, had recently lost 18 lbs. Fast forward a couple years and things have gotten snug, and I had gained half of the weight back. Then I had my appendectomy, and suddenly my clothes aren't tight anymore. I know I didn't lose much, maybe three pounds, but enough that my pants feel better. Maybe with the new job you can walk at lunchtime. Will be good for you and will "force" you to bring food from home (eat at your desk?) and spend less money too. Good luck!

Walking and packing are definitely in my plans! I'm almost positive they have a gym onsite so if I can utilize that a few times a week I will be better off. Since they are downtown I don't want to spend an arm and a leg for food so I will be packing lunch every day. This is my goal anyway. Maybe save eating out for birthdays or getting to know my coworkers. My last job it was a service they provided to keep you working through your lunch hour. Like, oh you ordered lunch? That's great! Now you can do XYZ since you don't have to go out today. It was a very bad habit to get into! Also very expensive!

 

[potterfanatic]

I thought I was doing great when I called up Comcast this morning set to cancel my cable tv. I currently have the highest internet speed possible (I work from home and need fast reliable internet) and the smallest cable package, just basic channels) They told me I have my price locked to before a rate hike, that if I cut off the cable it would only be $10 difference! Then they took my HD package off and are claiming that it is the same price as what I would be paying for internet alone. However, I feel like all the fee's from having cable (rent for the cable box, and various fees) will save me over $20, but if I am basically getting it for free I want to keep it. Has anyone had any experience with canceling cable? Did you actually save money?

 

[Dentam]

I just canceled my Amazon prime membership. Basically it won't renew in April so I still have it until then since they won't refund any money from my current membership. It costs $99/year and I just haven't been impressed with it. I liked the 2 day shipping but often it took longer and the latest issue was them being unwilling to help me with an issue I had with my last order. I guess they have enough customers that they don't feel like they have to provide good customer service to everyone. Anyway, that'll save me some money come April!

 

[Dentam]

I have my price locked to before a rate hike

How did you do this? I don't have cable or phone, but my internet bill keeps going up slowly. I pay a little over $60/month for it now.

 

[potterfanatic]

How did you do this? I don't have cable or phone, but my internet bill keeps going up slowly. I pay a little over $60/month for it now.

I didn't do anything, they said they had gotten rid of the blast plus that I am on and I was grandfathered in.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I just canceled my Amazon prime membership. Basically it won't renew in April so I still have it until then since they won't refund any money from my current membership. It costs $99/year and I just haven't been impressed with it. I liked the 2 day shipping but often it took longer and the latest issue was them being unwilling to help me with an issue I had with my last order. I guess they have enough customers that they don't feel like they have to provide good customer service to everyone. Anyway, that'll save me some money come April!

That is unfortunate. I have always gotten amazing customer service from Amazon. When an item misses a delivery deadline, I file a claim and often get a partial refund. When I have needed to make a return, they have always covered return shipping, even though its not usually included on all items. And sometimes when I process a return, they don't even make me return the item, they just give me the refund. Probably because return shipping would cost more than just refunding the item. I have been an Amazon Prime member since 2005 and an Amazon customer since 1998, so I guess they want to make sure that I stay.

 

[Eureka]

Walking and packing are definitely in my plans! I'm almost positive they have a gym onsite so if I can utilize that a few times a week I will be better off. Since they are downtown I don't want to spend an arm and a leg for food so I will be packing lunch every day. This is my goal anyway. Maybe save eating out for birthdays or getting to know my coworkers. My last job it was a service they provided to keep you working through your lunch hour. Like, oh you ordered lunch? That's great! Now you can do XYZ since you don't have to go out today. It was a very bad habit to get into! Also very expensive!

Yeah, when I started my job they bought lunch for everyone on Thursdays, I think for the same reason. Plus I worked in Georgetown (ritzy area of DC) with lots of great restaurants. Our office has since moved locations, they don't buy us lunch and I only have to drive in twice a week so eat mostly at home. I'm sure that has helped my waistline. That's great that there's a gym you can use right there.

 

[gracie1]

The HOA is $125 a month and I figured insurance wouldn't be more than $1,000 a year since I paid $1200 for my house when I was married. Still way cheaper than my rent!

I hate snug clothes....makes me feel like I'm choking and hurting my insides. I start Monday so I hope with the nerves my appetite will be scarce and I can drop a few pounds straight away.

That would be great to have your own place and be paying less than your rent! Those are great HOA fees too! The condo building I used to manage they were $675 a month!!!!

 

[gracie1]

I thought I was doing great when I called up Comcast this morning set to cancel my cable tv. I currently have the highest internet speed possible (I work from home and need fast reliable internet) and the smallest cable package, just basic channels) They told me I have my price locked to before a rate hike, that if I cut off the cable it would only be $10 difference! Then they took my HD package off and are claiming that it is the same price as what I would be paying for internet alone. However, I feel like all the fee's from having cable (rent for the cable box, and various fees) will save me over $20, but if I am basically getting it for free I want to keep it. Has anyone had any experience with canceling cable? Did you actually save money?

We spent over an hour going over our package and in the end it was like yours - $10 difference so we just kept what we had

 

[Dentam]

That is unfortunate. I have always gotten amazing customer service from Amazon. When an item misses a delivery deadline, I file a claim and often get a partial refund. When I have needed to make a return, they have always covered return shipping, even though its not usually included on all items. And sometimes when I process a return, they don't even make me return the item, they just give me the refund. Probably because return shipping would cost more than just refunding the item. I have been an Amazon Prime member since 2005 and an Amazon customer since 1998, so I guess they want to make sure that I stay.

Well, part of what you're paying for is the "free" two day shipping and it does take longer sometimes and I've never been offered any type of refund. I didn't mind it so much but was really unhappy with the customer service I got on this last order. I placed the order and immediately realized that I didn't want it charged to the Amazon cc, which was the default payment method. I made the change right away and received an email that the change had gone through successfully. Checked my cc online the next day and it was charged to it anyway. So the email was wrong. Got in touch with their customer service department and they said no, the entire order was charged to the new cc you wanted it on. Told them that wasn't the case. Long story short, after half an hour they confirmed I was correct but that there was no way they could change it now. They refused to make the change even though their email had stated that it had been done. That's just bad customer service to me and really makes me unwilling to pay $99 a year to a company that is unwilling to help with this type of mistake.

And if anyone is wondering, I was purchasing items for work that I will be reimbursed for, not racking up more cc debt. I didn't want it on the Amazon cc because that one comes due soon and sometimes it takes awhile to get reimbursements from my work. I wish they'd just give us work cc's to use for this stuff but they don't.

 

[Dentam]

The condo building I used to manage they were $675 a month!!!!

Say what??!! That is insane!!

 

[LinderInWonderland]

I thought I was doing great when I called up Comcast this morning set to cancel my cable tv. I currently have the highest internet speed possible (I work from home and need fast reliable internet) and the smallest cable package, just basic channels) They told me I have my price locked to before a rate hike, that if I cut off the cable it would only be $10 difference! Then they took my HD package off and are claiming that it is the same price as what I would be paying for internet alone. However, I feel like all the fee's from having cable (rent for the cable box, and various fees) will save me over $20, but if I am basically getting it for free I want to keep it. Has anyone had any experience with canceling cable? Did you actually save money?

When we had cable and Internet, I had to have the highest speed internet available to me for school. Cable was basic plus HBO and DVR. We have a local cable utility in Tacoma, so I never had to bundle. My total bill for both was $198 and we also had Netflix streaming only for another $8.75 and Amazon Prime for $99/year. So, all told it was $215 a month.

Now, my internet is $95 and we only stream but have tons of options: HBO Now, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and WWE Network. Total streaming is $55/month, so I am saving $65 a month off of what we were paying. We don't 'need' all the streaming, but we certainly enjoy it!

 

[gracie1]

Say what??!! That is insane!!

I know!! And that didn't even include the utilities. The owner still has to pay for their utilities!

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Well, part of what you're paying for is the "free" two day shipping and it does take longer sometimes and I've never been offered any type of refund. I didn't mind it so much but was really unhappy with the customer service I got on this last order. I placed the order and immediately realized that I didn't want it charged to the Amazon cc, which was the default payment method. I made the change right away and received an email that the change had gone through successfully. Checked my cc online the next day and it was charged to it anyway. So the email was wrong. Got in touch with their customer service department and they said no, the entire order was charged to the new cc you wanted it on. Told them that wasn't the case. Long story short, after half an hour they confirmed I was correct but that there was no way they could change it now. They refused to make the change even though their email had stated that it had been done. That's just bad customer service to me and really makes me unwilling to pay $99 a year to a company that is unwilling to help with this type of mistake.

And if anyone is wondering, I was purchasing items for work that I will be reimbursed for, not racking up more cc debt. I didn't want it on the Amazon cc because that one comes due soon and sometimes it takes awhile to get reimbursements from my work. I wish they'd just give us work cc's to use for this stuff but they don't.

So when something comes late, you can actually go into their system and say that you want to return the item because it missed the guarantee shipping deadline. It will then offer you a partial refund on the item if you don't actually return it. This is usually what I do, but sometimes I will contact using the chat function. I like chat because I can be doing my work at the office and still take care of any issues with my orders.

I'm honestly surprised that they couldn't help you with the credit card issue, especially if you got the email saying that the change was made. It was obviously their fault then. I had an order ship by accident through my subscribe and save account because I never received the email stating that it was shipping soon. I contacted them over the phone right when I got the final shipping notice. It was too late for them to stop the shipment, but they refunded everything and didn't make me return the package. I got 288 tea bags, 8 lbs of pasta, 10 large hand soap refills and 20 cans of tuna for free.

I do make a lot of purchases on Amazon- 79 orders in 2015 alone. And I have gotten many big ticket items from them, so maybe that influences the customer service that I receive. But I would hope that everyone would receive the same service.

 

[Colleen27]

I have collections, not in his name, so he thinks he can do it. I just wanted to jump on the snowball idea to see quick results. We have different trains of thought.

Personally, as long as he's onboard with working on the debt I wouldn't quibble too much over the details. Some people find the quick wins of the snowball method more inspiring, some people find the bigger interest savings of the highest-rate method more inspiring. There's really no right or wrong to it as long as the debt is getting dumped!

I thought I was doing great when I called up Comcast this morning set to cancel my cable tv. I currently have the highest internet speed possible (I work from home and need fast reliable internet) and the smallest cable package, just basic channels) They told me I have my price locked to before a rate hike, that if I cut off the cable it would only be $10 difference! Then they took my HD package off and are claiming that it is the same price as what I would be paying for internet alone. However, I feel like all the fee's from having cable (rent for the cable box, and various fees) will save me over $20, but if I am basically getting it for free I want to keep it. Has anyone had any experience with canceling cable? Did you actually save money?

We've had the same problem. We have Comcast for cable, internet, and phone. They're the only truly high-speed internet provider in our little town - DSL or satellite would be our other options, at about 1/5 to 1/10 the speed, which is not compatible with my online courses or working from home - so we're stuck with them for that. If we just dropped the phone, which I was all for since we don't use it, our bill would actually go UP because of the lost "triple play" discount. If we drop the phone and cable, our bill would drop by $25 - not enough to offset the cost of the streaming services we'd add to make up the difference. But calling to have this conversation did get our promotional rate extended for another 12 months so I'm glad I put the time in to figure it all out.

I think dropping cable is only a viable cost-cutting measure in places where there is true competition for high speed internet access. My mom's package options are much different from mine, even with the same company, and I chalk that up to the fact that there are two other cable internet providers available in her suburb. Heck, in certain neighborhoods of the city gigabit internet service is cheaper than 100mbps costs in my area! But such is the price we pay for the nice community and affordable housing in our small town.

 

[Dentam]

I do make a lot of purchases on Amazon- 79 orders in 2015 alone. And I have gotten many big ticket items from them, so maybe that influences the customer service that I receive. But I would hope that everyone would receive the same service.

I've been a customer for a long time as well and purchase most of my dog's toys and treats from them since they're usually a lot cheaper than the pet store. I was told they couldn't do anything for me and when I pressed them was just told the same thing. Not sure what else to say. I was pretty surprised as well.

 

[potterfanatic]

Thanks for all your feedback. It looks like cutting it completely isn't going to save me any more money, so I will keep what I have. And hey, they took off my HD fee, so the call still saved me $10 a month. That's $10 I can put into paying off my debt!

and I chalk that up to the fact that there are two other cable internet providers available in her suburb.

This makes a lot of sense to me! We have 2 providers here, but one is known for being completely unreliable.

 

[Gena001]

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We're saving up to put a large fenced in yard around our house

We used to have an acre that was fenced on 2 sides by neighbors...all chain link in the early 90's (I think ). We found enough for free or super cheap to do the rest of the yard. Hubby went and took most of it out from other yards. Only had to purchase a few pieces from the store to complete!