Debt Dumpers - 2016

[Arctic Stamp Queen]

Joining in. I have two credit cards to pay off at 7,000 each. I have a 1700.00 credit line loan to pay off and 2 vehicles. One is 15,000 the other is 10,000.

I found a neat spreadsheet to use in Google Docs that has you input all your debt, interest rates and minimum
monthly payment. You then tell it how much you can afford to put towards bills monthly and you can then sort it several ways (snowball, Avalanche) to see how long it will take to pay off.

I added on 3500.00 to my debt so we can go to WDW in January.

Factoring all that in with what I feel comfortable putting towards my debt (and I was aggressive), I will have everything but my cars paid off by next January. Cars will be paid off in July 2017. In 16 months I will be debt free, except for my house, AND will have taken a WDW vacation!

Holy cow I am so excited!!!

 

[Angeejoe]

Joining in. I have two credit cards to pay off at 7,000 each. I have a 1700.00 credit line loan to pay off and 2 vehicles. One is 15,000 the other is 10,000.

I found a neat spreadsheet to use in Google Docs that has you input all your debt, interest rates and minimum
monthly payment. You then tell it how much you can afford to put towards bills monthly and you can then sort it several ways (snowball, Avalanche) to see how long it will take to pay off.

I added on 3500.00 to my debt so we can go to WDW in January.

Factoring all that in with what I feel comfortable putting towards my debt (and I was aggressive), I will have everything but my cars paid off by next January. Cars will be paid off in July 2017. In 16 months I will be debt free, except for my house, AND will have taken a WDW vacation!

Holy cow I am so excited!!!

 

[Dentam]

You just need to tell him flat out "NO!!!" You're too nice & he knows it. He can't be that dense to not know you don't want him there, can he?

AMEN!! I was going to say this too.

 

[Dentam]

I found a neat spreadsheet to use in Google Docs that has you input all your debt, interest rates and minimum
monthly payment. You then tell it how much you can afford to put towards bills monthly and you can then sort it several ways (snowball, Avalanche) to see how long it will take to pay off.

Sounds like a handy spreadsheet! That is awesome that you can get all of that paid off in just 16 months! I wish I could put a bigger chunk towards my debt each month, but I would have to take a second job in order to do so. Currently I'm aiming for December of 2017 to have it all paid off though! Welcome to the group!

 

[Arctic Stamp Queen]

Thanks, I was surprised at how fast it would go using the snowball method. It made me want to do it seeing how fast I could. I hope it's achievable, I only left us 750 a mo for food/gas...in AK.

I think I found the spreadsheet by searching for debt calculator for Google sheets.

 

[mrsabbott]

Debt dumping isn't going nearly as well as I had planned on paper.. I am paying what I can, when I can, but I am having a hard time getting caught up on the credit cards that I got behind on. Frustrating!

On the bright side, our mortgage payment goes down this month. And I got good news that my son will be able to go to Kindergarten next year after all. They aren't changing the age cut off date until the following school year! This means that I will not have to pay childcare expenses next year!! I currently pay a friend $75 a week to watch him (which is a good deal since childcare easily runs twice that a week around here) but she is moving in the summer and I thought my entire paycheck would go towards daycare next year! Starting in April, my entire paycheck will go towards paying off debt instead!

 

[PrincessKymm]

I signed up for the financial planning tools at work. I also submitted a request for pre-approval on a mortgage. I have been searching for apartments and rentals and anything over 900 sq. feet for a 2bedroom in my neighborhood is ridiculous. I already pay way too much of my monthly salary to rent. I feel like if I had a mortgage it would be less and I would actually be working for something in the end.

I feel like if I reign in my spending I can get a down payment saved up and some of my bills paid off or down.

Is this a terrible idea? I feel like it might be but its not like I have to sign on the line today. I've got plenty of time to make a final decision.

 

[MrsTurnerLovesDisney]

I signed up for the financial planning tools at work. I also submitted a request for pre-approval on a mortgage. I have been searching for apartments and rentals and anything over 900 sq. feet for a 2bedroom in my neighborhood is ridiculous. I already pay way too much of my monthly salary to rent. I feel like if I had a mortgage it would be less and I would actually be working for something in the end.

I feel like if I reign in my spending I can get a down payment saved up and some of my bills paid off or down.

Is this a terrible idea? I feel like it might be but its not like I have to sign on the line today. I've got plenty of time to make a final decision.

I say go for it and just look and see what is available to buy price wise and what your monthly payment would be. It's good to look and have options. We are very lucky to have been able to buy a place 3 years ago. The rental places around here are insane. It's a college town but it also up and coming and lots of medical/engineering type folks with a little bit better cash flow. An apt complex burnt/was condemned 3 years ago. They've remodeled/reopened it and now charge almost $1000/month for 3 bd and it's not even in a great neighbor.

 

[Shmily1]

I signed up for the financial planning tools at work. I also submitted a request for pre-approval on a mortgage. I have been searching for apartments and rentals and anything over 900 sq. feet for a 2bedroom in my neighborhood is ridiculous. I already pay way too much of my monthly salary to rent. I feel like if I had a mortgage it would be less and I would actually be working for something in the end.

I feel like if I reign in my spending I can get a down payment saved up and some of my bills paid off or down.

Is this a terrible idea? I feel like it might be but its not like I have to sign on the line today. I've got plenty of time to make a final decision.

Go for it. I think you'll probably do much better than you expect to with owning. Good luck!!

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Some here will be debt dumping related, some more general.

DH and I got back from our WDW trip on Sunday. It was amazingly fun! This was our first stay as DVC members. We loved the Polynesian and can't wait to go back again in 2 years. Once we get our debt paid down, we plan to start saving for some more DVC points. We happened to have our trip during the DVC 25 Bash at Magic Kingdom, which was awesome. We rode several rides with just 5 minutes wait time, we ate free Mickey ears ice cream bars, we got pictures with Baymax and the fireworks display was epic. We did spend a little more than we had budgeted towards our trip, mostly because we got Epcot Flower and Garden Festival souvenirs, but it was less than $200 total, so I think we did alright.

We didn't get the dining plan this trip because we wanted to test it out and compare it with our last trip. The dining plan seemed great, but it was really just too much food. DH and I both love to eat, but appetizer, entree and dessert for lunch and dinner each day was just extreme. We got what we wanted to get and didn't limit our choices based on cost, but we often ended up skipping or splitting an appetizer or dessert, so that helped. DH also got more alcohol than last time, but that isn't included in the DDP anyways. We were there 2 more nights than last time and we ate at more signature restaurants, but we actually spent less money this trip. With my gift card savings, it ended up being about $800 for everything for 7-days/6-nights for 2 adults.

The only gloomy cloud during our trip was that 2 days before we left I got a frantic voicemail from my mom saying that my dad was being rushed to the hospital because he was having a stroke. I didn't hear my phone right when she called and when I tried calling back, I wasn't getting through. My heart just sunk at that moment and I was sitting in the middle of Adventureland, sobbing with my husband and I both trying to call someone to find out what was going on. The thought of not seeing my dad again was so scary. I finally got through to my mom and spoke with the doctor. My dad had a transient ischemic attack, which is just like a stroke, except that it resolves itself and doesn't leave any permanent damage. Since my sister was in the room with my dad when his symptoms started, they were able to call 911 right away and get him to the hospital very quickly. I saw him when we flew back on Saturday. If you didn't know he had the attack, you would never be able to tell. I am so glad that he is alright because things could have turned out so differently. I can't even describe my feeling of relief.

In other news, I paid off another credit card balance. I have now paid off two credit cards this year and saved $2500 into our emergency fund! Continuing to make progress. I also cancelled my gym membership since I just wasn't going enough. I will focus instead on working out at home and outside, now that the weather is really warming up. And DH had two job interviews this week, so keeping my fingers crossed that something comes through for him.

 

[Shmily1]

Some here will be debt dumping related, some more general.

DH and I got back from our WDW trip on Sunday. It was amazingly fun! This was our first stay as DVC members. We loved the Polynesian and can't wait to go back again in 2 years. Once we get our debt paid down, we plan to start saving for some more DVC points. We happened to have our trip during the DVC 25 Bash at Magic Kingdom, which was awesome. We rode several rides with just 5 minutes wait time, we ate free Mickey ears ice cream bars, we got pictures with Baymax and the fireworks display was epic. We did spend a little more than we had budgeted towards our trip, mostly because we got Epcot Flower and Garden Festival souvenirs, but it was less than $200 total, so I think we did alright.

We didn't get the dining plan this trip because we wanted to test it out and compare it with our last trip. The dining plan seemed great, but it was really just too much food. DH and I both love to eat, but appetizer, entree and dessert for lunch and dinner each day was just extreme. We got what we wanted to get and didn't limit our choices based on cost, but we often ended up skipping or splitting an appetizer or dessert, so that helped. DH also got more alcohol than last time, but that isn't included in the DDP anyways. We were there 2 more nights than last time and we ate at more signature restaurants, but we actually spent less money this trip. With my gift card savings, it ended up being about $800 for everything for 7-days/6-nights for 2 adults.

The only gloomy cloud during our trip was that 2 days before we left I got a frantic voicemail from my mom saying that my dad was being rushed to the hospital because he was having a stroke. I didn't hear my phone right when she called and when I tried calling back, I wasn't getting through. My heart just sunk at that moment and I was sitting in the middle of Adventureland, sobbing with my husband and I both trying to call someone to find out what was going on. The thought of not seeing my dad again was so scary. I finally got through to my mom and spoke with the doctor. My dad had a transient ischemic attack, which is just like a stroke, except that it resolves itself and doesn't leave any permanent damage. Since my sister was in the room with my dad when his symptoms started, they were able to call 911 right away and get him to the hospital very quickly. I saw him when we flew back on Saturday. If you didn't know he had the attack, you would never be able to tell. I am so glad that he is alright because things could have turned out so differently. I can't even describe my feeling of relief.

In other news, I paid off another credit card balance. I have now paid off two credit cards this year and saved $2500 into our emergency fund! Continuing to make progress. I also cancelled my gym membership since I just wasn't going enough. I will focus instead on working out at home and outside, now that the weather is really warming up. And DH had two job interviews this week, so keeping my fingers crossed that something comes through for him.

That sounds like a great trip! I am sure the part about your dad was very scary. I have been in similar situations and it definitely brings you down from the fun for a while. I actually had one of those about 10 years ago and I was only in my 30s then. It was definitely scary but I haven't had any more. The only thing they actually did for the TIA was do the sonogram on my arteries in my neck. Nothing there so on we go.

You are doing great paying off your bills. Keep up the awesome work!

 

[DisneyMandC]

Some here will be debt dumping related, some more general.

DH and I got back from our WDW trip on Sunday. It was amazingly fun! This was our first stay as DVC members. We loved the Polynesian and can't wait to go back again in 2 years. Once we get our debt paid down, we plan to start saving for some more DVC points. We happened to have our trip during the DVC 25 Bash at Magic Kingdom, which was awesome. We rode several rides with just 5 minutes wait time, we ate free Mickey ears ice cream bars, we got pictures with Baymax and the fireworks display was epic. We did spend a little more than we had budgeted towards our trip, mostly because we got Epcot Flower and Garden Festival souvenirs, but it was less than $200 total, so I think we did alright.

We didn't get the dining plan this trip because we wanted to test it out and compare it with our last trip. The dining plan seemed great, but it was really just too much food. DH and I both love to eat, but appetizer, entree and dessert for lunch and dinner each day was just extreme. We got what we wanted to get and didn't limit our choices based on cost, but we often ended up skipping or splitting an appetizer or dessert, so that helped. DH also got more alcohol than last time, but that isn't included in the DDP anyways. We were there 2 more nights than last time and we ate at more signature restaurants, but we actually spent less money this trip. With my gift card savings, it ended up being about $800 for everything for 7-days/6-nights for 2 adults.

The only gloomy cloud during our trip was that 2 days before we left I got a frantic voicemail from my mom saying that my dad was being rushed to the hospital because he was having a stroke. I didn't hear my phone right when she called and when I tried calling back, I wasn't getting through. My heart just sunk at that moment and I was sitting in the middle of Adventureland, sobbing with my husband and I both trying to call someone to find out what was going on. The thought of not seeing my dad again was so scary. I finally got through to my mom and spoke with the doctor. My dad had a transient ischemic attack, which is just like a stroke, except that it resolves itself and doesn't leave any permanent damage. Since my sister was in the room with my dad when his symptoms started, they were able to call 911 right away and get him to the hospital very quickly. I saw him when we flew back on Saturday. If you didn't know he had the attack, you would never be able to tell. I am so glad that he is alright because things could have turned out so differently. I can't even describe my feeling of relief.

In other news, I paid off another credit card balance. I have now paid off two credit cards this year and saved $2500 into our emergency fund! Continuing to make progress. I also cancelled my gym membership since I just wasn't going enough. I will focus instead on working out at home and outside, now that the weather is really warming up. And DH had two job interviews this week, so keeping my fingers crossed that something comes through for him.

Sounds like a great trip, but how scary about your dad! Glad he's ok!

For the dining plan, did you book back when the plan still had appetizer, entree, and dessert included? I thought they did away with the appetizer, but maybe you were grandfathered in?

 

[Dentam]

My parents and I are talking about purchasing DVC together - not for a few years of course once I am debt free! I think it would save us money in the long run for sure. We are planning to rent points to stay at the Poly next spring to celebrate my birthday! I'm glad you had a great trip and also glad to hear that your dad is okay - how scary!

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

For the dining plan, did you book back when the plan still had appetizer, entree, and dessert included? I thought they did away with the appetizer, but maybe you were grandfathered in?

We were actually on the deluxe dining plan last time because we prefer table service restaurants. It includes appetizer, entrée, and dessert with a drink. As just two adults, we are happy to take our time and relax for a longer lunch. Once we have kids, I foresee more counter service in our future though. We ate at just one counter service the whole time, Be Our Guest, for lunch using the preorder system. It was probably the most budget friendly meal of the whole trip.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

My parents and I are talking about purchasing DVC together - not for a few years of course once I am debt free! I think it would save us money in the long run for sure. We are planning to rent points to stay at the Poly next spring to celebrate my birthday! I'm glad you had a great trip and also glad to hear that your dad is okay - how scary!

Thanks, definitely was scared that day. 30 minutes of trying to reach someone and not knowing if he was alright or not felt like hours. Also, DH and I bought into DVC with just 55 points using gift money from our wedding. It is enough for us to go for a 5-7 night trip every 2 years, which seems perfect right now. You could save even more money if you don't buy direct from Disney like we did. We liked the idea of Poly, so we bought direct. You will love your trip next year. The cast members were amazing and the resort is beautiful!

 

[Dentam]

Thanks, definitely was scared that day. 30 minutes of trying to reach someone and not knowing if he was alright or not felt like hours. Also, DH and I bought into DVC with just 55 points using gift money from our wedding. It is enough for us to go for a 5-7 night trip every 2 years, which seems perfect right now. You could save even more money if you don't buy direct from Disney like we did. We liked the idea of Poly, so we bought direct. You will love your trip next year. The cast members were amazing and the resort is beautiful!

Yeah, I think we would look into resale and try to go once a year, but we'll see. I love the Poly since the remodel and would happily purchase there! My dad loves the Wilderness Lodge though (we all do) so that would be another option. We would save enough to avoid needing to finance it, which I think would be the only way to go if we want to really save money. I'm glad you loved it! I can't wait to stay there!

 

[DisneyMandC]

We were actually on the deluxe dining plan last time because we prefer table service restaurants. It includes appetizer, entrée, and dessert with a drink. As just two adults, we are happy to take our time and relax for a longer lunch. Once we have kids, I foresee more counter service in our future though. We ate at just one counter service the whole time, Be Our Guest, for lunch using the preorder system. It was probably the most budget friendly meal of the whole trip.

Oh so deluxe still does include appetizer? We did deluxe when we went on our honeymoon last year, but I remember some posters on the Restaurants forum were in an uproar a while back because when the new dining plan brochure came out it did not include appetizer for DxDP. Good to know!

 

[dayvewc]

You just need to tell him flat out "NO!!!" You're too nice & he knows it. He can't be that dense to not know you don't want him there, can he?

That is a problem I have always had. I tend to not be very assertive, and really avoid confrontation.

That is very true. I just know that if I was ever on really hard times, I would want/need someone to help me out. I like to think of it as "paying it forward, just in case". But yeah, he knows.

I am not so sure. It's amazing just how dense he can be sometimes. Pretty sure his understanding violates a few laws of physics!!

We did reach an accommodation today. He is NOT going on the trip, but in return, if he saves his money between now and July, I will use some of my timeshare to reserve a room for him/us to go back. I wasn't planning on another trip to Florida that quickly, but really hard to not want to go to my happy place.

My parents and I are talking about purchasing DVC together - not for a few years of course once I am debt free! I think it would save us money in the long run for sure. We are planning to rent points to stay at the Poly next spring to celebrate my birthday! I'm glad you had a great trip and also glad to hear that your dad is okay - how scary!

I am definitely in favor of timeshare. Whether DVC or another one. Though, I will say if you don't do DVC check out the company thoroughly first. I have *cough cough * 4 *cough cough* 2 too many *cough cough* timeshare contracts. DVC is one of them, and I LOVE it. And definitely check into the resale market. There are a few benefits that you only get by buying direct, but most of those are not effective/efficient use of the points you get. And as much as I love DVC, I also really love my others. They each provide something different from each other, and together give me a great set of options. Though, too much vacation points/time to really use myself in a year.

 

[Miss Whimsy]

We did reach an accommodation today. He is NOT going on the trip, but in return, if he saves his money between now and July, I will use some of my timeshare to reserve a room for him/us to go back. I wasn't planning on another trip to Florida that quickly, but really hard to not want to go to my happy place.

that's awesome, maybe between now and the next trip and can repay some of that back rent!!

 

[dayvewc]

that's awesome, maybe between now and the next trip and can repay some of that back rent!!

That's pretty much my hope too!!