Debt Dumpers - 2016

[bcwife76]

@MrsTurnerLovesDisney crossing my fingers for your dh!! Cars.....ugh......not only does my car need new tires but last night DH informs me that he's going to continue driving with his winter tires on right now (although we haven't had ANY snow at all) because the tread is way better than on his regular tires and that his car needs tires this year too.

We received our house insurance renewal in the mail this week and as usual, it's going up. Another $12/month. Pisses me off because we have never made a claim but our rates go up every year. Two years ago I called to see if they could do something about it - I ended up raising our deductibles to get a lower premium, not a fabulous solution but it was something. Good thing we have an emergency fund. Anyway, I've been shopping around for new insurance and I'm shocked to find ours might actually BE the cheapest. Grrrr.....going to talk to a local insurance broker next week or the week after (need to renew my car insurance in April) and see if they can find something cheaper for us.

Too bad we can't bundle our home and auto insurance together but that's not possible in British Columbia. You can ONLY buy your insurance (well, basic insurance) through the Insurance Corporation of BC. We can now buy our comprehensive elsewhere but it's such a PITA to have car insurance with two different places and there are only a couple of companies that can work in BC because of our stupid insurance laws, neither of which will save me that much.

Sorry to bore you all with the insurance natter

 

[MrsTurnerLovesDisney]

@MrsTurnerLovesDisney crossing my fingers for your dh!! Cars.....ugh......not only does my car need new tires but last night DH informs me that he's going to continue driving with his winter tires on right now (although we haven't had ANY snow at all) because the tread is way better than on his regular tires and that his car needs tires this year too.

We received our house insurance renewal in the mail this week and as usual, it's going up. Another $12/month. Pisses me off because we have never made a claim but our rates go up every year. Two years ago I called to see if they could do something about it - I ended up raising our deductibles to get a lower premium, not a fabulous solution but it was something. Good thing we have an emergency fund. Anyway, I've been shopping around for new insurance and I'm shocked to find ours might actually BE the cheapest. Grrrr.....going to talk to a local insurance broker next week or the week after (need to renew my car insurance in April) and see if they can find something cheaper for us.

Too bad we can't bundle our home and auto insurance together but that's not possible in British Columbia. You can ONLY buy your insurance (well, basic insurance) through the Insurance Corporation of BC. We can now buy our comprehensive elsewhere but it's such a PITA to have car insurance with two different places and there are only a couple of companies that can work in BC because of our stupid insurance laws, neither of which will save me that much.

Sorry to bore you all with the insurance natter

I feel you on the tires thing me & DH both had to have a new set each last year (there went all the fun money fast)
And what a bummer about the insurance blah!

I hate when anything changes. Our house insurance is tied up with our house note, which I might could change for a lower amount of money but one less thing to remember to pay so I'm sticking with it for the moment. But it went up $3 a month which isn't much but its like why??? It's like they know our car insurance dropped some so they are like "oh ok they've got the money lets raise just enough to be irritating!!!" (INSERT EVIL LAUGH HERE!!)

UGH

 

[Shmily1]

Everyone is doing so great on paying off bills! That's my dream for this year. I need to get some paid off myself. I am wanting to get on that as soon as DS gets a job. He got an MBA in May and still can't get a job. He either is over qualified or has no experience so for now, I am footing everything for him. I also have to pay taxes again this year so all bill payoffs will be definitely after April 15th.

Kymm, it may be good to see where your money goes. I use YNAB for that (and right now I see my eating and kids take all my money!). It has helped me see what I need to do and what habits I need to stop. Good luck!!

 

[DisneyMandC]

Ugh, tires! We're getting ready to put two new ones on DH's car next month. Plus we'll have the $200 bill for his deductible from his accident last month.

Murphy also struck in the form of a leaky bathroom sink on Sunday night. It's a very slow leak, but the sink was just put in back in November. I called our contractor and it should be an easy fix, fortunately.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

DH is still waiting to hear back from the interview. We are so anxious I feel like I'm going to be ill! Hopefully we get news soon and that it's good news!!

A dodged a bit of Murphy today though, took my car in for brake check up-nothing is wrong with my brakes at all just my brake pedal is squeaking some. Thank goodness on that. Next week I take it in for the actuator switch hopefully that won't be an arm and a leg

 

[mrsabbott]

Hubs' check was good this week, and I got caught up on another credit card. The down side is, I had to do a big grocery trip this time (sometimes you just need to stock up on the essentials) plus buy stuff for the kids' Easter baskets and it is my daughter's birthday. While at Walmart, they had leggings for $1 and shirts for $2. I bought a few for the girls for next year!

Anyhoo, by the end of the month, we SHOULD be caught up on all of our credit cards and can hopefully start debt dumping again. Only about 2 months left of school and I won't have to pay childcare anymore.. that will free up about $300 a month!! I plan to get aggressive with it over the summer! My goal is to have at least 3 credit cards paid off before I go back to work in August. I think I can do it. Hubs seems a little motivated about it too!

You guys were talking about HSA's.. we have insurance through Tricare and I get dental through my job. Because I turned down my job's insurance, I get something like $1200 a year in something called an HRA account. This is free money for me! I don't contribute to this at all. The catch is that it can only be used for dental and vision. Still.. I have 4 kids who are going to need braces and our insurance won't cover 100%. Plus I have one in glasses now. The money rolls over every year too, so it will just keep building up. Pretty sweet deal!

 

[Eureka]

Hubs' check was good this week, and I got caught up on another credit card. The down side is, I had to do a big grocery trip this time (sometimes you just need to stock up on the essentials) plus buy stuff for the kids' Easter baskets and it is my daughter's birthday. While at Walmart, they had leggings for $1 and shirts for $2. I bought a few for the girls for next year!

Anyhoo, by the end of the month, we SHOULD be caught up on all of our credit cards and can hopefully start debt dumping again. Only about 2 months left of school and I won't have to pay childcare anymore.. that will free up about $300 a month!! I plan to get aggressive with it over the summer! My goal is to have at least 3 credit cards paid off before I go back to work in August. I think I can do it. Hubs seems a little motivated about it too!

You guys were talking about HSA's.. we have insurance through Tricare and I get dental through my job. Because I turned down my job's insurance, I get something like $1200 a year in something called an HRA account. This is free money for me! I don't contribute to this at all. The catch is that it can only be used for dental and vision. Still.. I have 4 kids who are going to need braces and our insurance won't cover 100%. Plus I have one in glasses now. The money rolls over every year too, so it will just keep building up. Pretty sweet deal!

Don't let that HRA money go! Find some way to use it! Too bad it's not an FSA because there are lots more eligible expenses. (My job is related to healthcare so I was just reading a lot about this stuff yesterday)

 

[DisneyMandC]

It's funny that you mentioned an HRA, because I was looking for something about our health insurance yesterday and noticed we have an HRA. I've never even heard of this. We had money roll over from last year. What can we use it for?

Also, tax refund came in this morning!

 

[Dentam]

I have an HSA and my work contributes $300/year. It has covered my eye exams and contacts each year which is great.

Plugging along with the debt dumping. Just scheduled to pay another big chunk on my lowest balance cc for next month. By the end of April, I will have dumped 4k so far for the year. My goal is to cut my cc debt in half by the end of the year and finish it off by the end of next year.

My car hasn't had any issues lately and apparently they need it to be acting up to diagnose it. Fingers crossed it keeps on running for another year - yeah, not likely, but one can hope!

 

[DisneyMandC]

Is an HSA different from an HRA? DH's work contributed $400/year to his HRA, which rolled over to this year, but it also shows DH as contributing $360. We don't have any health-related expenses. Are you able to use HRAs for things like glasses for DH?

 

[OhMari]

Don't let that HRA money go! Find some way to use it! Too bad it's not an FSA because there are lots more eligible expenses. (My job is related to healthcare so I was just reading a lot about this stuff yesterday)

I used to get it at work, because I am on my dh insurance. But 2 years ago my wages got cut and I was told to go under 30 hours, so I wouldn't be eligible for HRA. My civil holiday pay was taken away too. I bargained and asked to stay at 30 hours so I could still pay into the Pension plan. That is the only benefit I get at work. I miss that extra income, but if I complain, they will drop me under 30 hours.

 

[DnA2010]

@MrsTurnerLovesDisney crossing my fingers for your dh!! Cars.....ugh......not only does my car need new tires but last night DH informs me that he's going to continue driving with his winter tires on right now (although we haven't had ANY snow at all) because the tread is way better than on his regular tires and that his car needs tires this year too.

We received our house insurance renewal in the mail this week and as usual, it's going up. Another $12/month. Pisses me off because we have never made a claim but our rates go up every year. Two years ago I called to see if they could do something about it - I ended up raising our deductibles to get a lower premium, not a fabulous solution but it was something. Good thing we have an emergency fund. Anyway, I've been shopping around for new insurance and I'm shocked to find ours might actually BE the cheapest. Grrrr.....going to talk to a local insurance broker next week or the week after (need to renew my car insurance in April) and see if they can find something cheaper for us.

Too bad we can't bundle our home and auto insurance together but that's not possible in British Columbia. You can ONLY buy your insurance (well, basic insurance) through the Insurance Corporation of BC. We can now buy our comprehensive elsewhere but it's such a PITA to have car insurance with two different places and there are only a couple of companies that can work in BC because of our stupid insurance laws, neither of which will save me that much.

Sorry to bore you all with the insurance natter

Oh insurance it is just so frustrating here...the amount we pay in car insurance for my husbands p.o.s with 622,000km is insane! I did the same thing last year with house insurance- I called everywhere and it did seem like I was getting the best deal grrr!!

Our insurance on our house is up next month too, gotta love it.

 

[mrsabbott]

Well, my employer offers two different ones.. Because we have Tricare Health insurance (through the military) we were only eligible for one that goes towards dental and vision only. I can use it for copays, check ups, glasses, contacts, and just about any dental procedure except cosmetic dentistry (whitening and things like that). If we had our health insurance through another company then we could spend ours on any medical expense (doctors, prescriptions, etc..) I don't know why they differentiate but they do.

I don't pay into this at all. This is basically "free money" for me because I opted out of getting health insurance.

 

[Gena001]

Doesn't unused money from HRA go into retirement accounts? ...thus the R in the HRA.

 

[dayvewc]

I found this, since we were talking about them. It clears up it up some.

http://www.uhc.com/content/dam/uhcdotcom/en/Employers/PDF/CDHComparisonGridHSAHRAFSA.pdf

 

[DisneyMandC]

Thanks all!

 

[Dentam]

So, I got an offer in the mail today from the cc that I paid off last month. They are offering a 3.5% interest rate on any amount (up to my 2k limit) that I transfer from one of my other higher interest rate cards - until it is paid off. No time limit for the lower interest rate. It does charge a 5% balance transfer fee. I am thinking of transferring 2k from my cc that has the highest balance and therefore is last on my list to pay off. It currently has an interest rate of 11.24%. The only thing is that this means another balance on a card and one more payment every month, even if it is a small one.

 

[OhMari]

So, I got an offer in the mail today from the cc that I paid off last month. They are offering a 3.5% interest rate on any amount (up to my 2k limit) that I transfer from one of my other higher interest rate cards - until it is paid off. No time limit for the lower interest rate. It does charge a 5% balance transfer fee. I am thinking of transferring 2k from my cc that has the highest balance and therefore is last on my list to pay off. It currently has an interest rate of 11.24%. The only thing is that this means another balance on a card and one more payment every month, even if it is a small one.

They are going to charge you $100 in a transfer fee. The 2K that you have now is probably $10 a month in interest with it being at 11.24%. They are probably hoping you make small payments, so they can get more interest off you in the long run. since the account is open, you wouldn't be opening a new account and taking a hit on your FICA score. How long is it going to take you to get to that account after you transfer.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

So, I got an offer in the mail today from the cc that I paid off last month. They are offering a 3.5% interest rate on any amount (up to my 2k limit) that I transfer from one of my other higher interest rate cards - until it is paid off. No time limit for the lower interest rate. It does charge a 5% balance transfer fee. I am thinking of transferring 2k from my cc that has the highest balance and therefore is last on my list to pay off. It currently has an interest rate of 11.24%. The only thing is that this means another balance on a card and one more payment every month, even if it is a small one.

I would just run the numbers and figure out what it would mean for your debt dumping plan. Will it speed up the process? Will it reduce overall interest payments? What is your break even point, the point at which the transfer fee plus the 3.5% per month interest rate is the same as just leaving this amount on your higher interest card. Because without that timeframe in mind, you might end up spending more in interest than just leaving it where it is.

 

[Dentam]

Read the fine print and 3.5% is the variable prime rate, so it will change monthly. Think I'll be passing on this one.