Debt Dumpers - 2016

[stayhomemom77]

Well I had a giant surprise today! Signed into the bank website and nearly had a heart attack when I saw that my balance was triple the amount I was expecting to see. I clicked on the number for details, thinking the bank had made some mistake...but no...it was all our money.

Turns out payday was today...not tomorrow...and our income tax refund was deposited this morning.

First I did this

Then this

I shifted the tax refund to the vacation account and then paid the bill I went in there for...then I spent some time getting the April budget in order...paid what I could and moved what was necessary. The rest stays in the account to be drawn upon as necessary over the next four weeks.

I'll come back tomorrow to do the savings goal tally as I'm due to walk out the door in just a few minutes.

 

[dayvewc]

Continuing vent ahead ...

I called the Financial Services supervisor today during my lunch break. Spent about 30 minutes talking to him, and was pretty much told nothing new. Everything should have been in my contract, the one that I don't have. All the things I had understood were wrong, but it was all explained in the contract. That I still don't have. There was nothing that he could do, and even if there was something, since the hospitality management team had contacted me and opened a service ticket, anything that they did would supersede anything he could offer. The only thing that he did say was that he could submit to have them send me a copy of my contract, but that since the HM team had already requested that it was kind of pointless. He also suggested that I could send a copy of what few documents I did have, so I did that. I took pictures of everything I had, and emailed them to the HM contact. I then also uploaded them to the BBB complaint. Plus, I've been keeping a diary of every call and contact - who, position, date and time, and result (or lack thereof).

I also tried to call the quality assurance guy from the sales presentation back, but he wasn't in either time I called. I left a message, the first time saying I would try to call back later in the afternoon, and the second time just saying that I had tried to call again and would wait for him to contact me again.

Ok, not really ranting, just perpetually irritated at the continuing mess this has been.

 

[stayhomemom77]

Payday! Time for another update.

My 2016 goals:

#1- Save $12,000 for the house down payment
#2- Save $2000 in the Curveball fund (revolving)
#3- Save $4000 in the emergency fund

I have $1500 so far for the house down payment and we are officially behind where we thought we would be by now. I had expected it to be more like $2000 by now, but c'est la vie! Will continue working at this and hopefully will still make goal by the end of the year. The good news is that though it will build slower in the first six months of the year...the second half will see a raise and a reduction in deductions, so I have hope that things will accelerate at that point.

I have $150 right now in the curveball account. It should be at $1100 but we've had two car repairs and a sudden out of town funeral that decimated our savings. As this is what the account is for, we're not too upset about it but I would love to get to the point where we have a sort of $500 float in there. That's my main focus for the next couple of months.

I have the full $4000 in the emergency fund.

So overall...not doing too badly and our strict budget is proving pretty easy to follow!

 

[MrsTurnerLovesDisney]

Payday! Time for another update.

My 2016 goals:

#1- Save $12,000 for the house down payment
#2- Save $2000 in the Curveball fund (revolving)
#3- Save $4000 in the emergency fund

I have $1500 so far for the house down payment and we are officially behind where we thought we would be by now. I had expected it to be more like $2000 by now, but c'est la vie! Will continue working at this and hopefully will still make goal by the end of the year. The good news is that though it will build slower in the first six months of the year...the second half will see a raise and a reduction in deductions, so I have hope that things will accelerate at that point.

I have $150 right now in the curveball account. It should be at $1100 but we've had two car repairs and a sudden out of town funeral that decimated our savings. As this is what the account is for, we're not too upset about it but I would love to get to the point where we have a sort of $500 float in there. That's my main focus for the next couple of months.

I have the full $4000 in the emergency fund.

So overall...not doing too badly and our strict budget is proving pretty easy to follow!

AWESOME! At least you have the $4000 and are making progress towards the others!

 

[momtosam]

I saw this today and thought of us...

"Strive for progress, not perfection."

 

[OhMari]

Continuing vent ahead ...

I called the Financial Services supervisor today during my lunch break. Spent about 30 minutes talking to him, and was pretty much told nothing new. Everything should have been in my contract, the one that I don't have. All the things I had understood were wrong, but it was all explained in the contract. That I still don't have. There was nothing that he could do, and even if there was something, since the hospitality management team had contacted me and opened a service ticket, anything that they did would supersede anything he could offer. The only thing that he did say was that he could submit to have them send me a copy of my contract, but that since the HM team had already requested that it was kind of pointless. He also suggested that I could send a copy of what few documents I did have, so I did that. I took pictures of everything I had, and emailed them to the HM contact. I then also uploaded them to the BBB complaint. Plus, I've been keeping a diary of every call and contact - who, position, date and time, and result (or lack thereof).

I also tried to call the quality assurance guy from the sales presentation back, but he wasn't in either time I called. I left a message, the first time saying I would try to call back later in the afternoon, and the second time just saying that I had tried to call again and would wait for him to contact me again.

Ok, not really ranting, just perpetually irritated at the continuing mess this has been.

Hang in there, they will do everything they can, not to break your contract. Keep calling and documenting.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I saw this today and thought of us...

"Strive for progress, not perfection."

 

[toystoryduo]

Happy Friday!

I'm feeling optimistic about April. I want to hit our savings goal and start re-working our debt snowball. I really want to start paying things off again.

I've got my to do list written for the day and will work on my goals for the month as well.

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

[PrincessKymm]

I need to learn to say no!

my coworkers like to go out randomly for lunch. I was lucky today and only spent $4.24 BUT that's money I wasn't planning on spending. Yesterday I spent $20 on a damn salad! I hate saying no to them because they are so sweet and truly my rocks here at my new job. They don't know my financial situation but they know I'm a single mom so they usually pick cheaper places but that is hard downtown and yesterday was a fluke (I think). Guess I should pad my budget a bit differently

 

[dayvewc]

Hang in there, they will do everything they can, not to break your contract. Keep calling and documenting.

I am, and thanks for the encouragement. I have a Word document that is up to about 4 pages now, bullet pointed with a brief description of each contact including the person I talked to (if I knew it), the date, and the time. Also, if I knew I included the position title of the person.

I did call back on Thursday to talk to the Quality Assurance officer who did my signing - he had called and left a message on Tuesday. This was my 3rd and 4th attempt to call (documented) and the second time I got someone else in the office who did not know what was going on, but did see where the other guy had been working on my file. He said that the person I was trying to talk to was off work for the day, but that both of them would be in on Sunday and he would make sure that he called me back sometime in the afternoon.

Still haven't heard back from the hospitality management contact that returned my email (7 weeks after I sent it, not sure how quickly I can expect the next response). I figure I'll give call next Tuesday if I haven't heard anything since that will be a full week since I replied.

I will admit that the longer they take to get to a resolution (and there are a couple that would be acceptable to me), the less forgiving I will be about the whole matter. I am willing to accept some responsibility if the contract says what they tell me it does as I should have noticed the discrepancies when I signed it. But the longer this drags on (and the more payments they draft against me), and the more stress and grief I have to deal with, the more I will expect back from them.

I need to learn to say no!

my coworkers like to go out randomly for lunch. I was lucky today and only spent $4.24 BUT that's money I wasn't planning on spending. Yesterday I spent $20 on a damn salad! I hate saying no to them because they are so sweet and truly my rocks here at my new job. They don't know my financial situation but they know I'm a single mom so they usually pick cheaper places but that is hard downtown and yesterday was a fluke (I think). Guess I should pad my budget a bit differently

Could you kind of do both? Say "no" more and pad your budget a bit differently also? What I'm thinking is that you budget for a few lunches a week, but only accept invites to go on Tuesdays and Thursdays? Or something like that? Maybe let it "drop" in conversation that you like to use your lunch time for some productive purpose? Working ahead, scheduling things (doctor, etc.) for you and your son, etc.? That way you have a reason/excuse to not accept lunch invites every day, but you are still going often enough that your coworkers don't think you are being stuck-up.

 

[gracie1]

I am, and thanks for the encouragement. I have a Word document that is up to about 4 pages now, bullet pointed with a brief description of each contact including the person I talked to (if I knew it), the date, and the time. Also, if I knew I included the position title of the person.

I did call back on Thursday to talk to the Quality Assurance officer who did my signing - he had called and left a message on Tuesday. This was my 3rd and 4th attempt to call (documented) and the second time I got someone else in the office who did not know what was going on, but did see where the other guy had been working on my file. He said that the person I was trying to talk to was off work for the day, but that both of them would be in on Sunday and he would make sure that he called me back sometime in the afternoon.

Still haven't heard back from the hospitality management contact that returned my email (7 weeks after I sent it, not sure how quickly I can expect the next response). I figure I'll give call next Tuesday if I haven't heard anything since that will be a full week since I replied.

I will admit that the longer they take to get to a resolution (and there are a couple that would be acceptable to me), the less forgiving I will be about the whole matter. I am willing to accept some responsibility if the contract says what they tell me it does as I should have noticed the discrepancies when I signed it. But the longer this drags on (and the more payments they draft against me), and the more stress and grief I have to deal with, the more I will expect back from them.



Could you kind of do both? Say "no" more and pad your budget a bit differently also? What I'm thinking is that you budget for a few lunches a week, but only accept invites to go on Tuesdays and Thursdays? Or something like that? Maybe let it "drop" in conversation that you like to use your lunch time for some productive purpose? Working ahead, scheduling things (doctor, etc.) for you and your son, etc.? That way you have a reason/excuse to not accept lunch invites every day, but you are still going often enough that your coworkers don't think you are being stuck-up.

I missed something somewhere - is this for your student loans or the financing for your new courses that your taking?

 

[kool_kat]

I need to learn to say no!

my coworkers like to go out randomly for lunch. I was lucky today and only spent $4.24 BUT that's money I wasn't planning on spending. Yesterday I spent $20 on a damn salad! I hate saying no to them because they are so sweet and truly my rocks here at my new job. They don't know my financial situation but they know I'm a single mom so they usually pick cheaper places but that is hard downtown and yesterday was a fluke (I think). Guess I should pad my budget a bit differently

I started saying no by using the excuse (which is actually true) that it was too expensive calorie-wise. Don't know if that's something you can use, but then I would agree to go once a week if I had been good all week.

 

[dayvewc]

I missed something somewhere - is this for your student loans or the financing for your new courses that your taking?

This is from my most recent timeshare purchase. I was sold on one at the end of the year based on some usage options and payment plans that were offered. They have not followed through on any of it, most significantly by not providing a copy of the contract that I signed.

 

[rnorwo1]

I started saying no by using the excuse (which is actually true) that it was too expensive calorie-wise. Don't know if that's something you can use, but then I would agree to go once a week if I had been good all week.

This is what I usually say, truthfully, because you do eat so many more calories. dave's suggestion to just make it a once a week treat for yourself is also good, just something like "Not today, but I would love to come on Friday!" I've gotten comfortable with saying "that's not in the budget," but if you aren't, then maybe it would be easier to say "I'm saving for xyz, so I'll pass, thanks anyway!" Anyone who knows me knows that we are always planning on a vacation soon, so few people question it! And, more often than not, most people will admit that they should be saving, too!!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

This is what I usually say, truthfully, because you do eat so many more calories. dave's suggestion to just make it a once a week treat for yourself is also good, just something like "Not today, but I would love to come on Friday!" I've gotten comfortable with saying "that's not in the budget," but if you aren't, then maybe it would be easier to say "I'm saving for xyz, so I'll pass, thanks anyway!" Anyone who knows me knows that we are always planning on a vacation soon, so few people question it! And, more often than not, most people will admit that they should be saving, too!!

Exactly. All of my coworkers know I LOOOOOVE to travel. I have no problem whatsoever saying no to so many BS things at work: cake club, lunches out, after-work dinners, etc. I simply say it cuts into my vacation fund. I work in Center City Philadelphia. Even quick take out is a minimum of $10/day.
That's $50 per week or roughly $200+ per month. Besides the fact I'd be hippo size if I kept doing it.
Then again I've worked there 25+ years. They know me and it's all good.

 

[momtosam]

Paid off Home Depot tonight. It wasn't a huge balance, but still a step forward.

 

[Gena001]

@gracie1 where have you been? Missed you!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Paid off Home Depot tonight. It wasn't a huge balance, but still a step forward.

 

[DisneyMandC]

DH and I are going to go ahead and pay off our mattress this month. We ordered a Casper mattress when we moved into our new house and they were offering a 6 month 0% interest payment plan for it, so we chose that since we had so many expenses moving into the house. So we've been paying $158/month. We only have this month and next month left, but we've decided to go ahead and finish paying it this month. So that'll free up another $158 each month starting in May!

 

[ForeverAlice]

DH and I are going to go ahead and pay off our mattress this month. We ordered a Casper mattress when we moved into our new house and they were offering a 6 month 0% interest payment plan for it, so we chose that since we had so many expenses moving into the house. So we've been paying $158/month. We only have this month and next month left, but we've decided to go ahead and finish paying it this month. So that'll free up another $158 each month starting in May!

Totally off topic but if you don't mind can you tell me what you think of the casper mattress?