Debt Dumpers - 2016

[Shmily1]

Amy idea how expensive that is to fix?

Not much. The parts are super cheap and it's not hard. You drain the toilet, take the toilet loose from the floor and move it to the side. Scrape the was seal up and put a new one down. Replace the toilet making sure not to "wad up" the wax seal. Bolt it back down.

 

[Shmily1]

Since today is tax day, I'll fess up to what I have done. My tax bill was crazy. I wish I was one that could say I got all this back and paid this and this off. Nope, that's not me. I got to pay them a small fortune instead. To do this, I got a loan on my 401K. It's not bad considering I am paying interest to myself but still I hated doing it. Oh well, it is done and I paid my taxes, paid off 2 credit cards, and paid a good chunk on 3 others. The interest rate to myself is much cheaper than to the credit cards so I'm ok with that.

 

[myhoney]

Not much. The parts are super cheap and it's not hard. You drain the toilet, take the toilet loose from the floor and move it to the side. Scrape the was seal up and put a new one down. Replace the toilet making sure not to "wad up" the wax seal. Bolt it back down.

Yep. Super easy. The hardest part is getting the toilet off the floor bolts. You do have to be careful not to break the wax seal when you put the toilet back down. Don't drop it on there, because if it breaks, you'll need to start all over. Luckily wax seals are cheap! You can do it!!

 

[momtosam]

We are back to debt dumping -- woot woot! DH went back to work after Easter from being laid off. He has been working out of a city local ever since so he gets paid a higher rate of salary while there. CAR PAYMENT IS GONE! I just wrote out the last check for it. Happy dance

 

[gracie1]

We are back to debt dumping -- woot woot! DH went back to work after Easter from being laid off. He has been working out of a city local ever since so he gets paid a higher rate of salary while there. CAR PAYMENT IS GONE! I just wrote out the last check for it. Happy dance

Way to go!! Love not having a car payment!!

 

[DisneyMandC]

I feel ya!

We're supposed to be looking forward to our trip this Friday, but MIL's health took a recent turn for the worse, so we may have to cancel altogether. Gah! Being a grown up sucks sometimes.

Not debt dumping related, but did you end up getting to take your trip? How is MIL?

 

[DnA2010]

So I'm really working on our detailed budget for when I am off on maternity leave in Sept...I want to have a decent emergency fund built up, but I also need to figure out what we need to get for said baby and what can wait.
One of the big ticket items that we were going to need the emergency fund for was to replace DH's car, and we have done that (bought a used 2010 Honda CRV to replace our 98 Honda CRV- great deal so were able to pay cash!), so the other big one is a spring trip I really want to do a trip before I go back to work- not sure if it will be WDW/DL/cruise/Hawaii but something. I figure by the time I'm starting maternity, we should be built up again, and I think we should be able to maintain that money.
I also need to get through to HR and find out if I still accrue vacation while I'm away, and if I qualify for bonus.

babies are scary!

 

[fallonkendra]

I'm a few months late jumping in, but I've been so focused on paying off debt this year! I've only managed to come ahead by about $2000 so far this year, but I'll take it considering we did an 11 day trip to Orlando in January and a 3 day trip to Anaheim in February (which we won so hotel and flights were paid for, but spending money for our day trip to DL was not). Trip to the US cost a fair amount for us Canadians these days with our exchange rate! We also bought flights for a trip to the Maritimes later this year, and have already booked our flights to Orlando next January. These flights are two things I'd like to have paid off asap!

 

[DisneyMandC]

Ugh, I am so disappointed. I just went to an interview that I was very excited about. Until they told me the pay. 16 THOUSAND less than what I'd been told. I wanted to cry in the interview, I'd love to work for this person, but there's no way to make it happen on that salary.

Sorry, just having a pity party and needed to vent.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

Not debt dumping related, but did you end up getting to take your trip? How is MIL?

We are at WDW now and checking in with MIL daily. She's holding steady but the doctors aren't sure what's causing her symptoms. They've suggested a certain medication that has all sorts of side effects so she's trying to weigh the pros and cons. Thanks for asking.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

Ugh, I am so disappointed. I just went to an interview that I was very excited about. Until they told me the pay. 16 THOUSAND less than what I'd been told. I wanted to cry in the interview, I'd love to work for this person, but there's no way to make it happen on that salary.

Sorry, just having a pity party and needed to vent.

Ugh, how disappointing! Hoping the right job for you is just around the corner. Hang in there.

 

[gracie1]

I'm a few months late jumping in, but I've been so focused on paying off debt this year! I've only managed to come ahead by about $2000 so far this year, but I'll take it considering we did an 11 day trip to Orlando in January and a 3 day trip to Anaheim in February (which we won so hotel and flights were paid for, but spending money for our day trip to DL was not). Trip to the US cost a fair amount for us Canadians these days with our exchange rate! We also bought flights for a trip to the Maritimes later this year, and have already booked our flights to Orlando next January. These flights are two things I'd like to have paid off asap!

That is fantastic that you've been able to pay $2k towards your debt so far this year!! You should be very proud of yourself!!! Welcome to this thread - were happy to have you here!!

 

[gracie1]

Ugh, I am so disappointed. I just went to an interview that I was very excited about. Until they told me the pay. 16 THOUSAND less than what I'd been told. I wanted to cry in the interview, I'd love to work for this person, but there's no way to make it happen on that salary.

Sorry, just having a pity party and needed to vent.

Sorry to hear that the pay was less. Did you tell them that you wouldn't be able to accept the job with the pay being so low? How are things at your other job going?

 

[DisneyMandC]

We are at WDW now and checking in with MIL daily. She's holding steady but the doctors aren't sure what's causing her symptoms. They've suggested a certain medication that has all sorts of side effects so she's trying to weigh the pros and cons. Thanks for asking.

Ugh, how disappointing! Hoping the right job for you is just around the corner. Hang in there.

Oh good! Glad you made your trip and that she's at least managing. I hope she's feeling better soon! And thank you, I know everything happens for a reason so I'm just hoping the right job comes along soon.

Sorry to hear that the pay was less. Did you tell them that you wouldn't be able to accept the job with the pay being so low? How are things at your other job going?

I didn't tell them that yet. I don't want to totally rule it out right off the bat since another job I just applied for doesn't close until Thursday, so I don't expect to hear about having an interview with them until at least Monday (I feel pretty good about getting an interview with them since I previously worked in another department in that office). But it's just so frustrating. And I'm so tired of applying to jobs. My other job is going ok though. Not the terrible situation that it was back in December. I just don't want to be here anymore. I'm really hopeful that something will pan out with this other application. I LOVED working in the other department I was in at that job, only left because this was supposed to be such a resume booster and better experience for me. I would take about a 10k paycut with that job, but I would no longer be driving downtown, saving me $130 a month on parking and tolls. Plus, it's closer to home and work day ends at 4:30. I would be home before 5, whereas I currently battle traffic to and from work and am lucky to make it home at 6.

 

[OhMari]

 

[fallonkendra]

My goals for 2016:

1) Pay off at least 2 of my credit cards (I have three in total). Balance of all three in January 2016 was around $8400. Since then, I've paid one off completely and the total balance is now sitting around $5400. One credit card has an interest rate of 1.9%, so I'm not focused on paying that one off right now. I did borrow money from my line of credit to help pay off that credit card though, so I basically just played musical money with my debt...but I thought it made sense to pay 6.4% interest instead of 19.99% interest. $3000 paid off

2) Work on my line of credit. I don't have an actual goal for the number I'd like to see at the end of the year, I'd just like it to be less than what it is now. I started the year with it around $7200, but I now owe $8800 on it. $1600 more in debt

3) Build up my emergency fund a bit more. I have an ok TFSA account that could pay our mortgage for about 3.5 months, but not much else in terms of bills. I pay into that account weekly, and have since I was 23. That won't change. It's the savings account I'd like to build up, it currently has enough to pay my car insurance and house insurance for about 5 months. I live/work in the oil industry in Alberta, which has been scary the past year with lay-offs and companies going bankrupt due to falling oil prices - I'd like to have enough saved up to pay for all of our bills for at least 6 months in case I ever get laid off. So, between the TFSA and the savings account, I'd like to have at least $10,000 - I'm currently sitting around $6000. This was a bit higher, but one of our cats was really sick recently (she's better now thanks to medicine!) and both of our dogs needed their yearly check-up and booster shots - so it ended up being almost $1500 in vet bills in a short amount of time. Speaking of medical bills, I need to have money saved in case we ever lost our health coverage for medication - my Crohn's meds currently cost me $0 because of my work coverage, but if I had to pay out of pocket it would be about $100/month.

4) Have our Disney trip in January 2017 paid off before we even go. We went this past January, and I still have most of the cost sitting on my credit card. My boyfriend and I have agreed to not do Christmas for each other this year, we feel we have enough stuff and would rather put the money towards our trip. We've been huge concert goers most of our lives, but we're at the point where we've seen almost every band we want to (I know, tough problem to have), and we don't like going to shows on work nights anymore (getting older is hard haha). So, that's been saving money, since I'm the person who has to buy a tshirt at almost every concert I go to. I also traded in my credit card rewards points for gift cards. We don't want to become hermits trying to save money, so I used my points to get movie theater gift cards. We typically end up with free tickets to see advance screenings of movies (due to my boyfriend's job at a radio station) but we were still spending money on buying snacks - so now our snacks will be covered for our next few movies we go to. We're just trying to cut back where we can, without sacrificing our lifestyle too much.

So I guess I've only paid off about $1400 in debt so far this year, but my other savings have increased from the beginning of the year (TFSA, RRSP's, etc). I will be getting my tax refund back within the next week or two, so that will be going directly onto a credit card. I *might* have a major expense next week though - I've been on the waitlist for season tickets for the Edmonton Oilers for almost 2 years now (yes, an NHL team that has been one of the worst teams in the league for almost a decade still has a waiting list that you need to buy into just to get season seats). They built a new arena, opening in September which increases their overall capacity, and I received an email with a time slot to buy tickets (if there are any left by that point). So, if I'm able to get a pair, I'm looking at $4500 minimum... I'll find out for sure next week when my time slot opens.

 

[PrincessKymm]

Well I "have to" change DS's meds, again because of insurance. My medical plan is actually pretty good so I was confused when I picked up his refill with my new insurance and his copay was $75 for a 30 days supply. I promptly made a doctors appointment. Did a bit of research and apparently it's a brand only medication so my copay is significantly higher than a generic which costs $5. One of two things will happen, he will go back to one of two medications he's been on but not done superbly at or he will stay with this one and I'm out $200 every 3 months. Goodbye fun money!

On a brighter note I found an apartment I want to look at that will save me $200 a month in rent, but I cant move until October. im going to start saving for my move though. I'm thinking I'll save small cash bills and hide them.

My EF needs to be beefed up. I have half my Disney money saved...might be a leaner trip than I hoped for but its still Disney! I'm going to purchase some bowls and spoons so we can eat cereal in our room. I've got to tell DS we will be snacking as much as possible with stuff we are bringing. He's been looking forward to a lot of special Disney snacks but it is what it is. If I can put zero on my credit card for this trip, I will have cash rolled this entire trip.

I'm so close to paying off another card but I don't want to leave myself cash poor when I can easily wait a week and pay it off when I get paid.

Only 45 days until we leave for Disney!

 

[gracie1]

Well I "have to" change DS's meds, again because of insurance. My medical plan is actually pretty good so I was confused when I picked up his refill with my new insurance and his copay was $75 for a 30 days supply. I promptly made a doctors appointment. Did a bit of research and apparently it's a brand only medication so my copay is significantly higher than a generic which costs $5. One of two things will happen, he will go back to one of two medications he's been on but not done superbly at or he will stay with this one and I'm out $200 every 3 months. Goodbye fun money!

On a brighter note I found an apartment I want to look at that will save me $200 a month in rent, but I cant move until October. im going to start saving for my move though. I'm thinking I'll save small cash bills and hide them.

My EF needs to be beefed up. I have half my Disney money saved...might be a leaner trip than I hoped for but its still Disney! I'm going to purchase some bowls and spoons so we can eat cereal in our room. I've got to tell DS we will be snacking as much as possible with stuff we are bringing. He's been looking forward to a lot of special Disney snacks but it is what it is. If I can put zero on my credit card for this trip, I will have cash rolled this entire trip.

I'm so close to paying off another card but I don't want to leave myself cash poor when I can easily wait a week and pay it off when I get paid.

Only 45 days until we leave for Disney!

Maybe the doctor will be able to prescribe a medicine that is somewhat the same as what he is on just a generic brand since he is doing so well on this medicine. I dislike the tiers for prescriptions - seems whenever you find one that works great it's on the highest tier level or not covered. Sounds like you are ready for your trip!! 45 days is not too far away!

 

[stayhomemom77]

Well I "have to" change DS's meds, again because of insurance. My medical plan is actually pretty good so I was confused when I picked up his refill with my new insurance and his copay was $75 for a 30 days supply. I promptly made a doctors appointment. Did a bit of research and apparently it's a brand only medication so my copay is significantly higher than a generic which costs $5. One of two things will happen, he will go back to one of two medications he's been on but not done superbly at or he will stay with this one and I'm out $200 every 3 months. Goodbye fun money!

On a brighter note I found an apartment I want to look at that will save me $200 a month in rent, but I cant move until October. im going to start saving for my move though. I'm thinking I'll save small cash bills and hide them.

My EF needs to be beefed up. I have half my Disney money saved...might be a leaner trip than I hoped for but its still Disney! I'm going to purchase some bowls and spoons so we can eat cereal in our room. I've got to tell DS we will be snacking as much as possible with stuff we are bringing. He's been looking forward to a lot of special Disney snacks but it is what it is. If I can put zero on my credit card for this trip, I will have cash rolled this entire trip.

I'm so close to paying off another card but I don't want to leave myself cash poor when I can easily wait a week and pay it off when I get paid.

Only 45 days until we leave for Disney!

I don't know how much you usually spend on snacks at Disney but here's what we do...hopefully it's helpful.

We have fallen into this pattern but it works so we aren't going to change it!

Some background...
We only get certain special snacks at the parks...all non park days are just granola bars and whatnot in the room. We always do cereal in the room, and if we are lucky...we get free dining. We always get the regular dining plan but when we don't have it...then generally DH likes to do one TS and one QS per day anyway. If we have to, we sometimes go offsite to eat the TS meal and we have done ONE trip, where we just had a couple of TS meals and the rest of the time we had QS and snacks. That's how I like to do it but DH is a foodie so the kids and I generally let him have his own way. Except that one trip...the budget has enabled us to do it that way.

Anyway...we budget for snacks in the following way:

Animal Kingdom is our Disney bar day. Two of us get the ice cream sandwiches and two of us the ice cream bars. Works quite well for us and costs roughly $20 for the day for snacks.

Hollywood studios is where we get the carrot cake cookie (and all four of us share it as it is sooooo rich) and then a bucket of popcorn for sharing. My kids loooooooove Disney popcorn. DH and I usually get something to share from Starring rolls instead. Again averages out to about $20 for the day.

Magic Kingdom is where we get 2 Dole Whip floats to share. And then usually a Mickey pretzel. Usually about $20 for the day...are you seeing a pattern here?

Epcot is pretty much a wild card...we usually hit up one or more of the bakeries for some tasty goodness...I just budget $20 for snacks and we usually get one or two things from Karamel Kuche. The kids love the caramel corn, so we always get a package or two of those and then spend the rest when and where we like.

I also keep a $20 "emergency" snack fund...sometimes we use it and sometimes we don't.

That was my long winded way of suggesting that perhaps you let him pick one or two special snacks (or however many you feel you can afford) and work them into the plan somehow.

Good luck with the saving and have a great trip!!

 

[dayvewc]

Assorted updates:

So, I paid the law firm last Friday to represent me dealing with Diamond, and I have received 7 calls and 3 emails this week. , Kind of sure it is coincidence, since the law firm confirmed that they haven't sent out the representation letter yet. It's kind of funny, in an ironic sort of way. Though, the email that addressed my issues pretty much just said "tough luck, we've already done everything we are going to", so I'm still not feeling generous towards them.

On a different front, my mom was having chest pains Tuesday night, so my sister took her to the heart hospital. She was admitted based on the initial test results. She was supposed to have a full catheter done on Wednesday afternoon, so I took off a half-day to go be there. At 7 pm, we received word that the doctor was not going to be able to do it then, but that she was 2nd on the list for having it done today. So, I stayed overnight in the hospital. Did not realize that mom likes late night Discovery Channel TV. Got to see WAY too many episodes of "Alaska: The Final Frontier". *shudder*

Anyway, this morning they came and got her to do the cath spot on at 8:20 after we had been told it would start around 6 am. The nurse that took her to surgery said it would take about an hour, and sure enough, at 10:45 we were called back for the consultation with the doctor. (Brief background, 3 years ago she had a triple bypass and valve replacement). The doctor checked everything out, and the valve and 2 of the bypasses were fine. But the third bypass (from what I understood, the one at the rear of her heart) had 100% complete blockage. However, her heart had "built" its own bypass around the blockage. There was enough buildup from the bypass that the doctor did not think he would be able to operate on it - he couldn't even identify where the replacement artery ran through the secondary bypass. On the gooder side, her heart was pumping strongly, with a steady rhythm, and moving blood at a sufficient rate through her body, so the doctor determined that with as well as her heart is working coupled with the problems he would have trying to operate through the mass, that the potential gain was far outweighed by the high risk of problems, so no surgery.

He also could not find anything that would explain why she was having chest pains, so mom was sent home early afternoon and they do some other tests through the office and keep an eye on her heart, knowing about this alternative bypass and to keep checking on it that it is functioning adequately.

So, I got home about noon after getting about 3 hours of sleep last night and took a 4 hour nap. And that is my life for the last little bit.