Debt Dumpers - 2016

[AquaDame]

Well the day after we left, DH's dad closed the loan (which he could do because he was the cosigner) and owned a new, personal loan for the same amount at a different bank. And I have no idea why. What possessed him to do that? Now DH has all this money sitting in a bank account and he can't make payments on the loan. I don't know that loan rate, but I can't imagine that it is better than what the student loan was at, so it is probably accruing more interest now.

Since the money is tied up in a Canadian bank and your FIL is in Canada, is there anyway to cut a check or do a transfer to him from that bank every month to pay down that balance..? Or heck, just give him the lump sum and ask him to deal with it..? ^^;

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Since the money is tied up in a Canadian bank and your FIL is in Canada, is there anyway to cut a check or do a transfer to him from that bank every month to pay down that balance..? Or heck, just give him the lump sum and ask him to deal with it..? ^^;

This is exactly what we have planned to do. We will be giving his dad all of the money to pay off the entire loan so that we don't have to worry about anything else in Canada. At that point, all of our finances will have been moved here to the US.

 

[momtosam]

Paid off a store card today!

 

[MrsTurnerLovesDisney]

My goal for this long weekend is to sit down and really work on our budget. Now that we have the student loan issue taken care of, I am going to really plan out our spending for the rest of the year, taking into account as much granular detail as possible so I can get a really solid idea of how much we can dump by the end of December. I feel that if I have a really solid plan, I can execute it pretty well. Though there have been many unexpected expenses over the past few months, there has also been too much loose spending. I am reigning it all in and will report back after.

that sounds like a pretty good idea....I need to do the same with our stuff and include in extras like my husband hair cuts etc. since he needs those so often.

 

[Dentam]

The part for my car should be in tomorrow. Hoping it won't be too hard to replace.

In other news, I finally got confirmation on the dates of the conference I'm attending in Shanghai. It will be the last week of July. Still hoping to stay a few extra days afterward to go to Shanghai Disneyland. Fixing my car (at least a temporary fix, not fixing all of the expensive issues it has) rather than taking on a car payment right now will help me to feel better about spending the money to do this. My airfare and week's stay/meals/etc are all being covered for the conference week so I'll just need to pay for my park tickets and hotel stay (2 nights) at Shanghai DL Hotel plus any food and souvenirs for those days.

 

[Gena001]

The part for my car should be in tomorrow. Hoping it won't be too hard to replace.

In other news, I finally got confirmation on the dates of the conference I'm attending in Shanghai. It will be the last week of July. Still hoping to stay a few extra days afterward to go to Shanghai Disneyland. Fixing my car (at least a temporary fix, not fixing all of the expensive issues it has) rather than taking on a car payment right now will help me to feel better about spending the money to do this. My airfare and week's stay/meals/etc are all being covered for the conference week so I'll just need to pay for my park tickets and hotel stay (2 nights) at Shanghai DL Hotel plus any food and souvenirs for those days.

I'm so jelly! Wish I had a few extra $$ to toss your way to pick me up a beautiful Disney Shanghai purse...a Dooney purse. Oh well.

 

[Gena001]

I've been away from the board for 2 or 3 weeks. I came back and had to read thru nearly 200 posts! So much going on with everyone!

@dayvewc I'm sorry to hear about your old car. I saw an Entourage today and immediately thought of you. Nice car! I know you gave that decision lots of thought before committing. I'm driving a 1994 Toyota van with 220k miles and it just keeps going. I like to think it's beyond "old" now and into "vintage!"

@Jen and Ashwin I was honestly thinking about you the other day and wondered how you were doing. Sounds like you have a nice plan for that curve ball.

So, our DD had last day of 10th grade today. (And our other DD finished 1st grade.) DD16 got a job this summer working at the pool: snack bar and front desk. $8 per hour. She's had training and orientation this past week and goes live on Sunday. We bought a 1990 Miata for her that had been in a fender bender with the original owner. Hubby fixed it up for her and she's been practicing driving it (manual transmission ). She's been riding with dad or he's followed her. Her first stick solo trip was last night to Walgreens. Our insurance only went up $103 over 6 months for adding a car. (It's titled in our name. ) Now she can pay her own gas!

I need to find a decent bank for a teenager. She wants to do the exchange trip to Germany next summer. We told her she needs to pay half. The cost isn't set in stone yet, but somewhere between $2k - $2,600. It needs to be paid by March 2017 so I figured if we each saved $130 a month, we'd be ok. Plus if we sign up and make the deposit by mid June, they discount the trip by $200. It will be hard for her to work when the autumn comes back due to her classes. So she better save that portion as well. I think she's asking for cash for her birthday and Christmas.

I think that's it for now. Not really dumping much right now, but swimming ok.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I've been away from the board for 2 or 3 weeks. I came back and had to read thru nearly 200 posts! So much going on with everyone!

@dayvewc I'm sorry to hear about your old car. I saw an Entourage today and immediately thought of you. Nice car! I know you gave that decision lots of thought before committing. I'm driving a 1994 Toyota van with 220k miles and it just keeps going. I like to think it's beyond "old" now and into "vintage!"

@Jen and Ashwin I was honestly thinking about you the other day and wondered how you were doing. Sounds like you have a nice plan for that curve ball.

So, our DD had last day of 10th grade today. (And our other DD finished 1st grade.) DD16 got a job this summer working at the pool: snack bar and front desk. $8 per hour. She's had training and orientation this past week and goes live on Sunday. We bought a 1990 Miata for her that had been in a fender bender with the original owner. Hubby fixed it up for her and she's been practicing driving it (manual transmission ). She's been riding with dad or he's followed her. Her first stick solo trip was last night to Walgreens. Our insurance only went up $103 over 6 months for adding a car. (It's titled in our name. ) Now she can pay her own gas!

I need to find a decent bank for a teenager. She wants to do the exchange trip to Germany next summer. We told her she needs to pay half. The cost isn't set in stone yet, but somewhere between $2k - $2,600. It needs to be paid by March 2017 so I figured if we each saved $130 a month, we'd be ok. Plus if we sign up and make the deposit by mid June, they discount the trip by $200. It will be hard for her to work when the autumn comes back due to her classes. So she better save that portion as well. I think she's asking for cash for her birthday and Christmas.

I think that's it for now. Not really dumping much right now, but swimming ok.

If you have USAA, that is a great bank to get her an account. Also, we just opened a new checking account at Chase because there was a $300 bonus. I saw that they offer student bank accounts with 0 monthly fees, so that could be an option.

 

[Dentam]

If you have USAA, that is a great bank to get her an account. Also, we just opened a new checking account at Chase because there was a $300 bonus. I saw that they offer student bank accounts with 0 monthly fees, so that could be an option.

I switched to Chase checking about a month ago and got the $300 bonus within days of opening my checking account. Pretty nice and so far I'm happy with them!

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I switched to Chase checking about a month ago and got the $300 bonus within days of opening my checking account. Pretty nice and so far I'm happy with them!

We just opened the account on Wednesday and I already had the direct deposit, so we should get the bonus soon. The Chase branch is the closest to our house, so it's really convenient and they have longer hours than our old local bank. We also got Disney debit cards, which I love!

 

[Miss Whimsy]

wow sometimes I'm super glad that I don't have a car.

having a bad couple of budget months. just a lot of mid-size unexpected stuff that added up, and I've been too busy at work to meal plan/prep properly, so there's been a lot more restaurant meals, especially for lunch (I'm usually SO good at packing lunch for work!).

I know I can get out of this rut--my three-paycheck-month is in July, just have to get there--but it's so frustrating.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

wow sometimes I'm super glad that I don't have a car.

having a bad couple of budget months. just a lot of mid-size unexpected stuff that added up, and I've been too busy at work to meal plan/prep properly, so there's been a lot more restaurant meals, especially for lunch (I'm usually SO good at packing lunch for work!).

I know I can get out of this rut--my three-paycheck-month is in July, just have to get there--but it's so frustrating.

It is really amazing how all of those smaller expenses can add up. There is someone in another thread that said she spends $7 at Starbucks every single day, sometimes twice a day. She was looking for ways to save so they could go on another cruise. Just by cutting out 5 of the 7 days, she would be saving over $1800 in a year! It definitely adds up.

 

[Dentam]

We just opened the account on Wednesday and I already had the direct deposit, so we should get the bonus soon. The Chase branch is the closest to our house, so it's really convenient and they have longer hours than our old local bank. We also got Disney debit cards, which I love!

Oh! I didn't realize I could get a Disney debit card! I'll have to check into that. Yeah, it is much more convenient for me too given that my state only has one B of A branch and that was my bank before I moved here. Plus B of A is awful with fees.

 

[DisneyMandC]

It is really amazing how all of those smaller expenses can add up. There is someone in another thread that said she spends $7 at Starbucks every single day, sometimes twice a day. She was looking for ways to save so they could go on another cruise. Just by cutting out 5 of the 7 days, she would be saving over $1800 in a year! It definitely adds up.

I think I read the same post you did. When I saw that order my eyes about popped out of my head. I enjoy a tall mocha from Starbucks maybe every other week to once a month. I couldn't imagine ordering a venti every day.

 

[Eureka]

I think I read the same post you did. When I saw that order my eyes about popped out of my head. I enjoy a tall mocha from Starbucks maybe every other week to once a month. I couldn't imagine ordering a venti every day.

I know! First of all, I am not a coffee drinker, but I like their non-coffee frapps. I like to convert my "point programs" (my points, Kellogg's family rewards etc) points to Starbucks GC when I can so it's always free. That said, I maybe go once a month.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I think I read the same post you did. When I saw that order my eyes about popped out of my head. I enjoy a tall mocha from Starbucks maybe every other week to once a month. I couldn't imagine ordering a venti every day.

I like Starbucks and so does DH. But we go as a treat and usually just 1-3 times a month. But I when I was interning in DC during law school, there were literally 5 Starbucks stores within view from the building's front door. I went every single day over my lunch break with the other interns. I can see how this could easily become a daily habit if it was so convenient.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Oh! I didn't realize I could get a Disney debit card! I'll have to check into that. Yeah, it is much more convenient for me too given that my state only has one B of A branch and that was my bank before I moved here. Plus B of A is awful with fees.

When the guy was running us through the account opening process he got to a screen with a bunch of debit card designs. I was so excited when I saw the Disney cards. You can see the designs here:

https://disneydebit.com/card-designs/

DH loves Donald, so he got Mickey and the Crew. I didn't want to get the same design as him, so I got the Midnight design with the castle. I love it! You should definitely inquire about getting one of these cards. It seems really fitting since that $300 bonus is going towards our DL trip in November.

And you get a lot of the same perks as the Disney Chase Credit Card, like Character Meet n Greet, merchandise and dining discounts. Its pretty awesome!

 

[DisneyMandC]

I like Starbucks and so does DH. But we go as a treat and usually just 1-3 times a month. But I when I was interning in DC during law school, there were literally 5 Starbucks stores within view from the building's front door. I went every single day over my lunch break with the other interns. I can see how this could easily become a daily habit if it was so convenient.

I didn't realize you were a lawyer too!

 

[Miss Whimsy]

Starbucks is a weakness of mine that I have significantly cut down on, but once again the craziness of work is getting me. I used to go almost every day, then I cut myself back to once every couple of weeks (brewing my own iced coffee at home), but I'm super backsliding. Everything is just so hectic that I'm like, whatever, $4.50 is worth the five minutes of sanity this drink will bring me. My willpower to resist is just nonexistent right now.

 

[Gena001]

If you have USAA, that is a great bank to get her an account. Also, we just opened a new checking account at Chase because there was a $300 bonus. I saw that they offer student bank accounts with 0 monthly fees, so that could be an option.

USAA...no, don't think we qualify? Isn't it a credit union?

And, I'm in St. Louis. The closest Chase branch to us is in Springfield, IL. That $300 would be very sweet for her!