Debt Dumpers - 2016

[Dentam]

What part did you have to replace? Was this for the problem that your car was missing upon acceleration? I have that problem with mine - wondering if it's the same problem!

Yes, it was for the acceleration issues which were getting really bad - to the point it wasn't safe to drive it. It was the throttle position sensor and the replacement kit (with wires which I didn't end up needing) cost about $50 at AutoZone. Took me less than an hour to replace it. I did have to remove some other parts to get to it, but it wasn't too difficult.

 

[bababear_50]

I had to charge a $150 to my credit card. My back has been killing me recently and my friend gifted me a chiropractor visit and massage. It helped but it's not gone. I can still walk upright but it takes time to get upright each day (and yes I'm relatively young!). I think the culprit is my bed so instead of blowing my entire budget on a new bed I charged $150 mattress topper to see if it helps. Hopefully I won't need a whole new bed anytime soon but I'm afraid I might.

It just isn't stopping this year. On the good news front...only 4 more sleeps til Disney!

Healing hugs being sent your way.
I recently got a new bed because the pillow top (firm) one I had was killing me.I guess I've always slept on a spring mattress and my body just couldn't handle the newer types.
Oh you must be getting so excited about your trip--I am a little envious as I have to wait until next March. Have fun planning and dreaming.
Hugs Mel

 

[bababear_50]

Well, after 2.5 years back to work full time, I got let go today. So did my boss and several other people. Strictly financial, they said, and I believe them. We had a round of layoffs a couple years ago and I was nervous for a bit after that bc one of my teammates who did the same thing I did was let go back then. The company is a start up and on shaky financial ground. I will get two weeks severance (one week for every year) and can file for unemployment.

DH makes more than I did/do, but we were putting a lot into the kids' 529s and retirement and then just using part of my salary for bills. We do have a nest egg we've always said was for illness or job loss but I still don't want to use it unless we have to. We have areas in which we can cut back if we need to...that will really depend on how long I'm out of work. Which will depend on what we want to do about that since school is out in two weeks. The boys are teens but still need to get places and we have a vacation planned that we aren't going to cancel. We've already paid for a lot of stuff toward it.

But I worry. And feel sick. And even though they said it has nothing to do with my performance, which was great, it still feels awful. We are going away this weekend so there is not much I can do right now anyway. But now my mind will be on overtime.

So very sorry to hear this Hon,
sending hugs and best wishes your way~~~~~~~~~~~Hugs~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hugs Mel

 

[bababear_50]

Oh boy
I am discussing Christmas spending with my adult sons right now and it's only June.
I am trying to allow everyone to give their opinions but everyone's ideas so far are different.
I think as the Mom my vote maybe the tie breaker.
We should be able to settle this tonight.....well I hope tonight.

Edited to add:
We are going to cut our Christmas gift giving budget to 1/4 of last year.
I will try to spread the gift buying season over the next 6 months (two of which i don't work). Hopefully by Christmas I will be able to enjoy the season with alot less stress.
Hugs Mel

 

[momtosam]

We received a tiny windfall this week. DH's union settled a new contract and they got a raise retroactive to May 1st, so the back pay for his raise was in this week's check.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Well, after 2.5 years back to work full time, I got let go today. So did my boss and several other people. Strictly financial, they said, and I believe them. We had a round of layoffs a couple years ago and I was nervous for a bit after that bc one of my teammates who did the same thing I did was let go back then. The company is a start up and on shaky financial ground. I will get two weeks severance (one week for every year) and can file for unemployment.

DH makes more than I did/do, but we were putting a lot into the kids' 529s and retirement and then just using part of my salary for bills. We do have a nest egg we've always said was for illness or job loss but I still don't want to use it unless we have to. We have areas in which we can cut back if we need to...that will really depend on how long I'm out of work. Which will depend on what we want to do about that since school is out in two weeks. The boys are teens but still need to get places and we have a vacation planned that we aren't going to cancel. We've already paid for a lot of stuff toward it.

But I worry. And feel sick. And even though they said it has nothing to do with my performance, which was great, it still feels awful. We are going away this weekend so there is not much I can do right now anyway. But now my mind will be on overtime.

I'm so sorry to hear this.
Sending hugs and pixie dust that you find something else soon!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We received a tiny windfall this week. DH's union settled a new contract and they got a raise retroactive to May 1st, so the back pay for his raise was in this week's check.

Dh had this happen once. We love a good retro check.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I realize 2016 is just about half over, but if you'd accept me I'd like to join! Where to start.....

DH is still paying down credit card debt from college - he pays enough down that it's manageable but I don't think he's ever had a zero balance. I got my first credit card a few months before our wedding a year and a half ago, and took advantage of 15 months interest-free to just pay down the minimum every month. And then we bought a house almost a year ago, and given that we had already planned a 16-night trip to Paris & London for summer 2016 (next month!) we just dumped a lot of the flights, etc on my card.......and now we've found ourselves as of a few months ago with three nearly-maxed out cards, paychecks just meeting the rest of the bills thanks to crazy interest (including my lovely student loans), and little room to save for spending funds for this trip we're locked into. It's become such a source of stress instead of what was supposed to be an incredible experience I am so grateful we've been able to make this trip at all, I don't want to sound like I'm crapping on our luckiness so to speak, but I just think we overshot our comfortable budget this time around. We also have some weddings on our horizon as well as two kittens we added to the family this year (along with all the wonderful bills that come with it).

We dumped our whole tax return on the lowest CC (Dave Ramsey style!) but we still have some ways to go. So my goals are as follows:

1) All available funds in June are going towards the trip, in a perfect world $1k as I'd like to pay for EVERYTHING overseas in cash
2) Pay off at least 2 out of 3 of our CCs by the end of the year (that would be about $5500 total), and start to work on card #3
3) Dedicate a small portion of our funds to a) home improvement and b) our 2017 vacation in the hopes we don't repeat this year's mistakes

It feels like we're in such a hole at the moment, and money creates such stress at home, but (just like weight loss ) I believe accountability creates results so I'm hoping that being here will help me/us kick some debt butt!

Sounds like you're off to a great start!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We are chugging away still. I'm attacking the Parent Plus loan from ds19's fall semester. It's a biggie compared to past cc bills I've paid off but I guess relatively small compared to some since he was only there 1 semester. He did get a job finally! yaaaayyy!! It's at a water ice/ice cream/gelato place which is such happy stuff for him. He's meeting lots of people and getting out of the house with some purpose in life. Already I can see an improvement in his depression and today is only his 2nd day.
What a relief!! Baby steps.

Since the tree fell on our house and we had to cancel our little Disney cruise in March, along with all the stress of having teenagers, we felt we really needed something good this summer; not just a quicky. So we're sailing a 7 nt on the Fantasy. I can't wait.

I was a good girl and didn't charge any of the cruise since we had some savings plus a lot of our tax refund left. Our flights were free by using SWA points.
Unfortunately, after I paid for the cruise we started getting some extra expenses, well beyond the $1000 emergency fund that DR suggests. Once we pay off this parent plus loan, I plan to up our emergency fund to around $3k. $1000 just isn't enough and I had to cash another Chase check. At least it's only 2% fee and then it's 0%interest x 12 months. It will only take 1.5 months to pay it back but I'm annoyed at myself for not budgeting as well as I should and not leaving enough cushion for times like this. So aside from incurring more debt, it will cost us another $40 in fees. I could have diverted our snowball to cover the shortfall, but I really want to get that parent plus loan balance down since the interest rate for that is well over 6%. Every few days is another $10 in interest. So the $40 one time fee from Chase pales in comparison. Also by the end of August I will be diverting our snowball to our Christmas account for 2 months so I didn't want to be diverting for so long. I did this last year and it gave us plenty of shopping $. Also by doing it in August & September, by Oct I was so ready to shop. It was the most stress-free shopping season (financially) in my life. Really.

Wishing you all the best. Just keep swimming!

 

[Dentam]

In other news of frugality - I just gave myself a haircut tonight. Hadn't gotten it cut since right before our Sept. 2015 trip to WDW and it was way overdue. I used the ponytail method to give myself layers and it turned out pretty good!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

You are so brave! I've tried just trimming my bangs a little between haircuts and only seem to make matters worse.

 

[Dentam]

You are so brave! I've tried just trimming my bangs a little between haircuts and only seem to make matters worse.

My hair is really thick and fairly long so it hides minor mistakes pretty well. I don't think I'd attempt bangs though!

 

[dayvewc]

You are so brave! I've tried just trimming my bangs a little between haircuts and only seem to make matters worse.

Oh oh oh oh do i get credit for being brave if i cut my own hair? Clippers and a #2 guard = hassle free hair style for me!

 

[Eureka]

So, the good news is today I made the last payment from my Nov. surgery, so that's done. I also received a check for my last day of work, which I joked to DH is an amazing hourly rate for the two hours I actually worked that day before I was laid off (they paid me for 8 hrs). My severance won't arrive for a couple of weeks so next week I need to call the HR guy and ask questions about unemployment. I have moments where I am fine and others where I am upset and it still doesn't feel real.

We cut the 529 contributions by 90% for now until we know how much I'll be bringing in (and then can reassess when I find a new job). The other good news is that in the last 2.5 years we have put a lot of money aside for retirement and college, so taking a break won't hurt too bad for awhile. I just worry about the monthly budget stuff but we will figure out what we need to do once we have my unemployment amount.

 

[Gena001]

@Eureka Best wishes to you! I hope you find a new job that pays even better! And quickly!...or at summer's end...whichever you prefer.

@Dentam Congratulations on fixing the car! VERY impressed! But maybe more so with the haircut! I colored my hair last night (started doing my own a year and a half ago). When my bangs get long, I grab scissors and the trash can. My eyes cross while I'm cutting, but it comes out well!

@dayvewc we need a TR from DL!

 

[Gena001]

So, all, I had my review today! Last year everyone got 2.5% and I got 3%! This year, we all got 2.75%. My boss said she can't give me above the line EVERY year. Plus we lost some people in our group that gave her some freedom to play with raises.

BUT...I'm getting a $500 bonus! NET! The past seven - eight months have been stressful with a BIG task. Well, I successfully wrapped it up May 19th (still dealing with the residual paperwork). TBT, my hubby said I earned it five fold. But I'm very happy to get anything because a bonus is very hard to come by and I'm not supposed to work overtime (although I did have a few days of it in the last month). The timing is great because DD is going to Germany next summer and if we sign up by June 15th, we get a $200 discount. At the time we sign up, we have to pay $500 deposit.

So excited!

 

[Dentam]

@Dentam Congratulations on fixing the car! VERY impressed! But maybe more so with the haircut! I colored my hair last night (started doing my own a year and a half ago). When my bangs get long, I grab scissors and the trash can. My eyes cross while I'm cutting, but it comes out well!

Thanks! I am coloring my hair later today too!

Congrats on your bonus!

 

[dayvewc]

@Eureka Best wishes to you! I hope you find a new job that pays even better! And quickly!...or at summer's end...whichever you prefer.

@Dentam Congratulations on fixing the car! VERY impressed! But maybe more so with the haircut! I colored my hair last night (started doing my own a year and a half ago). When my bangs get long, I grab scissors and the trash can. My eyes cross while I'm cutting, but it comes out well!

@dayvewc we need a TR from DL!

I'll see if i can get a TR done. It was mostly a great trip, but this was the first Disney trip I've made that had a sour note caused by cast members.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I'll see if i can get a TR done. It was mostly a great trip, but this was the first Disney trip I've made that had a sour note caused by cast members.

DH and I went to DL in January. While none of the cast members were rude, I did notice that they were considerably more lax than any of the cast members at WDW.

 

[dayvewc]

DH and I went to DL in January. While none of the cast members were rude, I did notice that they were considerably more lax than any of the cast members at WDW.

Yeah, there is a distinct difference in the way the cast members act at DL compared to WDW. I'll include the whole detail in my TR. Now, to start my TR.