Debt Dumpers - 2016

[DisneyMandC]

Murphy is a D***. My infection hasn't responded to antibiotics so I had to be admitted to the hospital. I'll be here for 1-3 days. I really don't want to ask how much these bills will be. Argh!!!!!!!

Oh no, I'm so sorry! Feel better soon. I know you will anyways, but try to not stress over your bill. Your health is what's most important.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

Murphy is a D***. My infection hasn't responded to antibiotics so I had to be admitted to the hospital. I'll be here for 1-3 days. I really don't want to ask how much these bills will be. Argh!!!!!!!

Hoping they can get the infection under control and that you're not in too much pain.

 

[bcwife76]

Murphy is a D***. My infection hasn't responded to antibiotics so I had to be admitted to the hospital. I'll be here for 1-3 days. I really don't want to ask how much these bills will be. Argh!!!!!!!

Oh no I'm sorry to hear that

I hope they can get it cleared up asap so you can go home!

 

[Dentam]

Murphy is a D***. My infection hasn't responded to antibiotics so I had to be admitted to the hospital. I'll be here for 1-3 days. I really don't want to ask how much these bills will be. Argh!!!!!!!

Oh no! I'm so sorry and hope you recover quickly! Do you have good insurance through your work? My former coworker had her appendix out and was pleasantly surprised to have it fully covered. This was when I worked at Duke though and they have a really good health care system there. Regardless, as someone else said, try to focus on getting well and not the bills since your health is really priceless.

 

[DisneyMandC]

omg you guys weren't lying about your phones and e-mail blowing up as soon as you check loans through Lending Tree! How ridiculous! Literally as soon as I clicked the button my phone rang three times with a number from Phoenix, AZ. I got 4 e-mails in 5 minutes. Ridiculous. Did not have that experience with Lending Club, but Lending Tree did bring back lower rates for us.

 

[yupikgal]

I've been off this board for a while, but am back to get support, advice, etc. Due to our daughter's wedding last summer, a recent move (we had to pay about $5k oop) and me not working full time at the moment, we are kind of back to square one with credit card debt. I'm very disappointed and sad, but at the same time, very motivated to get back to paying off our debt. We also have 2 car loans. One is much smaller than the other. That one will be paid off in August 2018, therefore adding $229 back into our budget to help pay off other debt.

I have a question in regards to two of the credit cards (we have 4 with balances) that are similar balance wise. One of them has a 0% promo rate, which I had full intentions of paying off before it went back to the normal 17.49% rate, but life happened and here we are. The other one has an interest rate of 13.49%. Even if I still have a couple of months before they start charging the interest on the 0%, I'm thinking of paying it down as much as possible, instead of the other one, do you agree? There's no way we can pay it off before Sept 20 (the end of hte promo rate) so I figure if I can attack it with as much as we can pay before then, the better off we will be. They are already wooing us back with more 0% rates for other transfers, but I'm not sure how that works as far as how your payments would go towards which rate, does anyone here know? On top of that, they charge a 3% fee. It isn't enough to transfer over the entire balance anyway, but I just don't know what to do at this point with that one. DisneyMandC, what is your Lending Tree loan for, if you don't mind me asking? Is that a mortgage company? Thanks everyone. I just want to get out of this debt prison we are in, and get back to normal living.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I've been off this board for a while, but am back to get support, advice, etc. Due to our daughter's wedding last summer, a recent move (we had to pay about $5k oop) and me not working full time at the moment, we are kind of back to square one with credit card debt. I'm very disappointed and sad, but at the same time, very motivated to get back to paying off our debt. We also have 2 car loans. One is much smaller than the other. That one will be paid off in August 2018, therefore adding $229 back into our budget to help pay off other debt.

I have a question in regards to two of the credit cards (we have 4 with balances) that are similar balance wise. One of them has a 0% promo rate, which I had full intentions of paying off before it went back to the normal 17.49% rate, but life happened and here we are. The other one has an interest rate of 13.49%. Even if I still have a couple of months before they start charging the interest on the 0%, I'm thinking of paying it down as much as possible, instead of the other one, do you agree? There's no way we can pay it off before Sept 20 (the end of hte promo rate) so I figure if I can attack it with as much as we can pay before then, the better off we will be. They are already wooing us back with more 0% rates for other transfers, but I'm not sure how that works as far as how your payments would go towards which rate, does anyone here know? On top of that, they charge a 3% fee. It isn't enough to transfer over the entire balance anyway, but I just don't know what to do at this point with that one. DisneyMandC, what is your Lending Tree loan for, if you don't mind me asking? Is that a mortgage company? Thanks everyone. I just want to get out of this debt prison we are in, and get back to normal living.

We're planning to do a Lending Tree loan to consolidate our car payment and one of our student loans. They provide loans for a lot of different things, including car, student loans, personal loans, etc. Our biggest issue currently is I recently took a lower paying job and all of our payments on student loans are just so high with the outrageous interest rates that we're barely making it by each month. We budget very closely, and even still it's tough. One of my student loan payments will drop significantly next year (by about $500 each month) so our plan is to get approximately a $12,000 loan now and pay off the car and one of the student loans, then begin the much lower monthly payments on that $12,000 loan. Then, next year after my other student loan payment drops, I will begin using some of the $500 leftover from that to start paying back more on the $12,000 loan. The best rate we got on one of those loans was 4.99% APR for $12,000. It's higher than DH's car payment, but lower than the student loan rate by a significant amount.

 

[yupikgal]

We're planning to do a Lending Tree loan to consolidate our car payment and one of our student loans. They provide loans for a lot of different things, including car, student loans, personal loans, etc. Our biggest issue currently is I recently took a lower paying job and all of our payments on student loans are just so high with the outrageous interest rates that we're barely making it by each month. We budget very closely, and even still it's tough. One of my student loan payments will drop significantly next year (by about $500 each month) so our plan is to get approximately a $12,000 loan now and pay off the car and one of the student loans, then begin the much lower monthly payments on that $12,000 loan. Then, next year after my other student loan payment drops, I will begin using some of the $500 leftover from that to start paying back more on the $12,000 loan. The best rate we got on one of those loans was 4.99% APR for $12,000. It's higher than DH's car payment, but lower than the student loan rate by a significant amount.

Thanks for the response. Just curious, if your car loan was a smaller interest rate, why didn't you just leave that out of the new loan? I wonder how those lending companies make their money if they are offering such a low rate?

 

[DisneyMandC]

Thanks for the response. Just curious, if your car loan was a smaller interest rate, why didn't you just leave that out of the new loan? I wonder how those lending companies make their money if they are offering such a low rate?

Only because our car loan is one of our highest monthly payments outside of the gigantic student loan. I know that one probably doesn't make as much "cents" to pay off, but the payment is just so high that we would much rather be out from under it. Our monthly payment on the $12,000 loan will be half what the combined total of the car loan and student loan payment are. We could keep paying the car loan as it is, but it would be a looooong winter waiting for my other student loan payment to go down next year if we did.

 

[Ngwira]

Only because our car loan is one of our highest monthly payments outside of the gigantic student loan. I know that one probably doesn't make as much "cents" to pay off, but the payment is just so high that we would much rather be out from under it. Our monthly payment on the $12,000 loan will be half what the combined total of the car loan and student loan payment are. We could keep paying the car loan as it is, but it would be a looooong winter waiting for my other student loan payment to go down next year if we did.

If you file married filing separately to obtain the lower loan payment, you will not get a large refund around tax time since married filing jointly is a more favorable tax status. Just something to keep in mind.

 

[DisneyMandC]

If you file married filing separately to obtain the lower loan payment, you will not get a large refund around tax time since married filing jointly is a more favorable tax status. Just something to keep in mind.

We are aware, but thank you! Our tax return paid for less than half of this year's increased student loan payments due to the filing jointly status, so it's not worth it to file jointly. Plus I'm eligible for public service loan forgiveness, as I think you and I have discussed before, so I have no incentive to make the higher payments.

 

[Ngwira]

We are aware, but thank you! Our tax return paid for less than half of this year's increased student loan payments due to the filing jointly status, so it's not worth it to file jointly. Plus I'm eligible for public service loan forgiveness, as I think you and I have discussed before, so I have no incentive to make the higher payments.

I'm so glad it works for you. I wish it worked for us! Let me know how lending club works out. We get letters from them all the time.

 

[Ngwira]

We are aware, but thank you! Our tax return paid for less than half of this year's increased student loan payments due to the filing jointly status, so it's not worth it to file jointly. Plus I'm eligible for public service loan forgiveness, as I think you and I have discussed before, so I have no incentive to make the higher payments.

How is your FIL doing?

 

[DisneyMandC]

How is your FIL doing?

Much better, thank you for asking! My MIL texted Monday morning when I got to work and said he was awake and smiling and laughing so I left work and drove down to see him. I'm so glad I did, he was alert and definitely knew who everyone was and stayed awake with us for a long time smiling and nodding to answer questions. He's trying to talk but just can't get his mouth to form the words. He was able to sit up with the assistance of the physical therapists and support his own weight sitting up, so I think once he gets into rehab and they start teaching him the motor skills and speech again, he should pick it up very quickly. He got his feeding tube in today so hopefully he will be moved to rehab Monday or Tuesday. We are very, very fortunate things worked out the way they did. There are about a million and one ways this could have gone worse. I'm looking forward to getting him into speech therapy so he can start talking again! We are very close as DH and I have been together for 10 years (since high school) so in a lot of ways FIL was a second father to me through many formative years.

 

[Ngwira]

Much better, thank you for asking! My MIL texted Monday morning when I got to work and said he was awake and smiling and laughing so I left work and drove down to see him. I'm so glad I did, he was alert and definitely knew who everyone was and stayed awake with us for a long time smiling and nodding to answer questions. He's trying to talk but just can't get his mouth to form the words. He was able to sit up with the assistance of the physical therapists and support his own weight sitting up, so I think once he gets into rehab and they start teaching him the motor skills and speech again, he should pick it up very quickly. He got his feeding tube in today so hopefully he will be moved to rehab Monday or Tuesday. We are very, very fortunate things worked out the way they did. There are about a million and one ways this could have gone worse. I'm looking forward to getting him into speech therapy so he can start talking again! We are very close as DH and I have been together for 10 years (since high school) so in a lot of ways FIL was a second father to me through many formative years.

Thank God he is improving. I hope the road to full recovery goes smoothly. Thanks for the wonderful update!

 

[yupikgal]

Only because our car loan is one of our highest monthly payments outside of the gigantic student loan. I know that one probably doesn't make as much "cents" to pay off, but the payment is just so high that we would much rather be out from under it. Our monthly payment on the $12,000 loan will be half what the combined total of the car loan and student loan payment are. We could keep paying the car loan as it is, but it would be a looooong winter waiting for my other student loan payment to go down next year if we did.

Makes sense!

What about my original question about my cc situation, what is your opinion on which card to pay first? The one that is ending the 0% interest by late September or the one that is the highest interest rate (for now, until September)?? I'm tempted to throw the most $$ at the one that is ending in September, since that one is going up to 17.49%! Thanks for your help!

 

[milwaukeemommy]

I've been off this board for a while, but am back to get support, advice, etc. Due to our daughter's wedding last summer, a recent move (we had to pay about $5k oop) and me not working full time at the moment, we are kind of back to square one with credit card debt. I'm very disappointed and sad, but at the same time, very motivated to get back to paying off our debt. We also have 2 car loans. One is much smaller than the other. That one will be paid off in August 2018, therefore adding $229 back into our budget to help pay off other debt.

I have a question in regards to two of the credit cards (we have 4 with balances) that are similar balance wise. One of them has a 0% promo rate, which I had full intentions of paying off before it went back to the normal 17.49% rate, but life happened and here we are. The other one has an interest rate of 13.49%. Even if I still have a couple of months before they start charging the interest on the 0%, I'm thinking of paying it down as much as possible, instead of the other one, do you agree? There's no way we can pay it off before Sept 20 (the end of hte promo rate) so I figure if I can attack it with as much as we can pay before then, the better off we will be. They are already wooing us back with more 0% rates for other transfers, but I'm not sure how that works as far as how your payments would go towards which rate, does anyone here know? On top of that, they charge a 3% fee. It isn't enough to transfer over the entire balance anyway, but I just don't know what to do at this point with that one. DisneyMandC, what is your Lending Tree loan for, if you don't mind me asking? Is that a mortgage company? Thanks everyone. I just want to get out of this debt prison we are in, and get back to normal living.

OMG you & I are 2 peas in a pod! Same situation ...... too many credit cards .... transferred to a no interest but didn't pay it off in time .... life happened ... square one AND we leave this weekend for vacation. Yikes.

 

[Eureka]

Hi, thought I would pop in here with an update. Murphy has been threatening...our lawn mower won't start. So we added gas and oil and I was told it's probably cheaper to buy a new one than send it out through Lowes to be fixed. I say "we" but I have never mowed the lawn, so DH and Ds15 can figure that one out. Then our dishwasher has been making bad noises for days...so I have a service call scheduled for next week. And we needed the phone company to come out and replace wiring but that cost us nothing. The 2004 car needed an oil change and the woman made all kinds of "suggestions" for services and was really pushy after I told her not interested. Then the contacts we ordered DH a month ago still hadn't come so I cancelled that and ordered from somewhere else but the refund has not come through yet. Add in a few medical bills that have come through and ugh.

I've gotten a couple small freelance projects and a couple unemployment checks but have not filed the past two weeks because I've worked too much. Of course I haven't actually gotten paid for the work I've done yet but you have to report when you work, not when you get paid, so that's been stressing me out. I don't know how much work I'll have next week so I may be able to get my benefit. I've applied for a lot of jobs but have heard nothing so that's discouraging. It's "only" been six weeks but feels like it's been forever. I've been busy with the kids' stuff so really it has been kind of nice to be home more, but the worry is always in the back of my mind. This is just how I am.

We go on vacation in a couple weeks, so I've been trying to get things done. Got cash, bought snack bars and stuff to bring with us in the car, etc. We're going to have to use our credit cards on the trip (the ones we paid off with some of our emergency fund) and I hate that. Sigh. But, you know, we have a roof over our head and food to eat.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Makes sense!

What about my original question about my cc situation, what is your opinion on which card to pay first? The one that is ending the 0% interest by late September or the one that is the highest interest rate (for now, until September)?? I'm tempted to throw the most $$ at the one that is ending in September, since that one is going up to 17.49%! Thanks for your help!

I would write it all down. Seeing the actual numbers helps me a lot to figure out what my best move would be. If the balances are equal and the promo rate ends in September, then it might make sense to attack that card first. Will it be your highest interest rate card then? I like the snowball method because it is very motivating. You can pay the minimum balance on all of your cards, but then attack the highest interest rate (or lowest balance is another option) first. Once that is done, put as much as you can towards the next card, etc.

The thing that has been helping DH and I the most has been using YNAB (youneedabudget.com). We have really trimmed out unnecessary spending and stopped adding to our debt by using this program. It also helps me divert any extra funds towards our debt payments. I am hoping to have our credit card and student loan balances paid off in 8 months or so. If we can keep up our current pace, we will make it.

 

[milwaukeemommy]

I've heard great things about YNAB but have never checked it out.