Debt Dumpers - 2016

[ruadisneyfan2]

I have been watching this thread and slowly have been working on our debt. Just when an end is in sight for the credit card and nearly for the student loan, we get our car insurance first bill following my husband's at fault car accident. This is our first surcharge with the company in 17 years, and w hile I understand the why, I don't understand why it doubled the cost of the insurance! Any suggestions on how to shop for new insurance? Is one better than another? We've had the same insurance for 17 years (me for 25 years). If we have to pay double, it surely is going to impact my plan for paying off the credit card and student loan in the next few months and working on my car payment. I swear, if it isn't one thing, it is another. I get so frustrated trying to do the right thing and get ahead.

Absolutely compare prices with other companies. We had AAA for years but once ds19 first got his DL, our rates nearly doubled and he didn't even have a car. I compared around and went with GEICO.

Just be sure you're comparing apples to apples. Get your policy out with details of all your coverage so you don't get stuck with less coverage than you currently have, while they attempt to low ball you.

Yes, it's definitely a lot. Too many!!

The student loans are actually somewhat consolidated. 5 (which are my husbands) are all under one provider and is one lump payment each month. But they are listed as 5 individual loans and it shows us how much of the payment goes to each loan. The same with the remaining two (which are mine) under a separate provider. I list them as 7 instead of 2 for a couple of reasons. One it keeps me more motivated to be aggressive in payments. Even though the balance is the same either way if I view it as 2 loans it doesn't seem as bad to me. Strange, I'm sure. Also, when the time comes to snowball into student loans I do have the ability to make extra payments on an individual portion of the loan instead of the entire sum which again will keep me more motivated since an extra payment will eliminate a $2,000 portion balance quicker than an extra payment to the whole shebang of $10,000 (just as an example, not real numbers ).

We have looked into consolidating the non-student loans, but the last time we checked it actually wouldn't save us any money since several are on a no interest plan for the time being.

I definitely pray that I will be smart enough to never EVER have so many items of debt in the future though!!

*** Sorry for the long winded reply

Try to stay strong.
It really can be done. For all my whining earlier, I am still glad I have paid off around 8 or 10 old debts. Our snowball was only a few hundred per month when we started and was up to more than $1700 per month back in February which I never thought I'd ever get to that point. I was really on a roll when we ended up needing to get ds a car and once he was out of college for the spring, the parent plus loan changed status to "in repayment".

I am certain I will get my groove back and you will too. The way I stay strong, usually, is to spend some time each day going over The Plan so I don't start to forget where I've been and where I'm going. "Out of sight is out of mind" so I definitely need that little reminder each day. When I don't feel like packing a lunch, it reminds me I need to. When I'd rather go through the car wash than do it by hand, it reminds me. When I feel like checking out all the stuff that's been sitting in my Amazon shopping cart for months, it reminds me. You get the picture.
If I shove it in the back of a drawer and only look at it once per month I would lose all strength & ambition.
I know I can't be weak with EVERYTHING. So I choose one weakness and that's vacations. DR would say to give all that up and get out of debt faster but I just can't go on such a crash diet for so long. We don't go crazy spending while on vacation, basically just grateful to be there, so when we come home from a trip I have a renewed strength to attack the debt.

 

[gracie1]

Hi Hon
My heart goes out to you. I am thinking (this is in Canada) the shop may be able to hold the car for non payment ,,is it worth while to pay what he wants and then sell the car?
My ex is a mechanic and I can tell you there are so many unscrupulous people in that field.
I hope things turn around for you.
Hugs Mel

At this point I wouldn't even be able to sell it probably because of how he has wrecked it. The car is a 2002 and he blew up the electrical panel and can't even tell if the new ac works in it. No one is going to want to buy a car with nothing electrical because it would never pass inspection. So I left it at his shop and told him to take all his parts off because I am not paying for it. We may end up in court - who knows unless he calls and we can come to some kind of agreement. Originally we agreed that I wouldn't be paying him for the ac but then the next day he called and said he thought I should have to pay for it since I can still drive the car with no ac - no working windows, wiper blades or anything electrical. So crazy

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

At this point I wouldn't even be able to sell it probably because of how he has wrecked it. The car is a 2002 and he blew up the electrical panel and can't even tell if the new ac works in it. No one is going to want to buy a car with nothing electrical because it would never pass inspection. So I left it at his shop and told him to take all his parts off because I am not paying for it. We may end up in court - who knows unless he calls and we can come to some kind of agreement. Originally we agreed that I wouldn't be paying him for the ac but then the next day he called and said he thought I should have to pay for it since I can still drive the car with no ac - no working windows, wiper blades or anything electrical. So crazy

What a nightmare! I'm sorry you're having to deal with this.

 

[Ngwira]

Received a random check from an old Ira account I rolled over. It was for $215.00. I'll save it for pocket money at Disney world. I also prepaid all tips onboard our upcoming cruise and recieved an onboard credit from my travel agent that should cover our palo brunch.
I plan on using the gift cards I have saved up since I now have to meet minimum spend on two cards and don't want extra bills when we return from Disney.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Budget is totally busted for this month. Yikes. Lots of gas and eating out expenses from going back and forth to the hospital, which I can't really complain about. I told DH we're saying NO! to all requests to eat out next month though. I'm honestly I'm sick of eating out since we've had so much this month when there was no other option. We're still trying to cut down everywhere else though and have done well. Electric was only $75 for our house this month, which I was happy with considering we had many days with 90+ degree temps.

Our general spending in terms of household goods was way down this month though, which helps. We really are doing better on NOT spending money. This month was just a bust. We decided not to do one of our biggest horse shows this year which would have been a major expense though, so we're going to take $1000 from our horse show fund next month and throw it at DH's car payment.

 

[milwaukeemommy]

Back from vacation & time to get serious!!! Getting back on the train starting right now!!!!!!

 

[KBOhio]

Summer is killing my budget and debt reduction plans.
My younger son's cross country camp is tomorrow and with the camp cost, food donations, his own stash and some running supplies - the costs crushed my budget, extra credit card payments, etc.
Older son is heading to college in less than a month, so we had to get him a new computer, printer, etc. For his major, he needed a super deluxe computer. So we put it on a credit card - it's 12 months no interest but still we are going in the wrong direction.
Next month is going to be a budget crush too, with school fees, sports fees, school clothes and college tuition.
On the plus side, last car payment for one car and my student loan are in August.
All these costs have us treading water - I can not imagine how much debt we would have added if we actually took a vacation.

 

[momtosam]

Received a random check from an old Ira account I rolled over. It was for $215.00. I'll save it for pocket money at Disney world. I also prepaid all tips onboard our upcoming cruise and recieved an onboard credit from my travel agent that should cover our palo brunch.
I plan on using the gift cards I have saved up since I now have to meet minimum spend on two cards and don't want extra bills when we return from Disney.

Ha ha ha!!! I thought that said ransom check at first!!

 

[momtosam]

Guys, I don't know what it is but I feel like things are finally clicking! The snowball is working. I think for too long I deviated from plan trying to throw money at too many debts at once. I'm really sticking to the snowball and I finally feel like we're paying things off and making a dent. ( Still a long way to go.) I also started a diet a month ago and have lost 12 pounds so far. I can't help but to feel the two are related. It's like I've finally decided to get serious and buckle. If this were a Facebook post I'd be adding -- feeling determined!

 

[Ngwira]

Ha ha ha!!! I thought that said ransom check at first!!

Lolz!!!!

 

[dayvewc]

Do you have a tractor repair facility nearby? My parents have 2 ride ons and there is a place near them that will come to their house, pick it up, work on it, then deliver it back to them. Much easier than the other place they used to use where my dad would have to borrow dh & his truck, use planks to get the thing in the bed of his pickup, get it out of there and do it all again when the work was completed.

There probably is. This is a large farming area. If you eat riceland rice, there is a good chance it was grown within 50 miles of my house. Even though I've "lived" here for 7 years, I really feel like I just sleep here and do all my living somewhere else. 45 mile drive for work (teaching), weekend job (which I quit the other day to focus on my masters program) (and visiting with parents) is 250 mile round trip, and my summer job is 170 miles away. So, even though I sleep in my house 6 nights a week 10 months a year, I leave before anything opens and return after everything closes.

I am so jealous over your tax bill. That is less than one month of ours. Arkansas is likely a beautiful place to live with lots of friendly people but I don't think I could be that far from the ocean. Lakes just don't cut it for me.

Arkansas is a beautiful place to live, if you can get through the summer heat and humidity. I've said my entire life that this is the place to retire to. It is rural enough that you never feel crowded; it has large(ish) cities scattered that have high quality hospitals for medical, and varieties of entertainment and dining options; and it is really cheap to live here so the retirement dollars go further. Granted, we don't have an ocean, but (depending on the area of the state) the gulf is between 6 and 10 hours away. Close enough if you lived in the southern half to easily do weekend trips. And the northern quarter has the Ozarks, and while not as striking as the Rockies they are some really beautiful mountains (though, there are a lot of people who live there that are pretty stereotypical hillbillies ).

Like we always go back to, CoL is all relative to salaries too. So while you're in shock over our tax bills, you're also shocked what our teachers make. The numbers here are just higher for everything but it doesn't mean we're rich. lol

lol, I know. I have looked at moving out of state a couple of times. But, when I compare the CoL in the places I want to go to, the salary that they pay teachers is significantly below the recommended income needed to maintain my level of living if I stay here. The one I remember most clearly was looking at moving to Houston TX a couple of years ago, teacher salaries were in the $55-$60k range, but to live in the metro area at the same standard I have here I would need to make at least $70k per year.

What I really need is to find a school that pays New York salaries, but lets me live here. Best of most worlds.

 

[dayvewc]

Totally off subject, , but I've kind of decided that my "reward" for paying my debts off (and a big portion of my bucket list) is going to be to visit all 50 states. My current payoff plan is in the 3-5 year range (now), so that will give me plenty of time to plan out how I will do it, but just at first glance I'm thinking to take summers and drive to visit regions of the country each year. Though, when I start planning New England, the northwest, Alaska, (and obviously Hawai'i) I'll probably fly and rent a car. Also kind of planning to incorporate one of my other bucket list items with this and drive Route 66 one summer.

 

[Gena001]

Well, i just got back with my car. Left Monday afternoon about 3 pm, stayed overnight in Elizabethtown KY. Drove in on Tuesday and barely made it to the shop before they closed. Turned in the rental (4000 miles in 16 days) and stayed back. Didn't get far, stopped at Washington PA for the night. Drove Wednesday to St. Louis and stayed there, and the rest of the way home today.

Total trip was about $1800 - $500 insurance deductible, $750 for the rental (already filed for the reimbursement) about $250 for gas, and $200 for 3 nights in hotels and $100 in food.

Car drives like new and looks good too. I'm just tired.

Aww, @dayvewc I live in St. Louis! You could've come for dinner!

 

[DisneyMandC]

Totally off subject, , but I've kind of decided that my "reward" for paying my debts off (and a big portion of my bucket list) is going to be to visit all 50 states. My current payoff plan is in the 3-5 year range (now), so that will give me plenty of time to plan out how I will do it, but just at first glance I'm thinking to take summers and drive to visit regions of the country each year. Though, when I start planning New England, the northwest, Alaska, (and obviously Hawai'i) I'll probably fly and rent a car. Also kind of planning to incorporate one of my other bucket list items with this and drive Route 66 one summer.

This is what DH and I want to do! There are, of course, many international places we'd like to visit, but we'd like to see all 50 states. We hit CA earlier this year and we'd like to try to go AZ next year. Not sure if we can make it work with the current debt payoff plans, but DH does get to accumulate a lot of travel points through work so we could potentially make it happen.

 

[KBOhio]

Totally off subject, , but I've kind of decided that my "reward" for paying my debts off (and a big portion of my bucket list) is going to be to visit all 50 states. My current payoff plan is in the 3-5 year range (now), so that will give me plenty of time to plan out how I will do it, but just at first glance I'm thinking to take summers and drive to visit regions of the country each year. Though, when I start planning New England, the northwest, Alaska, (and obviously Hawai'i) I'll probably fly and rent a car. Also kind of planning to incorporate one of my other bucket list items with this and drive Route 66 one summer.

That sounds amazing and great reward for paying off debt!

 

[Eureka]

Got our cell phone bill for next month and it's less than it's been. I asked about it bc I couldn't figure it out and they said the contract on one of the lines ended so we get a credit for each month we don't "do something about it." And apparently we don't need to do anything about it either. So that's a $28 savings.

 

[Ngwira]

I am cancelling two of our ADR's to justify booking an Atlantis excursion on our cruise. I just cancelled Yachtsman's steakhouse AND our Palo brunch which combined would cost at least $360.00. That will pay for a full day for all 4 of us at Atlantis with access to the aquarium, beach and Aquaventure water park. I think I made the right decision! Excellent food will always be there, but once in a lifetime memories are priceless.

 

[PrincessKymm]

I am freaking out but trying to be strong. DS had an abnormal EKG he may have a very rare heart arrhythmia. One of the tests we can do is a genetic blood test which I of course approved right away. Waiting to find out if the insurance approves. If not, this will cost me $1500. Worst cases...he is diagnosed and will need medicine and lifelong check ins with doctors and geneticists OR we still don't know what's "wrong" with him. I just hate thinking about him having a greater chance of drowning or never being allowed to swim again.

I'm in panick mode and am trying to figure out how I can raise the money if needed. I'm thinking of selling my belongings, having a fundraiser or getting a weekend job.

I just want to sob but I still have to tell my dad and my sister before I can break down. I held strong for DS at the hospital and dropped him off to finish his visit with his grandparents. I filled them in but can only hope they tell DS's father. If I tell him it may end up with me in jail and that is the last thing I need.

I think I'm going to build up my savings and stop debt dumping for a while. I just can't imagine life without DS and I want to enjoy every second I can with him. I want to have the money available to pay for whatever is needed for him to get diagnosed and treated.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

I am freaking out but trying to be strong. DS had an abnormal EKG he may have a very rare heart arrhythmia. One of the tests we can do is a genetic blood test which I of course approved right away. Waiting to find out if the insurance approves. If not, this will cost me $1500. Worst cases...he is diagnosed and will need medicine and lifelong check ins with doctors and geneticists OR we still don't know what's "wrong" with him. I just hate thinking about him having a greater chance of drowning or never being allowed to swim again.

I'm in panick mode and am trying to figure out how I can raise the money if needed. I'm thinking of selling my belongings, having a fundraiser or getting a weekend job.

I just want to sob but I still have to tell my dad and my sister before I can break down. I held strong for DS at the hospital and dropped him off to finish his visit with his grandparents. I filled them in but can only hope they tell DS's father. If I tell him it may end up with me in jail and that is the last thing I need.

I think I'm going to build up my savings and stop debt dumping for a while. I just can't imagine life without DS and I want to enjoy every second I can with him. I want to have the money available to pay for whatever is needed for him to get diagnosed and treated.

((HUGS)) I agree with you on the blood test, whether insurance covers it or not. If it can help to bring some peace of mind as to his diagnosis, then it's worth doing right away. Hopefully your insurance company will feel the same way. Otherwise, maybe a garage sale or yard sale will help a bit toward the bill? We usually have a sale in early Fall and do pretty well.

Hang in there! Hoping the doctors have some answers for you.

 

[Eureka]

I am freaking out but trying to be strong. DS had an abnormal EKG he may have a very rare heart arrhythmia. One of the tests we can do is a genetic blood test which I of course approved right away. Waiting to find out if the insurance approves. If not, this will cost me $1500. Worst cases...he is diagnosed and will need medicine and lifelong check ins with doctors and geneticists OR we still don't know what's "wrong" with him. I just hate thinking about him having a greater chance of drowning or never being allowed to swim again.

I'm in panick mode and am trying to figure out how I can raise the money if needed. I'm thinking of selling my belongings, having a fundraiser or getting a weekend job.

I just want to sob but I still have to tell my dad and my sister before I can break down. I held strong for DS at the hospital and dropped him off to finish his visit with his grandparents. I filled them in but can only hope they tell DS's father. If I tell him it may end up with me in jail and that is the last thing I need.

I think I'm going to build up my savings and stop debt dumping for a while. I just can't imagine life without DS and I want to enjoy every second I can with him. I want to have the money available to pay for whatever is needed for him to get diagnosed and treated.

I'm sorry you're going through this. I can't imagine that insurance would not cover at least part of the blood test if it's used for diagnosis. Also, many arrhythmias are not serious if treated with medications. It doesn't necessarily put him at risk for other issues if he's otherwise healthy.