Debt Dumpers - 2016

[bababear_50]

If anyone has a moment, prayers and pixie dust appreciated for my D, who is interviewing for her first real post-college job today. It would be a great fit for her, and maybe we could someday get her off of our cell phone plan! Mostly kidding about the cell phone plan -- it's not a large expense, but this job would be a great final (?) step to being launched for her.

Best wishes and Pixie dust Hon!
My son is also interviewing with a great Company this afternoon and I am so hopeful!
Hugs Mel

 

[bababear_50]

Threw another $300.00 towards the window loan. Balance was $7200 on July 15, 2016, it's now $5800 today!

Way to GO!
Hugs Mel

 

[Ngwira]

I cancelled our Atlantis excursion on our cruise. Turns out there will be 5 other ships in port and I can't imagine how crowded the island will be. I couldn't justify spending $400.00 for a few hours at a crowded water park. I looked at the Dolphin excursions but again, $400.00 plus to see a few dolphins is a hard pill to swallow.

Instead, I booked a 2 hour boat tour which includes views of lots of wildlife (dolphins, manatees and alligators) in Melbourne, Florida for $35.00 for 4 people after promo code. I also had $20 groupon bucks on my account which brought the cost down. Here is the link if anyone is considering.
https://www.groupon.com/deals/good-natured-river-tours-1

I do know that Melbourne, Florida cannot compare to Paradise Island, Bahamas, but think it's a win win since my kids get to see dolphins and other wildlife. My pocketbook is also happy .

 

[PrincessKymm]

I cancelled our Atlantis excursion on our cruise. Turns out there will be 5 other ships in port and I can't imagine how crowded the island will be. I couldn't justify spending $400.00 for few hours at a crowded water park. I looked at the Dolphin excursions but again, $400.00 plus to see a few dolphins is a hard pill to swallow.

Instead, I booked a 2 hour boat tour which includes views of lots of wildlife (dolphins, manatees and alligators) in Melbourne, Florida for $35.00 for 4 people after promo code. I also had $20 groupon bucks on my account which brought the cost down. Here is the link if anyone is considering.
https://www.groupon.com/deals/good-natured-river-tours-1

I do know that Melbourne, Florida cannot compare to Paradise Island, Bahamas, but think it's a win win since my kids get to see dolphins and other wildlife. My pocketbook is also happy .

I think you made a great decision! I went to Atlantis for a work thing a couple of years ago and didn't think it was that great. Sure it was fun but had I had to pay for the trip I would've been super unhappy. It was dirty, crowded and you can only ride the same rides so many times. It's not as big as I thought, ride wise. The resort is huge, the water park is not.

 

[PrincessKymm]

So I received an update on DS, almost all good. I have to redo my budget, again though.

DS had another odd EKG so we will continue treatment as is until we know more. His genetic testing was negative, which is good, but also isn't 100% conclusive. This syndrome is not widely known or diagnosed so it's my understanding because it didn't show up doesn't mean he has it and it doesn't mean he doesn't have it...so still a guessing game currently. I do know he will need another loop recorder implanted when this current one dies...well when the battery dies. So I am hoping it happens this year since his deductible is met and I will only owe 10% but if not I will make sure to save enough in my FSA next year to cover all expenses. So yeah, another surgery but thankfully it's a minor surgery but still surgery.

I need to start taking DS swimming way more...like force him. He is nervous about going but if I'm there he will go. He only passes out when he swims so kind of hoping it happens so we can have an answer. Since we live in a climate where swimming isn't common after Labor Day I need to spring for some indoor water parks and hotel pools or travel south! Haha! That's gonna kill my budget but I will do anything to help my son so I will just adjust and hopefully other good stuff will follow...like making memories, having fun, meeting new people, and a diagnosis...

We do have an option to travel to St. Louis to go see the doc that discovered this syndrome but I think I will wait and save that trip for later, if we ever get a diagnosis, or a non-diagnosis.

I'm due to find out if I get a raise by August 31 so cross your fingers I qualify and it's a decent raise!

I did pay my bills today and added a little extra to my lowest credit card balance bringing it down to about $800, not bad from a few short months ago when it was over $1700. I also paid off all but one medical bill. I just got that and it's like $60 so I'll pay it off at the end of the month.

My student loans are coming due in October but they are less than before my forbearance which is awesome! I can easily fit them in my budget and still be on track to pay off my lowest balance card this year.

I'm trying to get a budget started for 2018 so I can set my goals. I'm hoping to pay off all but one card next year and I will probably get a new car at some point as well. Maybe not the best thing but I just hate my car. Spending 90 minutes a day in it is killing my soul a little each day.

Thanks for listening!

 

[Ngwira]

I think you made a great decision! I went to Atlantis for a work thing a couple of years ago and didn't think it was that great. Sure it was fun but had I had to pay for the trip I would've been super unhappy. It was dirty, crowded and you can only ride the same rides so many times. It's not as big as I thought, ride wise. The resort is huge, the water park is not.

Thank you for confirming that I made the right decision.

 

[Eureka]

Does anyone here have a Speedway near them? (Must be a convenience store? I don't even know!) I mistakenly cashed in for a Speedway mobile coupon for a free 20oz Coke product through MyCokeRewards instead of the normal paper coupon, and can't use it. (Grr) I'm happy to forward the email to anyone who can use it. Show the barcode on your mobile device or print it out. Expires 12/31/16.

 

[seb65]

My sink is leaking in the kitchen.... I hope for a cheap solution. I found water on the floor this am.

 

[DisneyMandC]

My sink is leaking in the kitchen.... I hope for a cheap solution. I found water on the floor this am.

Oh no. Loose or disintegrated rubber washer maybe? I know those can break down some over time and some water could be escaping.

 

[seb65]

Oh no. Loose or disintegrated rubber washer maybe? I know those can break down some over time and some water could be escaping.

I hope. I have turned off the water until my husband comes off his shift. A plumber is scheduled for the morning, just in case.

 

[crazycatstacy]

We have some good news at our house. My car was scheduled to be paid off in March, 2017. our plan is to then move car payment money to vacation money- I know we could/should put it towards debt but we have vacations planned and we enjoy vacationing so makes sense to me to use cash rather than continued credit cards. My husband has a larger check on Sept 1 and he has a ton of overtime on it so we were going to pay enough on the car so that we would be paid off in December and could start the year out using that towards vacation (his family is doing a family trip to Estes Park Colorado in June and we have plans to take our daughter and nephew to Disney in September). We have had hail off and on all summer but the other day it was really good sized hail. I called a roofer to check our roof (all is well) and took my car in for an estimate. I have hail damage on the car and instead of fixing it (it's not that noticeable to me and quite frankly I don't care about it) they are going to put the damage money towards the principal of my car and my car will now be paid off in September!!! Whoo hoo to us!!! So Sept-December car payments will pay towards our Disney trip for next year and then in June we can move them to my in-laws family vacation

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

We are still waiting to hear about the job for DH. The wait is killing me. I really want him to get this offer. This is the first time he has come home from an interview and not been upset. He usually doesn't really like the people interviewing him, but this time he said that they were all very nice. They did call my brother on Friday and my brother seemed to think get a good vibe and said lots of nice things about him. But then they tried to contact another one of DH's references and they had trouble, so DH gave them another phone number for the reference. Not sure if they got a hold of him or not. I hope none of this looses DH the job. Ugh! So much stress right now.

And we have also learned that we are going to have a big expense coming up that we didn't quite anticipate. We have been trying for kids since we got married and haven't had any luck. We started going to the doctor a few months ago and it turns out that we are going to need to do IVF. I was a little surprised that they didn't have any other things that they wanted to try first, but they said that our issue wouldn't be helped much by IUI. They said it would be a waste of time and money. We are lucky though, because my insurance gives an 80% coverage up to $20,000. But that still means that we will need to pay about $5,000 for the first round of treatments. We had planned on a cruise to Asia next March, but we will likely cancel that and use the vacation money for the IVF costs instead. Our debt plan is still on track since we will be able to make this change and pretty much cover the medical costs.

But it has been a pretty emotional weekend for us here.

 

[DisneyMandC]

We are still waiting to hear about the job for DH. The wait is killing me. I really want him to get this offer. This is the first time he has come home from an interview and not been upset. He usually doesn't really like the people interviewing him, but this time he said that they were all very nice. They did call my brother on Friday and my brother seemed to think get a good vibe and said lots of nice things about him. But then they tried to contact another one of DH's references and they had trouble, so DH gave them another phone number for the reference. Not sure if they got a hold of him or not. I hope none of this looses DH the job. Ugh! So much stress right now.

And we have also learned that we are going to have a big expense coming up that we didn't quite anticipate. We have been trying for kids since we got married and haven't had any luck. We started going to the doctor a few months ago and it turns out that we are going to need to do IVF. I was a little surprised that they didn't have any other things that they wanted to try first, but they said that our issue wouldn't be helped much by IUI. They said it would be a waste of time and money. We are lucky though, because my insurance gives an 80% coverage up to $20,000. But that still means that we will need to pay about $5,000 for the first round of treatments. We had planned on a cruise to Asia next March, but we will likely cancel that and use the vacation money for the IVF costs instead. Our debt plan is still on track since we will be able to make this change and pretty much cover the medical costs.

But it has been a pretty emotional weekend for us here.

Sorry about your weekend and everything you've been dealing with. But that is great that your insurance will cover so much of the IVF. I've had a lot of friends and family have great success with that, so I'm sure you will as well!

Hope your DH hears soon. If they're reaching out to so many of his references, I'm sure that's a sign that an offer is coming his way.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Sorry about your weekend and everything you've been dealing with. But that is great that your insurance will cover so much of the IVF. I've had a lot of friends and family have great success with that, so I'm sure you will as well!

Hope your DH hears soon. If they're reaching out to so many of his references, I'm sure that's a sign that an offer is coming his way.

Thanks. I am not really worried about the IVF, but the thought of sticking myself with needles every single day for weeks kinda makes me queasy. This does give me a bit extra motivation to loose weight though. The success rate jumps up a few percentage points if I am 15 lbs lighter, so I am going to seriously start working on that.

 

[Eureka]

I think I mentioned I have an interview this week at a place that's a long commute and less pay than what I was making, but the company has good benefits and sounds interesting. Well, today I got another interview at a place next week that's closer by. They said my experience was impressive and their work sounds interesting too. And I also heard back from a different place that called me a few weeks ago to say they are still reviewing materials, so when I was on vacation, I didn't really miss anything. I hope to get a phone interview with them too, but have not been invited for one yet. All are in my specialized area of expertise, so interested to see what they both have to say about a "typical day" and all that. The kids go back to school in two weeks and I'd love to be following them soon after.

 

[DnA2010]

We are still waiting to hear about the job for DH. The wait is killing me. I really want him to get this offer. This is the first time he has come home from an interview and not been upset. He usually doesn't really like the people interviewing him, but this time he said that they were all very nice. They did call my brother on Friday and my brother seemed to think get a good vibe and said lots of nice things about him. But then they tried to contact another one of DH's references and they had trouble, so DH gave them another phone number for the reference. Not sure if they got a hold of him or not. I hope none of this looses DH the job. Ugh! So much stress right now.

And we have also learned that we are going to have a big expense coming up that we didn't quite anticipate. We have been trying for kids since we got married and haven't had any luck. We started going to the doctor a few months ago and it turns out that we are going to need to do IVF. I was a little surprised that they didn't have any other things that they wanted to try first, but they said that our issue wouldn't be helped much by IUI. They said it would be a waste of time and money. We are lucky though, because my insurance gives an 80% coverage up to $20,000. But that still means that we will need to pay about $5,000 for the first round of treatments. We had planned on a cruise to Asia next March, but we will likely cancel that and use the vacation money for the IVF costs instead. Our debt plan is still on track since we will be able to make this change and pretty much cover the medical costs.

But it has been a pretty emotional weekend for us here.

Sending more positive vibes for the job, hope you hear soon!

We were heading down the ivf route, but I got pregnant in December before we got there- over 37 weeks now, how amazing that your insurance covers so much of the cost- we were looking at the whole cost - it is what it us right

 

[bcwife76]

Sounds like everyone is making amazing progress!!! Fantastic!!

@Jen and Ashwin sounds like an emotional week, I hope things go well for you guys re:IVF

@DnA2010 not long now!!!

 

[DisneyMandC]

We are down to owing under $4500 on DH's car after our payment went through this morning! We are hoping to throw quite a bit of extra money at it next month. We had a high expense for one of our horses this month, but next month should just be the normal amount we pay so we're hoping to double the car payment. I will feel so much better when this stupid car payment is out of our lives. NEVER AGAIN! My car just rolled over 70k miles and DH's is at about 60k, so we should have a little time before we need to buy another car. Once we can get some student loans paid down, I'm planning to start saving up for the next car slowly. I drove my last car to 260k though, so hopefully I'll have a long time before I'm using that money!

 

[amalone1013]

Soooooo we didn't end up with leftover vacation money... Did a few extra things, added an extra day to the trip, and covered a few meals for people...

But we still each put an extra $1000 into our loans, and we even put $2000 straight into our wedding fund. I'll take it!

I second everyone for the motivation!

DF and I each put $600 extra towards student loans last night. July should be a good month - 3 paychecks each, some overtime each (mine will add up to around 80hrs at regular pay!). Plus we have a week and a half vacation, and DF will be gone half a week for work travel. The vacation money is waiting to be spent and we should have some leftover, plus leftovers in the budget categories (we didn't mess with them). And I picked up a rewards credit card - putting the vacation on it will meet the signup bonus, and hopefully we can use it for a few nights at a hotel by DisneyWorld for our honeymoon next year.

 

[Ngwira]

We are still waiting to hear about the job for DH. The wait is killing me. I really want him to get this offer. This is the first time he has come home from an interview and not been upset. He usually doesn't really like the people interviewing him, but this time he said that they were all very nice. They did call my brother on Friday and my brother seemed to think get a good vibe and said lots of nice things about him. But then they tried to contact another one of DH's references and they had trouble, so DH gave them another phone number for the reference. Not sure if they got a hold of him or not. I hope none of this looses DH the job. Ugh! So much stress right now.

And we have also learned that we are going to have a big expense coming up that we didn't quite anticipate. We have been trying for kids since we got married and haven't had any luck. We started going to the doctor a few months ago and it turns out that we are going to need to do IVF. I was a little surprised that they didn't have any other things that they wanted to try first, but they said that our issue wouldn't be helped much by IUI. They said it would be a waste of time and money. We are lucky though, because my insurance gives an 80% coverage up to $20,000. But that still means that we will need to pay about $5,000 for the first round of treatments. We had planned on a cruise to Asia next March, but we will likely cancel that and use the vacation money for the IVF costs instead. Our debt plan is still on track since we will be able to make this change and pretty much cover the medical costs.

But it has been a pretty emotional weekend for us here.

Everything crossed for your DH. Reaching out to references is a good sign. Also good luck with the IVF.