Debt Dumpers - 2017

[bcwife76]

Tax refund came this morning...and went right out to pay for the new water heater. It's in and installed! Wohoo. Our floors are still ripped up but the adjuster is coming tomorrow morning to let us know the process. I booked our Disney Cruise for August 2018. It's a short 3 day but we also do 6 park days so it works for us. Lots of money going out.... we leave on Friday night for Washington DC and return Sunday. Our splurge was for the gold floor at the Fairmont DC Georgetown. After the week we had, we NEED it.

Ugh, PITA but at least it's all sorted out now! And yay for cruise

 

[Ngwira]

Checking in a bit. So sorry to hear about troubles. Glad to hear the good news.

I spent too much this month. One of the trees in my yard was looking dead, so I got in touch with someone to trim it. $1000 later, the tree is topped and the mailbox was destroyed. So, new post and box and numbers and stencils and paint etc. and I'm out $200 more.

I also found out this week that the district I teach in does not have a bereavement policy, so there went the last of my sick days. Which is bad since I finally got a referral to a pain specialist for the chronic back pain I've had for 2 years and he requires monthly visits. Which means all the medical visits will cost me my daily pay rate off my check. Because of the way they reconcile absences, my March check will be missing 3 days, which is about 20% off the top.

Along those lines, I had an MRI today, so I'll find out Monday if I'm living the plot of "The Fly" or "Alien"

That stinks Dave. Hope your MRI turns out fine.

 

[DrummerBoy523]

Not being judgy - just a suggestion for those of you getting these huge tax refunds. Why not modify your withholding and have more of this money in your paycheck every month instead of letting the government have it all year? If you are used to living w/o it, you could invest this money wisely and make a little bit of interest. Or you could use it to pay down some debts. In my experience, I'd rather have that money now than let Uncle Sam have it all year INTEREST FREE

 

[DrummerBoy523]

I've been following along but not posting much.

We were able to pay off two CCs with our tax refund. They were the smallest two, with the lowest monthly payments, but they are G.O.N.E.! We'll save about $55/month.

Dh's job is still ~22-24 hours a week, so most of our refund went to pay monthly bills, get some much needed clothes and shoes for the kids, etc. I had so hoped to pay off more, but such is life. Dh did interview at a place yesterday that's willing to have him work either FT or PT. The bad thing is they don't offer family insurance. For me to get insurance at my job would literally leave me with about $100/month left over, so that's a no go. So, he'll stay where he is (they have awesome family insurance), ride out this lull, and hopefully be able to get some PT hours in at the other place.

Suggestion - why not take that $55/month savings and add it to another CC (if you have one) or another debt and pay it off sooner?

Also - if you are getting a big refund, why not adjust your withholding to get more in your paycheck instead of uncle sam's fat wallet?

Just some things my wife and I have done in the past that have made things easier on us financially.

 

[dayvewc]

Not being judgy - just a suggestion for those of you getting these huge tax refunds. Why not modify your withholding and have more of this money in your paycheck every month instead of letting the government have it all year? If you are used to living w/o it, you could invest this money wisely and make a little bit of interest. Or you could use it to pay down some debts. In my experience, I'd rather have that money now than let Uncle Sam have it all year INTEREST FREE

Just me, I use the refund to pay my spring break trip. This way I'm not adding to debt, and I'm not great at budgeting/saving all year to pay for it. I know it's not necessarily the best financial option, but it works well for me and my habits.

 

[hmack]

Friday = check in day.

Nothing major to report.

I was able to pay all of this week's bills without any worry or hesitation and sometimes that simple thing is enough to make me feel very grateful.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Had my federal and state refund in our account this morning, but only DH's state refund Not sure what to make of that since we mailed everything at the same time, but oh well.

 

[Imagineer5]

Not being judgy - just a suggestion for those of you getting these huge tax refunds. Why not modify your withholding and have more of this money in your paycheck every month instead of letting the government have it all year? If you are used to living w/o it, you could invest this money wisely and make a little bit of interest. Or you could use it to pay down some debts. In my experience, I'd rather have that money now than let Uncle Sam have it all year INTEREST FREE

I will never understand this, either. I adjust my withholdings at the beginning of the year (and do a couple calculations throughout the year if any circumstances have changed) in order to hopefully come out to 0 owed, 0 back. Sure I guess it would be nice to get back a lump sum? But I know that I would much rather have that $$ throughout the year instead! I'm not good at investments and that sort of thing, but if you are, yet another reason to have that money in hand vs waiting until the following year for it!! SO MANY people I know wait until tax season for stuff, but I just don't get why they don't do a quick 5 minute calculation and get that money every paycheck instead!!

 

[Tygerlilly]

I'd rather get the chunk back because I use it for our vacations and this year, maternity leave. I'm not 100% sure how it works, but if I take my refund and divide it by my checks through the year, it really isn't much of an impact to my checks (meaning I'd only have an extra $100ish per check). It's just easier for me to do things this way.

 

[Ngwira]

Adjuster came this morning. He explained that he would be issuing a check for the damage by next week! They will cover everything including our rugs and towels that were damaged by the water. We need to pick our contractor and have them do the work based on the amount of money we get. I'll know the amount by next week but it's the standard payout for materials and replacement of flooring in my area.
Our handyman who is very reasonable is giving us an estimate on Sunday. We have used him for several projects and trust him not to gouge us. We also have some leftover flooring that the seller left for us when we bought the house so we may be able to save some $$.
The check we get will be less our $1,000 deductible so no money out of pocket unless our contractor charges more than our insurance check amount. So all in all, we are blessed.

 

[Eureka]

Paid for DS's AP tests and yearbook today (plus a couple bills) - always good to get those "extras but not really extras" out of the way. If only my other DS would bring home a yearbook order form (can't order his online). March is a 5-check month for DH so hoping to be able to put some of that aside for things I haven't funded yet. Like summer vacations. We're not taking another 2-week extravaganza like we did last year to Canada, but want to go on a family vacation in July and a 20th anniversary weekend in August, just me and DH. I peeked at the taxes that DH isn't quite done with yet, but looks like we might be getting a federal refund this year, probably bc I only worked 8.5 months last year. We haven't gotten one for a few years, and lately have been owing the state a little too. That would be great to eliminate the CC balance and/or save for summer but I am counting chickens....

 

[Ngwira]

Wow, that was fast. The initial insurance estimate to replace our flooring is a little less than $6,500. We are getting a check for $5,500 (less our deductible) which we should receive in 5 to 10 business days. Hope our handyman comes in less than that! We are replacing about 600 square feet of laminate flooring. We should receive two more checks (for much smaller amounts) once the work is done.

 

[Aurora_Australis]

Got word our tenants are vacating end of March, the day after we fly out to the US for three weeks. Super rubbish timing, even if we do get a new tenant in straight away, we lose a fair chunk in agent fees and DH was already taking one week without pay as he had started somewhere new after we booked.

We can cover our mortgage and our rent out of our pay but there is zero left for anything after bills and groceries. So budget lockdown for this month to get ahead a little!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Not being judgy - just a suggestion for those of you getting these huge tax refunds. Why not modify your withholding and have more of this money in your paycheck every month instead of letting the government have it all year? If you are used to living w/o it, you could invest this money wisely and make a little bit of interest. Or you could use it to pay down some debts. In my experience, I'd rather have that money now than let Uncle Sam have it all year INTEREST FREE

I suppose I could but in the past we have owed and the timing was awful and I'd like to never be in that position again. When our kids were younger and life was more predictable, it would have been easier to do a mid year assessment, not that I would honestly remember to do it. Last year’s refund was $5000 because we could deduct for college tuition for ds. He only stayed 1 semester and did not attend school at all in 2016 so this year’s refund was $2200. That’s a huge range and God knows what our 2017 return will be like.

I feel like I can barely stay on top of juggling bills, schedules, appointments, kids, housework, laundry and work FT (I get up at 5:30am and get home at 5:30pm) so I’m not looking to add another something to my list. Big refunds may not be the smartest way but I don’t trust myself to really pay attention to it all year and I’m afraid I will screw it up.

Call it laziness or whatever you like but this way works for us.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

First, baby update. Had an ultrasound yesterday and everything is good. DH was able to be there. He got to hear the heartbeat. He is convinced he can see the baby's face, though it is still so small (.94 cm) there really isn't much to see except a tiny blob. I have been officially discharged from the fertility clinic and have an appointment with an OB in 2ish weeks.

DH and I have our Norwegian Fjords cruise in May and we had kind of decided that we were unlikely to take any big trips in 2018 and just wait for Disney in Spring 2019. But I would still like to plan for the possibility of going somewhere. And then I thought, maybe we could go to Wisconsin for a week. We could take the ferry from Muskegon to Milwaukee, spend a few days in Milwaukee, maybe a few days in Madison and also go to Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin (DH really wants to do this). I haven't really been back to Wisconsin in a while and would love DH to see where I went to college. If we went in August or even Sept., then baby would be around 10-11 months. Is this reasonable or completely crazy? It would probably be pretty budget friendly, especially if I used hotel and credit card rewards to book our hotel.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

First, baby update. Had an ultrasound yesterday and everything is good. DH was able to be there. He got to hear the heartbeat. He is convinced he can see the baby's face, though it is still so small (.94 cm) there really isn't much to see except a tiny blob. I have been officially discharged from the fertility clinic and have an appointment with an OB in 2ish weeks.

DH and I have our Norwegian Fjords cruise in May and we had kind of decided that we were unlikely to take any big trips in 2018 and just wait for Disney in Spring 2019. But I would still like to plan for the possibility of going somewhere. And then I thought, maybe we could go to Wisconsin for a week. We could take the ferry from Muskegon to Milwaukee, spend a few days in Milwaukee, maybe a few days in Madison and also go to Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin (DH really wants to do this). I haven't really been back to Wisconsin in a while and would love DH to see where I went to college. If we went in August or even Sept., then baby would be around 10-11 months. Is this reasonable or completely crazy? It would probably be pretty budget friendly, especially if I used hotel and credit card rewards to book our hotel.

It's not crazy at all. Traveling with an infant just means you won't get to see & do as much as when you're just 2 and also there's only so much you can disrupt a baby's routine (naps, feeding etc.) so it helps to not have rigid plans and choose a place that's easy to go with the flow.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

@ruadisneyfan2 and @Imagineer5

How many children (including any of the caregivers own children) were in care at one time? How did you go about finding your caregivers? What kind of holiday closures did the caregivers have? What was the learning curriculum like that your children were provided?

In 1997 there was no internet so it prob has all changed since then but I called my county’s Division for Children services. They would give me a list of licensed providers name, address & phone number. They also mailed me pamphlets as to what to look for in a good provider, what questions to ask, etc. Things that I never would have thought of such as “Do you withhold food as punishment?” (Joey misbehaved so he doesn’t get his afternoon snack.) I had a list of around 30 questions and they all seemed to know I'd come with a list.

NJ law states no more than 5 kids (3 infants) not including her own children. Honestly, I was not concerned about any “curriculum”; I just wanted him to be loved and nurtured in a safe, clean environment. I had fully intended to send him to a regular preschool at age 3 or 4, which felt like light-years away when he was 2 months old.


Both day cares had the same payment policy which was we paid whether he went or not. If she is open and available she gets paid. If not, we don't. They each took 1 week unpaid in summer (one of them took 2 weeks but not consecutive).

Honestly, if I was able to get those weeks off and did not have to pay someone else, I still paid her. I enjoy paid vacation; why shouldn’t she?


Both RARELY ever closed for sickness. One had jury duty once and her dh took off and stayed with the kids. It just happened to be ds20’s 3rd birthday so I took a half day anyway. She also had some minor surgery (maybe arthroscopic knee surgery or gall bladder or something simple like that.) I was still on maternity leave with our 2nd baby and ds, then 3, only attended 2 days/week anyway so it didn’t really impact us.


I liked that both were always open even on snow days and neither closed for MLK, President’s Day, Black Friday, or all those little BS holidays that hospitals don’t get.

I clearly remember looking in the infant room at a local day care center and seeing a bunch of drooling babies just staring at each other and classical music playing in the background. But when we went to the home day care, to see older (age 2) kids, omg, his face lit up! He had such a happy look on his face and was kicking his feet like he wanted to get up and play with them. Of course they all crowded around him in his little seat and she asked them to stay back and not touch him which I appreciated. (Such little thing but when you’re used to looking at your pristine, angelic infant, other people’s preschoolers look like big, dirty nose-pickers and you don’t want them touching your angel.) lol.

Also, it’s nice that schools separate children by age but I honestly was looking for an environment more like home. I figured if I were a SAHM, naturally my multiple kids would not be the same age.


Our first provider retired from child care when ds started kindergarten (her youngest graduated college by then) but the one we used for ds#2 was still available for those later years such as in summer when school is off or when they went to day camp for a while the bus didn’t pick up until later so they would go to her house for breakfast and bus would pick up there. Also on school holidays our district’s before/after school child care program would offer child care but it was at a centrally-located elementary school (out of 12 total) so there would be very few kids that they knew from their own school. It was times like these that they liked her house better and felt very comfortable there.


No regrets about our choices at all but do what you feel most comfortable with. You have to have peace of mind.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

First, baby update. Had an ultrasound yesterday and everything is good. DH was able to be there. He got to hear the heartbeat. He is convinced he can see the baby's face, though it is still so small (.94 cm) there really isn't much to see except a tiny blob. I have been officially discharged from the fertility clinic and have an appointment with an OB in 2ish weeks.

DH and I have our Norwegian Fjords cruise in May and we had kind of decided that we were unlikely to take any big trips in 2018 and just wait for Disney in Spring 2019. But I would still like to plan for the possibility of going somewhere. And then I thought, maybe we could go to Wisconsin for a week. We could take the ferry from Muskegon to Milwaukee, spend a few days in Milwaukee, maybe a few days in Madison and also go to Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin (DH really wants to do this). I haven't really been back to Wisconsin in a while and would love DH to see where I went to college. If we went in August or even Sept., then baby would be around 10-11 months. Is this reasonable or completely crazy? It would probably be pretty budget friendly, especially if I used hotel and credit card rewards to book our hotel.

I agree with ruadisneyfan2, not crazy at all. In fact, I say it's easier to travel with infants than it is to travel when they get older and start telling you what they want to do . We traveled with each of our children beginning at just about 8 weeks and haven't stopped since.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

Not being judgy - just a suggestion for those of you getting these huge tax refunds. Why not modify your withholding and have more of this money in your paycheck every month instead of letting the government have it all year? If you are used to living w/o it, you could invest this money wisely and make a little bit of interest. Or you could use it to pay down some debts. In my experience, I'd rather have that money now than let Uncle Sam have it all year INTEREST FREE

Wish I could, but all I have is the standard deduction, and you can't make that any smaller. We actually had to have a big HR meeting at work to address the concerns of 30+ people who wanted to suggest the same thing you did. We were all recently given a 3% COL raise and naturally this brought up the tax question as our cheques got a wee bit larger. Unfortunately you can't decrease the standard deduction... There are a whole bunch of other "rebates" that get thrown into the calculation at filing time such as charitable donations, child tax credits, carbon tax "refund", etc. that affect whether one gets a tax refund or not. I don't think I'll get one this year unfortunately.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

If we went in August or even Sept., then baby would be around 10-11 months. Is this reasonable or completely crazy?

Not crazy. We started travelling with our small person when she was 4 months old. 6 months we took a flight to Nashville. About every 2-4 months we go somewhere and obviously we take her along; now she is 5 and travels fairly well! You get used to listing and packing everything that goes in the diaper bag. It's actually kind of relieving when you realize that a third of the junk in the bag isn't needed anymore, you're just carrying it along "just in case".

I'd invest in the money for one of those FAA approved car seats... then you have one less thing to worry about when travelling. We know she'll be safe in anyone's car as well as any turbulence from the aircraft. This is useful when your family likes to trade off which vehicles are being driven, who's driving, etc.