Debt Dumpers - 2017

[Jen and Ashwin]

I'm guessing that Hector talks to you? Some have quite a broad vocabulary, although none so broad as the late, great Alex, eh?. I never knew that Alex lived at Brandeis University, not far from me.

He does talk to me. And whistles. And laughs. And makes funny noises like car alarms and DH taught him to talk like Donald Duck.

Alex was an amazing bird and definitely had a larger vocabulary than Hector, but he also got attention and training almost 24/7.

 

[Eureka]

He does talk to me. And whistles. And laughs. And makes funny noises like car alarms and DH taught him to talk like Donald Duck.

Alex was an amazing bird and definitely had a larger vocabulary than Hector, but he also got attention and training almost 24/7.

I have never heard of Alex the parrot and I went to Brandeis. When was he there?

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I have never heard of Alex the parrot and I went to Brandeis. When was he there?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_(parrot)

 

[dayvewc]

Working on taxes still. I was really happy for a moment - TurboTax had an estimated federal refund of $5800!! That's twice my usual refund.

Woo-hoo! Gonna be debt free much faster (or maybe just go hog wild at Disney).

Then I saw where I entered 15000 miles driven for work, not 1500.

I shed a tear when I fixed it and had to watch the refund counter roll down that far.

I'll still have enough for my spring break trip, though, so that is good.

On a different note, I go back to the doctor tomorrow to get the results of the MRI.
I know it sounds strange, but I really hope that they find something. Then maybe there can be a start to getting rid of the chronic pain.

 

[bcwife76]

Working on taxes still. I was really happy for a moment - TurboTax had an estimated federal refund of $5800!! That's twice my usual refund.

Woo-hoo! Gonna be debt free much faster (or maybe just go hog wild at Disney).

Then I saw where I entered 15000 miles driven for work, not 1500.

I shed a tear when I fixed it and had to watch the refund counter roll down that far.

I'll still have enough for my spring break trip, though, so that is good.

On a different note, I go back to the doctor tomorrow to get the results of the MRI.
I know it sounds strange, but I really hope that they find something. Then maybe there can be a start to getting rid of the chronic pain.

Not strange at all. It's not fun living with pain. It would be nice if they at least found the source of it and then you could move on with treatment.

My mom is on dialysis 3 times a week. She's been suffering from low hemoglobin lately so she's been having transfusions (3? 4? since mid October). She went for a colonoscopy at the end of January - the nurses at dialysis thought great, this would solve the mystery. Nope, her colonoscopy was completely clean. Back to the drawing board. She hasn't had a transfusion since January 12th and now her hemoglobin is starting to dip again

 

[momtosam]

Working on taxes still. I was really happy for a moment - TurboTax had an estimated federal refund of $5800!! That's twice my usual refund.

Woo-hoo! Gonna be debt free much faster (or maybe just go hog wild at Disney).

Then I saw where I entered 15000 miles driven for work, not 1500.

I shed a tear when I fixed it and had to watch the refund counter roll down that far.

I'll still have enough for my spring break trip, though, so that is good.

.

This was better than the "surprise" I had when doing ours. I knew our refund would be less this year. Then I realized the RED $1200 on the screen was not a refund, but money owed. I truly felt sick.

 

[MEM]

I have never heard of Alex the parrot and I went to Brandeis. When was he there?

A long time, but not long enough.

 

[Imagineer5]

Happy Dance!! I just paid off our 2nd car - leaving us with no more car payments! AND to boot, my spreadsheet had a car payment for March still in the plan ($412) so that was 412 extra I have to 1) Pay off those car excise tax bills that came and 2) buy another narrow car seat which we needed for the third baby due in April (we have an infant seat for her, but to fit 3-across in DH's car we needed two narrow seats as well)! Yay for math gone wrong (for once a positive thing lol!)

 

[Eureka]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_(parrot)

Interesting. I was definitely there during his lifetime but never heard of him.

 

[piccolopat]

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 don't carry any debt except my mortgage but I am a person that has more withheld during the year to get it back at tax time. Yes, I could get a little more in my paychecks throughout the year but it's really easy to spend that "little more in my paycheck" and not have a good sum once a year to splurge on something. This year we are adding crown moldings in the main living areas and paying cash for it from our refund. Since banks pay so little interest these days, we're really not losing anything by letting the government accumulate this for us.

 

[DrummerBoy523]

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.

your "standard deduction" is based on your W4 withholding allowances. You can actually claim 0.

 

[DrummerBoy523]

I don't carry any debt except my mortgage but I am a person that has more withheld during the year to get it back at tax time. Yes, I could get a little more in my paychecks throughout the year but it's really easy to spend that "little more in my paycheck" and not have a good sum once a year to splurge on something. This year we are adding crown moldings in the main living areas and paying cash for it from our refund. Since banks pay so little interest these days, we're really not losing anything by letting the government accumulate this for us.

instead of giving it to the govt, open up a brokerage account and have this $$ automatically taken out and thrown into mutual funds. I guarantee you will make more money than letting the govt hold on to it for free.

 

[piccolopat]

Glad all is going well! Babies under a year are probably the most portable they will be until they're a little older into the toddler years, at least imo. 10-11 months may be pushing it in that area depending if yours is mobile by then. My kids were both walking by 10 mos and that made it harder bc they were not content to stay put. Lol. In terms of a hotel, that's also pretty doable if they or you have a pack n play for sleeping. You will be surprised though how much stuff you need to take when you travel with a baby though, even just the basics. Even 2-3 days is lots of outfits, diapers, plus snacks, toys, etc.

I agree. It was so easy traveling with DD before she started walking. We were lucky afterwards because she liked the stroller and was great in restaurants even at that young age but that's not always the case and definitely wasn't with my friend's kids. As for what to bring, we packed what we thought we needed but I also hand washed stuff at night. Baby clothes are so small it took so little time that it was worth it not to have to bring more than 2 outfits a day for the trip. We didn't have anything like Garden Grocer around when DD was a baby (she's 30 now) but I would have used something like that to deliver diapers and formula instead of carting them down by plane. We lucked out our first trip down when she was 10 months because DH's parents were driving down and meeting us. They brought the supplies down for us. We did run out of diapers in Epcot one day and had to buy a couple from the child care center. We were glad we didn't need to go back to the hotel that day (DD napped in the stroller so well we never needed a midday break for her).

 

[piccolopat]

instead of giving it to the govt, open up a brokerage account and have this $$ automatically taken out and thrown into mutual funds. I guarantee you will make more money than letting the govt hold on to it for free.

I'm looking into a brokerage account now but for other reasons. I've been saving in my 401K for a long time but know that money will be taxed when I withdraw it. I'm planning to retire within the next year and want to increase the funds that I can withdraw tax free but I'm not interested in a Roth at this time so this is one option for me. If I do this, I may also adjust my withholding and send the money there during the year. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[brooke789]

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

Personally, we just like to 'play it safe'. We get a modest refund usually around 1000 between state & federal. We could adjust our monthly withholding more but we prefer to not owe!

 

[disneyduonj]

@Jen-and-ashwin
What's to do in Milwaukee - I am thinking of moving there....

 

[disneyduonj]

Halfway through February update:
Savings: $225 from Santander Checking account bonus
Unbudgeted expenses: $50 (ezpass), $30 (girl scout registration), $44.07 (misc amazon expenses)
Still hoping to put another $474 in savings at the end of the month - its staying in my checking account til the end of the month in case there are more of these unbudgeted expenses.

February Update:
So I am assuming no more unexpected expenses in February - any that come up will come out of March budget.
Other unbudgeted expenses (I budget mortgage(s), maintenance, gas, insurance, groceries, phone/internet, charity, prescriptions, daughter's hair, and some things that are paid yearly broken up monthly - the rest goes into an account labeled "tuition" until the end of the month - unexpected things that come up get taken out of that and the balance goes into savings at the end of the month) - Costco stock up - I used 39.62 out my "savings" and 35 out of groceries for next month, FINALLY got my headlight and turn signal repaired - $35
Got the HSBC bonus of $350
Federal Refund of $1128
I managed to save $400 this month

Saved this year so far:
January: $52.66
February:$225 + $350 +$1128 +$400=2103

Total saved this year: $$$2155.66

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

@Jen-and-ashwin
What's to do in Milwaukee - I am thinking of moving there....

I went to college in Madison, but my bf at the time went to school in Milwaukee, so I spent quite a bit of time there. I think of Milwaukee as a small version of Chicago. The same architect that designed many buildings in Chicago also designed building in Milwaukee, so it looks very similar. There is a great food scene, especially in Bay View. The lakeshore area is wonderful and includes beaches, boat rentals and many attractions like the Milwaukee Art Museum. You can visit the Milwaukee Public Market (like a small version of Pike Public Market in Seattle). The Brookfield Zoo (little outside Milwaukee) was fun to visit as a kid on field trips. There is a botanical garden, an Audubon Center, many public parks with trails and playgrounds. You can tour some breweries or visit some of the Beer baron mansions. Lots of seasonal ethnic events and festivals throughout the year. Tons and tons more.

 

[DnA2010]

Not strange at all. It's not fun living with pain. It would be nice if they at least found the source of it and then you could move on with treatment.

My mom is on dialysis 3 times a week. She's been suffering from low hemoglobin lately so she's been having transfusions (3? 4? since mid October). She went for a colonoscopy at the end of January - the nurses at dialysis thought great, this would solve the mystery. Nope, her colonoscopy was completely clean. Back to the drawing board. She hasn't had a transfusion since January 12th and now her hemoglobin is starting to dip again

Sorry to hear about your mom- stupid question but transfusion is blood right? I look forward to donating again- I haven't been with being pregnant/nursing

 

[bcwife76]

Sorry to hear about your mom- stupid question but transfusion is blood right? I look forward to donating again- I haven't been with being pregnant/nursing

Yes, blood transfusions.