Debt Dumpers - 2017

[PrincessKymm]

Question/Opinions needed.

Yesterday I received notice that I will be receiving a very generous bonus. Before taxes it will be $2k and I will receive it no later than June 30. After I get decimated on taxes since it's a bonus I'm going to guess I'll get between $1200 and $1500. Aside from the extra taxes I'll need to pay for my city ($20) what should I use it for?

My first thought is to replace the baby EF I needed to raid in April. It's only like $175 until it's the full $1,000 though so not a ton left. I also owe DS some money about $200 or so, I borrowed from his savings for my emergency. So I'm still looking at about $800-$1000to spend/save/pay down debt.

DS is starting high school in August, we are hosting a foreign exchange student for 3 weeks, I'm considering becoming a foster parent which if I pursue this I need to move in Oct/Nov, we are going to Chicago (cheap getaway) over Labor Day weekend and I need to start saving for a new car. I am still in debt.

What would you do? I know Dave Ramsey says no vacations (we are staying with friends and driving so really cheap) but I need something to look forward to, I'm 99% sure I am cancelling the Disney bounce back I booked in April so that money will also go towards Chicago since it's already spent. I was thinking about putting the $800 into a summer/school sinking fund and just using what i would normally budget from my paychecks/child support for these to pay down debt.

School expenses that I can forsee are:
Fees $50-$100 (Each class is different so no way to guess)
Marching Band $50+shoes
Soccer $125+Uniform
Track $50+Uniform (2nd sport is only $50)
New shoes for School $75-$100
School Supplies & New Clothes $100-$200
Homecoming $75

Our French student will run me an additional mattress $100 or so and then any money we spend doing fun stuff or going out to eat which I am pretty sure I can manage with careful budgeting from my normal income.

I did not include spending money for the summer since DS will be working for my dad and getting paid. I will be using this summer to teach him to realistically budget and set savings goals. He's been on the 4 jar budget for the last 10 years but this is the first real summer he's going to be making a decent amount of money. So far this spring he's only worked 2 evenings with my dad and already brought home approx. $30. He did have $280 before I raided his savings (awful I know but it was necessary).

I would post my debt but it makes me sick. DS's medical bills are killing me. I've been paying only what is absolutely necessary but had to put a bunch on my card so they didn't roll to collections. The major hospitals here don't report to the credit bureau but the small ones do or at least threaten to. I pay what I can in cash to the major hospital, thankfully I have really good insurance so my coinsurance is only 10% of a monthly $1,028 bill is still $102 and that's just one bill. My HSA went to pay for his braces so that's already gone for the year. Next year I think I might max again. Also his medication went from $35 a month to $82. So annoyed with this part of my life.

Also Credit Karma sent me a notice that I may have a refund owed to me from the house I owned with my ex-husband and it's about $400. I believe I have to let him know it's there and he has to sign the form with me so I may not claim it. Dealing with him is not worth any amount of money. His lawyer didn't file the Quit Claim deed from our divorce and he tried to sue me last year for breach of contract even though I had already signed the paper and given it to him (twice). I flipped out on him but I know he would do something similar over the $400. Not worth it in my book. I need to look into it more before I decide. At least now I have access to free and discounted attorneys through work. Such a nice perk!

My financial life feels like it's in shambles for I'm actually pretty happy. DS is doing better since I've put him back in therapy and I hired a tutor ($78 a month) so that's money well spent. I'm turning 33 next week and decided to continue my good deeds on my birthday so I'm buying my department donuts. I've budgeted for it so even though it's totally unnecessary and slightly pricey I'm excited to do it. I've been dating on and off again and I've actually met some really great people. Some are better off friends but that's totally cool bc who doesn't need more friends?

 

[pblack]

Question/Opinions needed.

I do hope things get better for you! I would suggest taking that money and paying off a small debt if possible. If that's not possible, I would definitely save it for the upcoming expenses that you know of, and for the ones that you don't. Just know you're not alone in your debt struggles! We all are (or have) been there! That's why we come here, to seek support from other people in the same situations as us. Even though it's just moral support, it makes it seem a little bit better to know you're not alone.

And when in doubt...refer to Albus Dumbledore..."Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light."

 

[Ngwira]

Can't. Stop. Spending. On Vegas...... so I added one night to our vacation since I got a really sweet and (suite) deal ($16 TOTAL to change four Southwest flights to the day before we were supposed to leave). I did spend a bit more on our extra hotel night (Delano which gives access to Mandalay Bay and their amazing Beach club/aquatic area), but food credits and perks make it a screaming deal. We are now spending 5 nights in Vegas.

For activities, I found some great deals on Groupon including Madame Tussauds, Eiffel Tower Experience and the Grand Canyon South Rim tour. I also bought the Las Vegas Advisor for $40.00 which gives you lots of buy one/get one coupons on Vegas buffets including Bacchanal at Caesars and Wicked Spoon at the Cosmopolitan. We leave in 17 days and I'm pretty much done planning (and spending). I keep going back and forth on whether to purchase the monorail pass as we love to walk but it is the desert IN JUNE.

 

[pblack]

Can't. Stop. Spending. On Vegas...... so I added one night to our vacation since I got a really sweet and (suite) deal ($16 TOTAL to change four Southwest flights to the day before we were supposed to leave). I did spend a bit more on our extra hotel night (Delano which gives access to Mandalay Bay and their amazing Beach club/aquatic area), but food credits and perks make it a screaming deal. We are now spending 5 nights in Vegas.

For activities, I found some great deals on Groupon including Madame Tussauds, Eiffel Tower Experience and the Grand Canyon South Rim tour. I also bought the Las Vegas Advisor for $40.00 which gives you lots of buy one/get one coupons on Vegas buffets including Bacchanal at Caesars and Wicked Spoon at the Cosmopolitan. We leave in 17 days and I'm pretty much done planning (and spending). I keep going back and forth on whether to purchase the monorail pass as we love to walk but it is the desert IN JUNE.

You should also check out travelzoo.com. They frequently have deals for Vegas, if you're wanting to try and add on any other things to do.

 

[Ngwira]

You should also check out travelzoo.com. They frequently have deals for Vegas, if you're wanting to try and add on any other things to do.

Thanks, I noticed that travelzoo had a le village buffet deal at the Paris hotel and casino but it expired on June 1st. I love Groupon because I usually go through ebates and stack promo codes for killer deals.

 

[bcwife76]

Can't. Stop. Spending. On Vegas...... so I added one night to our vacation since I got a really sweet and (suite) deal ($16 TOTAL to change four Southwest flights to the day before we were supposed to leave). I did spend a bit more on our extra hotel night (Delano which gives access to Mandalay Bay and their amazing Beach club/aquatic area), but food credits and perks make it a screaming deal. We are now spending 5 nights in Vegas.

For activities, I found some great deals on Groupon including Madame Tussauds, Eiffel Tower Experience and the Grand Canyon South Rim tour. I also bought the Las Vegas Advisor for $40.00 which gives you lots of buy one/get one coupons on Vegas buffets including Bacchanal at Caesars and Wicked Spoon at the Cosmopolitan. We leave in 17 days and I'm pretty much done planning (and spending). I keep going back and forth on whether to purchase the monorail pass as we love to walk but it is the desert IN JUNE.

Get the monorail pass lol DH and I were there first week of May and it was hot. First day was about 90F and our last day was at least 100F. Loved the monorail, it was quite easy to use and very clean!

 

[Eureka]

Our house was built in 2009 so the unit is barely 8 yrs old. It would probably cost more to replace than to fix but I guess it depends where the leak is. If it's coming from the actual unit then maybe we should consider replacing it but if it's coming from the furnace in the attic then obviously that has nothing to do with the heat pump itself. Argh. Annoying and frustrating. I didn't hear back from the furnace company regarding another appt; I though the repairman told me THEY would be calling ME but if I don't hear from them by tomorrow I'll be calling them lol

Hmm...at 8 years old, you should not be having major issues yet.

 

[Eureka]

So, we decided to use what we'd been paying for the home equity loan to put back into our nest egg. Last summer when I was laid off, we spent a chunk of it to pay things off since we didn't know how long it would take for me to find work. I'd rather use it to put toward the credit card debt we have, especially because we have a couple trips planned this summer and will likely add to the card, but DH wants to do this. Sometimes it's easier to just do it, especially because we're not talking thousands of dollars every month. Not sure when my revised direct deposit will kick in.

 

[Ngwira]

Get the monorail pass lol DH and I were there first week of May and it was hot. First day was about 90F and our last day was at least 100F. Loved the monorail, it was quite easy to use and very clean!

Ok, will do. Or the deuce bus.

 

[bcwife76]

Hmm...at 8 years old, you should not be having major issues yet.

I agree!

We had an exceptionally cold and snowy winter here (and our heat pump is not covered, it's out in the elements). A few times ice built up on the fan blades so we were out there trying to defrost! Maybe some ice got in somewhere, expanded, made a crack? Ugh, I don't know. A qualified technician (one who 'specializes' in refrigerant lol) is coming out on Wednesdafind the leak and fix it (fingers crossed!) so I'm expecting my mastercard to faint once he is done at least I'll earn points haha! but my bank account will then heave a few weeks later when I have to pay the credit card bill Dang houses!

 

[Alexle2007]

Can't. Stop. Spending. On Vegas...... so I added one night to our vacation since I got a really sweet and (suite) deal ($16 TOTAL to change four Southwest flights to the day before we were supposed to leave). I did spend a bit more on our extra hotel night (Delano which gives access to Mandalay Bay and their amazing Beach club/aquatic area), but food credits and perks make it a screaming deal. We are now spending 5 nights in Vegas.

For activities, I found some great deals on Groupon including Madame Tussauds, Eiffel Tower Experience and the Grand Canyon South Rim tour. I also bought the Las Vegas Advisor for $40.00 which gives you lots of buy one/get one coupons on Vegas buffets including Bacchanal at Caesars and Wicked Spoon at the Cosmopolitan. We leave in 17 days and I'm pretty much done planning (and spending). I keep going back and forth on whether to purchase the monorail pass as we love to walk but it is the desert IN JUNE.

We just got back from spending Memorial Day weekend at Mandalay Bay. The resort, our room and pool area were awesome! I booked through the fine resorts on CSR and was so glad to have the $50 breakfast credit since for three of us it was $70 just for breakfast. A bottle of water was $5.00. We saw the Michael Jackson One and Popovich Pet Theater shows. MJ show was fanatastic! DS10 had a terrific time and wants to return. It definitely was not a cheap weekend getaway though.

 

[amalone1013]

Add me to the group who overspent in May... we went way over on dining out. Our well water still isn't fixed... hopefully soon. DF's mom is dragging her feet on ordering the filters they need, which I understand because they aren't cheap, but they aren't going to go down in price either. Everyone is just frustrated because this has been going on since the beginning of March, and we can't do laundry, cook easily, etc. We're filling water jugs up at family's houses to wash dishes and such. We take showers in the dirty water (it's like high iron/copper, so not gross but you can feel it when you shower) and it keeps staining the showers/toilets/sinks orange. Some days I hit my limit because it's not my problem to fix so I can't do anything, I'm just stuck...

We also joined a gym last month. DF has been wanting to go together, and we don't have space right now for any equipment at home that he could use (I think that'd be his ideal thing), so I told him I would if we did a place with a pool. I swam for years on one of our city pool swim teams growing up and enjoyed it much more than I enjoy biking/running in a gym. Though at this point I think I'd be willing to pay a gym membership just for the showers We found 3 nearby, and went with the one that was $10 more a month because the other two were out of the way, and this one is down the street for us. We've been going about every other day, but I did have to go find a swimsuit and goggles which was about $50 But I keep telling myself, it's for my health... I don't feel as bad then. And I truly enjoy swimming as a workout, so I don't dread going like I would if I was just riding a bike every time.

We do have enough for a $1200 extra loan payment, and June is a three paycheck month for us both so that should put us ahead. We're at the point where we're having to spend a lot of what we've saved up for our wedding/honeymoon. It's going on credit cards for points and getting paid off, but after I charge it I hesitate to pull the money from my savings because it just feels so weird to spend it! But unless we go nuts in the next few months, we should be under budget on both. I'm considering if we should just stop putting money towards the honeymoon, because even if we did we'd have around a $1000 cushion. We're looking like we'll be about $2000-$2500 under on our wedding too, but I don't think I'll mess with that just to be safe. I've been working a ton lately, and I'm worried about last minute expenses, or sort of hiring out something I thought I'd do myself. We did ask on Monday what it would be to get a wedding band that matches my engagement ring, because it wasn't part of a set, and the guy quoted $2200 before tax - no thanks!

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

May recap.

We had one big unexpected expense in May: DH's tire and rim had to be replaced due to a pothole. Cost was $700, but luckily we had the money in our auto maintenance fund. We plan to have a garage sale in mid-July, so any proceeds from that will go back into the auto fund to pad it back up. We did alright on our Norway vacation since we had enough money set aside to cover all the extras, though we didn't have any money left over to help cover expenses from our trip to Illinois/Wisconsin last weekend. We only ended up spending $50 on that and I will be covering that from surplus per diem from my 3 work trips in June. I should get around $200-$300 extra from per diem, as long as I eat frugally while traveling. Otherwise, we were right on target with all of our spending categories last month.

The other big expense was the washer/dryer. They have shipped to the delivery warehouse, so now I need to call next week to set up the delivery date. I am pretty excited to get these and hopefully I can sell the old set for a decent amount of money, which will go back into our baby fund.

A big milestone for us with the end of May is that we have now been using YNAB for 1 year! And what a difference a year has made for us. When we started, we had only $2700 cash surplus (cash accounts minus credit card debt). This doesn't count our other assets (house, retirement funds, etc.) or liabilities (mortgage, auto loans), but it does give a good look at where we were as far as the paycheck to paycheck cycle. As of the end of May, we are now at $20,000 cash surplus (a 614% increase), with $6000 now in our emergency fund! And this doesn't even account for the fact that we have made an extra $6000 in payments towards our mortgage and my auto loan in that time too as well as increased our retirement savings each month by an extra $250 per month. YNAB now says that we are at 79 days for our age of money and I am looking forward to seeing it cross the 90 day mark. I am so glad that I joined this thread, because without you guys, I probably not would have learned about YNAB or thought to give it a try.

 

[AmyAnne]

As of the end of May, we are now at $20,000 cash surplus (a 614% increase), with $6000 now in our emergency fund!

Congrats, and thanks for sharing. I am curious--in what kind of account (savings, money market, something else) are you keeping your surplus? Our youngest has two more years of college, but we're slowly trying to build up our reserves. I think separate designated accounts could be helpful, but with interest rates so low, our emergency fund is just sitting in our checking account. Not sure what else to do with it.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Congrats, and thanks for sharing. I am curious--in what kind of account (savings, money market, something else) are you keeping your surplus? Our youngest has two more years of college, but we're slowly trying to build up our reserves. I think separate designated accounts could be helpful, but with interest rates so low, our emergency fund is just sitting in our checking account. Not sure what else to do with it.

So before I started using YNAB, I had 1 USAA joint checking, 1 Chase joint checking and 1 USAA solo checking account, 1 USAA savings account and 5 Ally accounts that were designated to specific purposes. But YNAB actually recommends that you consolidate to as few accounts as possible because the program itself keeps track of the specific purposes for your money and fewer accounts make it easier. So I eliminated the USAA savings and solo checking account, plus consolidated down to a single Ally account. About $15k of the $20k is sitting in the Ally account because it earns more interest. We have $2k in the Chase account (to make sure we don't get any account charges) and the rest (about $3k surplus plus the money designated to pay bills, so right now that is about $8k) sits in our USAA checking, since this is the account that we use to pay bills. The money in the USAA checking account fluctuates a lot throughout the month as we get paychecks and then pay down bills, but it no longer dips to the kind of levels it did before we started using YNAB. I remember that in May 2016, at the end of the month I had just $300 left in that account. This has worked out very well for us and has really simplified the day to day expenses.

We plan to build up our emergency fund to $21k, which would be enough to cover 6-8 months of expenses if one of us lost our job. Our goal is to reach this total by May 2019, because my program will be up for our next grant renewal then and we aren't sure what funding will look like at that point. I have decided to keep this money in the Ally fund because it is meant to be very liquid. Once we have hit our emergency fund savings goal, any additional savings will be invested into a brokerage account in a diversified mutual fund portfolio.

 

[Eureka]

@PrincessKymm in our county the high school band kids are required to have evening wear for performances. They measure the boys for tuxes. I'll need to get DS14 one this year and see if DS16's still fits. They have some kind of "cheap" deal where it's "only" $110 or so. Maybe check into it for your son, see if that's yet another expense forthcoming. High school is not cheap. (Ugh, just as I type this, I realize that I ordered one kid a summer reading book last night but forgot to order the other one the graphing calculator he'll need next year.)

 

[AmyAnne]

I have decided to keep this money in the Ally fund because it is meant to be very liquid. Once we have hit our emergency fund savings goal, any additional savings will be invested into a brokerage account in a diversified mutual fund portfolio.

Those sound like excellent options to investigate. All of our kids have opened Roth IRAs through Vanguard in recent years, which has been super easy to use online. I think I will look into opening a mutual fund account.

Also, just as a PSA for those with teens -- a Roth IRA is an excellent way for them to save, and it's super-easy to open an account (at least it has been through Vanguard).

 

[DisneyMandC]

Those sound like excellent options to investigate. All of our kids have opened Roth IRAs through Vanguard in recent years, which has been super easy to use online. I think I will look into opening a mutual fund account.

Also, just as a PSA for those with teens -- a Roth IRA is an excellent way for them to save, and it's super-easy to open an account (at least it has been through Vanguard).

We also have our savings in Ally. Not as nice of an interest rate as it would be invested and don't get the tax benefits of an IRA, but I like having some savings liquid and easily accessible. 1.05% interest rate, so I'm fairly happy with that. Much better than the .01% I was getting with Bank of America!

I was presently surprised to see we actually had about $190 leftover in our budget last month, despite a disastrous failure on our part for eating out. I put the extra money into our horse show fund as that's a line item I will continuously need more money for. Boy do I have an expensive hobby, but I sure do love my little horse! DH and I discussed our plans to go to a horse show in Oklahoma in August and have decided to road trip out there. It's about 20 hours with stops from our home, but flights for both of us would have been $700. I just can't justify spending that much. Plus, we are very used to driving a lot for our horse shows, and I love road trips, so I'm actually looking forward to it. We also found an Airbnb for $50 a night there, so we booked that this week as well, so overall it should be a fairly economical trip despite the distance!

I was also pleased to discover today that my local Target is still allowing you to purchase Disney gift cards with a Target gift card. I had tried it the other day at self-checkout but couldn't get it to work, so I was concerned that they had stopped in-store purchases as well. I tried again today with a cashier and had no problems though, so I got a $100 gift card for $71.25 with my $25 gift card and Redcard. I believe I should be able to earn another $25 Target gift card before my final balance is due on July 1. I'll purchase the rest of my gift card for the balance with my Redcard to get the extra 5% off.

 

[DnA2010]

It's been a pretty crummy, low-key memorial day weekend around here. DH and I held our second horse show (also a flop). I've definitely complained enough now about it that we will not be doing these again next year. I hate to be whiny like that, but I am not enjoying it, we are not making any money, and I could spend the time I spend at these horse shows riding my own horse that I work hard to afford.

I've also been feeling a bit under the weather all week, and after the horse show Saturday I knew that I was getting worse so I had DH stop by the BetterMed near our house on the way home. I thought the copay was $60, since that's what I paid last year, but for some reason it was only $30 this time. I got reimbursed from my insurance for the $60 last year, so I wonder if I'll get reimbursed for the $30 this time too. It turns out I have bronchitis, so the doctor put me on steroids and codeine cough syrup. By the time we got home Saturday night, my voice was completely gone and I haven't been able to talk louder than a whisper since then. I'm thankful it was a three day weekend, because I definitely would not have been in good enough shape to go to work today.

So I've pretty much done nothing but lay on the couch all day yesterday and today so far, which isn't really how I like to spend my time. I have read some stuff and looked at things for our August Disney trip though. And I haven't had the opportunity to spend any money!

Sorry to hear your show didn't work out- local shows don't seem to be doing well here either...not sure what it is to be honest?
I can see how frustrating it would be, def focus on your own riding rather than all that work for no pay out

 

[DnA2010]

@DisneyMandC Sorry that the horse show didn't pan out again. I would probably feel the same way as you and not want to do it again, since organizing any kind of event is just so very time consuming. And sorry that you have been under the weather. DH and I have both had a lingering cough, etc. from a cold a few weeks ago, so I wonder if we have bronchitis too. I hadn't considered that, but it makes a bit of sense. Due to my cough, I had a hard time getting decent sleep this weekend. I am starting to feel better now though, so I probably won't hit the doctor's office unless I take a turn again.

@arlinar Happy to see you back here. Sorry you had to cancel your WDW trip, but Disneyland is a nice consolation. And congrats on starting your savings. As for the credit report, have you looked into any nonprofit credit agencies that might be able to help you dispute the debt? I would start there before you look into an attorney. And consider that you can actually send a cease and desist letter to the creditor on your own before looking into an attorney, since hiring an attorney would probably cost you several hundred dollars at the least. Also, what ever happened with your auto loan that was at the really high interest rate? Did you get that sorted out?

So DH and I went to my parents in Illinois this weekend and we also spent one night in Madison, WI. We had a very nice time. DH really liked Madison and was quite impressed with the university. I have always wanted him to see where I went to college, since I have such fond memories. The first day we walked around campus, getting ice cream at the Memorial Union and lounging on the terrace. Then we walked from campus, down State St. all the way to the state capitol building and back. Then I drove him around so he could see some other places, like my dorm and apartments where I used to live, the building that housed the women's studies program, the hospital building were I worked as a research assistant, etc. And then the second day, we went to the Henry Villas Zoo. I always wanted to go when I was a student, but never got around to it. Admission is free, but we made the $5 suggested donation. It is a very cute little zoo with nice exhibits and a good variety of animals. DH liked it a lot and said we will have to come back in the future. Our little trek this weekend was pretty cost effective. I paid for our Madison hotel with credit card rewards points, gas and parking came out of our regular monthly budget and we spent just under $50 on food for the whole weekend.

And hanging out with my parents was very nice as well. We did some barbecuing, saw Guardians of the Galaxy and just generally hung out. I think I mentioned before that DH's cell phone died last month and that he wouldn't buy a new one because he wanted to wait out for the iPhone 8. We looked into a few different possible solutions, but we couldn't find anything that wouldn't cost us several hundred dollars more than we would normally spend on cell phone service over the next several months. Well, my dad had an old (slightly damaged, but usable) iPhone 5 that he gave to DH to tide him over until the new phones are released. I am so glad because I didn't really like DH not having a phone. Fingers crossed that this one lasts until September/October.

And we had a little gender reveal cake this weekend. We just went and had the grocery store make us a small cake. Nothing fancy, but it was a lot more fun than just opening the envelope. And DH got his wish! We will be having a girl. DH is so very, very excited. He keeps talking about taking her to the tea party at Grand Floridian and he joked (or maybe was serious?) that we should start saving now for the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. He even went on the Disney Store website to look at the baby dresses! The fact that he is so excited makes me feel super emotional about our entire journey to get to this point. It hasn't been easy, or cheap, but it has been totally worth it. I love my husband so much and it just makes me crazy happy to see him so very excited.

Congratulations!! Having a little girl has been so fun so far for me! We didn't care either way, but a girl has been great and I'm def looking forward to the BBB also! (Although by then we will prob have to sell our second child to afford it!)