Debt Dumpers - 2017

[DnA2010]

@Jen and Ashwin It's not really letting me tag you (stupid Disboards!) but I'm so excited for you! Girls are awesome; I'm biased because I have two lol but they are fun

My money whine for today: we had a few days of hot weather this weekend so went to run our airconditioner (we have a heat pump that heats and cools our house) and found it wasn't really cooling the house at all. So we called a furnace company that had been highly recommended. They came today, the 15 minute service call cost me $198 and it's not good news. The refrigerant is very low which means there is a leak somewhere. It will take a tech 2-4 hours to figure it out and fix it and to refill refrigerant costs $100 a pound (and I have no idea how many pounds we need). Oh this will NOT be cheap.

The worst part is that we had a company (different one) come in to service and clean our unit at the beginning of December and they said NOTHING. So either (a) he didn't check the refrigerant eventhough he said he did or (b) we have a fast leak???

Apparently it's a common problem that happens to these units that are 8-10 years old - seriously? Shouldn't they last LONGER than this?

Oh and then DD6 came home with two huge rips in the back of her pants today (and her hoodie tied around her waist to hide the holes) because she tore her pants when she sat on a fence at lunchtime Guess I should have told her NOT to sit on the fence?! Thought that was common knowledge but apparently not And I just bought those pants two weeks ago. Le Sigh.

We had an expensive AC bill last year too- and ours isn't that old either (I think our house is 8 years old?) had to be done though as you know how hot it gets up here and I was very pregnant through the summer last year!

 

[DnA2010]

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.

Brilliant job!! Over 600% increase in cash is amazing! Stupid question though- why not pay off your cars and save the interest?

 

[DLgal]

Brilliant job!! Over 600% increase in cash is amazing! Stupid question though- why not pay off your cars and save the interest?

This was my first thought as well, but I guess if this money is earmarked as potential income replacement in the event of job loss, you wouldn't want to deplete it to eliminate a car payment, which is already budgeted for. And, I don't know the interest rate on their car loans, but it might be pretty low.

 

[Eureka]

This was my first thought as well, but I guess if this money is earmarked as potential income replacement in the event of job loss, you wouldn't want to deplete it to eliminate a car payment, which is already budgeted for. And, I don't know the interest rate on their car loans, but it might be pretty low.

This was not my post but for the car we have six months left of payments on....we have 0.9% interest. $900 total over the course of the five years. We did think about paying it off when we had to buy another car (and had a year left of payments) but didn't want to take money out of savings when we are literally paying next to nothing in interest. Sometimes it's not worth it.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Brilliant job!! Over 600% increase in cash is amazing! Stupid question though- why not pay off your cars and save the interest?

Well, the way that YNAB works is that you give every dollar a job. So though we have $20,000 surplus now, all of that money is assigned to specific purposes to be used some day. Some of it has been gradually building up over time to cover sporadic expenses, such as car insurance, car maintenance, holiday gifts, etc. Other money is designated towards emergency spending. We have $6k in our emergency fund and $4k in our parrot emergency fund (I have put money in it each month since I got my parrot 11 years ago, so it has had significant time to build up).

As for the car loans, mine will be paid off by the end of this year. And we have plans to pay off DH's car loan 18 months after that. Both are at 1.9% interest and we don't feel any immediate need to pay them off all at once (though total right now, we owe more than $20k between the two loans) and deplete our emergency savings. So my car will be paid off 2 years ahead of schedule and DH's car will be paid off 2.5 years ahead of schedule. The overall interest we will have paid is less important to me than having emergency savings and less financial stress overall.

 

[Stuarotra]

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.

I feel the same way you do. I started following this thread in 2014. My husband and I had only been married a year and he was $78,000 in consumer debt..... I was pretty overwhelmed. I had never heard of YNAB before. I probably still wouldn't know what it is if it wasn't for this thread. I'm happy to say that we have our 6 month emergency fund in place and we are debt free except our mortgage. We are working on getting that paid down now.
My husband makes a great salary, he just didn't manage his money well. Now he is a pro. There were definitely growing pains but we have been successful and ynab has helped so much......

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I feel the same way you do. I started following this thread in 2014. My husband and I had only been married a year and he was $78,000 in consumer debt..... I was pretty overwhelmed. I had never heard of YNAB before. I probably still wouldn't know what it is if it wasn't for this thread. I'm happy to say that we have our 6 month emergency fund in place and we are debt free except our mortgage. We are working on getting that paid down now.
My husband makes a great salary, he just didn't manage his money well. Now he is a pro. There were definitely growing pains but we have been successful and ynab has helped so much......

We were married about 10 months when we started using YNAB. At that point, I realized that we were spending too much each month and I knew we needed to make big changes in order to pay off some credit card debt before the 0% promo rates expired later that year. We also wanted to knock out DH's $12k in student loans by the end of that year too, which we were able to accomplish too.

I had always thought of myself as very budget conscious and a good money manager, but once I got married, I found it harder financially because DH wasn't very involved. YNAB allowed him to get more proactive and it took a lot of the pressure off of me because I wasn't the only one making the decisions. This has probably been the best $50 I have ever spent and I am happy to re-up our subscription at the end of this month.

 

[Stuarotra]

My husband and I are older. Both of us had previous marriages. I was a single mother for a very long time and had to figure out how to make it work. Make a dollar stretch. I rave about YNAB. My daughter, who is 27, looked into getting ynab because she has seen how much it has helped us. I was shocked to find that it is a recurring payment. Knowing how great it is, I would probably still do it. My husband and I were very fortunate. When we purchased it, it was a 1 time payment. You paid for the software and that was it. At the time it cost $60.00. It was so crazy, I was reading this exact thread and someone posted that the price was lowered to 14.99. It was an after Christmas special or something. I think this was a blessing because I don't really know if we would have tried it otherwise. I think it's a great tool for budgets and I would feel lost without it. My husband being able to enter things into his phone has made a world of difference. I just can't say enough good about the program.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

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).

I agree. Vanguard is a great company and what I use for additional retirement savings outside my 403(b) through work. I have a Roth IRA that I have been saving money into since I got my first job at 16. To encourage me to save, my dad said that any money I put in, he would match 100%. He did that until I graduated from college. So over those 9 years, I saved about $5k and my dad matched with $5k. It was very motivating and was a nice start to my retirement savings. During that time, my dad taught me a lot about investing that has helped me greatly. I hope to do something similar for my own kids some day.

Now that I am capping my own IRA contributions each year, we will be opening up a Roth IRA for DH before the end of the year. We will work our way up to capping that too, though that might take a few years. Seeing DH's parents with no retirement savings has made us even more determined to save now and not be in a similar situation.

 

[AmyAnne]

I agree. Vanguard is a great company and what I use for additional retirement savings outside my 403(b) through work. I have a Roth IRA that I have been saving money into since I got my first job at 16. To encourage me to save, my dad said that any money I put in, he would match 100%. He did that until I graduated from college. So over those 9 years, I saved about $5k and my dad matched with $5k. It was very motivating and was a nice start to my retirement savings. During that time, my dad taught me a lot about investing that has helped me greatly. I hope to do something similar for my own kids some day.

Now that I am capping my own IRA contributions each year, we will be opening up a Roth IRA for DH before the end of the year. We will work our way up to capping that too, though that might take a few years. Seeing DH's parents with no retirement savings has made us even more determined to save now and not be in a similar situation.

The Roth is especially great for teens because they are already paying little/no taxes, so there is no "down side" to the Roth compared to a pre-tax account like a 401(k).

 

[amalone1013]

I have a Roth IRA that I have been saving money into since I got my first job at 16. To encourage me to save, my dad said that any money I put in, he would match 100%. He did that until I graduated from college. So over those 9 years, I saved about $5k and my dad matched with $5k. It was very motivating and was a nice start to my retirement savings. During that time, my dad taught me a lot about investing that has helped me greatly. I hope to do something similar for my own kids some day.

This is such an awesome idea. It gives you such a jump start that you probably wouldn't quite get at the time, but now...

Also, you reminded me I need to get going on an IRA... I want to transfer my old 401k, which is only $1500ish, but I contributed at half regular/half roth, which confuses me for trying to transfer it. Need to read some more or call someone.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

This is such an awesome idea. It gives you such a jump start that you probably wouldn't quite get at the time, but now...

Also, you reminded me I need to get going on an IRA... I want to transfer my old 401k, which is only $1500ish, but I contributed at half regular/half roth, which confuses me for trying to transfer it. Need to read some more or call someone.

If you are considering Vanguard for your IRA account, you can just call them and they will help you with the roll over. It isn't too difficult and you can open an account with $1000 or more, so the 401k should be enough to get you started.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Another vote here for Vanguard funds!! I've been saving with them probably 25 years.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I agree. Vanguard is a great company and what I use for additional retirement savings outside my 403(b) through work. I have a Roth IRA that I have been saving money into since I got my first job at 16. To encourage me to save, my dad said that any money I put in, he would match 100%. He did that until I graduated from college. So over those 9 years, I saved about $5k and my dad matched with $5k. It was very motivating and was a nice start to my retirement savings. During that time, my dad taught me a lot about investing that has helped me greatly. I hope to do something similar for my own kids some day.

Now that I am capping my own IRA contributions each year, we will be opening up a Roth IRA for DH before the end of the year. We will work our way up to capping that too, though that might take a few years. Seeing DH's parents with no retirement savings has made us even more determined to save now and not be in a similar situation.

That is a great idea. I think I will do that for my kids too. Ds20 is quite the saver. I think offering to match his deposits for a while would get him started and he can watch it grow.

 

[AmyAnne]

That is a great idea. I think I will do that for my kids too. Ds20 is quite the saver. I think offering to match his deposits for a while would get him started and he can watch it grow.

We haven't matched our kids' savings but what we have done is make contributions to their Roth, for things like holidays and graduations. It sends a similar "this is important and we want to help you" message, without having to keep track of what each kid is saving (which for the older ones I'm not exactly sure now).

 

[MrsTurnerLovesDisney]

Here's my update for start of June.

I haven't actually crunched numbers for May yet but overall I think we did ok in spending except for eating out that always gets us.

DH grandfather passed away last week and that was very hard on all of us. We had the funeral Saturday and a few expenses like DH had to have his suit coat altered since he's lost weight and picking up some things for the family.

We have already gone past our max eat our budget for the month but we splurged got a sam's club membership sunday (needed to get DH out of the house) and bought a lot of groceries. Doing one more stock up trip end of this week and other than bread & milk won't be going back to the store til July. It's a 3 paycheck month for me yay

I hope to take a bulk of that extra money and throw towards my credit card.
We took a short anniversary trip in early May and charged a few things like the room and dinner about $300 total. Would like to cut the credit card balance of $950 in half now.

Gotta pay DH credit card tonight had it paid off but booked Disney reservations and our MVMCP tix with it and need to pay it off now.

Owe $530 to care credit which is good for 1 year of repayment but I'm paying $100 a month to get it over with.

That's about it. DH state pay paperwork finally goes out tomorrow so come August we should be getting that as well as back pay. (3000$)

 

[Ngwira]

Avoided an expensive disaster yesterday with a $5 drain tool and a $6 fix from Lowes. Our toilet handle broke and our bathroom tub and sink drain have been so slow lately. Almost called the plumber ($$$), but our awesome neighbor who does HVAC work (union, licensed HVAC work) came over and showed us exactly what to do to fix it ourselves. This same neighbor replaced our water heater a few months ago, saving us thousands.

I bought a $5 sink snake and pulled up tons of nasty hair from the bathroom sink drain, as well as the tub. I was able to also get out a plastic bottle cap. The kids play "dolls" in the tub so there are still a few hair barrettes in there but it's draining ALOT better. I'll go on youtube later to see how to remove the drain cap to get those barrettes out.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Here's my update for start of June.

I haven't actually crunched numbers for May yet but overall I think we did ok in spending except for eating out that always gets us.

DH grandfather passed away last week and that was very hard on all of us. We had the funeral Saturday and a few expenses like DH had to have his suit coat altered since he's lost weight and picking up some things for the family.

We have already gone past our max eat our budget for the month but we splurged got a sam's club membership sunday (needed to get DH out of the house) and bought a lot of groceries. Doing one more stock up trip end of this week and other than bread & milk won't be going back to the store til July. It's a 3 paycheck month for me yay

I hope to take a bulk of that extra money and throw towards my credit card.
We took a short anniversary trip in early May and charged a few things like the room and dinner about $300 total. Would like to cut the credit card balance of $950 in half now.

Gotta pay DH credit card tonight had it paid off but booked Disney reservations and our MVMCP tix with it and need to pay it off now.

Owe $530 to care credit which is good for 1 year of repayment but I'm paying $100 a month to get it over with.

That's about it. DH state pay paperwork finally goes out tomorrow so come August we should be getting that as well as back pay. (3000$)

Sorry for your loss I know that's tough

I feel the same way about our credit cards right now. They will all be paid in full, but we just have a lot spread out on several different cards due to various rewards right now. $1000 on a travel card, $200 on the Disney card, and $1000 each on our personal cards for all of our household items and bills. The money is there, but I feel like my bank account was just starting to look better! Plus I hate that $500 of it on the travel card is a work expense I won't be reimbursed for for at least another 60 days.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Sorry for your loss I know that's tough

I feel the same way about our credit cards right now. They will all be paid in full, but we just have a lot spread out on several different cards due to various rewards right now. $1000 on a travel card, $200 on the Disney card, and $1000 each on our personal cards for all of our household items and bills. The money is there, but I feel like my bank account was just starting to look better! Plus I hate that $500 of it on the travel card is a work expense I won't be reimbursed for for at least another 60 days.

The reimbursable work expenses are the worst. I am still waiting on a $700 check for a conference back in March. Most expenses I can process through my university, which is quick. But if it is a conference/meeting where another organization is paying my expenses, then I can't process it through the university and I have to wait until the outside organization reimburses me. Sometimes it gets really frustrating because I have no control over the process outside of submitting my receipts and forms. I have enough money sitting around for other purposes that it isn't a huge deal. I can still pay my credit card down and all. But having to wait so long for the check is extremely frustrating because I want to reconcile all of my expenses and make sure that I actually get paid back!

 

[EilonwyWanderer]

Waiting on some big checks to come in that will go a looong way in paying down the credit card. It kills me because if the card weren't up so high, we'd instead be putting it on my student loans, but while our APR is pretty good considering, it's still the highest interest rate we have so paying it down makes sense--we just need to make sure we don't run it up again so that all the money from my second job starting in the fall can start being thrown at the student loans. Our big debt right now:

Credit card
Student loans
Mortgage
(tiny) second mortgage

Ideally we get the credit card down to something small, if not outright pay it off by the end of the year. That's the pie-in-the-sky goal. Then work on student loans. Really, really hack away at that. As daycare fees decrease, we are putting that money towards payments. It's going to be CRAZY when we have all that money back every month...sadly that won't be for another four years though. Longer, if I win the fight to have another baby!

So far we have been just awful at not eating out this month. It's been a really, really stressful past two months. The kids will be switching daycares in mid-august, which means we might get home before 6:30 every night and it will cut out the temptation to (in our exhausted states) just stop on the way home. That will help both waistlines and money. I can't wait!