Debt Dumpers - 2017

[Jen and Ashwin]

Three words: Nordstrom Anniversary sale! I managed to only spend $50.00, so not too bad. I needed to stock up on Spanx shapewear and buying it full price is expensive. I bought two pair for $50.00 which is a deal. I tried to get away with the Target version of it and it's definitely not the same.

Good for you. My brother and sister in law spent $3700 so far during the anniversary sale. He had to call me to brag about his new $1000 suitcase. I just rolled my eyes as he was talking. My brother and I have such different priorities in life. He and his wife care a lot about projecting a certain kind of image, which I guess includes ridiculous luggage. But their last real vacation was to Disney World in 2014 for their 5 year anniversary and they had never taken a real vacation together before that. I would much rather travel and experience things than to spend money on "status symbols." Each to their own.

 

[Eureka]

Good for you. My brother and sister in law spent $3700 so far during the anniversary sale. He had to call me to brag about his new $1000 suitcase. I just rolled my eyes as he was talking. My brother and I have such different priorities in life. He and his wife care a lot about projecting a certain kind of image, which I guess includes ridiculous luggage. But their last real vacation was to Disney World in 2014 for their 5 year anniversary and they had never taken a real vacation together before that. I would much rather travel and experience things than to spend money on "status symbols." Each to their own.

I can't even imagine spending that much at a department store! I was excited when the bra I wear went on a buy one get one 50% off sale at Kohl's right when I snapped a wire, lol.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

My parents came this weekend and picked up the old washer/dryer. They also took a bunch of stuff back with them for the garage sale we will be having at their house in a few weeks. Hopefully this will be a big sale and we make a good amount of money, since it would really help us beef up the car maintenance fund and cover the extra $600 that we will be short in order to pay off my car by the end of the year. The basement now looks so much better! A few weeks ago, DH and I bought some more shelving units from Home Depot which has allowed us to get almost everything off of the floor in the basement and up onto the shelving units. I still have some boxes that I need to go through down there, mostly things from my childhood that my mom and dad brought a few years ago. And even though the basement is unfinished, once I finish going through those few boxes, the basement will actually be in pretty good shape, which I would prefer to it looking like a warehouse.

Another thing that I need to start thinking about is expenses related to DH's citizenship application that will come up next year. It will cost at least $725 for the filing fee (plus we already paid $1500 for his green card application when we got married in 2015). I was hoping that any tax return money would help us cover the costs, but when I put all of our information into a tax estimator, it says that we will actually owe taxes next year. This is even though we currently have our allowances set to 0 and we will have a new child! I am hoping that the calculator is wrong. So if we don't actually get a tax return, then we will probably have to take the immigration costs out of our emergency fund and figure out a way to repay them later.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I can't even imagine spending that much at a department store! I was excited when the bra I wear went on a buy one get one 50% off sale at Kohl's right when I snapped a wire, lol.

I can't either. But they do save all of their clothing money each year for the Anniversary sale and pretty much buy everything they need all at once. Though their clothing allowances are probably much higher than what DH and I set aside, since we don't normally buy $200 shirts or $500 shoes. They really love Nordstrom's and have some high level rewards status, which gets them lots of extra perks at the store. Like I said, different priorities.

 

[piccolopat]

Well, after making little progress on my cc debt this year and just being tired of feeling so anxious about it and like I was drowning with no light at the end of the tunnel... I made a decision yesterday. It's not something I would recommend to everyone, but it is the best decision for me. I took a loan from my 401k that I will be paying back automatically from each paycheck for the next 3 years. The interest rate is less than half that of the two credit cards I will be paying off with the money I get from the loan. These were my two biggest cc balances and one had just jumped to over 18% interest while the other jumped to over 12%. My loan rate is 6.25%.

The other perk of this is that it won't affect my debt to income ratio, so that will actually improve along with my credit score. I should be in good shape to replace my car early next year, which is over 16 years old and having more and more issues in the past year or so.

The downside - a loss of compounding interest from the funds temporarily taken from my 401k.

Again, this wouldn't be my first recommendation to everyone, but with my situation living on a single income in an expensive city and with some high balance, high interest rate cc's - this was the best choice for me. I looked into getting a personal loan, but the interest rates I qualified for were just about as high as my cc interest rates. I also wasn't getting anymore 0% cc offers to transfer balances to.

Anyway, I am feeling relieved about this and like there is finally hope for digging myself out of this hole I got myself into. I really like that my payments will be automatically deducted from each paycheck, so it will be gone before I have a chance to use it on something else. I also like that the interest I'm paying will go back into my 401k. With this current plan, my cc debt will be gone in less than two years and the 401k loan will be paid off in 3 years. Woohoo!

Another downside that you should be aware of is that if you leave your job (voluntarily or not) before the 401k loan is paid off, most companies will require the remaining balance to be paid in full immediately. If you don't, the loan is then considered a withdrawal and will then be subject to the IRS early withdrawal penalty plus taxes on the amount. You might want to check with your company and then have a plan just in case you have to pay off the loan before the 3 years is up. Good luck!

 

[amalone1013]

My brother and sister in law spent $3700 so far during the anniversary sale.

But as you said, to each their own. I'm with you on travel and experiences. Though they seem to be handling their priorities in the best possible way, waiting for the sale

I was hoping that any tax return money would help us cover the costs, but when I put all of our information into a tax estimator, it says that we will actually owe taxes next year. This is even though we currently have our allowances set to 0 and we will have a new child! I am hoping that the calculator is wrong. So if we don't actually get a tax return, then we will probably have to take the immigration costs out of our emergency fund and figure out a way to repay them later.

Taxes... I don't understand them lol. I hope your calculator is wrong too! I should probably see how getting married will affect ours next year...

 

[Eureka]

I can't either. But they do save all of their clothing money each year for the Anniversary sale and pretty much buy everything they need all at once. Though their clothing allowances are probably much higher than what DH and I set aside, since we don't normally buy $200 shirts or $500 shoes. They really love Nordstrom's and have some high level rewards status, which gets them lots of extra perks at the store. Like I said, different priorities.

If that's what they like to do and can afford it, all the more power to them. Even for a family of four, we don't spend even close to $4K per year in clothing.

 

[DnA2010]

We have a side by side fridge and I HATE it! Technically there is nothing wrong with it so I need to 'live' with it til something major breaks on it (we've had one tiny repair done to it so....). I'm assuming you bought it from Sears as you alluded to the store closing...I should head down to our local location and see what bargains there are to be had!

When is your Alaskan cruise next month? Wouldn't that be funny if we were in the same port at the same time?!

Yes the side by side fridge! I HATE it too! I just literally get nothing in it- we have a big deep freeze so the freezer space on the bottom will be much much better! Yes to Sears- the one we bought was marked down a fair bit, then 20% off..warranty still serviced locally and everything so we did it.
We are in Juneau on the 18th with the Wonder, but I think you are on a later sailing, judging by your ticker?

 

[DisneyMandC]

I just received my last $25 Target gift card from Swagbucks. I'm planning to stop by Target on the way home and pick up another $100 Disney gift card with it and my Redcard ($71.25 OOP for me) to use next week for tips and souvenirs. Very excited that we're so close to our trip! I need to update my PTR again, and I am definitely planning on doing a trip report when I get back!

I'll also be returning two pairs of shorts I bought from Target. I ordered DH and I both a pair last week when they were having a shorts sale and neither pair fit us correctly, so that will be $25 back.

I FINALLY got reimbursed for my hotel for my upcoming trip for work too, so I deposited that check and put that amount towards Travel in YNAB. My bank account looks very (artificially) healthy right now with that check in there, but it'll be gone in two weeks once we pay off the credit card after the full amount for the hotel goes through!

 

[Ngwira]

Good for you. My brother and sister in law spent $3700 so far during the anniversary sale. He had to call me to brag about his new $1000 suitcase. I just rolled my eyes as he was talking. My brother and I have such different priorities in life. He and his wife care a lot about projecting a certain kind of image, which I guess includes ridiculous luggage. But their last real vacation was to Disney World in 2014 for their 5 year anniversary and they had never taken a real vacation together before that. I would much rather travel and experience things than to spend money on "status symbols." Each to their own.

Wow, I couldn't imagine spending $1,000 on luggage! I'm like you! Collect memories, not things .

 

[Ngwira]

I just received my last $25 Target gift card from Swagbucks. I'm planning to stop by Target on the way home and pick up another $100 Disney gift card with it and my Redcard ($71.25 OOP for me) to use next week for tips and souvenirs. Very excited that we're so close to our trip! I need to update my PTR again, and I am definitely planning on doing a trip report when I get back!

I'll also be returning two pairs of shorts I bought from Target. I ordered DH and I both a pair last week when they were having a shorts sale and neither pair fit us correctly, so that will be $25 back.

I FINALLY got reimbursed for my hotel for my upcoming trip for work too, so I deposited that check and put that amount towards Travel in YNAB. My bank account looks very (artificially) healthy right now with that check in there, but it'll be gone in two weeks once we pay off the credit card after the full amount for the hotel goes through!

So excited for your trip!! I just got the email on Saturday that our magic bands shipped!!!!

 

[Ngwira]

Quick update on us! We received a $167.00 check from our insurance company for an "overpayment of a claim". That's more money for Disney . Also, both of our kids are August babies but this year we decided to order pizza and cake and have a small party at home. Last year we did the "sweet and sassy" and "skating party" thing which was at least $700 combined. We are saving so much by having a small gathering.

We are headed to NYC this weekend. Hotel and Amtrak are paid for. We need to pay for food only. Next weekend, we are headed to DC, again hotel and Amtrak paid for. Food will be paid for with gift cards. Two weeks after that is Disney. We need to pay for food which is a considerable expense. However, I will be using my Chase Freedom to pay(for points) and the money is budgeted. After Disney, we will take a break from travelling until the holidays which should give me time to build the travel fund back up.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Quick update on us! We received a $167.00 check from our insurance company for an "overpayment of a claim". That's more money for Disney . Also, both of our kids are August babies but this year we decided to order pizza and cake and have a small party at home. Last year we did the "sweet and sassy" and "skating party" thing which was at least $700 combined. We are saving so much by having a small gathering.

We are headed to NYC this weekend. Hotel and Amtrak are paid for. We need to pay for food only. Next weekend, we are headed to DC, again hotel and Amtrak paid for. Food will be paid for with gift cards. Two weeks after that is Disney. We need to pay for food which is a considerable expense. However, I will be using my Chase Freedom to pay(for points) and the money is budgeted. After Disney, we will take a break from travelling until the holidays which should give me time to build the travel fund back up.

If you're looking to treat yourself to a fun (albeit, slightly pricy) meal in NYC, check out Black Tap. You may have seen pictures of their milkshakes online before- they're "Instagram famous," as they say! We ate there on our April trip and split a burger and a milkshake. Everything was delicious, probably our best meal of the trip!

 

[Ngwira]

If you're looking to treat yourself to a fun (albeit, slightly pricy) meal in NYC, check out Black Tap. You may have seen pictures of their milkshakes online before- they're "Instagram famous," as they say! We ate there on our April trip and split a burger and a milkshake. Everything was delicious, probably our best meal of the trip!

Is it near Times Square(where we're staying)? I have us booked at Carmine's Time Square for my birthday dinner. Juniors cheesecake for dessert .

 

[DisneyMandC]

Is it near Times Square(where we're staying)? I have us booked at Carmine's Time Square for my birthday dinner. Juniors cheesecake for dessert .

Fairly close- 55th street, so about 9-10 blocks uptown depending on where you're staying. It's not too far from Central Park and close to 5th Avenue.

 

[Ngwira]

Fairly close- 55th street, so about 9-10 blocks uptown depending on where you're staying. It's not too far from Central Park and close to 5th Avenue.

We're also looking for a great breakfast place!!! Know of any?

 

[DisneyMandC]

We're also looking for a great breakfast place!!! Know of any?

Unfortunately we didn't do much for breakfast since a very kind friend who lives in town gave us a big box of pastries when she met up with us one night since it was our anniversary. There was an NYC thread on this board recently though. I know it had some really good tips in general, perhaps there is a breakfast recommendation there as well!

 

[piccolopat]

Is it near Times Square(where we're staying)? I have us booked at Carmine's Time Square for my birthday dinner. Juniors cheesecake for dessert .

You might also try Virgil's BBQ on 44th between 6th and 7th Ave. Happy birthday!

 

[Ngwira]

Unfortunately we didn't do much for breakfast since a very kind friend who lives in town gave us a big box of pastries when she met up with us one night since it was our anniversary. There was an NYC thread on this board recently though. I know it had some really good tips in general, perhaps there is a breakfast recommendation there as well!

Thanks. I'll check it out!

 

[Dentam]

Another downside that you should be aware of is that if you leave your job (voluntarily or not) before the 401k loan is paid off, most companies will require the remaining balance to be paid in full immediately. If you don't, the loan is then considered a withdrawal and will then be subject to the IRS early withdrawal penalty plus taxes on the amount. You might want to check with your company and then have a plan just in case you have to pay off the loan before the 3 years is up. Good luck!

Yep, I am aware of that as well and was prior to making my decision. Thanks!