Debt Dumpers - 2018

[DLgal]

I guess if we are adding personal goals here, I'd like to lose 20 pounds. It's been bothering me for years now and I need to get serious about losing it for good. My issue is not lack of exercise, but the fact that exercising makes me SO hungry I just eat back all the calories I burn, and then some. I actually like to workout and do so at least 5 days a week. I have not been able to find the balance between food intake and exercising that results in weight loss yet. If I eat too few calories, I get migraines. If I eat too much, I gain weight. Eating what feels like the right amount keeps me at this same weight. Hopefully I will figure it out in 2019.

 

[DnA2010]

I guess if we are adding personal goals here, I'd like to lose 20 pounds. It's been bothering me for years now and I need to get serious about losing it for good. My issue is not lack of exercise, but the fact that exercising makes me SO hungry I just eat back all the calories I burn, and then some. I actually like to workout and do so at least 5 days a week. I have not been able to find the balance between food intake and exercising that results in weight loss yet. If I eat too few calories, I get migraines. If I eat too much, I gain weight. Eating what feels like the right amount keeps me at this same weight. Hopefully I will figure it out in 2019.

I found a balance of eating low carb mon-thurs (my work days) and then relaxing it on the weekends. I have home made protein pancakes for breakfast (raw pumpkin, protein powder, egg whites and a bit of ground oatmeal- I make these ahead and freeze), then a low carb prepped lunch- ie stirfry veg and chicken on cauliflower rice, homemade chicken veg soup, butter chicken on cauli rice) and then we try to have a protein/veg maybe a bit of whole grain carb dinner- for snacks i only have veggies. On the weekends I have treats, alcohol etc. We cut most eating out/fast food which has been good for the belly and budget

I only manage to generally work out once a week as my work days are long (leave at 5:30am, get home at 6pm then dinner, toddler to bed and bath, then shower and bed) so my 20 pound loss this year has mainly been from what I eat...I eat tons of veggies!

 

[DLgal]

I found a balance of eating low carb mon-thurs (my work days) and then relaxing it on the weekends. I have home made protein pancakes for breakfast (raw pumpkin, protein powder, egg whites and a bit of ground oatmeal- I make these ahead and freeze), then a low carb prepped lunch- ie stirfry veg and chicken on cauliflower rice, homemade chicken veg soup, butter chicken on cauli rice) and then we try to have a protein/veg maybe a bit of whole grain carb dinner- for snacks i only have veggies. On the weekends I have treats, alcohol etc. We cut most eating out/fast food which has been good for the belly and budget

I only manage to generally work out once a week as my work days are long (leave at 5:30am, get home at 6pm then dinner, toddler to bed and bath, then shower and bed) so my 20 pound loss this year has mainly been from what I eat...I eat tons of veggies!

I can't do low carb. I have tried several times. Lack of carbs causes migraine headaches for me and messes with my IBS. I also can't eat too many vegetables or fruits (also IBS related). It's frustrating.

I already eat super healthy 95% of the time. My normal day is plain cheerios with Fairlife milk (high protein, low sugar) and a banana, a simple salad or sandwich with chicken for lunch (had a club sandwich yesterday because I did a super intense hour long workout), and dinner is whatever I make. Last night was homemade meatballs with simple marinara (no sugar), side salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and garlic naan bread. I eat dessert about 2-3 days per week. By "dessert", I mean a single serving of ice cream or cookies...no more than 250-300 calories. I snack on Kind bars, Greek yogurt (plain with a drizzle of honey), or Fairlife Core Power protein shakes on workout days if I am not planning a heavy dinner.

I probably eat an average of 1500-2000 calories per day, burn 500 on average per workout, and am not losing weight. I have lost weight when I drop down to 1200 calories but I feel absolutely terrible when I do that, so it can't be good.

 

[bababear_50]

I'm here a few days early to get ready for 2018!
I will be making lots of financial changes in the New year and instead of becoming overwhelmed I am going to take baby
steps.
My baby step yesterday.................... take some time to review..............
I reviewed banking charges and fees for the last 6 months ........Holly Molly
I am a Mcdonalds coffee junkie,,lol.........
So instead of using my debit card 5 or 6 times a week and paying banking fees I am just going to cash pay or load a Gift card.
I downsized from two banks to just one bank,,so no more double monthly banking fees.
I paid off my VISA and cancelled it..............bank lady cut it up for me.
( I still have an emergency back-up one,,,no bells and whistles,,,,just a low interest rate,,currently 0 balance owing.).
It's a start.
Hugs Mel

So I took some baby steps and a a few Giant ones this year.
I have learned so much about myself and my spending habits this past year.
:House Mortgage paid off
:Car G.I.C. opened and earning interest...hoping my current car lasts a few more years....
:T.F.S.A.(Tax Free Savings Account) opened and is building nicely
:Investment account opened and doing well........................

1. I do need a coffee and snack everyday and have budgeted for it.
2. It is never too late to put money away for retirement,but don't get so wrapped up in having enough money for retirement that you stop enjoying the moment.
3. Mom was right..........always have a rainy day fund.............just in case Murphy visits.
4. Working half days is absolutely worth losing half the pay.(It's the Best)!!!
5. Adult children and grandchildren can be one of the biggest expenses in retirement.
and I am only semi retired.

Now to think about some 2019 Budget/Life goals.................
I'm going to ponder this and meet over on the 2019 Budget Debt Dumping Thread soon.

Hugs
Mel

 

[DnA2010]

I can't do low carb. I have tried several times. Lack of carbs causes migraine headaches for me and messes with my IBS. I also can't eat too many vegetables or fruits (also IBS related). It's frustrating.

I already eat super healthy 95% of the time. My normal day is plain cheerios with Fairlife milk (high protein, low sugar) and a banana, a simple salad or sandwich with chicken for lunch (had a club sandwich yesterday because I did a super intense hour long workout), and dinner is whatever I make. Last night was homemade meatballs with simple marinara (no sugar), side salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and garlic naan bread. I eat dessert about 2-3 days per week. By "dessert", I mean a single serving of ice cream or cookies...no more than 250-300 calories. I snack on Kind bars, Greek yogurt (plain with a drizzle of honey), or Fairlife Core Power protein shakes on workout days if I am not planning a heavy dinner.

I probably eat an average of 1500-2000 calories per day, burn 500 on average per workout, and am not losing weight. I have lost weight when I drop down to 1200 calories but I feel absolutely terrible when I do that, so it can't be good.

Tricky! Not much to cut there, that's for sure! Especially if you can't fill up on veg!

 

[DLgal]

Tricky! Not much to cut there, that's for sure! Especially if you can't fill up on veg!

Yep. Plus I can't eat too much fiber either, so a lot of the "healthy" grains are no go. My digestion does best on white rice (not brown), sourdough or nana bread, and potatoes. I do like sweet potatoes, so there is that, I guess.

 

[jackers]

I haven’t done a check in lately as I kinda fell off the wagon this fall, but all in all, it was still a successful year despite a few unplanned things and dealing with a decrease in income.


2018 Final Results

Car Loan: Sent the final payment on Monday for our jeep. So, paid off a 6 year loan in 21 months. However, I got myself a new car, so traded one car payment for another. I will put my plan for that one in the 2019 thread.

Savings: This is the one goal I missed because of the above-mentioned car purchase. Only $1,000 towards a $5,000 goal. But since I have definitely had years of only taking rather than giving when it comes to the savings account, I am considering anything in the positive side to be a win here.


Mortgage Overpay: $2,800 towards a $2,800 goal


DS13 College Fund: $3,000 towards a $3,000 goal

401K Savings – Maintained 14% savings.

Personal goal: I lost 35 pounds this year, which I am VERY happy about and feel so much better. And also ran a half marathon, which was not on my radar at all when I started out the year. Plan to continue progress into 2019. However, between me getting smaller and my teen son hitting a major growth spurt, I spent A LOT of money on clothes this year, so am hoping to rein that in next year.

In addition, other than the car, no new debt acquired and still maintain $0 balances on my credit cards. And other than a few stocking stuffers, Christmas shopping is done and paid for.

I also had my year end review and received a nice pay raise and bonus for the year which helped me meet some of the above goals.

Now time to go post some new goals for 2019! See you all over there.

 

[FQLover]

As I look back on 2018, I see that other than an automatic $300 monthly to savings from my checking account, I didn't save anymore money than that. That is a bummer.

But what is good is that I paid with cash all sorts of large expenses that came up, like a $2400.00 upgrade on my daughter's flute that was needed about a year ahead of when I thought it would be. I paid off her braces. I paid $3000.00 on fancy bladder surgery for our dog (in April, and I already have to do it again in a few weeks)! I paid for our August vacation to WDW French Quarter (about $2700). I have paid for college applications, ACT and SAT registrations, plural ones, music school applications within the same universities, two college trips to investigate schools, a videographer for her pre-screening audition......I feel that it has been a super spendy year. I am grateful that although I was not able to save much in 12 months, I did not deepen debt and was able to pay off my credit card every month. I think that I did have to go into savings a little to do that, and I had to use my tax refund and this extra pay from work for an overload I signed up to do for about seven months.

I did get my first HELOC about 20 months ago but it is sitting there and I am afraid to go into more debt with it, although I am not keeping up with home repairs. That whole subject is just hugely daunting to me. More stuff to figure out on the 2019 thread, I guess.

 

[Aurora_Australis]

I'm going to come read everyone's recaps properly when not on my phone but I'll wait til after Christmas for my recap. DH and I both get a little bit of leave loading in our first December pay and I still need to finalise the Christmas shopping.

We got our yearly early intervention funding through for DD5 too, that is $3.5k less than last year but we plan to have MORE therapy than last year as she starts school and we want one therapist visit there to coordinate with her class teacher too so there will be traveling costs eating into it a little (school is a 5 min drive bust still...) so need to sort where to pull money from for that one too. DH will be able to do casual teaching 5 days a week though so should have more money coming in too.

 

[Dentam]

Oh my gosh. I just had my annual review and I got a promotion! It comes with a 13% pay raise. I was not expecting it at all. I've been pretty discouraged on the debt dumping front and wasn't even planning to join next year's thread. Now I feel like maybe I can do this!

 

[pblack]

Oh my gosh. I just had my annual review and I got a promotion! It comes with a 13% pay raise. I was not expecting it at all. I've been pretty discouraged on the debt dumping front and wasn't even planning to join next year's thread. Now I feel like maybe I can do this!

Congratulations!

 

[disney-inspired]

Oh my gosh. I just had my annual review and I got a promotion! It comes with a 13% pay raise. I was not expecting it at all. I've been pretty discouraged on the debt dumping front and wasn't even planning to join next year's thread. Now I feel like maybe I can do this!

That is amazing! Congratulations!

 

[Dentam]

Congratulations!

That is amazing! Congratulations!

Thank you so much! I will rework my budget and join the 2019 thread soon!

 

[imbatman]

Back from the trip. Yup, I overspent. Yup, I am stressed about it. However, I am receiving an unexpected bonus on Thursday and will apply it directly to the CC bill. Oh, and our truck's heater core went out the day we got back.

Going to gather info, get payments lined up for this month, and hop over to the 2019 board.

 

[Eureka]

At our office holiday party last week, our executive director (newly hired this past summer) said we are all getting a $250 (after taxes, not before!) bonus this week! This is after he told us a few weeks ago that the entire office is closing between Christmas and New Year's (another new, and greatly appreciated, change). That means I am saving a bunch vacation days since we always travel that week and can carry them over to next year

Then this past weekend I took DS15 to get his learner's permit. Good news: he passed the written test. Not really bad, but unexpected news: he failed the vision test. I took him to the eye doctor and he needs glasses for driving (and possibly other distance as needed). So that's $400+ I was not expecting to spend...but good we found out early before he's behind the wheel. He picked Clark Kent frames and says he's going to look like a cool hipster, lol.

And then Sunday night after a bazillion loads of laundry, I see a puddle of water between my washer and dryer. ARGH! No repair dates before we return from our travels but I got one scheduled for when we're back and just won't use the machine to be safe. Had already decided to use one of my vacation days I now have extra of for Friday to get ready for said travels, so will have to find a laundromat, ugh. Always, always something.

 

[disney-inspired]

Hello debt dumping friends!
I'm not reaching my goal paying off all of my consumer debt by year end but I'm pretty darn close.
That dumb car accident really threw a wrench in my plans

Hopefully will have it all taken care of by end of January though. I'm trying not to be too hard on myself because life happens!

Starting Debt: $17,571.51
Current Debt: $2,066

I'll update my numbers when I get my last paycheck on the 31st.

 

[Dentam]

Hello debt dumping friends!
I'm not reaching my goal paying off all of my consumer debt by year end but I'm pretty darn close.
That dumb car accident really threw a wrench in my plans

Hopefully will have it all taken care of by end of January though. I'm trying not to be too hard on myself because life happens!

Starting Debt: $17,571.51
Current Debt: $2,066

I'll update my numbers when I get my last paycheck on the 31st.

Your before and after numbers are pretty darn impressive! Congrats!!

 

[disney-inspired]

Your before and after numbers are pretty darn impressive! Congrats!!

Thank you!

 

[Aurora_Australis]

Have totally not been keeping up! Just finished all the Christmas shopping and currently grappling with DH and I both being paid our next fortnightly pay a week early, as the department will be closed over Christmas. Super worried about stretching it over such a busy and expensive time of year for us, this backs up into DH not getting paid for 6 weeks until school goes back.

Will sort out final finances tonight and do a bit of a recap before moving over.

 

[Eureka]

Have totally not been keeping up! Just finished all the Christmas shopping and currently grappling with DH and I both being paid our next fortnightly pay a week early, as the department will be closed over Christmas. Super worried about stretching it over such a busy and expensive time of year for us, this backs up into DH not getting paid for 6 weeks until school goes back.

Will sort out final finances tonight and do a bit of a recap before moving over.

I feel your pain. I hope it all works out for you. Dh is a government contractor and our govt just started a shutdown. His agency has two weeks of funding and if the shutdown continues, he won’t be working. Luckily he has some vacation time saved up but wants to save it. However, he can’t take too much time off without pay either!