Debt Dumpers - 2018

[KSR0330]

My goal for 2018 is to pay off my student loans (down to about 6,000 since I'm been paying on them for forever) and to pay down my cc debt. My plan is to pay off 1 out of 3 of my big cc debts and then start tackling the 2nd one.

 

[Miss Whimsy]

2018 goals:

• Get to Net Worth of $0--I doubled my net worth this year but it's still in negative numbers. Because I'm trying to save cash while paying off debt, I don't think Net Worth = $0 is the same as Debt = $0, so I'm going with Net Worth and killing debt can be for 2019.
• Have Feb DW vacation fully paid by end of March--don't carry any of it on credit cards past March 31
• $5000 Emergency Fund
• new job?

 

[mom2rb]

Credit cards got a little high this month (2 teenage boy drivers.) I charged car insurance, so that didn’t help.$7500
Pay off DH’s car $3000
Make a giant dent in the home equity line of credit. $38500
Continue pay cash for DS’s college. $16000 a year
Lose 40 pounds

The no student loan rule is what has let some other things get high but it is worth it.
With the new tax laws, the home equity line of credit is no longer tax deductible. I never worried about it as I worked to pay other things off. Now that the deduction is going away, I am going to put everything I can into that loan.

 

[mommy2mrb]

Woo-hoo! Just re counted my $ for WDW and Haiti trips and found I had more than I thought previously.

WDW food/spending $1,000 goal
$100 GC
$50 GC
$460 cash

Will add $50 per month

*************
Haiti trip $3,900 goal
$950 cash

Will add $250 per month

**************

My mom gave me $1,000 for Christmas (totally unexpected)most of this will be going onto CC #2. Using $200 for spending money for quick get away in February to Portland.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!!

 

[jen7233]

My mom gave me $1,000 for Christmas (totally unexpected)most of this will be going onto CC #2.

Wow that is awesome!

 

[mommy2mrb]

Wow that is awesome!

Yes it really is!!
Had to look at the check twice. Couldn’t believe it!

 

[comicguy]

I want to finish off the student loans (900) and then cut expenses a bit to try and accelerate the mortgage (60,000) as well as continue to fund retirement accounts.

 

[DnA2010]

I'm just wondering if it will be worth the inspections and paperwork to actually file to renew the mortgage for only 2 years less. I guess if the interest rate is significantly lower than what you have now, maybe, but I'd think just paying about 15% extra each month on the principal would accomplish the same thing.

I’m hoping we can accomplish this by upping payments/shortening the term- I haven’t looked into it much honestly - I know there is a max we can over pay, I’m just not sure how much room we have- I know we already over pay some

 

[Alexle2007]

I’m hoping we can accomplish this by upping payments/shortening the term- I haven’t looked into it much honestly - I know there is a max we can over pay, I’m just not sure how much room we have- I know we already over pay some

I know when I used the amortization calculator via my mortgage provider on our 15 year mortgage, we would have to significantly overpay for it make any type of dent in the balance since our interest rate is so low (2.625%).

 

[JacknSally]

i AM SO EXCITED THAT THIS THREAD IS UP!! I'm fairly new to this section of the boards, but I've been following along on the 2017 Debt Dumpers thread for the last few weeks, and I've been itching to join for 2018. We've got ambitious goals for 2018 in general - I turn 29 next month, and am now fiercely motivated to get life on a better track before I turn 30 haha.

Debt Goals:
1) Pay off my car note ($2552 remaining - will hopefully have that done by the end of March)
2) Pay off Credit Card #1 ($2400)
3) Pay off Credit Card #2 ($5000)
4) Pay down Credit Card #3 to at least 75% of its current balance ($6750)

That would reduce our overall debt by ~$16,700, which would be incredible. It would leave us with 25% of credit card #3 to pay off, 100% of credit card #4, and my student loans. I actually figured up that we could be debt free, with the exception of my student loans, in 18 months - assuming everything goes according to plan. We'll see about that. I'm planning for two years just to be safe. DH is working two jobs (and has been for roughly two years now) and I just started a full time job a couple of months ago, and until we get on our feet better that will replace my more-than-full-time-less-than-minimum-wage self-employed business that I've been operating for the last two years. Bummed to put that on the back burner, but on the bright side, the majority of our credit card debt is because of the business, and it's been hard to get caught up with that because every time we pay a card down a little, I need to put something else on it. Not having that situation will help us get our feet back under us.

I know DH will need a "new" car very, very soon, but we're hoping to find something that won't cost much more than the trade-in value of his truck. That thing has been nothing but a PITA since we got it a few months ago, and we are more than ready to be rid of it... Just have to find a replacement before it completely falls apart, haha. I've had some teeth sensitivity for a long while now and really need to get in to the dentist to see about that very soon. I'm convinced that will turn out to be something terrible and awful and expensive, because that's just how I am, lol. So we'll see how all of that goes.

We've got two WDW trips planned this year - a very short, budget-friendly trip at the end of January for my birthday, and a slightly longer, slightly more extravagant trip at the end of October for our 3rd wedding anniversary. We'll be crossing Wilderness Lodge off of our resort bucket list for that trip and we could not be more excited. We booked a package for it so we'll be making monthly payments until the end of September, and that will take care of the room and tickets. We received a little money from various family members for Christmas, and that will more than take care of our January trip. We actually need to figure out what to do with the extra Christmas money that won't be needed for the trip - be responsible and put it toward debt, or use it for a couple of fun things we've been wanting for a while but keep talking ourselves out of until we get the money? Haha

Also, since others have mentioned their non-debt-related 2018 goals, I'll toss mine out there, too.
1) Lose 50lbs before our October trip

I have a very sedentary life with lots of stress (largely financial stress) and that has taken quite a toll on my waistline (well, not just my waistline, lol). NO MORE. With 3, sometimes 4, jobs between us, DH and I get little sleep and lots of fast food, which is horrible for both the wallet and the waist. I don't even want to think about all of the money we've spent just on food in the last two months. Anytime I start to think about it, I just get nauseous, haha. So since I'll have some more free time for a while, I'm going to use it to get more active and to spend more time planning meals and cooking ahead so we don't run into the "there's nothing to eat in the house, I need food now, let's just go get something".

Thanks for letting me jump in to this thread! I'm excited to get to know all of you as the year progresses!

 

[dayvewc]

i AM SO EXCITED THAT THIS THREAD IS UP!! I'm fairly new to this section of the boards, but I've been following along on the 2017 Debt Dumpers thread for the last few weeks, and I've been itching to join for 2018. We've got ambitious goals for 2018 in general - I turn 29 next month, and am now fiercely motivated to get life on a better track before I turn 30 haha.

Debt Goals:
1) Pay off my car note ($2552 remaining - will hopefully have that done by the end of March)
2) Pay off Credit Card #1 ($2400)
3) Pay off Credit Card #2 ($5000)
4) Pay down Credit Card #3 to at least 75% of its current balance ($6750)

That would reduce our overall debt by ~$16,700, which would be incredible. It would leave us with 25% of credit card #3 to pay off, 100% of credit card #4, and my student loans. I actually figured up that we could be debt free, with the exception of my student loans, in 18 months - assuming everything goes according to plan. We'll see about that. I'm planning for two years just to be safe. DH is working two jobs (and has been for roughly two years now) and I just started a full time job a couple of months ago, and until we get on our feet better that will replace my more-than-full-time-less-than-minimum-wage self-employed business that I've been operating for the last two years. Bummed to put that on the back burner, but on the bright side, the majority of our credit card debt is because of the business, and it's been hard to get caught up with that because every time we pay a card down a little, I need to put something else on it. Not having that situation will help us get our feet back under us.

I know DH will need a "new" car very, very soon, but we're hoping to find something that won't cost much more than the trade-in value of his truck. That thing has been nothing but a PITA since we got it a few months ago, and we are more than ready to be rid of it... Just have to find a replacement before it completely falls apart, haha. I've had some teeth sensitivity for a long while now and really need to get in to the dentist to see about that very soon. I'm convinced that will turn out to be something terrible and awful and expensive, because that's just how I am, lol. So we'll see how all of that goes.

We've got two WDW trips planned this year - a very short, budget-friendly trip at the end of January for my birthday, and a slightly longer, slightly more extravagant trip at the end of October for our 3rd wedding anniversary. We'll be crossing Wilderness Lodge off of our resort bucket list for that trip and we could not be more excited. We booked a package for it so we'll be making monthly payments until the end of September, and that will take care of the room and tickets. We received a little money from various family members for Christmas, and that will more than take care of our January trip. We actually need to figure out what to do with the extra Christmas money that won't be needed for the trip - be responsible and put it toward debt, or use it for a couple of fun things we've been wanting for a while but keep talking ourselves out of until we get the money? Haha

Also, since others have mentioned their non-debt-related 2018 goals, I'll toss mine out there, too.
1) Lose 50lbs before our October trip

I have a very sedentary life with lots of stress (largely financial stress) and that has taken quite a toll on my waistline (well, not just my waistline, lol). NO MORE. With 3, sometimes 4, jobs between us, DH and I get little sleep and lots of fast food, which is horrible for both the wallet and the waist. I don't even want to think about all of the money we've spent just on food in the last two months. Anytime I start to think about it, I just get nauseous, haha. So since I'll have some more free time for a while, I'm going to use it to get more active and to spend more time planning meals and cooking ahead so we don't run into the "there's nothing to eat in the house, I need food now, let's just go get something".

Thanks for letting me jump in to this thread! I'm excited to get to know all of you as the year progresses!

Glad to have you join in. You didn't have to wait til the new thread. I think you'll find that we are a welcoming, caring, non-judgemental, supportive group. Here's to hoping all of us can stay on track and accomplish our goals in this coming year.

 

[JacknSally]

Glad to have you join in. You didn't have to wait til the new thread. I think you'll find that we are a welcoming, caring, non-judgemental, supportive group. Here's to hoping all of us can stay on track and accomplish our goals in this coming year.

Oh, I've popped my head in over there a couple of times, but I mainly waited for this thread to dive in because we're really getting the debt dumping ball rolling with the first of the year. With the holidays, we decided to use the extra money in November/December for gifts instead of starting earlier with the debt dumping. Thank you for the warm welcome!

 

[EpiStitch]

I hadn't thought to put it in my original post, but I really need to get back on track with getting in shape. I need to lose about 30-40 lbs before the wedding this summer (and hopefully order the right size once the bride chooses the dresses ). The DIS is always full of great ideas!

 

[Katie Little]

2018 is a no vacation year for us. Our goal is to save up a small emergency fund of $1000 and be debt free except for our house and car. We should be able to make pretty good head way on the car by the end of the year so that 2019 we can take the best star wars vacation ever

 

[arlinar]

I been absent for the last few months due to being busy that wasn't able to post much in the 2017 thread.

Goals in 2018
-No more credit card debt (less then a $1,000)
-$5,000 in savings by this time next year
-Get a new car that isn't a clunker
-Have Christmas Vacation paid off by August.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Very excited for 2018!

Financial goals:

Save $6,000 towards our emergency fund
Max out my Roth IRA and open a Roth IRA for DH
Save $12,000 and get a HELOC to finish our basement
Save $1,200 in DDs 529 account

Personal goals:

Better self care
Make more time for my hobbies
Build resilience
Eat healthier and exercise more

 

[jackers]

Long time lurker on the Dis and this thread but decided I’d like to join in, if that’s ok. We don’t carry a lot of debt (mortgage and one car) but I do have some financial goals I want to meet. Our biggest challenge is that I just accepted a new job that will start in April and am taking a 17% pay cut (well worth it for the reduction in mental stress). Has zero impact on the day to day, but does put more pressure on us to better budget our everyday expenses so I can still meet all my long term goals.

So, 2018 goals:

Pay at least 12K towards car loan, with plans to fully pay off by June 2019 (we just bought this vehicle in March, so that would be almost 4 years early). Ideally, I’d like to pay closer to 16K in 2018, but that will be dependent on tax return and bonus results this year, which I never factor into the budget until I know what they are, if anything.

Add 5K to savings by end of year.

Pay additional 4K on mortgage, with overall goal to have paid off before I am 50 (this gives me 8.5 years to pay off 29 years of a mortgage, which might sound crazy, but is totally doable based on the numbers. Our mortgage is a very reasonable percentage of our income). Once the car is paid off, those payments will roll over to the house, to help meet this goal.

Add 5K to DS2’s college fund (DS1 is already out of the house and on his own). I’ve been doing this for years, so this is just part of my standard budget.

Maintain current level of 401K contributions at 14%.

Personal goal: lose 30 pounds before niece’s wedding in July.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We did very well in 2017, especially considering we had a baby. We paid off all of our credit cards at the end of 2016, and did not accumulate a single cent of cc debt in 2017, so we've created new habits! In 2018 my plan is to:

1) Get DH's car paid off or close to it. My car is limping along and I know I'm going to need to replace it soon, and I don't want to have two car payments.
2) Continue our good habits with our credit cards. Keep charging everything and paying it off every month to earn rewards.
3) Get the remainder of our cruise in September paid for with some of our income tax return, and put the rest in savings.
4) Begin contributing to our house savings account (amount TBD) and get up to 7% in DH's retirement fund.
5) Me- get a part time job in the spring. Take half of these checks for emergency savings account and half for yearly vacation fund.
6) Pay off DH's phone by summer. Then we may trade in our phones for cheaper smartphones since neither of us use ours anywhere close to their potential.
7) As always, shop for Christmas/ Birthdays throughout the year with sales, coupons, and clearance. A huge portion of my family has December and January birthdays (including DS now!) so I really need to do this to be able to financially survive the holidays!
8) Get a deposit saved if we decide to book a bounce back offer on another cruise when we go in September. I want to make sure we have the cash in hand for the deposit ahead of time so we can make a decision without worrying about cost!

Just so you're prepared, there are no occasional "bounce back offers" on the ships, like there are in WDW. There is ALWAYS a future cruise desk. Their hours are published in the daily Navigator and vary each day, with longer hours near the end of the cruise. You can either book a future cruise that is a definite sailing or if you're not sure when, where, etc. you can book a "placeholder" reservation. This is a relatively new change that doesn't occupy an actual cabin on any particular sailing, but preserves your opportunity to book a definite sailing in the future while still being entitled to onboard booking perks. Unless there's been a very recent change, those are: 10% off the pre-tax portion of cruise fare of the future sailing plus an onboard credit from DCL of $200 for cruises 7+ days duration or $100 OBC if less than 7 days. The OBC is in addition to any that is offered by a TA.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Hey everybody!

Joining in over here for the new year!

Financial Goals:
1. Pay off personal loan of $2100. This should be done in April/May depending on when we get our tax return back.
2. Put money saved from personal loan payments to DH's student loan. He has about $5900 at 6.5%. I have no real intention of paying it off this year, but would like to double the monthly payment towards it.
3. Up my contribution to my work's 457 retirement/stock plan. My contributions to this account start January 1 with $20 per paycheck. I'm thinking that maybe after things shake out with this new tax plan and I see what my paycheck looks like in February, I'll decide what/how I want to allocate it.
4. Start an IRA for DH or start contributing to his company's stock plan. He mentioned to me the other day that his company is offering a new plan for their stocks at something like 25% off for employees, so we need to look into that.

Personal goals:
1. Cut back on sugar. I don't have any specific number in mind for losing weight- I've just been eating like a lunatic lately and need to cut back.
2. Take two vacations. One will be a long weekend in Asheville, NC in April. I need to figure out what our second one will be for later in the summer.

 

[fifthdimensiondweller]

Just so you're prepared, there are no occasional "bounce back offers" on the ships, like there are in WDW. There is ALWAYS a future cruise desk. Their hours are published in the daily Navigator and vary each day, with longer hours near the end of the cruise. You can either book a future cruise that is a definite sailing or if you're not sure when, where, etc. you can book a "placeholder" reservation. This is a relatively new change that doesn't occupy an actual cabin on any particular sailing, but preserves your opportunity to book a definite sailing in the future while still being entitled to onboard booking perks. Unless there's been a very recent change, those are: 10% off the pre-tax portion of cruise fare of the future sailing plus an onboard credit from DCL of $200 for cruises 7+ days duration or $100 OBC if less than 7 days. The OBC is in addition to any that is offered by a TA.

Thank you so much for this! I wasn’t sure what exactly the onboard booking perks were with DCL!