Debt Dumpers - 2018

[ruadisneyfan2]

To all our newcomers,

 

[JacknSally]

I was noticing all your awesome trips in your sig (you got to the world 4 times this year! so jealous!) and I’m sure you have tones of awesome memories from those although I have no cc debt and have paid off my student loans, I kinda wish I’d done a bit more in my 20s, even if it meant dealing with a bit of debt - my mom had always drilled us away from spending

We did make some amazing memories on our trips this year! They may not have been the smartest idea, financially, but they were definitely what we needed. Between all the crazy job schedules, DH and I barely see each other, and the trips were a great way for the two of us to actually get away from the "real world" for a little while and just have fun. I've been dealing with depression the last couple of years and getting away to our happy place definitely helped me feel more "me" again. It was easy to justify the trips, too, because of my small shop. Since I'm stepping back from that for a while, we'll be visiting a lot less than we did last year, but that's ok. While I'll miss going so often, I'll feel much better if we're chipping away at the debt instead of racking up more!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Sometimes it takes some tweaking to find the right balance of spending vs. debt paydown. Just like a crash diet with a lot of fasting, if it's not sustainable, it won't last long and then it's back into old habits. It has to be at a time when you're ready to tackle it.
Dh and I quit smoking as a wedding gift to each other. Except we didn't actually quit until about 4 months after our wedding. I was really stressed out planning the wedding and then had to do some horrible things at work, then a lot of sad trauma cases so finally when it was at a calm point in our lives, we knew it was time.
February will be 22 yrs since we quit. People say it's so hard but really it's a piece of cake compared to losing weight.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

THIS. Seriously you hit the nail on the head! This will technically be our third Disney cruise, but in a way it's like it's my first. I went on the Wonder when I was 12 and barely remember, plus I didn't have much say in the booking process obviously. We got married on Castaway Cay last year, which was just a dream come true and like something out of a movie, but I feel like with all of the wedding stuff I didn't get to experience a lot of the things cruise guests typically get to experience, so I'm like a newbie and am REALLY looking forward to these experiences.



This is amazing!! How incredibly special!



Oh yes I feel this way already- and it's only going to get worse I'm sure!! What's your favorite ship? I've only been on the Wonder and the Magic so far, we're booked on the Dream this Sept!

The little chime they play prior to an announcement going into your cabin is my text tone and I have the ship's horn as my ringtone.
Dh says it's a sickness but I'm not really interested in the cure.

sorry... back to your regular programming.

 

[jen7233]

Be prepared for the 12-step program. I'm booked for our 20th cruise.
Check out the DCL boards, there is LOTs of helpful info there.

Wow, that's funny we just booked a cruise. I'll be in the same program then, paying off that. We are going on Carnival though, I've never been on DCL. OK, so now I have as debt this cruise to pay off by March 15 and finish paying off my DD's school by April. I have to also figure out the stopping point to the other help I've been giving for a long time now.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Wow, that's funny we just booked a cruise. I'll be in the same program then, paying off that. We are going on Carnival though, I've never been on DCL. OK, so now I have as debt this cruise to pay off by March 15 and finish paying off my DD's school by April. I have to also figure out the stopping point to the other help I've been giving for a long time now.

We first started cruising with Carnival at my brother's persistence. After the 2nd one we realized we like cruising but not so fond of Carnival. Not that it's bad but more adult oriented and Vegas feeling and our kids were young so before entering any shows, we'd have to ask if it was appropriate for children and 75% of the time we were told no. So we spent a lot of time in the arcade.
That's when we decided to try DCL. It fit like a glove and we haven't looked back. We did try RCCL twice and they were ok but it made us yearn for DCL. The 2nd RCCL was for a friend's big birthday so it was more for him than us so who knows when we'll venture to another cruise line again. My kids are 17 and almost 21 and still love DCL. Maybe none of us will every outgrow Captain Mickey. Sigh, I need to hit the lottery.


To all my Debt Dumping Peeps,
Wishing you a Happy, Healthy & Prosperous New Year!
Full of debt dumping and no Murphy!

 

[kookiekat02]

My main goal this year is to pay off all our credit card debt (about $10,000 worth). I also need to begin saving the down payment for my house (need $12,000 by 12/31/2019). My current plan of attack is to save 25% of my paycheck and use the other 75% for regular bills and debt payoff. My seasonal position will be split 10% savings & 90% debt payoff. My husband's paychecks will go towards rent, CC debt and the car loan.

*CC 1: $1200
*CC 2: $2000
*CC 3: $2000
*CC 4: $4000

I'm hoping that posting here will help keep me accountable! We need to knock this out!

 

[Dentam]

I've decided not to renew my Costco membership after it expires in February. The cost has gone up to $60 and I don't think I save enough to make it worth that. I'm going to stock up on things like contact rinse and other essentials before then. Hoping they have the things I need on sale in the next few weeks!

Happy New Year!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

My main goal this year is to pay off all our credit card debt (about $10,000 worth). I also need to begin saving the down payment for my house (need $12,000 by 12/31/2019). My current plan of attack is to save 25% of my paycheck and use the other 75% for regular bills and debt payoff. My seasonal position will be split 10% savings & 90% debt payoff. My husband's paychecks will go towards rent, CC debt and the car loan.

*CC 1: $1200
*CC 2: $2000
*CC 3: $2000
*CC 4: $4000

I'm hoping that posting here will help keep me accountable! We need to knock this out!

JMHO, but I would attack the debt before trying to save. Trying to achieve both at the same time makes both take longer and can make you feel like you're not making a lot of progress. If you have at least $1000 emergency fund, attack one debt at a time, starting with the little one, and you will see amazing progress. Seeing the progress happen quickly is very satisfying; I was never so happy to pay bills before. It appeases that instant gratification that we like. Not exactly instant but rapid. Sometimes I would even just log into paid off cc accounts to look at the $0 balance again.

I love, love, love our home but still, owning a home is a huge money suck. I'm 50 and got our 1st mortgage when I was 26. With a house, it's always something and labor is expensive. Luckily dh is beyond super handy and we have close friends & family in every trade but if I had to hire help from the phonebook and pay the going rate to get work/repairs done and didn't have dh, I'd be renting or at most own a condo.

Certainly not trying to dissuade you but it would be smart to eliminate all debt before buying a home. I wish someone gave us this advice back then. We struggled so unnecessarily. We were just impatient and wanted everything right away and there was no internet, no FICO score to look up and not much info out there like now.
Again, JMHO. Do what works for you!

 

[kookiekat02]

JMHO, but I would attack the debt before trying to save. Trying to achieve both at the same time makes both take longer and can make you feel like you're not making a lot of progress. If you have at least $1000 emergency fund, attack one debt at a time, starting with the little one, and you will see amazing progress. Seeing the progress happen quickly is very satisfying; I was never so happy to pay bills before. It appeases that instant gratification that we like. Not exactly instant but rapid. Sometimes I would even just log into paid off cc accounts to look at the $0 balance again.

I agree with you on debt payoff first but I need to take over the mortgage on my house by 6/1/2020. I currently rent from my mother which is riddled with tax implications for her and a pain in the butt town situation for both of us. I need to save so I can hit that time table ...otherwise we would be completely focused on that annoying debt.

 

[ariel1025]

Starting the year with a debt balance of $254,548.08. That includes everything. House, cars, credit cards, student loans, misc loans. Literally everything.

Based on the debt calculator spreadsheet I have, only one item will get paid off this year. That's based on paying only the minimum payments on everything. Not acceptable. We are determined and have made a goal to pay off 6 (one item every two months).

Bring on the snow. Snowflakes. Snowballs. I don't care. Let's just make it snow

Good luck to everyone!

 

[imbatman]

Do your trip and move forward. Tell your kids in advance, if they're old enough to understand, that saving for the trip means not having extra to spend on other things for a while, both before and after the trip. Maybe you can trim it down so it's not a huge splurge? Like 1 day at each park and 1 rest/non-park day instead of a full week. That saves not just on hotel but food costs too. Stick to what's most important and you will get through this.
Seriously, read Dave Ramsey's baby steps. It was very inspiring.

Good luck to you!!

DH told the kids on Friday. They took it like champs. I sat down and did a number crunch budget to be able to go and NOT incur any new debt. Ironically, all of the money I was going to save for spending can be put towards the monthly payments and we could, quite possibly, still go! It may sound absolutely bonkers, but Alaskan Airlines had a credit card offer for a free companion ticket (yes, there's an annual fee of $75), so we save nearly $500 on that. Crunched the monthly menu, which is my bane because I'd rather be lazy and pick something up on the way home. Gave the DH an allowance because he'd already surrendered his cards.

I can do this! It's encouraging to see the path out of this pit. I'm sure there will be times dirt falls in my face, but I'm starting up that path tomorrow.

 

[pblack]

DH told the kids on Friday. They took it like champs. I sat down and did a number crunch budget to be able to go and NOT incur any new debt. Ironically, all of the money I was going to save for spending can be put towards the monthly payments and we could, quite possibly, still go! It may sound absolutely bonkers, but Alaskan Airlines had a credit card offer for a free companion ticket (yes, there's an annual fee of $75), so we save nearly $500 on that. Crunched the monthly menu, which is my bane because I'd rather be lazy and pick something up on the way home. Gave the DH an allowance because he'd already surrendered his cards.

I can do this! It's encouraging to see the path out of this pit. I'm sure there will be times dirt falls in my face, but I'm starting up that path tomorrow.

Glad to hear that you have a plan in progress and are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel! I'll be rooting for you!

 

[Eureka]

In the name of "there's ALWAYS something," our "best" car had some check engine lights come on when we were 2 hours from home on a hellish 13.5 hour drive (that should only have taken 9-10) but luckily we made it home Saturday night. It's in with Toyota now and I'm glad we have the old van I can use for work until they can fix it. (knock wood please that a) it's a reasonably inexpensive fix and b) that the van will be fine with 100-mile commutes the next few days). Also found that it's been leaking underneath the kitchen sink for quite some time and we never noticed. Need to call the plumber but we have a basin under it now so that can wait a day or so until I am caught up at work. We've had to put some car repairs on the credit card we weren't using....so we mostly drained our short term savings to pay it off this week. The card balance we had been chipping away at has an interest-free promo that ends next month, so we made the decision to withdraw from our long-term savings to pay it off before the interest kicks in. It's in a high-balance required account so I need to actually go to the bank to do that. Because we paid off the "second-best" car a couple weeks ago (that reminds me, it hasn't cleared yet so need to look into that!), we have some more money to reallocate, so we're upping the 529s and I need to increase my direct deposit for the long-term savings account. Now if we can have some time without any more emergency car or home repairs, we can start the year off right.

 

[mjantz]

Goals:

-Tweak the budget so we can live off of DHs income & put mine towards kids college.
-Set up extra retirement savings.
-Through Swagbucks, be able to pay for as much of our summer vacation as possible.
-Budget for fall trip

 

[mco65]

2017 was not as good as i had hoped. I did reduce my cc/loan debt by about 3k but would prefer that to be closer to 5k...
I need to make some serious headway in 2018 because i will be needing a new vehicle in 2019... mine is currently 12 years old... i put about 1k (cash) into it this year to make it last another year.

 

[Eureka]

Dh and I live and work in Maryland but sometimes it's quicker going through Virginia and back around to MD to get to work. We talked about how much we spend on EZPass using the "hot lanes" on the Beltway. It's more than $500 a month. When the kids are in college, we'll definitely want that money (not that we don't now...). Now, it cuts off a lot of travel time (I use it only in the morning and I go normal rush hour so it's pricey - the highest I've paid is $25 - while he goes in earlier and it's cheaper). But, today I checked Waze before I left (I don't always and know I should) and the quickest time actually was not going that way, so I saved time and money. Going to try to do this more often. I go a different way home, all Maryland, which is almost always quicker. Not sure why it is in the evening but not morning. My rule for myself is if there is more than a 15-minute difference, I will consider using EZPass at night. But I am going to start checking every morning and see what the time difference is. Sometimes it's only a few minutes.

 

[jen7233]

Through maneuvering of reinvested dividends and savings account, I went ahead and fully funded the Roths for the year. Now, have to put the money back into the savings account over the year. It was important for me to get the Roths done early in the year so I can do some other priorities.

I don't anticipate any emergencies, but that's the point, emergencies aren't! But, I figure we still have a taxable account in mutual funds I can use if something happens before I get the savings back up, and I can move from my car replacement fund I've been setting aside for replacing my car if I have a car issue. My car is still rolling down the road just fine, after putting work into it last year. We don't own a home, sold ours last year, so I don't have a major home repair issue to worry about.

 

[Eureka]

This is an interesting article. I know some people prefer to tackle low balances first, but this looks at solely the financial picture (i.e. paying interest) when choosing how to pay off credit cards.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...th_top_mostshared_2_na&utm_term=.81ebf27dae45

 

[debtdumper2018]

So, I have been lurking on the debt dumper boards for the past couple of years, but this year, I am ready to jump in and be a part of the action

We're in a pretty bad place. Total debt $192,273.63
Credit Cards - 26,804.99
My old car (doesn't run. Just need to pay off and get rid of) - $3,297.89
DH car - $13,648.63
My car (to replace car that's not running) - $22,064.95
Loan #1 - $1,714.38
Loan #2 - $9,796.79
DVC Loan - $13,960.
My Student Loans - $41,864.40
DH Student Loans - $59,121.60

WOAH! That's crazy once I write it all out! No mortgage because we rent, but we'd like to buy a house sometime in the future. DH and I have 2 kids - DD (12) and DS (7) and currently my mother (GM) lives with us (was supposed to be for a couple of months starting in August 2016, but she's still here). GM does not contribute anything towards house expenses - she does buy most of her own groceries, but usually eats what we make for dinner. She also does not help with any household chores except for the occasional load of laundry. There is really no way to change any of that, I know it sucks, but it is what it is. I'm hoping it will end soon (she's on the waiting list for a senior complex, but no opening yet)

So here is my 2018 game plan.
ULTIMATE 2018 GOAL - pay off $30K in debt (about 15% of current balance)
How to achieve -
- Pay off old car $3,297.89 (should be paid in the next 30-60 days after we get a large reimbursement for college expenses for DH we paid up front
- Pay off Loan #1 - 1,714.38 (hoping to pay this with the reimbursement as well) (reimbursement amount is dependent on his final grades)
- Pay $10K towards cars, loans & DVC (this will be done by making our normal monthly payments (which always includes a bit extra)
- Pay $15K towards credit cards.

I actually think this is achievable based on our budget. We just have to STOP using the credit cards!! We've been doing much better about not eating out in the last few months, so I just need that to continue.

We have an upcoming trip to WDW in February to run as a family in the 5K - the last trip with our annual passes we got last April. Hotel is booked ($500 due at check in) and we're driving, so just fuel expense. I just want to save up about $1,000 for food and fuel. We were there twice in 2017, so it's our last trip to FL for a bit. We are planning on an Alaskan cruise in 2019 with some time at Disneyland. So, at some point I have to figure out how much/how to save for that.

So, there it all is. I'm excited to see what 2018 has in store and I hope that we all end the year in a better place than we started!