Debt Dumpers - 2018

[jen7233]

Thank you for the suggestion! As for the Del, I would skip it, but hubby is insisting since we stay at the GF each year. Grand Floridian is based off of the Hotel Del Coronado. To make it more affordable, I plan to use an AMEX offer-$45 off any $250 or more Hilton Curio Collection booking. AAA rates are hovering around $322 a night plus resort fee of $35. The Amex offer makes it around $350 a night, so not too bad. I also won't be paying for airfare and the hotel was severely discounted by using points. This helps us to be able to afford the splurge. The trip being a year out also helps very much as I can pay for different segments of the trip over time.

That hotel looks awesome. I remember seeing in when I used to live in SoCal, but have never stayed there. Sounds like you got some great rates.

 

[Ngwira]

You could take your PH savings and roll them into the MaxPasses. I used MP in November (one day trip) and it was FABULOUS! But I can understand a hesitation for a family every day. But if you do one park and MP, it's a near wash AND you get in more rides.

Will definitely look into it. The Disneyland forums are awesome as well.

 

[Tygerlilly]

Tried listing our old stroller/car seat combo on my local pay it forward facebook group. 3 (!!) people wanted it and all 3 either decided against it because they didn't want to meet in my town to get it (which was clearly stated in the listing) or completely ignored my repeated attempts to get them to pick a time or date to meet up.

Yesterday, I found out we're having a community wide garage sale in April, so I pulled the facebook listings down and will try the garage sale route instead. I'll have that, a ton of newborn-9 month baby clothes, changing table, toddler bed/mattress (my toddler hated it and has a full bed now and the crib converts to another full bed), and a whole mess of other baby items. We're purging things from the house we no longer use/need so I'm sure I'll have some more stuff to add. I plan to put that money towards our May Pigeon Forge trip. Purging + extra cash = a win!

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

So when I was thinking about DH's overtime, I forgot to account for time and a half. And he has done more overtime this week, so he is now up to 13 hours or so. We should actually be looking at more like $450 extra that will be going right into the DVC fund! I also did a mystery shop today and plan to start listing items online starting this weekend.

We joined our Hike it Baby local chapter ($10) for some fun and inexpensive things to do now that the weather is starting to finally get nicer. Plus I am hoping to meet other families with young kids. I am planning to join a hike on Sunday in the local arboretum. We also paid $30 for an annual pass to the county park that is very close to our house. It has several miles of paved and unpaved trails. There is also a really nice playground that includes infant swings. DD is still too little, but probably in 1-2 months it would be alright. We took a hike on the unpaved trails on Sunday and DD really liked it. Looking forward to more of that.

I want to lose some weight. I was looking at pictures from our WDW trip 2 years ago. I am 16 lbs. heavier than I was then, though I can only blame 7 lbs. of that on pregnancy. I want to be an active mom that has lots of energy to play with DD. And when I take pictures with DD, I don't want to hate what I see. My goal is to at least get back to my previous weight, but really aim for 25 lb. before our March 2019 WDW trip. The warmer weather has really got me motivated to make this a reality. I have started tracking my food and exercise again. The jogging stroller should come in handy soon (once DD is big enough for it)!

 

[DisneyMandC]

So when I was thinking about DH's overtime, I forgot to account for time and a half. And he has done more overtime this week, so he is now up to 13 hours or so. We should actually be looking at more like $450 extra that will be going right into the DVC fund! I also did a mystery shop today and plan to start listing items online starting this weekend.

We joined our Hike it Baby local chapter ($10) for some fun and inexpensive things to do now that the weather is starting to finally get nicer. Plus I am hoping to meet other families with young kids. I am planning to join a hike on Sunday in the local arboretum. We also paid $30 for an annual pass to the county park that is very close to our house. It has several miles of paved and unpaved trails. There is also a really nice playground that includes infant swings. DD is still too little, but probably in 1-2 months it would be alright. We took a hike on the unpaved trails on Sunday and DD really liked it. Looking forward to more of that.

I want to lose some weight. I was looking at pictures from our WDW trip 2 years ago. I am 16 lbs. heavier than I was then, though I can only blame 7 lbs. of that on pregnancy. I want to be an active mom that has lots of energy to play with DD. And when I take pictures with DD, I don't want to hate what I see. My goal is to at least get back to my previous weight, but really aim for 25 lb. before our March 2019 WDW trip. The warmer weather has really got me motivated to make this a reality. I have started tracking my food and exercise again. The jogging stroller should come in handy soon (once DD is big enough for it)!

I'm also 17 pounds heavier than I was when we got married 3 years ago. I've been holding steady at this weight for a while now, and while I'm really not overweight (especially considering I'm almost 6 feet tall), I'd really like to lose some. I'm definitely going to try to cut down before we go to Disney and Universal this fall, but I need to start working on my eating habits all the time. I have such a bad sweet tooth, which is definitely my downfall!

 

[Tygerlilly]

My goal is to also lose some weight before this fall, mainly because I'm going to really start my wedding dress shopping then so I have a good year for the dress to be ordered and allow time for alterations. I keep checking facebook for double jogging strollers, but they're either in really rough shape or almost as much as a brand new one. For now, we've been using the regular double stroller or the wagon for neighborhood walks. I just can't run with them.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I'm also 17 pounds heavier than I was when we got married 3 years ago. I've been holding steady at this weight for a while now, and while I'm really not overweight (especially considering I'm almost 6 feet tall), I'd really like to lose some. I'm definitely going to try to cut down before we go to Disney and Universal this fall, but I need to start working on my eating habits all the time. I have such a bad sweet tooth, which is definitely my downfall!

I was close to the same weight during our WDW trip as when we got married. I am only 5'4" and have never been a super skinny person, so this extra weight has definitely tipped me into the overweight category. I want to take control of this now before it goes any further. I like sweets, but I think my main downfall is carbs. I could never cut them out completely because we eat so many rice and pasta dishes in our house. I think it is mostly about watching my portion sizes. I can definitely eat as much as DH in a sitting, I just shouldn't.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

My goal is to also lose some weight before this fall, mainly because I'm going to really start my wedding dress shopping then so I have a good year for the dress to be ordered and allow time for alterations. I keep checking facebook for double jogging strollers, but they're either in really rough shape or almost as much as a brand new one. For now, we've been using the regular double stroller or the wagon for neighborhood walks. I just can't run with them.

Don't make my mistake. I bought my wedding dress pretty early. It was technically before we had "officially" gotten engaged, but DH had already bought my engagement ring. The dress that I really, really wanted went on clearance at BHLDN and so I bought it 15 months before the wedding. The size I bought just fit, but there wasn't much give. My mom told me to buy the next size up, just in case. But I didn't listen to her. By the time I got my alterations, I had gained a few lbs. and it didn't fit anymore! I had to stalk the BHLDN website, hoping for the dress to be posted again in the next size up. I got lucky and was able to find it, but the original dress could no longer be returned. It took me 8 months before I was able to sell it on eBay. I think I lost $100, but at that point I didn't care.

 

[Eureka]

I was close to the same weight during our WDW trip as when we got married. I am only 5'4" and have never been a super skinny person, so this extra weight has definitely tipped me into the overweight category. I want to take control of this now before it goes any further. I like sweets, but I think my main downfall is carbs. I could never cut them out completely because we eat so many rice and pasta dishes in our house. I think it is mostly about watching my portion sizes. I can definitely eat as much as DH in a sitting, I just shouldn't.

Carbs are my downfall. I’m actually doing Weight Watchers for a few months to get back into better habits. I’ve lost 8 of the 12-15 I want/wanted to lose but eating few carbs is so hard. But, I have chronic stomach problems and was eating stuff I knew I shouldn’t (after years of being good) mainly, fats, and my stomach feels great right now. I really just started using the plan to stop eating the junk but I don’t plan to stay on it forever or stop carbs!

 

[imbatman]

Going to start cleaning out our travel trailer to list in April. We haven't used it in over two years and are looking into a different route for retirement: small RV (not a diesel-pusher size). But selling it will not only pay off one set of our airline tickets for December, it'll allow me a small conference in August that I've always wanted to go to. It's a bit selfish to attend, but I'm hoping it'll lead to a possible second job, that I love.

Also, no more registration fees if it sells!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Just found out I was misquoted by the woman at the bank. If I use my debit card, I get a 1% fee. If I had a MC CC, then I would not get a fee. DH and I have to talk about what we want to do about that. We do not want to use CCs, but we do have the money saved up for the trip. I think we will take out some euros when we get there using an ATM and then use our SW CC for the rest and pay it off when we get home. We have a general budget for the trip so we can keep ourselves in check.

Sorry, I've been feeling busy lately with working again and just saw this. When we sailed a Med cruise in 2013 I used our SW CC to prepay our hotel stay in Barcelona and Chase added a 3% fee for any foreign charges. I hope you have wifi and see this before you charge your whole trip. I think maybe their premier card doesn't charge those fees. Mine was the regular card. Anyway, have a great time in Germany. Ds21 wants to go there so badly.

 

[Tygerlilly]

Don't make my mistake. I bought my wedding dress pretty early. It was technically before we had "officially" gotten engaged, but DH had already bought my engagement ring. The dress that I really, really wanted went on clearance at BHLDN and so I bought it 15 months before the wedding. The size I bought just fit, but there wasn't much give. My mom told me to buy the next size up, just in case. But I didn't listen to her. By the time I got my alterations, I had gained a few lbs. and it didn't fit anymore! I had to stalk the BHLDN website, hoping for the dress to be posted again in the next size up. I got lucky and was able to find it, but the original dress could no longer be returned. It took me 8 months before I was able to sell it on eBay. I think I lost $100, but at that point I didn't care.

I had heard from most of the boutiques I went to that ordering your dress about a year out was ideal. Several have said it can take 6-8 months for it to come in, plus leaving you 4 months to have all your alterations done.
Right now I'm a size 16w in the dresses I've tried on. Even when I was in high school and running and playing soccer, I was never smaller than a 12 (thanks wide hips), and now that I've knocked out 2 kids in 2 years, I'm not really expecting to get below a 14. I just want to get my stomach back under control and tone up. I actually plan to buy a 16 if I'm not solidly in a 14 by October. It's easy enough to take it in, can't really let it out too much. But the two I love are also corset back, which will give me a tiny bit of leeway also.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Finally! We are completely out of debt except our mortgage! I paid off our home equity loan on Monday!



I had a goal to save $10,000 for a new car (or slightly used) but by the time it got up to around $5500, and seeing the HEL balance at $4100, I was feeling like I just needed to make it go away.

The rest of the car fund unfortunately went toward monthly bills. I returned to work but only 4 hours per day which means no more disability supplemented with sick hours to get 100% pay. My paychecks are actually less than half since benefits costs are still deducted (health ins, dental, FSA, etc.). I stopped paying to my retirement account for now. I’m not ready to touch our emergency fund because we still might really have an emergency.

I have become a LOT stronger and have better stamina than when I first returned to work 3 weeks ago. I think in a few more weeks I should be able to handle FT again. I did have a moment last week when the fatigue was horrible and I was ready to collapse. I had to go sit in our lunchroom and put my head down for a while. Everyone made a big fuss but they don’t realize I felt like that ALL THE TIME for the first 2 months I was home sick.

Sometimes I kick myself for not getting into a field where I could sit at a desk. I could keep going all day and night but that probably has its drawbacks too. Oh well.


So now the plan is to not fall behind on bills and required savings that are earmarked for quarterly & semiannual bills such as property taxes, car/HO insurance, and sewer bills while I’m PT. I am hoping to not have to tap into our Vanguard account. Once I get back to FT I will start up the retirement savings, start my snowball again for a car, then Christmas money and then start hammering down our mortgage. The remaining money from dh’s inheritance will complete our “3 months of expenses” nest egg.

I would sooo love to have no mortgage! Some day…

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I had heard from most of the boutiques I went to that ordering your dress about a year out was ideal. Several have said it can take 6-8 months for it to come in, plus leaving you 4 months to have all your alterations done.
Right now I'm a size 16w in the dresses I've tried on. Even when I was in high school and running and playing soccer, I was never smaller than a 12 (thanks wide hips), and now that I've knocked out 2 kids in 2 years, I'm not really expecting to get below a 14. I just want to get my stomach back under control and tone up. I actually plan to buy a 16 if I'm not solidly in a 14 by October. It's easy enough to take it in, can't really let it out too much. But the two I love are also corset back, which will give me a tiny bit of leeway also.

A corset back would definitely have a bit more give. Mine had a sheer lace back that buttoned up. It looked gorgeous but didn’t have any give. I would have been crushed if I wasn’t able to get that dress in the bigger size. It was so perfect.

 

[jackers]

Not a debt dumping post, but... Never thought I would look forward to the day of making less money. I have one more week in my director position before I start my new role as an individual contributor. I have one particular employee making this transition difficult. I may very well end up firing her next week. I just drank a full bottle of wine after dealing with her lying butt today (do they really think we won’t find out???). I cannot WAIT to no longer be managing people!!!

 

[Eureka]

I had heard from most of the boutiques I went to that ordering your dress about a year out was ideal. Several have said it can take 6-8 months for it to come in, plus leaving you 4 months to have all your alterations done.
Right now I'm a size 16w in the dresses I've tried on. Even when I was in high school and running and playing soccer, I was never smaller than a 12 (thanks wide hips), and now that I've knocked out 2 kids in 2 years, I'm not really expecting to get below a 14. I just want to get my stomach back under control and tone up. I actually plan to buy a 16 if I'm not solidly in a 14 by October. It's easy enough to take it in, can't really let it out too much. But the two I love are also corset back, which will give me a tiny bit of leeway also.

Don’t be shocked when your wedding dress is a larger size than you normally wear. Now, I’ve been married 20 years and I know sizes are different now but when I got married I was 125 lbs at 5’6” and usually wore an 8 (now it would probably be a 4 or 6, which is how I know they’ve changed the numbers because I am 20+lbs heavier than that now, have had two kids and still wear a 6-8) and my wedding dress was a 12. I was so upset at that until someone told me they always run small.

Sorry for that run on sentence!

 

[BrerRabbit66]

Two steps forward, shoved one step back by Murphy...debt dumping is frustrating. Making progress and then my iPad died. It was old, but it had pictures on it that I can't recover. Bought a new Microsoft Surface Pro using a gift card from Christmas and put the balance on Best Buy card for 0% for 12 months. I could have dipped into savings but I'd rather my money make money while I use their money to my benefit.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Two steps forward, shoved one step back by Murphy...debt dumping is frustrating. Making progress and then my iPad died. It was old, but it had pictures on it that I can't recover. Bought a new Microsoft Surface Pro using a gift card from Christmas and put the balance on Best Buy card for 0% for 12 months. I could have dipped into savings but I'd rather my money make money while I use their money to my benefit.

Sorry you lost photos.

 

[bababear_50]

Swimming along and getting things I put on the back burner for toooooo long done .... all the divorce papers are signed and filed (separated 20 years ago (,,I know...but I never had the money at the time to make it a priority). Depending on the court backlog it should come through by the summer time.

So I've been 1/2 days since Feb 1st and so far it is going ok. I am still discovering what I want to do with my other half of the day --I can't take a nap everyday,lol. I think when I get get out into the garden I will feel better.(Maybe a trip to an indoor Greenhouse is needed).
Here is one I like to go to in the winter.
Centennial Gardens-free admission
https://www.toronto.ca/explore-enjo.../conservatories/centennial-park-conservatory/

I've been reading about others interest in DVC in the past few posts. I bought my first OKW points resale a number of years ago with cash. It was actually one of the best things I ever did and since then have added on 2 more contracts. Before DVC I rarely took holidays,,now I love planning out my trips and am currently waitlisted for a small point contract at AKV. The big expense for me is the flights from Toronto to Florida.

Toyota just sent me a recall on my car ---re airbags so I know when I take it in they will probably find a few other things it needs ( Murphy's Law).
I know it is Spring but it is so cold here right now and just can't wait for the warm weather to arrive.
Happy Spring Everyone!
Hugs Mel

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Two steps forward, shoved one step back by Murphy...debt dumping is frustrating. Making progress and then my iPad died. It was old, but it had pictures on it that I can't recover. Bought a new Microsoft Surface Pro using a gift card from Christmas and put the balance on Best Buy card for 0% for 12 months. I could have dipped into savings but I'd rather my money make money while I use their money to my benefit.

Don't they automatically get backed up to the Cloud? If you have an Apple account you should be able to retrieve them.