Debt Dumpers - 2019

[Ngwira]

Just checking in. DH and I got back from a week in Texas this past Saturday where we celebrated my bff's 30th birthday and our 5th wedding anniversary. Spent about ~$500 while out there, which was mainly on food and a couple items we brought back, plus a birthday present and a trip out to Top Golf. I don't think that total is completely terrible, but we probably could have spent less than we did. No regrets though. It helps that my bff and her DH were able to pick us up/take us to the airport so we didn't have to spend $300 on a rental car.

While we were out there I decided to take the plunge on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card (the one with the lower annual fee) and was approved with no problems. This will replace the American Airlines card I was just approved for a few months ago. Originally I thought the American Airlines card would be more beneficial when we take our trip out to FL next year, since the plan was to take a red-eye on American, but after we talked over our trip some more we decided to nix the red-eye plan. After looking more into flight prices/times (i'm projecting since Nov 2020 is still too far out) I think we'll end up taking Southwest out to FL and back. I already have a SW card ($69 AF), but I got one of the targeted e-mails saying they'll give me 5,000 points if I upgrade to the better card ($149 AF w/ 4 upgraded boarding's and $75 southwest credit). I'm debating the upgrade, just so we can use the upgraded boarding next year in Florida. If anyone has this card and has any input on it, i'd appreciate it.

We don't get paid till Friday, but i've been working on my plan of attack for bills this cycle. It looks like I should be able to pay everything that needs to be paid, plus set aside that final $200 for our tree removal with no problems. I'll also be able to pay off some of the charges from Texas now, instead of waiting till the next pay period. My DH's smaller student loan is just under $800 and I really just want to take it out of our savings and be done with it, but i'm not sure I'm ready to see my savings drop at the moment. It wouldn't completely wipe out our savings, it would leave us with ~$800, but i'll have to think on it some more.

Hope everyone has had a wonderful summer! I'm so ready for fall and cooler weather.

I don’t have the sw card but if you post on that credit card thread, you’ll get lots of feedback. I will be picking your brain as we are officially booked for our first trip to Disneyland. We are flying American to California and Alaska back to Philly. I actually prefer a redeye coming home as it makes the time zone transition easier. We are doing the opposite getting there as we have an 8am flight and will
land at 10am on the west coast.

I’m looking at 2 day park hoppers which are $1,000 for my family of 4.. But it’s Disney so hey...lol.
Anyway as our trip gets closer I plan to pm you.

On the debt dumping front, the budget has eased a bit since we have no major travel plans until spring break. We have a quick weekend trip to the world in about a month. Swan is paid for and have gift cards for the stay. I plan to buckle down and pay off some debt in the coming months.

 

[pblack]

I don’t have the sw card but if you post on that credit card thread, you’ll get lots of feedback. I will be picking your brain as we are officially booked for our first trip to Disneyland. We are flying American to California and Alaska back to Philly. I actually prefer a redeye coming home as it makes the time zone transition easier. We are doing the opposite getting there as we have an 8am flight and will
land at 10am on the west coast.

I’m looking at 2 day park hoppers which are $1,000 for my family of 4.. But it’s Disney so hey...lol.
Anyway as our trip gets closer I plan to pm you.

On the debt dumping front, the budget has eased a bit since we have no major travel plans until spring break. I plan to buckle down and pay off some debt.

I like to follow the credit card thread, but that thread moves so fast that I feel a little intimated throwing in my small questions lol. I know that @amalone1013 and a few others on this thread are also on that thread, so I figured i'd at least get a response or two. I ended up requesting the upgrade to the more expensive SW card since I'm pretty sure we'll get good use out of the perks.

I'd be happy to help with any DL questions you may have! 2 days should give you plenty of time to explore both parks, but depending on how long your trip is I would definitely recommend 3 days if you're able too. Even if one of those days is just a 1/2 day. It will either allow you to get acquainted with both parks, or it would let you hit up your favorite rides again. I also think Maxpass is a must! But if it's not in the budget, it's totally doable without it.

 

[Ngwira]

I like to follow the credit card thread, but that thread moves so fast that I feel a little intimated throwing in my small questions lol. I know that @amalone1013 and a few others on this thread are also on that thread, so I figured i'd at least get a response or two. I ended up requesting the upgrade to the more expensive SW card since I'm pretty sure we'll get good use out of the perks.

I'd be happy to help with any DL questions you may have! 2 days should give you plenty of time to explore both parks, but depending on how long your trip is I would definitely recommend 3 days if you're able too. Even if one of those days is just a 1/2 day. It will either allow you to get acquainted with both parks, or it would let you hit up your favorite rides again. I also think Maxpass is a must! But if it's not in the budget, it's totally doable without it.

I didn’t see amalones post prior to responding. She gave great advice. Unfortunately we are limited to the two days. It’s an 11 day trip where we are hitting multiple cities and I’ve allocated more time for San Diego and San Francisco. Since we plan to return to WDW later that year and get APs, I don’t feel too bad about a quick trip to DL.

We are very efficient and have done the entire Epcot park and Magic Kingdom in one day and plan to do that again in about a month..lol So two days in DL should be fine. Thank you for the advice.

 

[pblack]

I didn’t see amalones post prior to responding. She gave great advice. Unfortunately we are limited to the two days. It’s an 11 day trip where we are hitting multiple cities and I’ve allocated more time for San Diego and San Francisco. Since we plan to return to WDW later that year and get APs, I don’t feel too bad about a quick trip to DL.

We are very efficient and have done the entire Epcot park and Magic Kingdom in one day and plan to do that again in about a month..lol So two days in DL should be fine. Thank you for the advice.

Sounds like a pretty great trip! Let me know if I can be of any other help. I live about 1.5 hours from SF.

 

[imbatman]

I didn’t see amalones post prior to responding. She gave great advice. Unfortunately we are limited to the two days. It’s an 11 day trip where we are hitting multiple cities and I’ve allocated more time for San Diego and San Francisco. Since we plan to return to WDW later that year and get APs, I don’t feel too bad about a quick trip to DL.

We are very efficient and have done the entire Epcot park and Magic Kingdom in one day and plan to do that again in about a month..lol So two days in DL should be fine. Thank you for the advice.

I think 2 days at DL is totally sufficient. And if you really want to knock your time out of the park, the MaxPass is fantastic! A couple of years ago, DH and I did a single day at DL and rode 15 rides with it, even after leaving for a 2-hour nap.

 

[Ngwira]

I think 2 days at DL is totally sufficient. And if you really want to knock your time out of the park, the MaxPass is fantastic! A couple of years ago, DH and I did a single day at DL and rode 15 rides with it, even after leaving for a 2-hour nap.

Yeah already spending a Grand night as well add MaxPass lol. Thank you for the tip!

 

[jen7233]

Just signed up for 3 years of Disney+ through the D23 offer to get 33% off each year. It comes out to $3.88 per month after the discount, so it felt worth it to me. I put it on a card that has 0% interest for the next 12 or so months, so I think I will just budget it into costs once my CoL adjustment goes into effect next month.

Yeah, I tried to get on today but it crashed on me and have had no more luck. It wasn't in my budget plan for Sep, but neither are some other things that decided to surface this week but at least the Disney has a positive gain of entertainment, the other things not so much just family money related issues, not anyone in this house but nonetheless unplanned and impacting. Nothing further on that story, right now I'll just focus on something pleasant!

If anyone has this card and has any input on it, i'd appreciate it.

I upgraded from Plus to Premier, from an offer. I would go back and do the Priority if I could.

 

[crazycatstacy]

I believe there is someone on this thread that is doing Public Service Loan Forgiveness and files their taxes married but filing separately but I can't recall who and I'm too lazy to go all the way through and look. I have some questions about it if anyone knows! Thanks!

 

[DisneyMandC]

I believe there is someone on this thread that is doing Public Service Loan Forgiveness and files their taxes married but filing separately but I can't recall who and I'm too lazy to go all the way through and look. I have some questions about it if anyone knows! Thanks!

Me! I'm not an accountant or anything like that so I can only give you purely anecdotal evidence from my own experience, but I'm happy to help.

 

[crazycatstacy]

Me! I'm not an accountant or anything like that so I can only give you purely anecdotal evidence from my own experience, but I'm happy to help.

thank you! I am married and currently doing the public service loan forgiveness and my loan payment is almost $900 (I have a LOT of student loan debt). I was talking to my husband about the married filing separately and I think we are going to run it both ways come tax time just to make sure. I am just wondering if it is as simple as I think it is- File taxes married filing separately (which is 100% okay to do, correct?) and then when I recertify my income based payment plan it will just pull in my portion of the taxes and adjust my payment accordingly? Thanks for any help/advice!

 

[DisneyMandC]

thank you! I am married and currently doing the public service loan forgiveness and my loan payment is almost $900 (I have a LOT of student loan debt). I was talking to my husband about the married filing separately and I think we are going to run it both ways come tax time just to make sure. I am just wondering if it is as simple as I think it is- File taxes married filing separately (which is 100% okay to do, correct?) and then when I recertify my income based payment plan it will just pull in my portion of the taxes and adjust my payment accordingly? Thanks for any help/advice!

Yes, that is correct. Though I can't remember how it works with the timing of recertifying and which tax year it pulls, but I think I have just sent them my paystub before and told them that we will be filing our taxes separately. I always have to recertify in like February so right around tax season, and I feel like they normally pull the prior year's tax info. So this year they pulled my 2017 taxes maybe? If you recertify later in the year then you may be ok just telling them to pull the current year's tax info. I hope that makes sense.

Just to clarify, the $900 payment is on an income-based plan and that is with filing your taxes jointly with your husband? I just want to make sure the $900 is on an income-based plan, otherwise it does not qualify as a PSLF payment.

I think you will find it makes much more sense to file separately. We filed jointly one year and my monthly payment was $922. We now file separately and my payment is $278. There are some downsides as far as deductions for filing separately (no student loan interest deduction), but I have still gotten money back every year even with filing separately.

 

[crazycatstacy]

Yes, that is correct. Though I can't remember how it works with the timing of recertifying and which tax year it pulls, but I think I have just sent them my paystub before and told them that we will be filing our taxes separately. I always have to recertify in like February so right around tax season, and I feel like they normally pull the prior year's tax info. So this year they pulled my 2017 taxes maybe? If you recertify later in the year then you may be ok just telling them to pull the current year's tax info. I hope that makes sense.

Just to clarify, the $900 payment is on an income-based plan and that is with filing your taxes jointly with your husband? I just want to make sure the $900 is on an income-based plan, otherwise it does not qualify as a PSLF payment.

I think you will find it makes much more sense to file separately. We filed jointly one year and my monthly payment was $922. We now file separately and my payment is $278. There are some downsides as far as deductions for filing separately (no student loan interest deduction), but I have still gotten money back every year even with filing separately.

Thanks for the info! The $900 in on the income based plan filing jointly with my husband. We currently pay in every year (average about $200) and since we rent we don't have any deductions except the student loan interest. I told my husband even if we had to pay in $2000, if our payment dropped to even $500 it would be worth it. Do you go somewhere to do your taxes or could I do it on TurboTax?

 

[DisneyMandC]

Thanks for the info! The $900 in on the income based plan filing jointly with my husband. We currently pay in every year (average about $200) and since we rent we don't have any deductions except the student loan interest. I told my husband even if we had to pay in $2000, if our payment dropped to even $500 it would be worth it. Do you go somewhere to do your taxes or could I do it on TurboTax?

I just do mine on Turbo Tax or H&R Block. It hasn't been too difficult and I haven't had any IRS problems. Fed Loan Servicing has actually been fairly easy to work with as far as making sure I have the paperwork done correctly and everything. They just rely on the student loan payment calculator on studentloans.gov, so you can use that to put your numbers in to estimate what your payment would be.

I did have my deductions set to 1 and then I changed it to 0 last year with the tax law changes to make sure I didn't owe. We do have mortgage interest to deduct which gets us the most money back. I also make sure to max my retirement contributions for our state-sponsored plan as that is all pre-tax money that will make your payment drop even lower. My original payment after filing separately for the first time was actually just over $300 and then I maxed my retirement contributions and it dropped to $278.

 

[DisneyMandC]

We do have mortgage interest to deduct which gets us the most money back.

One thing to add is that there are certain categories you will need to split between you if you're filing separately. The only ones I can think of and have ever had to split are mortgage interest and interest accrued on savings account. So say your mortgage interest for the year was $10,000, you each take a $5,000 deduction on your taxes. If you accrued $1,000 in interest on savings, you each take a $500 deduction.

 

[imbatman]

I'm really debating a D23 membership! And when I log in this morning--surprise!!! I'm already a general member! Is anyone here a Gold member and see the benefits?

 

[dina444444]

I'm really debating a D23 membership! And when I log in this morning--surprise!!! I'm already a general member! Is anyone here a Gold member and see the benefits?

Gold membership lets you buy tickets to the events they do through out the year. You also get a membership card that gives you some discounts and it lets you buy discounted tickets to D23 expo. There is also a quarterly coffee table magazine that gets sent.

 

[Scoobie]

I'm really debating a D23 membership! And when I log in this morning--surprise!!! I'm already a general member! Is anyone here a Gold member and see the benefits?

I'm only a general member, but I have already signed up for Disney+. They charge you the amount now for the 3 year service.

 

[jen7233]

Streaming video topics.
I wonder how many regular disboard posters signed up for Disney+ ! The projected millions of subscribers out there is astounding. Just a few years ago it seemed Netflix had such a corner, but just wait a little bit and something else comes along as usual. They do, yes, have a significant market share, but I'm so curious how it'll look in a year.

I've had Netflix since back when they sent a disc to your house, and once it was returned you got sent the next requested one on the list. Before that, I was doing that with Walmart, did anyone used to do these send and return discs? Now, here it is a large production company. I wonder what shows will keep me following on Disney+, Netflix I'll admit has me a little meh sometimes. Or agenda riddled, shock factor, I personally can't stand that. I watched Stranger Things, When Calls the Heart, binge watched the Office, the Crown, but really such a large percentage of the shows on there are just weird to me. They don't rotate their movies enough, and have become weird-show heavy to me.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I'm only a general member, but I have already signed up for Disney+. They charge you the amount now for the 3 year service.

Same here. I am a general, non-premium member and was able to get the Disney+ offer.

 

[jen7233]

Same here. I am a general, non-premium member and was able to get the Disney+ offer.

Also a general member. Yes, signed up for the Disney+ offer once the website was back up Tuesday night.