Debt Dumpers - 2019

[Jen and Ashwin]

If a bank is FDIC insured, all deposits up to $250,000 per account holder are insured. That's the whole point. Otherwise, you would be no safer with a physical bank branch savings account. You don't think the bank actually keeps all your money sitting in a vault, do you? EVERYTHING is hackable when it comes to banking. The bank takes your money and invests it to make them more money. They pay you out when you ask for it. Most reputable online banks are FDIC insured. Our bank is 100% online. There are no physical branches for me to ever visit. It has never been an issue in 18 years.

Technically USAA has 5 branches in West Point, Colorado Springs, Highland Falls, Annapolis and San Antonio.

 

[DLgal]

Technically USAA has 5 branches in West Point, Colorado Springs, Highland Falls, Annapolis and San Antonio.

Well, I don't live anywhere near any of those places so they might as well not exist. LOL! I did know they had the San Antonio branch. Didn't know about the others.

 

[MN_Andi]

End of the month reflections:

My Financial Goals for 2019:

• Have $5000 in my savings account: I added $300 to my savings account, bringing the balance to $1300.
• Have under $28,000 in student loans: Started the year off with $34,935.44, and my balance today is $34,535.65, which is approximately a net $400 down in my balance.
• Save $2,000 for vacation in November to California/Disneyland: My parents and I are renting DVC points to stay at the Grand Californian for the few days we're at Disneyland (wahoo! I'm so excited!), so I put all of the money for the stay down ($680). They each owe me about $225, so I'll just call it $225 saved until they pay me back.

I made sure this month to track every dime I spent, and I put every single purchase into my spreadsheet. Definitely can spend less money on eating out and I need to reign it in for next month, and like a few of you, Starbucks is definitely a major culprit, lol. I also filed my taxes, and I'm set to get a refund of $720 from the feds, and $799 from MN (they added a newish tax credit based on how much you paid on your student loans, and I was eligible for the max). Plan is to pay off the card with the Grand charge on it, put about $400 to my savings, and the rest will go to my student loans.

Looking into next month, I've set up an appointment for my wisdom teeth removal, and with my insurance, it will cost about $300-$370 OOP depending on if they have to surgically remove my top teeth. Also means I can't eat a lot of certain foods for some time, so I definitely won't be going out too much . I get to use some paid sick time for that, but to be safe I took the week off from my second job in case recovery takes a while, so there is some money lost there. I also need to set some money aside for my friends' wedding gift in early March, and there is a video game that comes out next month that I want to get as well.

Overall, not too shabby of a start to my 2019!

 

[DLgal]

I still haven't withdrawn money from my Roth to pay off my credit card balance transfer. I just can't get myself to pull the trigger so I am taking that as a sign that I shouldn't do it. I will just keep on trucking with my payoff plan.

 

[StacyStrong]

For all of you who keep several thousands of dollars in your checking account, maybe I'm not understanding, but can't you do instantaneous transfers between a savings account and a checking account at your bank? We have checking and savings at our bank (USAA), so I keep around $100 in the checking at all times, but can easily move money out of savings at the click of a button and it is available immediately in checking. I keep our $1000 "emergency fund" in that bank savings account and transfer money out if needed after large expenses that I charge on the credit card. I just opened an Ally savings account to earn interest on the rest of our liquid savings. By keeping so much money tied up in a checking account, you are missing out on a lot of interest income at an online bank like Ally.

With proper consistent bookkeeping, you should never overdraft your account (but overdraft protection is also the function of the bank savings account with the emergency fund in it).

It takes 3 days for the money to show up in my account when I move from my high interest savings. I also have a savings with my bank that can transfer immediately, but it would earn me like 4 cents interest a quarter.

Losing $40 a year for peace of mind isn't a huge deal to me.

 

[barkley]

Am I the only one who gets twitchy at the thought of an online savings account? I mean one hack...a few clicks and poof. I mean I have a traditional savings account. But it's local. I feel better about my chances in an emergency if I hear whispering, and can run withing 3-5 minutes to my branch pull out all my money. I mean I don't know if it will happen. Maybe if there is an emergency they won't let us pull money, or they won't be able to. But completely online? There's no hope accessing it at all. But I'm also the type that keeps a stash in my home too.

i feel similar, and the fact that my local credit union pays higher interest than i've seen offered on-line is a compelling reason to stay as well.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I must be too. It seems like most are saying in the $100 range but to me less than $5000 feels stressful. Like I may have something pending and not realize it when an auto draft hits.

I don't auto-pay anything. I like to be in control of when I pay bills, even ones that bill to my cc. (Maybe this comes from knowing our debt became out of control when I didn't pay close attention to where $ was going. I can't ever go back to that "set it and forget it" feeling.)

Each payday, I schedule bills to be paid or savings to transfer on that day, or with our everyday Chase cc, the day before. By Friday, everything is deducted that is going to be deducted until next pay day, except the $20 that dh taps out which is on random days.
I don't use a registry but I keep a Word document with a list of scheduled transactions. I keep a separate list for Bill Planning with a list of bills/savings for each Thursday. It's all very predictable except when dh has OT. For my pay, I can view it online a few days prior.

 

[jackers]

OK - check in time.

January Update:

Car Loan: Goal: $12,000. YTD: $500

Savings: Goal: $5,000 YTD: $600

Mortgage Overpay: Goal: $4,400 YTD: $200

DS13 College Fund: Goal: $2,500 YTD: $300

401K Savings – Increase to 15% savings. - Completed

Fitness goal: Goal: Lose 15 pounds YTD: 0 ☹ Winter has just sucked the motivation right out of me. However, I have a 15K scheduled for March and a half marathon scheduled for May so I can no longer put off the training for these which should hopefully make that needle move on the scale.

Personal goals: More family time. This month we went tubing at a local ski slope for the first time ever and had a blast.

Travel: Current conversations are around a CA trip in July - a couple of days in the San Fran area (specifically want to see Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and the Redwoods) and then flying down to San Diego for a few more days (currently the zoo is the only must on the list). Open to suggestions of hotels, food, and must sees (and any travel tips for these areas - its a little out of our element)!

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Am I the only one who gets twitchy at the thought of an online savings account? I mean one hack...a few clicks and poof. I mean I have a traditional savings account. But it's local. I feel better about my chances in an emergency if I hear whispering, and can run withing 3-5 minutes to my branch pull out all my money. I mean I don't know if it will happen. Maybe if there is an emergency they won't let us pull money, or they won't be able to. But completely online? There's no hope accessing it at all. But I'm also the type that keeps a stash in my home too.

Not to be mean, but this just feels like a very old, antiquated way of viewing things. As another person said, a physical bank doesn’t just hold your money in their vault waiting for you to decide to retrieve it. That isn’t even how it worked in 1929. And online currency fraud has only really happened with bitcoin because the way bitcoin is structured it is hard to trace the account transactions. If money went poof with a traditional bank, it would have to go poof to another account somewhere which can be traced. Also, your money is FDIC insured up to $250k per account so you should be made whole in case of theft. When physical bank robberies happen, do you worry that they took your money or do you assume that you can still access it?

 

[KearneyFam02]

My bank charges fees for "excessive" transfers out of my savings account per quarter. Like, more than 3 transfers out. I can make as many deposits as I want, but more than 3 withdrawals per quarter (average 1 a month) and it is no longer considered a "savings" account and there are fees out the wazoo. Likewise, it has a minimum $100 balance. I like to keep it above that, but lately that's been a pipe dream.

My primary checking account has no minimum balance requirement, though I like to keep at least $150 just for my peace of mind. I do have multiple checking accounts. When I get paid (once a month) (the plan is) I put enough to cover my bills in my primary account, some in my secondary, and the rest in savings. I do not have automatic overdraft, and the only ATM card I have is for my primary account. So, I can go on the computer or mobile app and move funds as needed from the secondary account if I have unexpected expenses. If my card is stolen, or the account is compromised, it is only the one account that is compromised. Unless the bank itself is compromised.

Lately, though, it's been that my entire check goes to the primary account. The secondary account has $1.18 in it, and the savings account has $100.05. But, I'll make it somehow.

My taxes are all but done. Waiting for the state to finalize one of the forms and I can file on Feb 7. Looking to get back (net between state and federal) about $6k. I have 0 deductions plus extra withheld, and I know that I can use the money in my checks, but I'd rather get the lump sum each year rather than risk having to pay. Plus, if I can ever get on positive footing again, I use the refund to pay for my spring break trip. It doesn't affect my other debt and sets an absolute limit on what I can do. I'm trying to stay positive and think that I can get through this right now.

Reg D gives you up to 6 transfers out of savings a month. If your bank doesn't allow that without charging you, I'd find a new place to keep my money! That should be illegal!

 

[DCLfam]

Hi all! I have been lurking here for awhile but thought I would join in the fun. Have been on the DISboards for years but just got a new user name for privacy. I'm a mom to an amazing 12 year old that I adopted solo when he was a baby. My mom lives with us to help with him which has been great since I work a crazy schedule with many evenings and nights. The trade off is he can be at work with me a lot and I get summers off.

My 2019 goals:
1. Pay off car balance is under $3000
2. Pay off new furnace 0% loan $2900
3. Save for our Hawaii trip in 2020 (DCL)

I own our home and once things are paid off will start to pay extra to principle.

Just finished off January with no extra spending and tracking every dollar. Need to take a look at the numbers and see where I can save more. I didn't buy a coffee all month...crazy!! Going to plan on the same for February so I can get deposit for Hawaii cruise paid off even though it is 0% for 6 months. I play the CC game to get rewards and points.

 

[pblack]

Travel: Current conversations are around a CA trip in July - a couple of days in the San Fran area (specifically want to see Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and the Redwoods) and then flying down to San Diego for a few more days (currently the zoo is the only must on the list). Open to suggestions of hotels, food, and must sees (and any travel tips for these areas - its a little out of our element)!

Is your family into baseball? ATT Park (now known as Oracle Park) where the San Francisco Giants play is a must see (but I could be biased, i'm a giants fan and I love SF). It's such a great ballpark! Plus they have some pretty tasty ballpark eats (the garlic fries are a must, but they are also known for their crab sandwich). You can get pretty cheap tickets depending on the day of the week and who is playing (check stubhub). If the Giants are not playing (or you're not really that into baseball but are still interested in touring the stadium) they do offer daily tours of just the stadium, but you miss out on the great ballpark food. https://www.mlb.com/giants/ballpark/tours

Other attractions near SF that are pretty great: The Charles Schulz Museum (https://schulzmuseum.org/) They are located in Santa Rosa which is near SF. Sausalito is a charming little coastal town on the other side of the Golden Gate. They have lots of little shops and and restaurants. If you want to venture out a little further you could check out Half Moon Bay, Monterey, Carmel, or Santa Cruz. Monterey/Carmel/Santa Cruz could probably be done in a day depending on how long you spent in each. Monterey and Carmel are very close to each other, and Santa Cruz is probably 30-45 minutes away from Monterey. Santa Cruz has the beach boardwalk that can be pretty fun with games, food, and people watching.

There is also the Walt Disney Family Museum (https://www.waltdisney.org/) in SF. I have yet to go, but it's on my list of things to do.

If I think of anything else I will let you know. Or if you have questions feel free to ask me. I live 1.5 hours from SF.

 

[pblack]

Hi all! I have been lurking here for awhile but thought I would join in the fun. Have been on the DISboards for years but just got a new user name for privacy. I'm a mom to an amazing 12 year old that I adopted solo when he was a baby. My mom lives with us to help with him which has been great since I work a crazy schedule with many evenings and nights. The trade off is he can be at work with me a lot and I get summers off.

My 2019 goals:
1. Pay off car balance is under $3000
2. Pay off new furnace 0% loan $2900
3. Save for our Hawaii trip in 2020 (DCL)

I own our home and once things are paid off will start to pay extra to principle.

Just finished off January with no extra spending and tracking every dollar. Need to take a look at the numbers and see where I can save more. I didn't buy a coffee all month...crazy!! Going to plan on the same for February so I can get deposit for Hawaii cruise paid off even though it is 0% for 6 months. I play the CC game to get rewards and points.

Sounds like you have some great goals. Since you've been lurking for awhile you probably already know we're a friendly bunch. If you have questions don't hesitate to ask.

 

[jen7233]

Not to be mean, but this just feels like a very old, antiquated way of viewing things. As another person said, a physical bank doesn’t just hold your money in their vault waiting for you to decide to retrieve it. That isn’t even how it worked in 1929. And online currency fraud has only really happened with bitcoin because the way bitcoin is structured it is hard to trace the account transactions. If money went poof with a traditional bank, it would have to go poof to another account somewhere which can be traced. Also, your money is FDIC insured up to $250k per account so you should be made whole in case of theft. When physical bank robberies happen, do you worry that they took your money or do you assume that you can still access it?

Interesting story, I worked in Wells Fargo way back in the day, as a teller. We were robbed twice while I was on duty, tellers on my caddy corner and two down(silent robberies, letter handed over the counter, teller sent silent alarm and emptied their drawers, not stick up type robberies). Walking in the vault, I will say, was wonderful! But yes, they make money from fees, etc. And, it's not an individual's account that's compromised, that's a different scenario.

Hi all! I have been lurking here for awhile but thought I would join in the fun. Have been on the DISboards for years but just got a new user name for privacy. I'm a mom to an amazing 12 year old that I adopted solo when he was a baby. My mom lives with us to help with him which has been great since I work a crazy schedule with many evenings and nights. The trade off is he can be at work with me a lot and I get summers off.

My 2019 goals:
1. Pay off car balance is under $3000
2. Pay off new furnace 0% loan $2900
3. Save for our Hawaii trip in 2020 (DCL)

I own our home and once things are paid off will start to pay extra to principle.

Just finished off January with no extra spending and tracking every dollar. Need to take a look at the numbers and see where I can save more. I didn't buy a coffee all month...crazy!! Going to plan on the same for February so I can get deposit for Hawaii cruise paid off even though it is 0% for 6 months. I play the CC game to get rewards and points.

Welcome. That's my Feb goal, okay but one coffee I always tell people that have it they are fortunate for mom's help! Hawaii cruise! Wow!!!!!!! DCL is on my bucket list.

 

[DLgal]

I don't auto-pay anything. I like to be in control of when I pay bills, even ones that bill to my cc. (Maybe this comes from knowing our debt became out of control when I didn't pay close attention to where $ was going. I can't ever go back to that "set it and forget it" feeling.)

Each payday, I schedule bills to be paid or savings to transfer on that day, or with our everyday Chase cc, the day before. By Friday, everything is deducted that is going to be deducted until next pay day, except the $20 that dh taps out which is on random days.
I don't use a registry but I keep a Word document with a list of scheduled transactions. I keep a separate list for Bill Planning with a list of bills/savings for each Thursday. It's all very predictable except when dh has OT. For my pay, I can view it online a few days prior.

I do basically the same thing, BUT I auto pay everything that I can, and just update the amounts as I get the ebills emailed to me. We get paid on the 1st and 15th every month. All our auto payments happen on the same day each month for each account, there is no variation. I have 14 autopays every month, and only 3 where I have to do manual online payments (3 credit cards for everyday expenses). So, I just divide the month in half and list all the bills paid from the 1-14 and then the 15-31. When we get paid, I update the excel running bank account balance sheet and copy/paste the bills from the monthly bills spreadsheet. We use 3 different rewards credit cards to charge things (one is for groceries and dining out, one is for travel expenses and dining out, and one is for Disney expenses and gas). 1 card gets paid in the first half and the other 2 in the second half. I just update the balances as the month goes on so I know what the running tally is. Our pay is also steady...same amount each pay period, so it makes it very easy to see how much money we will have on future pay days and project forward for the purposes of knowing how much we can spend on the credit cards. I always project the excel bank account balance spreadsheet forward by one pay period to make sure we can pay all our obligations with the pay coming in that month.

It's possible to use autopay and ALSO keep very close track of when and how much the bills are. I mean, most of my autopays are fixed amounts anyway (auto insurance, life insurance, IRA contribution, 529 contribution, rent, car payment, cable, cell phone, Netflix). The only ones that change are the utilites (gas, water, electric). So, I really only have to update 3 bill amounts every month as the ebills roll in.

 

[jen7233]

January was a complete bust for two items, groceries and eating out. I was way under on some other items.

In a frustrating note, I applied and was declined for a CC, maybe this is a way of telling me don't worry about sign-up bonuses games and pay it myself. But still, getting the declination is kind of a strange feeling seeing that in writing! Fine, I'll focus my efforts on savings then no real loss to me (except the sign up bonus!)

On the topic of savings accounts online, I streamlined today and closed my savings accounts I was using as digital envelopes, I'm not in the mood to play with these and the lack of interest rate either. Next I'm going to ditch PenFed savings, they aren't as good as I thought either and I already have Ally. I have way too many savings accounts here and there, and three checking accounts, so I'm cleaning up house and streamlining this. For years we just had the checking account and a money market account (aside from taxable investment account), and one dormant checking that we started using again when we came back stateside. I used a simple Excel spreadsheet, then we closed the money market when we parted ways with First Command and USPA&IRA, and we were just fine with the one checking and invest what was additional.

I was doing some reading and the Vanguard Prime Money Market is doing better than some online savings account rates. DH and I have had talks about this over the last few months when I brought up we need something that makes more interest and yet has liquidity. He wanted to just use Prime as our extra savings since we already have had this account open as it's used as a pass-through for other investing. A couple things I threw out there were the 7 day hold on transfers, not FDIC insured, etc. However, now I'm thinking, how often exactly do I use cash? Would I not just put an emergency on a card, and then pay the CC balance later? That's what we do anyway. Well, for the moment I'm holding on to Ally and just see what seems the right move next, if any. Anyway, in Feb I'm streamlining savings accounts, already started today, and ditching electronic envelopes and using Excel. I see no reason why I'd hit the 6 transfers rule, especially if on the 1st of the month I calculate what I would have put in the electronic envelopes separately, add those together as one amount, and send it over as a transfer/deposit. Same thing if I need to pull from there.

 

[pblack]

My January update:

December credit card balances: $5235
Current credit card balances: $4055
A difference of: $1180

Just paid off our smallest credit card debt today! The next smallest ($1830) should be paid off when we get our taxes back. The March rent check from our housemate is slated to go towards our supplemental tax bill that's due in April with whatever remaining going towards our credit card debt.

 

[DCLfam]

Interesting story, I worked in Wells Fargo way back in the day, as a teller. We were robbed twice while I was on duty, tellers on my caddy corner and two down(silent robberies, letter handed over the counter, teller sent silent alarm and emptied their drawers, not stick up type robberies). Walking in the vault, I will say, was wonderful! But yes, they make money from fees, etc. And, it's not an individual's account that's compromised, that's a different scenario.

Welcome. That's my Feb goal, okay but one coffee I always tell people that have it they are fortunate for mom's help! Hawaii cruise! Wow!!!!!!! DCL is on my bucket list.

Thanks! I have no idea how I managed no coffee out in January.
There is no way I could be a single parent without her help so very grateful. We love DCL! We typically do the the longer cruises (Panama Canal, Transatlantic ect) which are a better deal compared to 7 day cruises. We are forgoing a big vacation in '19 in order to do Hawaii but might try for a quick 2-3 night trip to Disney in December if the budget allows.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

If a bank is FDIC insured, all deposits up to $250,000 per account holder are insured. That's the whole point. Otherwise, you would be no safer with a physical bank branch savings account. You don't think the bank actually keeps all your money sitting in a vault, do you? EVERYTHING is hackable when it comes to banking. The bank takes your money and invests it to make them more money. They pay you out when you ask for it. Most reputable online banks are FDIC insured. Our bank is 100% online. There are no physical branches for me to ever visit. It has never been an issue in 18 years.

Well put.
Also combined, we have hundreds of thousands in our retirement accounts with no local brick and mortar “branch.”
More and more as time goes on, having bank branches with employees performing transactions in person is slowly becoming obsolete.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I do basically the same thing, BUT I auto pay everything that I can, and just update the amounts as I get the ebills emailed to me. We get paid on the 1st and 15th every month. All our auto payments happen on the same day each month for each account, there is no variation. I have 14 autopays every month, and only 3 where I have to do manual online payments (3 credit cards for everyday expenses). So, I just divide the month in half and list all the bills paid from the 1-14 and then the 15-31. When we get paid, I update the excel running bank account balance sheet and copy/paste the bills from the monthly bills spreadsheet. We use 3 different rewards credit cards to charge things (one is for groceries and dining out, one is for travel expenses and dining out, and one is for Disney expenses and gas). 1 card gets paid in the first half and the other 2 in the second half. I just update the balances as the month goes on so I know what the running tally is. Our pay is also steady...same amount each week, so it makes it very easy to see how much money we will have on future pay days and project forward for the purposes of knowing how much we can spend on the credit cards. I always project the excel bank account balance spreadsheet forward by one pay period to make sure we can pay all our obligations with the pay coming in that month.

It's possible to use autopay and ALSO keep very close track of when and how much the bills are. I mean, most of my autopays are fixed amounts anyway (auto insurance, life insurance, IRA contribution, 529 contribution, rent, car payment, cable, cell phone, Netflix). The only ones that change are the utilites (gas, water, electric). So, I really only have to update 3 bill amounts every month as the ebills roll in.

YNAB functions in exactly the same way for us. I see everything and know what and when things will be paid, but I have it all set to autopay to save me time and the stress of remembering or second guessing if I set the payment. Late fees suck and interest does too.