Debt Dumpers - 2019

Alright. We booked a WDW trip on our new Riviera DVC contract for the resort's opening day. Our annual pass will be good for 3 days and then it starts the holiday season blackout dates. So on the 4th day, I booked MVMCP so that we can do MK starting at 4pm that day. We will plan some non-park activities for early on the 4th and 5th days, such as the pool and Disney Springs. DH liked this idea better than renting out the points. We will cover airfare with credit cards points. So now I just have to figure out how to cover dining costs. Maybe DH's extra fall paycheck?
 
I HATE INSURANCE COMPANIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i've just spent over 2 1/2 hours arguing with 3 different divisions of my health insurance company over a bill that they are saying isn't covered b/c the provider isn't contracted with them. their site shows him contracted but they claim he's contracted only at a different location than the one dh went to-the thing is IT'S THE SAME FREAKING SITE. the location sits on about 8 city blocks (hospital w/provider offices) so depending on which direction you are facing the street address changes.

provider sez it's insurances issue, insurance sez it's provider's issue-i'm stuck in the middle:sad::sad::sad::sad::crazy:
 
I booked our hotel/park ticket package for DLP yesterday! Ended up going with the Newport Bay Club Hotel since it was refurbished in 2016 and was over $650 cheaper for the room and park ticket package (2 nights and 3 day park hopper tickets for two people) than the DLP hotel. I think the DLP hotel will be refurbished in the next couple of years, but right now it's maybe a little more dated... I still would have loved to stay there, but I've been doing well with my debt dumping this year and this will help me stay on track. Plus this hotel looks really nice! I also got 35% off by booking through the UK DLP website. My sister and I will be splitting the cost of everything. I was able to pay a deposit yesterday with the remainder due 60 days before our trip.

The only thing left to do now is figure out our plans for the few days between the conference and DLP. Need to book hotels once we figure out what we're doing on those days. Everything else is taken care of already!

I turn 50 in 2023 and we are going to DLP then and I REALLY want to stay at the DLP Hotel but I was looking and it is way more expensive! Hopefully we can make it happen by then/ I hope you have the greatest time!
 
I realized this weekend while going through YNAB that the Sheraton package we bought last week can be completely covered with money I have leftover from my per diem and transportation reimbursements from my recent work trip! I was ready to budget a little extra to the travel fund until I saw that money sitting there leftover, so that worked out well.

Doing good not great budget-wise this month. Spent a little more than I would have liked on gardening and plants, but DH loves it and we did have several 10% off offers for Lowe’s.

I also spent a little extra on one of my horses this month who’s been struggling with some medical issues. I got a great deal on an expensive supplement for him the other day though, and I think it will make a big difference even though he absolutely hates taking it. I also got a vet bill on DH’s horse, which I’ve been expecting it. It was big, but not as bad as I thought it would be. Our trainer also just messaged me to tell me he was changing which horse show we were going to at the end of the month to one that’s half the distance of the other show he was planning to attend and will be much cheaper as we’ll only need to travel for one night instead of two.

Still doing well in the grocery and restaurant budget. Hoping we can avoid eating out until we travel for our horse show again.
 


Found a nice surprise when I logged in to make an extra “snowball” payment on my Citi card this morning...they raised my limit $400 and my score jumped 15 points! So on a whim, I randomly decided to apply for the Citi Costco VISA...and was approved for $5.5K!! I am SOOO happy! I’ve been working hard to qualify for this card (I LOVE Costco!!), and hopefully this will help boost my score even more as my utilization rate will go down.

Also paid off my cruise on Sunday, so it’s a good start to the week for me!
 
This is going to sound silly to most of you, but this check was the first one in over a year I was able to pay everything on time (or early!) and went grocery shopping and didn't need to constantly worry about how much I was spending. And I still was able to transfer some to savings, put some back for a "fun" thing, and have money left over! I'm so relieved at this point.
 


We moved to a condo last year when we sold our house and it is basically apartment living. When we moved in we had one spot in the underground parking and my husband just parked outside. This weekend we were able to rent a spot in the underground parking for my husband-$600 a year so that took a hit our of debt dumping as we paid for a full year. It will be nice for him to have protection from snow/hail/etc.

Day 4 full committed to weight watchers. I haven't died of starvation so I guess that's good! Hoping I stick to it and do well.
 
This is going to sound silly to most of you, but this check was the first one in over a year I was able to pay everything on time (or early!) and went grocery shopping and didn't need to constantly worry about how much I was spending. And I still was able to transfer some to savings, put some back for a "fun" thing, and have money left over! I'm so relieved at this point.

That's awesome!

Just hit submit on my final student loan payment!!!!

Woohoo - congratulations!

I'm on day 7 and feel amazing! I don't really feel deprived at all. Seriously the best $20 a month I've decided to spend.

If you want a free option, My Fitness Pal is very similar to WW. I've been having good luck with it!
 
Well, DH was told today that he was getting a promotion, but the salary increase was way, way lower than it should be. I helped him write an email to his boss requesting a different salary that is more in line with how much others in this position were making when hired/promoted (accounting for inflation) as well as the current market rate for programmers in our area with 5 years experience. If they don't offer him something closer to what he is asking, then he plans to start looking for another position. But If they do give him this higher salary, then we would be in good shape to pay off DH's car by the end of the year. After that, we could work to pay down the HELOC more quickly and then (if things go as planned) start covering daycare costs for two kids starting in late-2020/early 2021. I am hopeful that they pay him what he is worth because overall I think he likes what he does and would like to continue working there, but at this point he feels really undervalued. Fingers crossed.
 
Hi all, back from my work trip and still recovering and digging out of the work I need to wrap up. I got on the scale when I got back and was not pleased. Started back to walking (two-week hiatus when I was sick and then busy getting ready for the work meeting/travel - although I walked a ton while I was there) and using many of the WW tricks I learned for my breakfast and lunches. Weighed myself Monday and it says I lost two pounds. Waiting for my expense report to get approved, I’ll get almost $400 back which includes mileage to/from the airport and a $67 hotel upgrade they put on my card when my room wasn’t ready (and I needed to change and get to my meeting) but my CFO has agreed to reimburse.

We put down the deposit for DS' college and found out he did not get any scholarship money. State school so we weren’t surprised. Now DH is crunching the numbers to see how much we need to cut back on putting into retirement to pay tuition. He wants to try not to touch the 529 because in two years we’ll have two in college and will need to pay double, so if we can wait until then to drain the college funds....especially since we don’t anticipate being able to put as much into them while we are actively paying tuition. Fun, fun!
 
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We put down the deposit for DS' college and found out he did not get any scholarship money. State school so we weren’t surprised. Now DH is crunching the numbers to see how much we need to cut back on putting into retirement to pay tuition. He wants to try not to touch the 529 because in two years we’ll have two in college and will need to pay double, so if we can wait until then to drain the college funds....especially since we don’t anticipate being able to put as much into them while we are actively paying tuition. Fun, fun!

it's not much, but see if the school will let you pay with a credit card at no fee. that way at least you can get the rewards your cards offer if you'll be doing 'pay as you go'.
 
Sliding in with a budget update. We are more in debt now. Things, stuff, excuses. BUT!!!! I know where we are and here is my update:

CC1: $1471 - Paying in $400 increments, so this will be gone soon.
CC2: $1200 - I was a chump and didn't pay this off. $600 for the next two months. And it's my everyday card for points, to be paid off monthly from June forward.
CC3: $6000 - 0% and on a $600/month for now, to roll up to $1200 after CC2 is paid off. Simply was a 0% transfer card to be paid off
CC4: $5846 - I pay $1200/month currently on second 0% transfer. Then DH liked the air points. Told him to make his points goal and cut up. I ain't got time for this.

Total: $14,577

Am I discouraged? Heck yes! Am I encouraged? Yes, because I have a plan.

AND....AND.... ANDNDNDNDNDNDNDND: DH found out that he's getting a tiny inheritance and wants to use it all to pay down/off CC. I didn't ask. He volunteered. He's guessing at least half will be paid off. That.Is.HUGE! As you can see by our payment schedule, I'm already aggressive about being debt free. He had an epiphany last week and he's now 100% on board. Yay me! It only took him a year. :rotfl2:

Oh. And we still are plunking away at our emergency fund. That's at $600. And that is perfect with me, for now.

After the CC debt is all paid off, we will have the car, house, and student loans. Car will be first. House looks like we may be able to pay off next year, if we go gung-ho. Wouldn't that be a hoot?! Student loans are low and slow for now. We WILL pay them and not default. Ever.

To anyone discouraged: things happen. Sometimes we pay CC's off. Sometimes we end up going backwards. I look at that total and my heart is heavy. But I know I can do it. So can you. This board can help.

I'm going to eat a piece of dark chocolate to celebrate my debt and pay-off schedule. Because dark chocolate is more healthy, right? :rotfl:
 
This is one of those things I run by my sister. She smokes. If she stops smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, she'll save roughly $5 a day. There's 365 days in a year, so she'll save $1825 a year. If her husband also quits, they'll save twice that amount. That's a vacation.
When my parents quit smoking in 2006, they said it worked out to taking 2 7-night cruises per year. I'd rather see them cruise than smoke.
 
I booked our hotel/park ticket package for DLP yesterday! Ended up going with the Newport Bay Club Hotel since it was refurbished in 2016 and was over $650 cheaper for the room and park ticket package (2 nights and 3 day park hopper tickets for two people) than the DLP hotel. I think the DLP hotel will be refurbished in the next couple of years, but right now it's maybe a little more dated... I still would have loved to stay there, but I've been doing well with my debt dumping this year and this will help me stay on track. Plus this hotel looks really nice! I also got 35% off by booking through the UK DLP website. My sister and I will be splitting the cost of everything. I was able to pay a deposit yesterday with the remainder due 60 days before our trip.

The only thing left to do now is figure out our plans for the few days between the conference and DLP. Need to book hotels once we figure out what we're doing on those days. Everything else is taken care of already!


You will love Newport Bay Club. It kind of feels like the Yacht Club. Not a bad walk to the parks either, though DL Hotel and the New York themed hotel were closer but we couldn't afford the DL Hotel and NY is only 90 mins from us so it's not the big attraction that it may be for Europeans. We splurged on Club Level which gets you extra FP each day and a huge breakfast buffet. No alcohol like in the WDW club lounges but the big breakfast makes dh happy which always makes our trips smoother. lol
 
You will love Newport Bay Club. It kind of feels like the Yacht Club. Not a bad walk to the parks either, though DL Hotel and the New York themed hotel were closer but we couldn't afford the DL Hotel and NY is only 90 mins from us so it's not the big attraction that it may be for Europeans. We splurged on Club Level which gets you extra FP each day and a huge breakfast buffet. No alcohol like in the WDW club lounges but the big breakfast makes dh happy which always makes our trips smoother. lol

My mom and I stayed club level there in 2016 and loved it! DL hotel was almost triple the price (it was the first 1/2 marathon they did) so we “settled” on that hotel. I still dream about the breakfast buffet and the sweet little announcements over the PA that the parks were now open.

Stayed at the Sequioa Lodge (or whatever it’s called) last year and it was NOT the same..team Newport Bay all the way!!
 

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