Debt Dumpers - 2019

[barkley]

When you go to pay for your DVC reservation, that is where you can add travel insurance, or waive it I believe. I personally have never purchased travel insurance, but I know I have to click a button saying that I understood travel insurance is suggested, but I choose to waive it.

research travel insurance before you book-with some there's a TIGHT window on proximity of buying it and making the reservation. you can also check the individual credit card you use to make the reservation b/c some include trip cancellation insurance as a benefit.

 

[Dentam]

For the Boardwalk, they recommend 11 months in advance, so I requested exactly 11 months to the day.

That's right, I remember now that I did this as well - I actually turned it in a couple of days before the 11 month mark since that was a Friday and I wanted them to try to get it for me first thing on Monday when the 11 month mark opened up. They emailed me and said they couldn't make any guarantees but would try their best. Got another email on Monday saying they'd gotten the room for me!

This is great information, thanks so much! It's good to hear that transportation doesnt take very long from boardwalk. Since this will be our first trip ever to WDW I've been a little stressed over the whole transportation thing lol. I think i am gonna go for the DVC rental.

The ability to walk or take a boat to Epcot or HS really makes this a great resort to stay in. I also loved the theme of the resort and the decor in the rooms. Oh, and having the Boardwalk right downstairs is pretty cool too!

 

[jen7233]

The ability to walk or take a boat to Epcot or HS really makes this a great resort to stay in. I also loved the theme of the resort and the decor in the rooms. Oh, and having the Boardwalk right downstairs is pretty cool too!

That's a great location. We have only stayed at BC, but that whole area is great.

Working on building up vacation savings for 2020, with two trips in mind one WDW and possibly late fall/winter cruise on RC out of Port Canaveral. Airline points on SW we will likely have enough to do the round trips for both trips, currently I have 80k and DH has 40k, that will use those all up! On Disney, I would love to be in Epcot area as a split stay with Deluxe/off site for next year's F&G festival/spring break and be close to HS, but hoping I can get some cost cutting rates somehow or won't be able to justify the stay in that area for the four of us. I called Disney today to check on 2020 rates for our considered timeframe, and for BC I got $2225 for a standard room 3 nights of the split stay. That's not going to be possible at that rate. Will wait to see what packages look like in the next few weeks as it comes out, and I don't think any discounts for the spring break timeframe will come up, well at least I didn't see any come up this year when we were making travel plans for spring break.

 

[jen7233]

SW has an offer on there if you have a SW card, I just registered but don't think I'll end up getting enough points for. Apparently if I use my SW card between 7/1 and 10/31 and have 10,000 points with the credit card category, I get a 25% bonus. I can't see myself using 10,000 on my SW card in the timeframe though. I wish they'd extend that for six months!

 

[DisneyMandC]

Well, our AC went out yesterday morning Fortunately our actual unit is working fine and isn't making any weird noises, it's just not blowing in our house at all. I'm pretty sure I know what's wrong with it, but obviously am not qualified to repair it. I submitted a claim through our home warranty and talked to the HVAC guy earlier who said he's so booked up it's "unbelievable" and he can't get out until Wednesday or Thursday. He's going to call me tonight to give me a more definite time. Fortunately, it's not blazing hot this week and we have the fans going. Since it's a log cabin, it stays pretty cool in our downstairs. Of course, my mom was like "just forget the warranty and call someone else." Uhhh, no. I haven't been paying $45/month and $125 for this call to then turn around and pay someone else $600 at least to replace this part when they can MAYBE get out here a day earlier.

 

[pblack]

Well, our AC went out yesterday morning Fortunately our actual unit is working fine and isn't making any weird noises, it's just not blowing in our house at all. I'm pretty sure I know what's wrong with it, but obviously am not qualified to repair it. I submitted a claim through our home warranty and talked to the HVAC guy earlier who said he's so booked up it's "unbelievable" and he can't get out until Wednesday or Thursday. He's going to call me tonight to give me a more definite time. Fortunately, it's not blazing hot this week and we have the fans going. Since it's a log cabin, it stays pretty cool in our downstairs. Of course, my mom was like "just forget the warranty and call someone else." Uhhh, no. I haven't been paying $45/month and $125 for this call to then turn around and pay someone else $600 at least to replace this part when they can MAYBE get out here a day earlier.

Be lucky you aren't in Northern CA this week where our highs in the Sacramento Valley range from 100-106 today.

 

[barkley]

Be lucky you aren't in Northern CA this week where our highs in the Sacramento Valley range from 100-106 today.

the summer before we moved to washington we had sold our home and were living in a rental house in northern california. we got one of those psycho sick heat spells of 106 plus for days on end and of course-the rental a/c went down. landlord figured it was a quick fix and got a company out to do the repairs-found out the previous years long tenant likely NEVER replaced the filters once during their tenancy (and we'd only been there less than a month so it hadn't occurred to us to do it yet)-all the duct work for the entire 2 story house had collapsed into itself they looked like a soda straw when you try to drink too thick a shake through it. that company made a fortune on that job-but dang i felt for those guys having to do that kind of work for days on end in that heat (we relocated to a nearby air conditioned motel until they finished).

lesson learned-inspect/replace the filters monthly.



p.s. i do NOT miss the heat at all-in fact my body chemistry is such now that if it gets into the mid 80's i'm roasting.

 

[imbatman]

Be lucky you aren't in Northern CA this week where our highs in the Sacramento Valley range from 100-106 today.

Tomorrow it may hit 113 here.

Chugging along with Swagbucks. Hoping I'll be able to rack up the gift cards to pay for the tickets.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Be lucky you aren't in Northern CA this week where our highs in the Sacramento Valley range from 100-106 today.

We're lucky because the last couple weeks have been very hot!

the summer before we moved to washington we had sold our home and were living in a rental house in northern california. we got one of those psycho sick heat spells of 106 plus for days on end and of course-the rental a/c went down. landlord figured it was a quick fix and got a company out to do the repairs-found out the previous years long tenant likely NEVER replaced the filters once during their tenancy (and we'd only been there less than a month so it hadn't occurred to us to do it yet)-all the duct work for the entire 2 story house had collapsed into itself they looked like a soda straw when you try to drink too thick a shake through it. that company made a fortune on that job-but dang i felt for those guys having to do that kind of work for days on end in that heat (we relocated to a nearby air conditioned motel until they finished).

lesson learned-inspect/replace the filters monthly.



p.s. i do NOT miss the heat at all-in fact my body chemistry is such now that if it gets into the mid 80's i'm roasting.

YIKES. And I panicked yesterday because I had gone about 7 weeks without changing my filters and was worried that could be it! My filter was barely dirty when I pulled it out though, and the system inside to blow the air just isn't coming on at all, so I know that's not it.

 

[mco65]

our AC went out a few weeks back during a pretty big heat wave (typical).. argh. No home warranty, just a $400 part/repair. but at least we are cool now!

 

[barkley]

ours had an issue last year and when they company came out to repair (of course during a heatwave) they mentioned their hvac coverage plan. was not priced badly w/ very good coverage, comes with a yearly inspection-but the big advantage was priority response time (a.k.a.-get bumped to the front of the line). we opted to go for it and good thing we did-within a month of paying the renewal for the plan this year we had an issue with the heat (during a nasty cold snap). got service w/in 24 hours (news reports had people waiting 1-2 weeks for repairs) and the repairs exceeded the cost of an entire years premium

 

[DisneyHardin]

ours had an issue last year and when they company came out to repair (of course during a heatwave) they mentioned their hvac coverage plan. was not priced badly w/ very good coverage, comes with a yearly inspection-but the big advantage was priority response time (a.k.a.-get bumped to the front of the line). we opted to go for it and good thing we did-within a month of paying the renewal for the plan this year we had an issue with the heat (during a nasty cold snap). got service w/in 24 hours (news reports had people waiting 1-2 weeks for repairs) and the repairs exceeded the cost of an entire years premium

We have one of those contracts with an HVAC company. We pay like $150/year for 2 inspections, being bumped to the front of the line if there is a problem and 10% off repairs.

 

[Buzzsgramma]

This was not me...but last summer a person I know had not changed the air filter for the furnace and it tripped the circuit breakers and the whole thing shut down..the repair man had to go up on the roof to fix the problem! These people were renters...mark your calendars if you can't remember things...

 

[jen7233]

@ruadisneyfan2 - hope you and family are doing okay.

 

[jen7233]

Well, our AC went out yesterday morning Fortunately our actual unit is working fine and isn't making any weird noises, it's just not blowing in our house at all. I'm pretty sure I know what's wrong with it, but obviously am not qualified to repair it. I submitted a claim through our home warranty and talked to the HVAC guy earlier who said he's so booked up it's "unbelievable" and he can't get out until Wednesday or Thursday. He's going to call me tonight to give me a more definite time. Fortunately, it's not blazing hot this week and we have the fans going. Since it's a log cabin, it stays pretty cool in our downstairs. Of course, my mom was like "just forget the warranty and call someone else." Uhhh, no. I haven't been paying $45/month and $125 for this call to then turn around and pay someone else $600 at least to replace this part when they can MAYBE get out here a day earlier.

That's terrible! Hope the warranty covers whatever issue it's having!

 

[Shughart]

This is great information, thanks so much! It's good to hear that transportation doesnt take very long from boardwalk. Since this will be our first trip ever to WDW I've been a little stressed over the whole transportation thing lol. I think i am gonna go for the DVC rental.

I will be excited to see your experience renting points. The next time we venture to Disney I think I might like to give it a try!

 

[Shughart]

So I am finally dealing with an old student loan of mine that has been in default for way too long (I know, I know).

We technically have enough to pay it off in full. Its 4400. It would make for a little tight 2 weeks. But we could do it. So here are my options

1. Pay it straight off. Be done with it. Lose a huge chunk of money, but it's a huge weight off my shoulders.
2. Rehabilitate my loan for $230 a month for 9 months, then pay $40/month till it's paid off. We have the money each month, it would come from our monthly budgeted CC payments each month. Use that big chunk to pay off 1/3 of our current CC debt.

Our two largest cards are currently interest free until 12/19 (4200) and 5/20 (6400). Our budget is made through the end of the year and our budgeted CC payments currently outpace our total CC debt so it would pay off our current balances and pay for the rest of our Disney trip as long as we don't add to our debt. We've been doing really well to not add more than $100 a month to our debt by cutting our spending significantly. But I am struggling by not seeing quick progress (just the way my brain works). Making a $4400 on our CC balances would feel good. But I feel like it would be smarter to just pay the student loan straight off.

 

[pblack]

So I am finally dealing with an old student loan of mine that has been in default for way too long (I know, I know).

We technically have enough to pay it off in full. Its 4400. It would make for a little tight 2 weeks. But we could do it. So here are my options

1. Pay it straight off. Be done with it. Lose a huge chunk of money, but it's a huge weight off my shoulders.
2. Rehabilitate my loan for $230 a month for 9 months, then pay $40/month till it's paid off. We have the money each month, it would come from our monthly budgeted CC payments each month. Use that big chunk to pay off 1/3 of our current CC debt.

Our two largest cards are currently interest free until 12/19 (4200) and 5/20 (6400). Our budget is made through the end of the year and our budgeted CC payments currently outpace our total CC debt so it would pay off our current balances and pay for the rest of our Disney trip as long as we don't add to our debt. We've been doing really well to not add more than $100 a month to our debt by cutting our spending significantly. But I am struggling by not seeing quick progress (just the way my brain works). Making a $4400 on our CC balances would feel good. But I feel like it would be smarter to just pay the student loan straight off.

What would you have done with that $4400 if you weren't paying anything off? Personally, i'd pay the student loan off now as long as not having that $4400 doesn't create a great hardship. The student loan is collecting interest while your credit cards are not. Plus that money that you would be paying to your student loan if you didn't pay it off can then be rolled into your credit card payments to pay those off faster.

 

[Shughart]

It's our tax return + the money from Kia + my birthday money. Not paying anything off never factored into our plans.

The interest on the student loan is low (2.5%) but given that we have enough budgeted to pay off all our CC debt (11k) by the end of the year (more than enough actually, enough to cover our trip too) I know it's smarter to just get rid of the student loan.

Attempting to quote you didn't work for me on my phone so I'm going to tag you @pblack

 

[pblack]

It's our tax return + the money from Kia + my birthday money. Not paying anything off never factored into our plans.

The interest on the student loan is low (2.5%) but given that we have enough budgeted to pay off all our CC debt (11k) by the end of the year (more than enough actually, enough to cover our trip too) I know it's smarter to just get rid of the student loan.

Attempting to quote you didn't work for me on my phone so I'm going to tag you @pblack

With that info I think my vote would still be use it to pay off the student loan, especially since you have a plan to pay off the CC debt by the end of the year. No interest is better than low interest.