Debt Dumpers 2020

[pblack]

We'll be thinking of you @imbatman! Wishing you a very speedy recovery!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Signing off for now! See you all in a few weeks! I'll only have two payments left on CC #1 by then. Hooray for being able to set up payments ahead of time!

Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

@imbatman best wishes for a speedy recovery!

 

[pblack]

Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther) passed away from colon cancer today. I'm saddened by this news. I absolutely loved him as Black Panther

 

[huggybuff]

Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther) passed away from colon cancer today. I'm saddened by this news. I absolutely loved him as Black Panther

Absolutely shocking and sad. I read a tweet last night that said it was like Cary Grant passing in 1940 or Poitier in 1967. He really had that much talent and potential and already had an amazing body of work. Wakanda forever.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

That is so sad. Only 43.

 

[jen7233]

@imbatman hope a speedy recovery for you.

Made extra payments to the vehicle, will be paid off a year earlier at this point now if I didn't make any extra payments. But, will likely keep making extra payments and get it out of the way. We have virtual school starting for the school year for the kids. Still thinking about getting a rower or an exercise bike.

I was looking at the Farmer's Almanac predictions. John Snow "Winter is Coming" sticks in my mind between the Farmer's Almanac, and some historical economic/cycles theories that show predictions for the current times. Buckle up, stay safe and sane!

 

[disney-inspired]

I have a fully funded emergency fund!
I also paid off my iPhone and now I’m working to pay off the MacBook Air I just bought for school. I should have it paid off next month and they gave me 12 months with zero interest.
I’m hoping to pay off 1-2 student loans by the end of the year, taking advantage of the zero % interest right now.

 

[pblack]

Congratulations @disney-inspired !

 

[crazycatstacy]

Well $800 car repair but paid cash. I figure not putting things on a credit card is still progress.

We were supposed to go to Vegas over Christmas but are now going to Wisconsin to see our daughter. Was able to book our hotel on another site and saved $100

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We finally got a day at the beach yesterday. It felt wonderful!

Still chugging along with the mortgage. As of today we have paid off an extra $12,370 besides our regular payment. It won't be that much every month; $8000 of that was our vacation fund. Still it makes me happy just seeing it less than $100,000.

Every day it looks less likely that we'd go on our Feb Panama Canal cruise, even if it does sail. That's a long time to be on a ship. If we cruise at all in 2021, it would be a quickie. All the more reason that I'm glad we put that vacation money to good use, saving thousands in interest.

October will be our 25th wedding anniversary. If covid rates drop low enough to not need to quarantine after returning from FL, we might do a 3-nt stay in Siesta Key in Oct. I have the flights booked with SWA with points so I can easily cancel at the last minute if it doesn't work out. I booked the rental car with Chase pts. and that is 100% refundable too. The only cost would be around $800 for the place we like to rent plus food but part of me feels we should just pay extra on the mortgage. It's not like we're lacking in vacations over the years.

 

[pblack]

We still aren't sure what we plan on doing for our vacation in November, but we are talking about doing WDW again. I say again since we had planned on doing a few days before our cruise that got cancelled. We're unsure on if it will be worth it for us though since it would be our first ever trip there and they have shortened hours, but on the other hand the lack of the normal crowds and short wait times would probably let us do more in a shorter amount of time. No fireworks are a bummer, but not a deal breaker. We don't really care about shows/parades. So since we're undecided I went ahead and booked flights on SW with points, that way if I need to cancel I do so with no penalty. The week we plan on travelling is the week before Thanksgiving, so I wanted to get the lower fares while I could.

When my DH gets paid again on the 15th I will be paying off the freezer we bought for the garage, so that will take care of the only other outstanding debt we currently have (not including the biggies: mortgage/cars). Also still hoping to get our roof re-done before the end of the year, but it's not quite as high on my list as it is for my DH.

 

[Deffenm]

Well $800 car repair but paid cash. I figure not putting things on a credit card is still progress.

We were supposed to go to Vegas over Christmas but are now going to Wisconsin to see our daughter. Was able to book our hotel on another site and saved $100

I feel your pain. We also just had to pay $874 for repairs on our DD's car. She also needed nursing shoes for school - $145, parking pass for school - $50. We also had family in town over the weekend so we went to the zoo and ordered pizza. I am so done spending money!! Still paying dr. bills as they come in and our pup's insulin every other week. Luckily no vet visit until Oct. We also booked a quick camping trip at our favorite place in Oct. We haven't had a vacation this year and need to just get away. We were on our annual vacation when DH had his biking accident and it was on the morning of day 2 and we spent rest of vacation in the hospital. So that doesn't count! I would love one month of normal expenses.

 

[Eureka]

We're going to have a major plumbing repair coming up. Long, long story but shorter version is our house has an older type of pipe that was outlawed in the 1990s. Many plumbers won't touch it bc of liability issues. We have a leak somewhere in the master bath that's putting water under the flooring, but they can't find it without ripping it up and even then won't fix it bc of the piping. We've had other leak issues before - more than we should have I think, for the length of time we've lived here. The recommendation has been to re-pipe the whole house which should be a more permanent fix than just putting bandaids, so to speak, on problems when it's something the plumbers WILL deal with. We'll probably get a new water heater (bc ours is at least 20 yrs old, but probably older) and also replace the toilet and sink/vanity too. And we'll have no water for two days, so will have to relocate/take the cat/figure out how to do work and school online, although I will probably just take those days off. Not what I wanted to hear. The company does financing and it's 0% interest if we can manage to pay off within a year. DH reminded me we have substantial savings because we're not commuting/traveling and we're home, so we have the time and money....but still, ugh.

 

[jen7233]

We still aren't sure what we plan on doing for our vacation in November, but we are talking about doing WDW again. I say again since we had planned on doing a few days before our cruise that got cancelled. We're unsure on if it will be worth it for us though since it would be our first ever trip there and they have shortened hours, but on the other hand the lack of the normal crowds and short wait times would probably let us do more in a shorter amount of time. No fireworks are a bummer, but not a deal breaker. We don't really care about shows/parades. So since we're undecided I went ahead and booked flights on SW with points, that way if I need to cancel I do so with no penalty. The week we plan on travelling is the week before Thanksgiving, so I wanted to get the lower fares while I could.

When my DH gets paid again on the 15th I will be paying off the freezer we bought for the garage, so that will take care of the only other outstanding debt we currently have (not including the biggies: mortgage/cars). Also still hoping to get our roof re-done before the end of the year, but it's not quite as high on my list as it is for my DH.

It's hard to decide this year if, or when, to make travel plans. I haven't been tracking much of anything going on in WDW like trip reports, crowd calendar, etc. I haven't listened to the podcasts in a long while either, but maybe will pay more attention to Dis stuff after election day, and see how Covid fares this fall and winter. We are going to WDW in 2021, but I've got nothing to really plan on it until after the new year. I have an impromptu trip to see DD I didn't have on my radar but doing *just in case* things lock down again for any possible reasons. I bought some cameras I have to get hooked up, and made three extra car payments. If I continue with just the regular monthly payments now and don't make any extra principal payments, will be paid off in June next year.

 

[jen7233]

We're going to have a major plumbing repair coming up. Long, long story but shorter version is our house has an older type of pipe that was outlawed in the 1990s. Many plumbers won't touch it bc of liability issues. We have a leak somewhere in the master bath that's putting water under the flooring, but they can't find it without ripping it up and even then won't fix it bc of the piping. We've had other leak issues before - more than we should have I think, for the length of time we've lived here. The recommendation has been to re-pipe the whole house which should be a more permanent fix than just putting bandaids, so to speak, on problems when it's something the plumbers WILL deal with. We'll probably get a new water heater (bc ours is at least 20 yrs old, but probably older) and also replace the toilet and sink/vanity too. And we'll have no water for two days, so will have to relocate/take the cat/figure out how to do work and school online, although I will probably just take those days off. Not what I wanted to hear. The company does financing and it's 0% interest if we can manage to pay off within a year. DH reminded me we have substantial savings because we're not commuting/traveling and we're home, so we have the time and money....but still, ugh.

This sounds like the place we are in now, although we are renting. They had massive plumbing issues prior to us as evidenced when we moved in, both the upstairs bathrooms and the downstairs half bath. We still have issues, but they just band-aid it until they sell the place next summer. Luckily the last band-aid has worked well enough for the time being. Everything has to be ripped up, redone. Can't imagine the costs to fix this place.

 

[Eureka]

This sounds like the place we are in now, although we are renting. They had massive plumbing issues prior to us as evidenced when we moved in, both the upstairs bathrooms and the downstairs half bath. We still have issues, but they just band-aid it until they sell the place next summer. Luckily the last band-aid has worked well enough for the time being. Everything has to be ripped up, redone. Can't imagine the costs to fix this place.

After we put the contract on our house but before we closed, a pipe burst and the whole house needed new flooring, which the then-owners replaced. They should have done the pipes then but I’m sure since they were about to move out, didn’t want to spend the time or money on it. At that time, we didn’t know the pipe material was already not being used and was bad but learned it when we had to replace both showers due to leaks years later.

 

[bababear_50]

@imbatman


Hugs
Mel

 

[bababear_50]

My quarterly update
Well today was the first time in 23 years I wasn't in a classroom.
I am doing online education starting next week.
While I feel safe I also miss the kids,my friends and colleagues.
I know once I get into a routine I will feel better.

I have been trying to reign in my online spending,,,darn Pandemic.
Made a promise to myself going forward..... to sleep on it before I make any purchase.

I sold one of my DVC contracts and will be banking that money into my TFSA.

A Big unknown for me coming up is the current and future increase in my maintenance fee.
This year 100.00 per month increase.
Jan 2021 150.00 per month increase.
Jan 2022 250.00 per month increase.
Many owners want to blame the current board of directors for the lack of funds but
in truth a special assessment or 3 consecutive maintenance increases is just a reflection of the past condo board's mismanagement.
I would say 3/4 of the owners here can not handle the suggested yearly increases (young families,retired people). Our homes have tripled in value so I know they can afford a special assessment via a line of credit ,2nd mtg,or maybe savings).
I am truly hoping for a special assessment. Our AGM is in Oct and will be online,,,fingers,toes crossed. Once I know what to expect going forward , planning my financial goals will be so much easier.

So in the less expense column for me ( work from home)
cheaper car insurance
almost no gas fill ups
minor clothing costs
I might skip puting the winter tires on the car
coffee and snacks/lunch from home

I am dearly missing a quick get away somewhere anywhere though.
4 trips cancelled this year,,,I need something to plan!
BUT I am healthy and well which is priceless!



Hugs
Mel

 

[StacyStrong]

It has been....a week.

We had to call an ambulance for someone in my household on Thursday evening. She was in the hospital until Sunday night. She had pneumonia caused by COVID (positive test result). She's home now and mostly staying in her room except to eat and use the bathroom. She wears a mask when out of her room when she can (obviously not while eating). I got tested on Friday and got a negative test result. My boyfriend was tested Saturday and got a negative result. I'm taking the last member of the house to get tested today. Hopefully negative as well (no symptoms, at least). Obviously, we can get it now that she is home, so I'll probably get tested in another week to be sure. However, when they discharged her from the hospital, they said that her blood tests looked like the actual virus might have passed. Of course, that's not 100%.

Without getting too preachy, please stay home to the extent you can. This isn't over. We told this person again and again to stay home more often and was met with resistance. And now....sigh. I'm trying hard not to be angry because I obviously want her to recover and be healthy. This is incredibly stressful and it could have been a lot worse.

In more positive news, I splurged on a Nespresso. It was on sale. I'm really loving it so far. It costs more than regular coffee to use the pods, obviously, but they have a recycling program and it'll cut back on my Starbucks trips. I'll be able to make lattes at home now. I only went to Starbucks once a week previously and still managed to spend $50+ there each month. I'm having fun sampling a bunch of different pods. I ordered WAY TOO MANY pumpkin spice cake pods as well, but I'm super "white girl" when it comes to pumpkin spice and didn't want them to sell out. I felt a bit guilty when I made the purchase, but honestly, no regrets. I love it and deserve to have something for "me." I'm also still waiting for my WDW AP refund, so technically it's as if I spent nothing (since the AP was a sunk cost).

As to debt dumping, nothing new to report. Just trucking along. My only debt is still just my student loan debt. I'm still just working to use this forbearance period to my advantage.

Anywho, hope ya'll are well.