Debt Dumpers 2021

[ruadisneyfan2]

I live in New York so the financials (particularly in regards to the tax credits) may work out differently for you, but we got solar panels last year and the total cost of the system was $15,000. Our net cost (after federal and state tax credits) was around $8,000 if I recall correctly. We have a 25-year whole system warrantee that covers virtually everything so after 8-9 years, our power is completely free. So if you plan on staying in your house long-term, it is completely worth it. Plus, personally, I like to know that we are helping the planet.

Wow, that is cheap. My boss bought solar around 10-15 yrs ago and paid around $35k for it. She has a pretty big house, 3000+ sf.
Hopefully the cost keeps going down.
We have so many trees around us, our roof wouldn't get enough sun to make it worthwhile.

 

[pblack]

Mid-January update: I haven't made any other progress towards our goals since the beginning of the month. Usually with my DH's mid-month check I will take the extra money and pay it towards our Highlander, but this month I've decided to use it on some easy home updates that we've been wanting to do. So we'll take about ~$300 and replace our A/C vent covers (ours are rusted and look horrible), a couple door knobs, and possibly a new screen slider for our back door. We should also hopefully be finishing up the entry way project I started last weekend. I painted all the walls, including half of an accent wall, and we're going to be putting up a wooden board with coat hooks. I've already stained the board, now we just need to get screws to put it on the wall. Our entry way is really small and we use the coat closet that's there for storage, so I like the idea of having coat hooks for guests to hang up their coats/purses/bags whenever they come over.

 

[jen7233]

Today I listed my largest DVC contract on DVC Resale Market. It was one of my goals this year. I've been paying down debt like a mad man. Whatever profit I make from it will go towards my debt. Hopefully it gets sold soon!

Hope the DVC resale market is looking good.

 

[Buzzsgramma]

My state is the same way. My husband would have to sign for him not to receive my retirement.

Got my electric bill today and it has gone up AGAIN. I thought our electric bill was high to begin with for two adults in a 1300 square foot 3rd floor apartment. Our neighbors across the hall are in their late 80's and theirs is $50 less than ours and they have every light on and the heat set to what feels like 100 degrees. I don't know if the appliances we have are just not energy efficient or what. I emailed the power company to see if they can do any kind of audit or anything to see what is using the power.

Flights will be out for our December vacation this weekend I believe. I think I'm going to book them right away while they are still cheap. We went to Disney in December 2019 and our tickets were 700 each. Currently (the dates are out until 12/12 I think now and we need 12/14) it $315 a ticket so amazing savings!

I might press the older neighbors if they are on a budget amount and then in 6 mths it's reevaluated...

 

[pblack]

Went to lowes today and spent $380...but we got $30 of that back since we bought something for my FIL. We ended up spending a little more than we planned, but we're ok with it. We managed to score 2 security doors on clearance for $26 a piece, regularly $134! (One of these was for my FIL.) Its an ugly (to us) almond color, but with a $5 can of spray paint that can be fixed . My DH has been wanting to replace our security door because it doesn't close properly, but we didn't think we'd end up getting one today. But for $26 we couldn't pass it up. We also got a/c vents to replace our rusty ones, 3 doorknobs to replace our pantry/coat/heater closet knobs, some paint so I can paint some ceiling fixtures we have, a new screen slider door for our back patio door, and some other miscellaneous stuff. We're slowly trying to replace our door knobs in the house with black knobs (currently silver). Feeling pretty good about the small dent we've made in our never ending home project list.

 

[sandam1]

Wow, that is cheap. My boss bought solar around 10-15 yrs ago and paid around $35k for it. She has a pretty big house, 3000+ sf.

We have a house about half that size. The tax credits really made it affordable for us.

We have so many trees around us, our roof wouldn't get enough sun to make it worthwhile.

We have one tree behind us that impacts our production a little bit, but we really wanted the panels on the back of the house (aka not visible from the street) so we deal with it.

 

[pblack]

We finally finished the hallway project that I started last weekend! Pics attached. I've loved this idea since I saw it on pinterest and between the hubby and I we made it happen. I did all the painting/staining and he did the install of the board and coat hooks. I also love these coats hooks I found on Amazon. They fold flat when not in use. sorry the pics are sideways.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

So, to recap on Tuesday my laptop's wifi card died and nothing my DH and I did could get it working again. Since the laptop is older and has some other issues I ordered a new one through Best Buy that was online only so it was to be delivered to our local store yesterday for me to pickup. All day yesterday it said it was being prepared for pickup, then less than an hour before they closed last night it changed to saying there was a problem and they didn't know when the order would be fulfilled. The email stated they would try to get it to me in the next few days, but I could choose to cancel if I wanted. Last night I decided to stick with it since I didn't have extra in my savings for another one so I would have to wait until the refund processed, which could take up to 10 business days, and then try to find one in stock again.

Well, this afternoon I was working on my budget spreedsheets when all of a sudden Steam popped up with updates. I thought that was weird since Steam would need the internet to even find those, and noticed I was connected to our wifi! I have used the laptop each day since the wifi card died, just doing offline things, and it's not even been able to find the card, but randomly about 2 hours into being on today it found it on it's own again and re-connected. It's been working since, in fact I'm using it now to post this! I decided to cancel the Best Buy order due to not knowing if/when that one would arrive, combined with the fact that this is the 2nd item they've not had for me after I paid for it in the past 2 weeks (a Switch 2 weeks ago that I ordered online for same day pickup in store that they forgot to pull so it was sold off the shelf). I will still need to replace this soon as I'm sure it will go permanently in not much time, but I'll find one that I can get from a more reliable source.

 

[crazycatstacy]

bought flights for our December Disney trip today. Yay!

 

[jen7233]

bought flights for our December Disney trip today. Yay!

Great! Happy traveling.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I started churning bank bonuses again. I took a break from them when covid began but then I saw M&T has a $250 bonus that we are eligible for. With that $500 it will help get rid of ds20's welding school tab. If all goes according to plan, that should be gone by the first week of March and then I can return to attacking the mortgage.

We have a choice of different health plans at my job and we have always chosen the platinum plan which is more cost from each paycheck but lower copays. Almost all of us choose this because with kids, it's always something and we'd spend so much time between doctor visits, some counselling in their teen years, etc. We were always paying copays.
Now as they're older and not really going to doctor visits like we used to, I thought I'd look into less expensive options instead of the choosing the usual without really comparing. Lo and behold, the gold plan is actually a better deal for us now. Even with bumping up my FSA for the year another $500, the cheaper plan adds around $50 to each biweekly paycheck and the copays are like $15 more.

I think I'd rather take the chance and pay more copay when/if we go to the doctor/specialist, rather than have that $ guaranteed to be deducted from my pay. The only thing the gold doesn't cover that platinum did is fertility and hearing aids. For the savings, I'll take my chances of not needing a hearing aid in 2021. There is a deductible of like $2-3000 if we need to be hospitalized but I'd rather rely on our emergency fund if that were to happen rather than counting on it happening and paying extra up front "just in case".

I've only had 1 paycheck this year and it was short due to leaving early on Christmas Eve and NYE, not as short as expected though and now I'm looking forward to seeing a regular check and revamping the budget a bit.

I know it's such a simple thing. People probably do this all the time but I am just so excited to squeeze more $$ into take home pay when I thought there was nothing left to squeeze. Now more so since they announced no raises this year due to covid losses.

 

[Nettlelondon]

I filed mine & my husband's tax returns today - 10 days ahead of the deadline!

The majority of people in the UK pay tax monthly (or weekly) via payroll deductions but for those who have non-payroll income annual returns are required. As my husband and I are company directors of a company we own most of our income is from dividends as these have a different tax regime. The flip side is that we are not eligible for certain social security benefits in the same way, which has seen some people miss out in the current Covid-19 support arrangements but as DH has been working as normal we have not been affected by this.

The tax service's system calculates your liability for the year and payment has to be made by 31st January (though this year there is a bit of leniency). As well as paying the bill for the period from 6th April 2019 to 5th April 2020 you have to make a payment on account for 2020 - 21 of half the bill and a second payment in July 21.

The payments on account assume that your income will be the same from one year to the next. Our income this year was a bit lower, and there was a historical overpayment on DH's account so basically I need to pay about 1/2 of what I was expecting and DH almost nothing.

On a separate, non-financial subject, I am on the volunteer rota for our local Covid vaccination hub. I have had 3 shifts so far, all 4 and a half hours of managing post injection clients while they wait 15 minutes to make sure they don't have a reaction. Not difficult (though being on my feet for that long has been a bit of a novelty after the last year or so) but a big upside is that I have had my first injection. Any volunteers who hadn't been jabbed - many volunteers have been medical professionals - got the option to take a turn to avoid doses being thrown away when clients didn't arrive or weren't in pefect multiples of batches.

 

[slightly_obsessed]

Checking in!

Financial

• Discover - Pay off balance, hopefully by June. Paid off almost a third of the balance this month!
• DVC loan - focusing on after after Discover is paid off.
• Emergency fund - focusing on after Discover is paid off. I have $6100 set aside specifically for our emergency fund, I'd like it to be $10,000 by the end of the year. We will see.
• Pay for any vacations in cash. I am hoping to pull the last bit we need for Legoland/WDW in April from the next paycheck. We are planning on going to Yellowstone this summer but I haven't started saving for that one yet.

Personal

• Focus on health. I have cut out pop the last two weeks and have been trying to get back into WW. I looked into Beachbody on demand (we have done p90x before with good results) but I just don't like the MLM aspect of it. I did find some exercise programs on Amazon Prime I want to try out. Now I just need to do it. Progress not perfection...
• Hopefully get pregnant. No progress yet
• Focus on focusing. No progress yet
• Get a will/trust done. No progress yet. I don't really have an excuse for this - my neighbor does this

I am waiting somewhat impatiently for the last paycheck of the month, so I have a better idea how much we can pay off the credit card next month. This month is essentially a three paycheck month and I think my husband will have extra pay coming too. He has set base salary and then the last paycheck of the month will have extra if he surpassed his production for the three prior months. I suspect this will be the last extra he will get for awhile since he has been out from work since the week before Christmas and won't be able to return until February sometime. Hopefully he will be able to go back part time to build up his endurance but we will see. He went back way too early the last time he had surgery because he's stubborn and was very bored. So I am hoping between the extra paycheck and production bonus, we can pull what we need for vacation and medical bills and have enough left over to make a serious dent in Discover.

 

[Tygerlilly]

I looked into Beachbody on demand (we have done p90x before with good results) but I just don't like the MLM aspect of it.

Check out Fitness Blender on YouTube! Free workouts that will kick your butt! I used them exclusively for almost a year and did really well.

 

[slightly_obsessed]

Check out Fitness Blender on YouTube! Free workouts that will kick your butt! I used them exclusively for almost a year and did really well.

Oh thank you! I will definitely check that out.

 

[MerissaAndMomLoveDis]

Finally posting my 2021 Goals. I always hope to keep myself accountable by posting here, but this year‘s finances are going to be hard to predict mostly due to Goal #1.
Goal #1: Sell ”city” house. In early March 2020, I purchased a family home out in the country on my family’s home place and planned to sell my ”in the city house”. Within 3 weeks though, I was suddenly and unexpectedly working remotely from home due to COVID and my daughter was at home doing her college classes remotely. My country home place had never had internet and did not have reliable cell service, so I had to keep the city house for a while. Internet became a huge issue. I had contracted with two different companies who both backed out on the day of scheduled install. A while turned in to a while longer, but daughter is now back in California for college and I have a decent-ish internet that mostly lets me work remotely as long as nothing else in the house is connected online, so now, fingers crossed, let’s get the city house sold. Have an interested buyer, but we’ll see. I hope to sell by April 15, 2021.
Goal #2 When city house sells, pay off the loan for the country house.
Goal #3 Pay property taxes on both houses in January 2021. approx $6500. This is sitting in my bank account ready to pay.
Goal #4 Cash flow all of daughter’s college tuition, fees, room and board.
Goal #5 Pay off all credit cards to zero balance. I have three with a balance right now=total is $12648.
Goal #6 Maintain $2000 emergency fund
Goal #7 Update will.
Goal #8 Replace dishwasher in country house.

After the city house sells, the country house need some work. I already had to replace the roof, garbage disposal, and the dryer in late 2020. Once I have sale proceeds from city house:
goal #1 for country house: Remodel master bathroom to add a bathtub and update (new sinks/countertop, new mirror, new lighting, remove wallpaper, maybe add some better insulation, maybe add vanity/seat).
goal #2 for country house: New flooring throughout.
goal #3 for country house: Power wash porch and sealant on the porch
goal #4 for country house: Paint where roofers removed gutters and replaced some rotted boards. Maybe repaint all of the wood exterior, I’d kind of like a different color.

Good luck 2021 Debt Dumpers. I hope we all meet our 2021 goals!

 

[Tygerlilly]

Room #1 of 4 done tonight. Once we finally found our groove it went super fast. Now I'm sore as heck, but I just want to get stuff done before I get any bigger. Lol. Gonna paint her room and I have enough floor left over to knock out our walk in closet tomorrow after my doctor's appointment.

 

[pblack]

View attachment 550861

Room #1 of 4 done tonight. Once we finally found our groove it went super fast. Now I'm sore as heck, but I just want to get stuff done before I get any bigger. Lol. Gonna paint her room and I have enough floor left over to knock out our walk in closet tomorrow after my doctor's appointment.

Love the flooring! And your girls playing dress up.

 

[imbatman]

Mid-month-ish check-in

Financial

• CC 1 - $2198.01 (balance 12/9/20 - one more payment to come out in December).
• CC 2 - $6567.84 (balance 12/9/20 and 0%). This is scheduled for an August pay off. This is the one I want to knock out by May. Paid off DD's braces first. Now onto this bad boy starting in Feb.
• Start deposits back into Roth no later than June. $40/week started two weeks ago
• Savings to stay above $1000 at all times. Work to be at $3000 by the end of the year (minimum).
• Start a vacation fund for 2023 WDW trip ONLY after the credit cards are paid off
• Addition: save $2000 for a Christmas trip to the coast. This was decided yesterday after a rather interesting Christmas. Reservations made!

Personal

• Finish the second book manuscript Finished last week!
• Second bathroom painting update with leftover paint and create "frames" for the mirror See below!!! And the frame glue is curing today.
• Replace flooring in living room and hallway (already purchased and delayed by surgeries)
• Learn to be okay with my scars - give myself more grace
• Continue to purge unused household items If only the thrift stores would start accepting donations here...I have an entire carload ... which has now turned into a trailer load...
• Addition: learn to be professional with a coworker who is terrible to me. Making sure to say "Hello" is easier than I thought.

 

[crazycatstacy]

Plugging along here. Plane tickets took money that would otherwise have gone to debt, however; I think buying the plane tickets now at the lesser price was smarter.

My mom turns 70 this year and any sibling that has passed before her did not make it to 70 so she has always been scared she won't. I am throwing her a 70th birthday party open house. Ordered invites last week and they were only $14 score!