Debt Dumpers 2021

[crazycatstacy]

Hi all, checking in. June has been a really difficult month for me. I haven't been around because my father passed away unexpectedly in a car accident on June 1. He was 62 years old. I've been dealing with the fallout of that both from an estate perspective and grief perspective, as well as trying to help emotionally support his mother who is 82 years old and has now lost both of her children in 3 years.

To add to that, my other grandma (mom's mom) entered hospice three days after my dad died and passed four days later. So I attended two funerals in 72 hours. I would not recommend that.

I'm thankful for a healthy emergency fund. I was able to pay for my father's cremation and service without worrying about that. Basically just hoping things improve from here.

I am so sorry for your loss!

 

[piglet1979]

Hi all, checking in. June has been a really difficult month for me. I haven't been around because my father passed away unexpectedly in a car accident on June 1. He was 62 years old. I've been dealing with the fallout of that both from an estate perspective and grief perspective, as well as trying to help emotionally support his mother who is 82 years old and has now lost both of her children in 3 years.

To add to that, my other grandma (mom's mom) entered hospice three days after my dad died and passed four days later. So I attended two funerals in 72 hours. I would not recommend that.

I'm thankful for a healthy emergency fund. I was able to pay for my father's cremation and service without worrying about that. Basically just hoping things improve from here.

I am so sorry for your losses. I know how difficult it is to loss 2 family members so close to each other. My Aunt and Grandfather died last August 10 day apart.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Hi all, checking in. June has been a really difficult month for me. I haven't been around because my father passed away unexpectedly in a car accident on June 1. He was 62 years old. I've been dealing with the fallout of that both from an estate perspective and grief perspective, as well as trying to help emotionally support his mother who is 82 years old and has now lost both of her children in 3 years.

To add to that, my other grandma (mom's mom) entered hospice three days after my dad died and passed four days later. So I attended two funerals in 72 hours. I would not recommend that.

I'm thankful for a healthy emergency fund. I was able to pay for my father's cremation and service without worrying about that. Basically just hoping things improve from here.

I’m so sorry for your losses. Prayers for you and your family for strength to cope. That is so much grief to handle at the same time. Hugs to you.

 

[FQLover]

@DisneyMandC Gosh, what a hard time and so much sadness for you. Please lean on your hubby when you need to not be the strong one for awhile, as you are helping everyone else. Keeping you in my good thoughts and prayers.

 

[jen7233]

sorry for your losses @DisneyMandC it is no doubt difficult.

 

[Eureka]

Hi all, checking in. June has been a really difficult month for me. I haven't been around because my father passed away unexpectedly in a car accident on June 1. He was 62 years old. I've been dealing with the fallout of that both from an estate perspective and grief perspective, as well as trying to help emotionally support his mother who is 82 years old and has now lost both of her children in 3 years.

To add to that, my other grandma (mom's mom) entered hospice three days after my dad died and passed four days later. So I attended two funerals in 72 hours. I would not recommend that.

I'm thankful for a healthy emergency fund. I was able to pay for my father's cremation and service without worrying about that. Basically just hoping things improve from here.

So sorry to hear this. May his memory be a blessing.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Thank you all for your kind comments, I really appreciate it. It's definitely been a difficult period.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

@DisneyMandC I'm so sorry for your losses. I lost my grandfather and uncle within 3 days of each other in 1999. In fact, my uncle passed away during my grandfather's funeral (not at it, he was in the hospital). My thoughts, prayers and virtual hugs to you and your family. I hope the happy memories help you get through this hard time.

 

[jen7233]

Taking on a job again so have been busy. A quick out of town two weekend trips within two weeks of each other. Then, working through logistics of a visit from dgc for a month or so until school starts.

Have been trying to find some answers on Medicaid for grandkid visiting from out of state without mom but will be in my care for rest of summer. But not sure what to do if they get sick and need to go to the doctor if the urgent cares near me or hospitals will have issues with their Medicaid from another state, and not accept, or what needs to be done prior. What if traveling out of state and have Medicaid or CHIP for kids, what needs to be inquired for them first. Trying to figure out if I need any specific form like a POA or some type of temporary health consent while here for summer I should have just in case.

 

[Tygerlilly]

Taking on a job again so have been busy. A quick out of town two weekend trips within two weeks of each other. Then, working through logistics of a visit from dgc for a month or so until school starts.

Have been trying to find some answers on Medicaid for grandkid visiting from out of state without mom but will be in my care for rest of summer. But not sure what to do if they get sick and need to go to the doctor if the urgent cares near me or hospitals will have issues with their Medicaid from another state, and not accept, or what needs to be done prior. What if traveling out of state and have Medicaid or CHIP for kids, what needs to be inquired for them first. Trying to figure out if I need any specific form like a POA or some type of temporary health consent while here for summer I should have just in case.

When we went out of town and left the kids with family for a week, we always print off a medical release form listing the temporary guardians, our insurance info, our contact info, etc. I believe their normal insurance coverage (state or private) is still valid no matter where they are.

 

[barkley]

Taking on a job again so have been busy. A quick out of town two weekend trips within two weeks of each other. Then, working through logistics of a visit from dgc for a month or so until school starts.

Have been trying to find some answers on Medicaid for grandkid visiting from out of state without mom but will be in my care for rest of summer. But not sure what to do if they get sick and need to go to the doctor if the urgent cares near me or hospitals will have issues with their Medicaid from another state, and not accept, or what needs to be done prior. What if traveling out of state and have Medicaid or CHIP for kids, what needs to be inquired for them first. Trying to figure out if I need any specific form like a POA or some type of temporary health consent while here for summer I should have just in case.

generally speaking medicaid can only be used outside the state it was granted in for a life threatening emergency. it also can't be transferred from one state to another b/c each state has their own program and own eligibility criteria. best a person can do who is planning way ahead of travel is to get travel insurance (which really tends to be cost prohibitive) but in the absence of that-look to see which medical groups in your area offer the best 'financial aid' programs. the major provider groups in our area all offer them and they are spoken to on the back of medical bills but you can go to their websites and see the criteria. thing is-the parents income will be driving the bus on the kiddo's eligibility and they will need to fill out the paperwork even if grandparents or others take the kiddo for care. you will need some kind of medical care authorization to so much as take a kiddo to the doctor and your best bet is to call your own provider's office to find out what your individual state requires.

When we went out of town and left the kids with family for a week, we always print off a medical release form listing the temporary guardians, our insurance info, our contact info, etc. I believe their normal insurance coverage (state or private) is still valid no matter where they are.

that's good coverage. when we had traditional health insurance (non medicare) it only covered emergency services outside our home state (and when we had one that supposedly did cover out of state it still didn't b/c it was a ppo and there were no preferred providers outside the state the policy was issued in).

 

[jen7233]

When we went out of town and left the kids with family for a week, we always print off a medical release form listing the temporary guardians, our insurance info, our contact info, etc. I believe their normal insurance coverage (state or private) is still valid no matter where they are.

I was thinking of having some type of medical consent or release form temporarily would be good, yes and to have the insurance info just in case.

generally speaking medicaid can only be used outside the state it was granted in for a life threatening emergency. it also can't be transferred from one state to another b/c each state has their own program and own eligibility criteria. best a person can do who is planning way ahead of travel is to get travel insurance (which really tends to be cost prohibitive) but in the absence of that-look to see which medical groups in your area offer the best 'financial aid' programs. the major provider groups in our area all offer them and they are spoken to on the back of medical bills but you can go to their websites and see the criteria. thing is-the parents income will be driving the bus on the kiddo's eligibility and they will need to fill out the paperwork even if grandparents or others take the kiddo for care. you will need some kind of medical care authorization to so much as take a kiddo to the doctor and your best bet is to call your own provider's office to find out what your individual state requires.

If we lived in the same state I'd feel more at ease getting care, if I have a medical release/consent form seems it would be no problem. We'll be doing this every summer I think, so I need to hope we'll have no real issues and good health gives a chance for her to make up income and wants to work two jobs etc., and would be a ton of daycare and babysitting costs to do so, so will likely be much easier and nicer to have dgc here! I'll have to look into the travel insurance for dd, with her income couldn't afford it and likely wouldn't know how to apply.

So confusing with Medicaid/CHIP for kids, at least to me. I think we can do the temporary medical consent or release fairly easy, I'll have to call our Humana office and ask the rules of our state at minimum, hope they can tell me that, would be helpful. With our insurance, it's easy to contact the company or look online, and find a provider when traveling out of state. If she were something other than Medicaid, it would maybe be easier? That seems to be a complexity to me the state program over a national sponsored program, I'm just thinking out loud and hoping we have no issues! I just want to not be apprehensive if say we need to get to urgent care or emergency room, I sure wouldn't want any issues or dd to be sent a large medical bill if her state wants to press the issue kiddo was seen out of state and doesn't want to cover it

 

[barkley]

I'll have to call our Humana office and ask the rules of our state at minimum, hope they can tell me that, would be helpful.

you might do better by calling (during the week) a local hospital and inquiring if they have any kind of medicaid staff in house. humana staff will know their program's coverage and eligibility but they aren't trained in medicaid. your personal doctor's office might be able to answer your questions about coverage for a kiddo in this situation and how to even get them established w/someone in case there's a need (none of the providers local to us will take an appointment w/a new patient until they are established-if they are even accepting new patients-so they would immediately refer to either a walk in clinic or urgent care which absent coverage ends up costing much more).

a thought-if your grandkiddo takes any kind of regular prescriptions make sure they get filled in their home state and brought to your place b/c even if they have refills at a national chain pharmacy most won't do a refill on an out of state scrip (it's why i always have to get my pharmacy to give me an early partial refill to cover us when we travel if i'm going to be away from home at the normal refill point). mom might have to do refills over the summer and mail them (making sure it's a type of med safe/legal to mail).

 

[jen7233]

you might do better by calling (during the week) a local hospital and inquiring if they have any kind of medicaid staff in house. humana staff will know their program's coverage and eligibility but they aren't trained in medicaid. your personal doctor's office might be able to answer your questions about coverage for a kiddo in this situation and how to even get them established w/someone in case there's a need (none of the providers local to us will take an appointment w/a new patient until they are established-if they are even accepting new patients-so they would immediately refer to either a walk in clinic or urgent care which absent coverage ends up costing much more).

a thought-if your grandkiddo takes any kind of regular prescriptions make sure they get filled in their home state and brought to your place b/c even if they have refills at a national chain pharmacy most won't do a refill on an out of state scrip (it's why i always have to get my pharmacy to give me an early partial refill to cover us when we travel if i'm going to be away from home at the normal refill point). mom might have to do refills over the summer and mail them (making sure it's a type of med safe/legal to mail).

I’ll definitely do some more checking with likely looking up the local places I think we’d use should a need arise and reaching out. It feels slightly complicated not being the parent authorized to do everything and hoping no medical needs arise. I suppose it’s the same scenario if watching family or friends kids for them, if they go on travel or a cruise etc just a lot longer. But the tricky part to me is the healthcare being from a different state and a state type plan rather then something nationwide (and I am unversed at the moment in Medicaid/Medicare how it works although at 65 I suppose I’ll be). The letters we’ll definitely do, I’ll have to find samples should be easy enough.

 

[barkley]

But the tricky part to me is the healthcare being from a different state and a state type plan rather then something nationwide (and I am unversed at the moment in Medicaid/Medicare how it works although at 65 I suppose I’ll be).

when i worked for dshs i either worked or supervised every 'assistance' program and hands down-medicaid was the most complex and confusing so far as i could see. with medicare, since it's a federal vs. a state program it can be used outside a person's home state but medicaid is state specific and doesn't travel with the exception of life threatening events.

 

[crazycatstacy]

went to buy flowers for our patio this weekend and ended up looking at kitchen appliances as ours are in need of an update and now that we are buying I would like to know what that will cost. Found ones I like but didn't buy any. I am now having appliance fever and want to just update them right away when we close but feel like financially I should wait. I really don't like having endless amounts of discretionary money LOL.

 

[barkley]

went to buy flowers for our patio this weekend and ended up looking at kitchen appliances as ours are in need of an update and now that we are buying I would like to know what that will cost. Found ones I like but didn't buy any. I am now having appliance fever and want to just update them right away when we close but feel like financially I should wait. I really don't like having endless amounts of discretionary money LOL.

when you feel you are a few months out from being able to feel financially comfortable to buy appliances then consider ordering. we have friends who are doing a kitchen reno who are finding 12-14 week estimates for delivery.

 

[CaleCakes]

July check in. I feel like June sucked (can I say that here?).

° AMEX balance $8125 in January- Current Balance $1464.08 almost there! Haven't made any additional payments on this.

° Start a Roth IRA for myself. Done! Called to see what to do with the money and I ended up moving it again into a GO account. It's only been a few weeks and it is growing some. On payday I will make a contribution. I'd like to make that a reoccurring thing once a month.

°Keep money in savings! Took $2000 out. DH found a specialist that he wanted to see for some joint issues he feels like he is having. Well the doctor wasn't covered under our insurance so getting the bill the next morning was a bit of a shocker. I was a little annoyed but what can I do- that's what emergency funds are for I guess.

°Purge the garage- work in progress. It's really been a hot hot mess in there lately. Same hot hot mess that is now starting to cause arguments between DH and my mother. Something's gotta give.

°Eat better and drop a few pounds- 0/20 I still don't really want to talk about it. Either my scale is broken or I think my thyroid is failing me. I am not one to go to the doctor and haven't been in almost 2 years but I made an appointment last week. I have to do some lab work this week but I already feel like this doc isn't going to work out. I hate waiting long (like 45 mins long) after my scheduled appointment time then only to be dismissed after a few minutes with the provider. I had like 6 things I wanted to talk about and I was given a lab slip and an invitation to Google the Mediterranean diet.

° Disney August 14-22 at Copper Creek in a 2 bedroom villa for $6444. Still no real budget here as it is still coming together with several "maybes". Total paid vs. outstanding so far is $1921/$8165 plus what ever the cost was for CRT prepay. Is that the only one? Does O'Hana charge upfront too? So June 10th came and went and my friend didn't get back to me. I don't want to say I am sad but rather I am upset. I just don't understand some people. If you don't want to go just say so because I do and I need to make (economical) changes to the trip if it's just me and the kids. I truly don't mind just going with my kids, we will have a blast. What does worry me is things like if one child has to use the bathroom during a meal so we all have to go, or the younger child doesn't want to go on 7DMT so the older one misses out. Stuff like that has me concerned. I half thought about asking my parents to come along but they would really only be coming to hang at the hotel. They are not adventurous so they would not take the monorail to check out another resort without me for example. I don't know how much fun they would have and my mom would probably stress about her dog being at a kennel all week. I have to pay by 7/15 so I really have to make a move here.

°Landscaping- OMG the landscaping . So the worker had a little (ok not little) accident and he is not able to complete the job. So now I am out $2500 and the wall is like 1/3 constructed. Got a letter from the HOA saying we have 6 months to finish it or we will be fined. 6 months sounds like a long time except it is impossible to get workers to perform around here. I'm at the point where I want to take it down. I am trying not to be upset about the money part and I hope it helps him some with his recovery.

Other things on my mind:
- I get paid once a month so I haven't seen the increase yet for my promotion. Work overall has been incredibly stressful, unpredictable, and just down right sad- like sad sad not pathetic sad. I have been pulling 18 hour days several days a week between report writing, so much windshield time related to work, entertaining the kids, etc. I need a break, so...
- Taking a few days this week for a road trip to Houston, TX for DS 6th birthday. He has been asking to go back to the Space Center so I got us the CityPass and we will go to NASA, the aquarium, the Boardwalk, and maybe the Zoo. Neither of the kids know yet (I've sneakily been packing their bag for the last 2 days) so I am very excited to get them in the car and just go. Booked through Hotels dot com and now I have enough stamps for a free stay in the future- sweet!
-Travel trailer for DH's mother is on hold because we live in an HOA and they don't allow them on the property where they can be seen from the street so we either need to build an enormous garage or store it somewhere. DHs mother is deciding if she wants to store it or skip it. We did go shopping for one and got real excited about a Jayco 264BH. She is coming to visit in a few weeks so we might revisit this topic. Also when she visits...
- She wanted to go to the beach while here so I booked a condo in Port Aransas, TX for a weekend in July. It was a little pricey for 2 nights but DH's mother insisted on paying. We will buy food to have on hand at the condo and then meals out.
-Going out to eat less and ordering less take out. Doing ok here and I've actually cooked a few times recently . Made chicken enchiladas last night that were a big hit! We order some meats from Wild Fork and so far we have been pleased with the quality.
- What to do about the CTC? Our 2020 was inaccurately inflated due to a settlement so we did not receive stimulus checks and it looks like we won't be getting the full amount for the CTC either. I wonder if we should just opt out and wait until we file next year. * edited- guess I missed the window I just saw the opt-out ended at 11:59 est.
- Cruise coming up in October 2021 final payment is due 8/2. Not sure what to do here. I don't want to pay all that money to have restrictions. Once I make a final decision if I am keeping my room at WL then I'll decide on the cruise. If I had to make a decision right this minute I would reschedule.
- I hastily got ride of 2 wicker rockers we had on the back porch before shopping around for a new set. I had some sticker shock with the set I found, and the runner up is out of stock (of course because it's July already). So now we suffer with one 1 chair left or I pay big bucks for the set I want.
- All throughout typing this my spacebar is sticking so on one hand I apologize for any typos and on the other hand wonder what child spilled what on the keyboard

 

[Tygerlilly]

We were supposed to be doing Orlando (Disney/Universal/Sea World) with friends of ours in April. We have kids who are all roughly 9 months apart from each other and our boys will be about 3 weeks apart once mine finally comes out. In a crazy line of events, while having herd, her mother took her older two to their house in their car and ended up running head on into a truck and totaled the car. Everyone is okay, but now they have the added stress of buying a new vehicle and all that fun and may not be able to do the trip at all.

So, I basically said instead of doing the house, let's plan to just both get rooms on property and we can meet up wherever. It's a little more expensive than sharing a house and we'd lose the full kitchen, but I'd rather stay where I'm not going to be worried they could cancel at any point and leave me hanging with no safety net. We also decided since this trip is to celebrate our middle child's 5th birthday (poor girl had every single party cancelled due to flu/covid/etc), so we're doing it big this year with a split stay! First 2 nights at AKL in a savanna view room on her actual birthday and 8 more nights following that at Pop Century. She is an animal loving girl so to be able to splurge a little on the room makes my heart so so happy. It's going to cost roughly $5500 for both hotels and 6 days of park tickets. Sea World one day will be "free" because we'll already have platinum annual passes from San Antonio that we can use there. I'm figuring another $1500 for food and another $1500 on spending money. Also factoring in $500 for hotel stops on the way there and back and gas. Total trip estimate: $9000.

In other non-fun news, I've unexpectedly taken an extra weekend off work unpaid. I literally couldn't do it anymore. It was causing so much stress I was having contractions at 34 weeks. We decided that even though it's going to be really tight financially for a few weeks, my health and baby boys health come first. I'm considering taking a small 401k loan out of my account to cover lost wages with a very quick repayment plan. Since we are choosing to get the advance CTC, I know we'll be okay by mid-July, but these first 2 weeks are going to be kinda rough.

 

[jen7233]

Disney August 14-22 at Copper Creek in a 2 bedroom villa for $6444. Still no real budget here as it is still coming together with several "maybes". Total paid vs. outstanding so far is $1921/$8165 plus what ever the cost was for CRT prepay. Is that the only one? Does O'Hana charge upfront too? So June 10th came and went and my friend didn't get back to me. I don't want to say I am sad but rather I am upset. I just don't understand some people. If you don't want to go just say so because I do and I need to make (economical) changes to the trip if it's just me and the kids. I truly don't mind just going with my kids, we will have a blast. What does worry me is things like if one child has to use the bathroom during a meal so we all have to go, or the younger child doesn't want to go on 7DMT so the older one misses out. Stuff like that has me concerned. I half thought about asking my parents to come along but they would really only be coming to hang at the hotel. They are not adventurous so they would not take the monorail to check out another resort without me for example. I don't know how much fun they would have and my mom would probably stress about her dog being at a kennel all week. I have to pay by 7/15 so I really have to make a move here.

I think with Disney World being something in my opinion you have to plan in advance for, that is disappointing if the date came and went. Since it requires redoing budget for travel and plans.

n other non-fun news, I've unexpectedly taken an extra weekend off work unpaid. I literally couldn't do it anymore. It was causing so much stress I was having contractions at 34 weeks. We decided that even though it's going to be really tight financially for a few weeks, my health and baby boys health come first. I'm considering taking a small 401k loan out of my account to cover lost wages with a very quick repayment plan. Since we are choosing to get the advance CTC, I know we'll be okay by mid-July, but these first 2 weeks are going to be kinda rough.

Definitely if it's hard to work the last weeks sometimes it's necessary to take the time off. That really is hard to have to lose pay. I know about unpaid leave and FMLA, but I don't know anything about state short-term disability programs, but have heard of people at a previous employer I worked for, of a few employees going out on a paid temporary paid disability. Not worker's comp on the job injuries. Is there maybe something your company can do temporarily such as temporary disability if doctor stated?