Debt Dumpers 2023

[jackers]

Pleasantly surprised to see my federal refund already in my bank account this morning!

 

[zebrastreyepz]

Pleasantly surprised to see my federal refund already in my bank account this morning!

When did you file?

 

[EilonwyWanderer]

Pleasantly surprised to see my federal refund already in my bank account this morning!

omg me too!

 

[disney-inspired]

Pleasantly surprised to see my federal refund already in my bank account this morning!

omg me too!

I'm slacking this year. I usually file as soon a I get my W2 but had a vacation so I'll probably submit it tonight. Thankfully I'm no longer in a place where I need that money.

 

[Carol_]

I’m still getting 1099s.

 

[amalone1013]

I’m still getting 1099s.

Same. I'd love to file as I never updated DHs w4 so I know we're getting a bigger refund!

 

[Tygerlilly]

Pleasantly surprised to see my federal refund already in my bank account this morning!

*runs to check* dang, no such luck.
Did your 'Where's my refund' update?

 

[pblack]

I'd go run and check, but seeing as I just filed yesterday I don't think it'll be there.

 

[CinderEmma94]

We got ours yesterday We are using it to pay for (most) of our Disney cruise this summer. Yes, we have some debt to take care of so we probably “shouldn’t” go on a Disney cruise. But I came to the realization with my husband recently that we only get so many family vacations with our kids before they are adults doing their own thing. So we are choosing the vacation, especially when it won’t set back our debt payoff more than a couple of months.

 

[Tygerlilly]

We got ours yesterday We are using it to pay for (most) of our Disney cruise this summer. Yes, we have some debt to take care of so we probably “shouldn’t” go on a Disney cruise. But I came to the realization with my husband recently that we only get so many family vacations with our kids before they are adults doing their own thing. So we are choosing the vacation, especially when it won’t set back our debt payoff more than a couple of months.

This is 100% our mindset as well

 

[piglet1979]

We got ours yesterday We are using it to pay for (most) of our Disney cruise this summer. Yes, we have some debt to take care of so we probably “shouldn’t” go on a Disney cruise. But I came to the realization with my husband recently that we only get so many family vacations with our kids before they are adults doing their own thing. So we are choosing the vacation, especially when it won’t set back our debt payoff more than a couple of months.

We are starting to realize this so much more now. DS graduates next year and DD the year after. THe Disney trip this year they will going with the band so not so much a family trip but we are going to try and get a reservation for Hoop Dee Doo revue for at least a dinner. And I am sure we will meet up here and there in the parks.

We decided to go on a vacation in the summer so that we get to spend time with them, as well as my dad, for this very reason.

 

[EilonwyWanderer]

We got ours yesterday We are using it to pay for (most) of our Disney cruise this summer. Yes, we have some debt to take care of so we probably “shouldn’t” go on a Disney cruise. But I came to the realization with my husband recently that we only get so many family vacations with our kids before they are adults doing their own thing. So we are choosing the vacation, especially when it won’t set back our debt payoff more than a couple of months.

Same. My kids are in that great timeframe where they're aware, retaining memories, and still believe in the magic. I only have so many of those years left for my oldest!

 

[amalone1013]

End of Month Check In

Reduce grocery budget and dining out spending. Goal: Grocery $350/month, Dining $400/month
Final: Grocery $246, Dining $411 + $135 credit card credits
I originally wasn't going to do another Jan check in but I messed up my grocery budgeting in the other post! I forgot I purchased $100 in Kroger gift cards for a deal, that I didn't use and was planning to put against the Feb budget and use them then. So really we came out with $246 for January, which is wayyyyy better considering I bought little protein in January. This last week here was A DAY and we ended up eating out Mon and Tues, so went just over on dining - that always comes out of the entertainment budget. I did get most of our big "shop" in this week for February so we'll see how month 2 goes for meal planning! We did pick up the restaurant freezer meals which were/are handy, I plan to do that again this month with credit card credits.

Home
Stair gate/front hallway project is still rolling along. Lights are up, drywall is up. DH has plans for it this weekend.

Budget
Reworked
Added baby spending line
Covered overspending on home projects with barn savings for now. Haven't done anything else.

Personal
I did so well with the vending machine and then Tuesday was A DAY. I think I hit up the vending machine and a bunch of snacks that were out Tues/Wed because I spent all day in meetings, like 10hrs a day.

Today I'm doing some budget/money housekeeping and finalizing the Feb budget. Also I think I may have all the tax forms now so may do that too!

Mid/End Month Check In

Reduce grocery budget and dining out spending. Goal: Grocery $350/month, Dining $400/month
Current: Grocery $315, Dining $210 + $50 credit card credits
This has gone well so far, I'm working on the next chunk of meal plan this week. I'll probably shop this weekend and put that against February's budget. So far this month we had a big miscellaneous shop when we got back to town, one big "shop" (divided into 2 pickup orders) after I meal planned, and 3 small shops for perishables/things that were forgotten. I just need to get a little more organized with my lists because the forgotten things would have cut 2 of the small shops, but my only random purchase was more fresh berries for the baby. On one hand our purchases this month included some stock up sale items like 5 dozen eggs, butter, coffee creamer, that will last through February but on the other most protein came from the freezer this month, so it'll be interesting to see how next month goes.
Overall I think we've done pretty well and have only skipped one planned meal on the list and I'm not anticipating any more grocery spending before the February shop. I have $85 in dining credits left that I think I'm going to use to try some freezer meals from a local restaurant, that will cover 8 individual meals for when we don't want to cook.

Home
Started a project list, need to go through and prioritize. We ended up purchasing 2 items on our list this weekend at some furniture consignment shops, which always make for a good Saturday activity.
Stair gate/front hallway project is coming along and gate is useable Now lights have been added to the scope so ordering those today.
I left the 'needs finished' Christmas projects in my craft room to hopefully motivate/remind me to work on them.

Budget
Reworked
Added baby spending line
The gate/hallway project is too much and I'm just letting go tracking it specifically. I'll make sure we budget better for the next projects. Then I need to figure out if the gate/hallway project spending and the furniture purchases is coming from the barn savings, or cashed out credit card points. December was a lower income month and the generic home budget line is skint.

Personal
I didn't have this specifically listed but I'd picked up a bad vending machine habit again since returning to work, so I quit cold turkey. I keep some healthy snacks at work and I've only purchased one chocolate milk from the vending machine.
Forced time for myself? I found out I have to travel for work at the beginning of February, only a few weeks out

 

[Carol_]

End of Month Check In

Reduce grocery budget and dining out spending. Goal: Grocery $350/month, Dining $400/month
Final: Grocery $246, Dining $411 + $135 credit card credits
I originally wasn't going to do another Jan check in but I messed up my grocery budgeting in the other post! I forgot I purchased $100 in Kroger gift cards for a deal, that I didn't use and was planning to put against the Feb budget and use them then. So really we came out with $246 for January, which is wayyyyy better considering I bought little protein in January. This last week here was A DAY and we ended up eating out Mon and Tues, so went just over on dining - that always comes out of the entertainment budget. I did get most of our big "shop" in this week for February so we'll see how month 2 goes for meal planning! We did pick up the restaurant freezer meals which were/are handy, I plan to do that again this month with credit card credits.

Home
Stair gate/front hallway project is still rolling along. Lights are up, drywall is up. DH has plans for it this weekend.

Budget
Reworked
Added baby spending line
Covered overspending on home projects with barn savings for now. Haven't done anything else.

Personal
I did so well with the vending machine and then Tuesday was A DAY. I think I hit up the vending machine and a bunch of snacks that were out Tues/Wed because I spent all day in meetings, like 10hrs a day.

Today I'm doing some budget/money housekeeping and finalizing the Feb budget. Also I think I may have all the tax forms now so may do that too!

I’ve been watching YouTube videos about people making money from vending machines, and when you said you’d been doing so well on them, I immediately got excited that you owned a vending machine and were raking in the cash!

 

[barkley]

I’ve been watching YouTube videos about people making money from vending machines, and when you said you’d been doing so well on them, I immediately got excited that you owned a vending machine and were raking in the cash!

when i was a kid my dad owned a smallish vending machine business that he did as a side job. i remember weekends riding with him from place to place so he could refill/cash out. this was in a smaller city where (at that time) parking was plentiful/free and gas was reasonable. dad worked his normal day job in san francisco where the suppliers of the vending products were located so he was able to avoid shipping charges/bridge tolls/gas. i remember hours and hours of rolling coins (now they have those coinstar machines but i bet dad wouldn't use them b/c of the 11.9% fee ).

i can't imagine if the numbers are accurately run making much of anything off a vending machine these days unless it's a big scale operation. shipping (esp. these days) of products, gas, parking...it all adds up. he spent a good 6 hours per weekend plus all those hours rolling coins so if you factor in the value of one's time it frequently ends up being a losing proposition (which is why you can buy vending machines on resale very easily-the average profit on a single machine is $35 per week so it takes allot of machine to offset the time and cost).

 

[Carol_]

when i was a kid my dad owned a smallish vending machine business that he did as a side job. i remember weekends riding with him from place to place so he could refill/cash out. this was in a smaller city where (at that time) parking was plentiful/free and gas was reasonable. dad worked his normal day job in san francisco where the suppliers of the vending products were located so he was able to avoid shipping charges/bridge tolls/gas. i remember hours and hours of rolling coins (now they have those coinstar machines but i bet dad wouldn't use them b/c of the 11.9% fee ).

i can't imagine if the numbers are accurately run making much of anything off a vending machine these days unless it's a big scale operation. shipping (esp. these days) of products, gas, parking...it all adds up. he spent a good 6 hours per weekend plus all those hours rolling coins so if you factor in the value of one's time it frequently ends up being a losing proposition (which is why you can buy vending machines on resale very easily-the average profit on a single machine is $35 per week so it takes allot of machine to offset the time and cost).

The prices are whatever you set them at, and you can use credit cards now, so… I’d be happy to own one that was all set up for me to just go and refill.

 

[barkley]

The prices are whatever you set them at, and you can use credit cards now, so… I’d be happy to own one that was all set up for me to just go and refill.

still-i would be concerned about dealing with repairs. dad was constantly dealing with fixing the then manual mechanics inside that got messed up when people would shake them/kick them...with all the electronics in them now UUUGH. it would be interesting to know what the locations get as their cut these days.

 

[jackers]

When did you file?

Filed on the 24th - so took just over a week. My state refund showed up yesterday. My son's has not, however, and I was able to file his before mine - I'm guessing maybe that's because he's a first time filer and they have to do extra setup for the direct deposit? Mine's been set up for years.

*runs to check* dang, no such luck.
Did your 'Where's my refund' update?

It did not - at least not on Turbotax - it still gives me 2/14 as the ETA.

 

[crazycatstacy]

Same old same old here. We leave for Disney end of the month so I'm trying to be super responsible until then. Need to figure out what I need to buy as far as clothes for my nephew while I am there. I am 99.9% sure I have all the hygiene items we will need and my husband and I don't need new clothes. Just really trying to limit spending and when I do spend make it intentional.

 

[Woth2982]

Pleasantly surprised to see my federal refund already in my bank account this morning!

We are still waiting on a W2!