Debt Dumpers 2023

[goofytinkerbell]

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[barkley]

So when you do this, do you just show the gift card to get in the warehouse?

Also, does this work for purchasing gas? If you have a $10 gift card, will they allow you to buy gas with it and put the rest on your credit card?

yes just flash it at the door. as far as buying gas goes i know you have to get assistance at the pump-we've never done it so i don't know how you coordinate it with another form of payment if the gift card balance isn't enough for the amount you want to purchase.

 

[newski_mom]

yes just flash it at the door. as far as buying gas goes i know you have to get assistance at the pump-we've never done it so i don't know how you coordinate it with another form of payment if the gift card balance isn't enough for the amount you want to purchase.

Thanks! one of my daughters doesn't have a membership, so I may get her a few gift cards to get her in the door if she wants.

 

[AmyAnne]

they are also great in a pinch if something happens to your glasses when traveling-they can pull up the scrip on their system to do a replacement (if they can't repair onsite which they frequently can for no cost).


there IS a way to work around this if you have a costco gift card for any amount you can purchase in warehouse at warehouse prices (online there's a bit of an up charge). every few months i buy a handful of $10 cards for my oldest-a membership is not worth it for him but there are a few products he likes there (and gets his glasses there). he uses 1 single gift card as the initial payment source on each trip and pays the rest with cash or debit. i wish they would offer the option to add a 3rd household member for an up charge on their memberships-i think allot of people would avail themselves of it.

Thanks for posting about this. I'm curious how it works at checkout when you are supposed to scan your membership number--do you just scan the gift card?

 

[barkley]

Thanks for posting about this. I'm curious how it works at checkout when you are supposed to scan your membership number--do you just scan the gift card?

yes, they just scan the gift card then will use it as the first payment method before it allows you to default to another payment method. my kiddo purposely has me get the $10 cards b/c that way he can get a stockpile for multiple trips.

 

[cvjw]

Thanks for posting about this. I'm curious how it works at checkout when you are supposed to scan your membership number--do you just scan the gift card?

My Costco has been cracking down on people using other peoples Costco cards. Before you can check out in the self checkout lane, you have to show an employee your Costco card. Not sure how this change will affect trying to circumvent getting a Costco membership by using Costco gift cards - there would be no Costco membership card to show. Wonder if they would even let you in the checkout lane.

 

[DLgal]

My Costco has been cracking down on people using other peoples Costco cards. Before you can check out in the self checkout lane, you have to show an employee your Costco card. Not sure how this change will affect trying to circumvent getting a Costco membership by using Costco gift cards - there would be no Costco membership card to show. Wonder if they would even let you in the checkout lane.

Our Costco will only let people using gift cards without a membership use the traditional manned lanes, no self checkout.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Our Costco looked at my photo on my card and held it up next to my face to make sure it's me. This was upon entrance, at the pharmacy, and at the checkout. Dh refuses to use self checkouts anywhere saying it puts people out of work.

 

[barkley]

here is what the costco website shows for their gift cards (they call them 'shop cards')-

Non-members as well as members may use Costco Shop Cards to shop at any Costco location in the U.S., Canada, or Puerto Rico, as well as online at Costco.com and Costco.ca.

 

[Tygerlilly]

Of course, the minute we pay off our van (as part of our closing), the transmission starts acting up. We had an extended warranty thru the company. I dug out all the paperwork and it looks like we're still covered for another 30k miles. We'll now only have to pay $200oop to have it fixed instead of either our deductible or paying out of pocket completely. It also covers the towing cost AND a rental car for 7 days. I'm going to give CarMax a call on my way to work and see what we can do and how fast they can get it in.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Of course, the minute we pay off our van (as part of our closing), the transmission starts acting up. We had an extended warranty thru the company. I dug out all the paperwork and it looks like we're still covered for another 30k miles. We'll now only have to pay $200oop to have it fixed instead of either our deductible or paying out of pocket completely. It also covers the towing cost AND a rental car for 7 days. I'm going to give CarMax a call on my way to work and see what we can do and how fast they can get it in.

We used our carmax warranty to replace a transmission a few years ago (not just once, but twice ). They actually got it done pretty quickly but they farm the work out to their partner shops, they have some specific name for them I can’t remember. So we just took it to a local service place and they did the work. We also got a $50 discount on the deductible for using them as opposed to actually using carmax. That was 2 years ago though so I don’t know if they still do that or not. Good luck! I hope it’s not a Nissan…

 

[Tygerlilly]

We used our carmax warranty to replace a transmission a few years ago (not just once, but twice ). They actually got it done pretty quickly but they farm the work out to their partner shops, they have some specific name for them I can’t remember. So we just took it to a local service place and they did the work. We also got a $50 discount on the deductible for using them as opposed to actually using carmax. That was 2 years ago though so I don’t know if they still do that or not. Good luck! I hope it’s not a Nissan…

Good to know! We've been pleased with all their service lately when we had a different issue come up. It's a Dodge Caravan, which is known to have transmission issues. We're about an hour from the CarMax we got it from, so I imagine they'll take it somewhere local to us.

 

[barkley]

totally off topic but i have to ask of anyone on this thread who lives in or is familiar with canadian real estate-

is there no requirement when purchasing a home there for inspections or permit researches?????

background-i've been binge watching 'love it or list it too' and yes, i know that be it in the u.s or canada there's always something going on with the homes that are chosen for these types of shows BUT i CANNOT get over how many of the canadian homes on this show, be they even newer construction-have such apparant structural and mechanical defects that a traditional home buyers inspection would have uncovered, OR have entire portions, improvements, repairs....supposedly predating the current owners-that are entirely unpermitted.

i get it that with the recent u.s. housing market allot of people bought/buy here 'as is' but unless they have a b---load of cash to pay in full they would find no u.s. lender to issue a mortgage on houses with these issues.

someone please explain to me.

 

[goofytinkerbell]

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[goofytinkerbell]

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[barkley]

There is no requirement in Canada to have an inspection or any sort of permit research. We do have to do things like a title search (and it's all handled by the lawyer, or at least mine was), but there's surprisingly little that needs to be done.

thanks for the info. i got to questioning it b/c so many of the houses have such apparant additions added on and basement renos that end up costing tens of thousands of dollars to be totally ripped out when the show goes in to something fairly minor that requires a current permit.

 

[goofytinkerbell]

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[CaleCakes]

Been reading along even though I haven't been posting. It's nice to see people making progress and other chipping away. It is encouraging for sure. Here's my update:

1. Pay off car note- haven't been paying too much extra and current balance sits at $4690. Windshield is still cracked, i don't think I am going to fix it anytime soon. It doesn't obstruct the view so as long as it passes inspection in Oct I'll leave it. We did look into trading it in, and even though we were offered what I considered to be a ton, the interest rates are just ridiculous right now. At this rate I won't make my goal of paying it off by Dec.

2. Rebuild savings account- goal is to add $5000. No change, in fact going in the wrong direction. Yup, same (hangs head)

3. Refrain from booking "big" trips- refrained from big and small trips. Welp, what is considered big . We did book a cruise for September out of Galveston, our home port. We didn't get our usual category but instead went with the more economical staterooms and did the "kids sale free" so we are sort of doing it on a budget. We don't plan on getting off at any of the stops, we just want to enjoy the ship.

4. Get to the "around the house" list- started on a few items. Making progess. Sold a bunch of stuff at the community yard sale- can almost park a car in the garage! Now just to get the rest of my family to part with items . Cleaned up more of the flower beds but then TX got really hot really fast so that is on hold for a bit. Turning my attention to an inside project- dismantling the office nook area. It has a built in desk and shelves but at a weird angle that I find unusable. I'm going to take it out and maybe put those ikea pak systems in.

5. Make photo albums- Still haven't started. I need to make this a priority.

6. Stay off YouTube shorts/tiktok- Yes! Been busy with my new IC gig so haven't really had time to waste with this.

7. Get a new job- Changing this to "Work towards 1 income". So I have 2 independent contractor jobs now. I am building the newer of the 2 so I can hopefully ditch the first one eventually, but DH and I have been working towards living comfortably off his salary and using my income as extra rather than a need. The last few months haven't been all that bad with my creative budgeting so I think we can do this. June has been a little weird because we did go away for a few days and DS has a birthday coming up. Making some changes in the way we spend had actually been a bit of a relief if that makes sense.

That's all for now.

 

[Tygerlilly]

I was a good girl and went to work all 6 of my scheduled days this pay period. We had some crazy long days, but my check is double what it normally is lol. I don't have any days scheduled off for the next little bit so I'm hoping to have all of our fall trip paid for out of my checks in July. It should be *very* close.

 

[pblack]

End of June update:

2023 Financial Goals:

• Pay off our Highlander loan (Roughly $19500 at the start of the year) - This is currently down to ~$3000. I don't think I'll have the funds to pay too much extra towards this this month, but my normal $500 payment should bring me down to ~$2500. This will be paid off by the end of the year.
• Increase my contributions to my "other" savings accounts (pets/gifts/CC fees). - Not focusing on this until I get the last little bit of our highlander paid off.

2023 Personal Goals:

• Travel more - aiming for a trip 4th of July weekend (undecided on where), going out to Texas at least once, a cruise or a trip out of the country - Upcoming we have: Texas (long weekend), concert in the bay area at the beginning of August where we'll be staying the night, concert beginning of September in the bay area where we will be staying the night, and then New Orleans/cruise in October. Also trying to plan some camping trips in the next few months. I feel like I'm a little late for camping reservations for the summer though.
• Finish replacing the fence that needs to be replaced - This has now been finished and it looks great.
• Live life and be happy - I've not been working out like I want too. Just too tired and don't have the motivation to try and fit it in. I'm also getting pretty fed up with the politics at my job, so I may actually try looking for a new job. We'll see though. Otherwise just doing my best with this one.
• *New* Look into how much a breast reduction will cost - I'm toying with the idea of a breast reduction. My insurance has said they won't cover it unless I lose a bunch of weight since they still go by the outdated BMI. I've found a place I want to check out, just need to actually make an appointment to go.

Not a ton of updates on my end. My area will see it's first 100+ degree days this weekend and luckily we'll miss the worst of it. But apparently Texas isn't going to be much better weather wise. We're heading to the Rangers vs. Astros game on Saturday and I'm looking forward to that and checking out a different stadium other than our home stadium. I hope everyone has a great 4th of July weekend! (Yes I know it's not until Tuesday, but I imagine many people will be taking off Monday, including myself.)