Debt Dumpers 2024

[barkley]

Everyone should double check their plan, but ours covers everything from medical and dental, OTCs, and even things like tampons and Band-Aides. I think there’s even some lotions and sunscreen that can be covered!

i never knew so many items were considered otc until our health insurance plan started issuing a yearly otc visa card that has a use it or lose it provision. we use otc meds but not as much as the benefit provides for so being the frugal person i am i went searching to utilize the remainder of the first year's benefit and was suprised to see things like lotions, vicks strips for the humidifier (heck actual humidifiers are listed) and disposable wipes.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I didn't have the chance to ask her, but from what i've Googled yes. She's muslim and while she is having a "normal American" wedding, she's also opting to do a traditional women only wedding. My little bit of Googling told me that in her culture oftentimes women only weddings are observed. It's a way for the bride to be able to "let her hair down" so to speak as I believe they are allowed to not wear their hijab since only women will be in attendance. Traditionally there's also a male only wedding ceremony, but i'm not sure if they are partaking in that one as well. So i'm not quite sure of all the details and how everything works, but i'm excited to be a part of it and learn something new.

I was completely surprised by your answer.
I half expected it to be two women getting married who maybe had some traumatic anger issue against men and refused to invite any.
I was sooo way off.

You learn something new everyday.

 

[Tygerlilly]

I like Budget Mom a lot! Her planners are so pretty! DR can be tough in terms of methods/delivery. I also had to really separate the political/religious aspect and focus on the core money advice. But I really like Budget Mom and there is also The Budgeting Wife who I really like as well. The core principles of each are similar/the same, it is just the delivery that works for each person.

I really like finding frugal/budgeting people to follow, but I struggle when it comes to the food/grocery advice. I just don't eat quite the same. We focus on organic/free range meats and more whole30/paleo eating. I have been thinking about finding frugal whole30/paleo people to follow. Any suggestions?

I love the Budget Mom and have her planners also! I'm going to check out the Budgeting Wife.

For organic and natural I follow a lady who does grocery hauls on youtube and "what my kids ate" type videos. She's very conscious about what's in foods. Granted, there's 13 people in their family but I feel like she does amazing on her shopping budget. It's Natural & Simple Living on Youtube.

 

[Danicat77]

6. Get my passport at some point this year to be ready for the cruise in 2025. This probably won't happen for at least a few months.

Make sure you look at how long they’re saying it takes-we waited a proper bit last year to get ours and then there was a question about the government shutting down (twice) while waiting. When we applied they said they could take up to 12-15 weeks at that time.

 

[pblack]

I was completely surprised by your answer.
I half expected it to be two women getting married who maybe had some traumatic anger issue against men and refused to invite any.
I was sooo way off.

You learn something new everyday.

Not gonna lie...kinda wanna go to that wedding too.

 

[huggybuff]

Make sure you look at how long they’re saying it takes-we waited a proper bit last year to get ours and then there was a question about the government shutting down (twice) while waiting. When we applied they said they could take up to 12-15 weeks at that time.

You're right, I need to look into this sooner rather than later. I had my application and directions all printed out and ready to go, but then COVID hit and that plan went into the dumper.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Make sure you look at how long they’re saying it takes-we waited a proper bit last year to get ours and then there was a question about the government shutting down (twice) while waiting. When we applied they said they could take up to 12-15 weeks at that time.

I sent my renewal app in early November 2023. Maybe around the 4th. I received the new one later in November. I think from door to door it was around 25 days. I was shocked. I didn't need it until mid-March but figured I should allow extra time. I did not pay extra for expedited service.

This can change though based on demand and it may be longer for 1st time application vs. renewal.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I sent my renewal app in early November 2023. Maybe around the 4th. I received the new one later in November. I think from door to door it was around 25 days. I was shocked. I didn't need it until mid-March but figured I should allow extra time. I did not pay extra for expedited service.

This can change though based on demand and it may be longer for 1st time application vs. renewal.

One of my coworkers just did his expedited. He got it in 9 days!! I couldn't believe it. He and his wife waited until the last minute to do their passports before their honeymoon. I thought for sure they were going to be driving to one of those last minute emergency appointments at some senator's office.

 

[DisneyHardin]

One of my coworkers just did his expedited. He got it in 9 days!! I couldn't believe it. He and his wife waited until the last minute to do their passports before their honeymoon. I thought for sure they were going to be driving to one of those last minute emergency appointments at some senator's office.

When I got my passport a couple years ago, I didn't notice right away that they had the wrong birthday on it. It wasn't until I used it as my ID in the TSA precheck line in November that the agent said my passport and my plane ticket didn't match - that's when we discovered the mistake. I then took my Passport to the Post Office to find out about getting it fixed in December. The lady who processed it said that the backlog of passport applications/renewals was getting much better and things weren't taking very long. Granted mine was just a correction and not a renewal, but I had mine back in 2 weeks.

 

[barkley]

happy easter to all those who celebrate it! also happy end of the 1st quarter of 2024 to all-a good time to run the numbers and see how our financial goals have panned out for the first quarter of the year!

 

[Bellex917]

happy easter to all those who celebrate it! also happy end of the 1st quarter of 2024 to all-a good time to run the numbers and see how our financial goals have panned out for the first quarter of the year!

I just did this. We started January with about 13,700ish in debt and are leaving March/entering April with 4,300ish. I cannot wait to be debt free (SOON) and be aggressively saving. I originally gave myself all of 2024 to pay off debt, and all of 2025 to double our savings. At this rate we will close out 2024 with a solid dent in our "double savings" account. Obviously this is assuming no major issues between now and then, but, we can hope!

 

[barkley]

I just did this. We started January with about 13,700ish in debt and are leaving March/entering April with 4,300ish. I cannot wait to be debt free (SOON) and be aggressively saving. I originally gave myself all of 2024 to pay off debt, and all of 2025 to double our savings. At this rate we will close out 2024 with a solid dent in our "double savings" account. Obviously this is assuming no major issues between now and then, but, we can hope!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!


that is spectacular! i ran some numbers today today as well. despite our already planned large expenditure on replacing/upgrading our whole house generator running into an unanticipated $4K'ish overage we are still staying pretty well on track. april-june tend to be large expinditure months for us due to the first installment of our property taxes being due, our 6 month payment of auto insurance and the odds and ends of spring and early summer (pest prevention servicing/yard stuff in general) but it helps that we budget for it on a monthly basis so we can cash flow it. we still have at least one project we are planning to do this year so my goal is to cash flow it while contributing to an add-on cd i snagged in march.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I just did this. We started January with about 13,700ish in debt and are leaving March/entering April with 4,300ish. I cannot wait to be debt free (SOON) and be aggressively saving. I originally gave myself all of 2024 to pay off debt, and all of 2025 to double our savings. At this rate we will close out 2024 with a solid dent in our "double savings" account. Obviously this is assuming no major issues between now and then, but, we can hope!

You got this! Just keep swimming!
It's the greatest feeling when all you need to pay for is food, utilities, taxes and insurance. As far as I know, no way to eliminate them.

 

[AJollyHoliday]

I don't know if she's whole30/paleo, but InstantLoss on Instagram (maybe on other platforms, not sure) does a lot of organic/whole foods type recipes. She may be worth checking out. She also has a website https://instantloss.com/

For organic and natural I follow a lady who does grocery hauls on youtube and "what my kids ate" type videos. She's very conscious about what's in foods. Granted, there's 13 people in their family but I feel like she does amazing on her shopping budget. It's Natural & Simple Living on Youtube.

Thanks for the recommendations! I have a few whole30/paleo folks I follow, but there is not really a focus on the budget aspect. Of course really any cooking at home is a budget friendly way to live!

DH and I talked through finances this weekend. We are really trying to put away as much as we can in our savings this month to help offset our monthly tuition payment. We really have been lucky thus far being able to pay for the tuition with stock and I know we can get through this year, but it is tough.

Great work on everyone's finances! Keep up the great work on paying off your debt. It is truly an amazing feeling! I suppose we can consider this tuition to be debt and while we have an emergency fund and new car fund that can completely pay the tuition, I am not comfortable draining those accounts. Sure we would build them back up, but Murphy will probably show up and something big will need to be paid for :knocks on wood:. As it is, we are saving for another round of dental work on our dog which will run about $3k. She is our most expensive dog yet with all the vet bills she has had, but we love her so much!

 

[Tygerlilly]

We're all sick, so Easter was pretty low key yesterday. Threw a roast from our beef in the crock pot, already had some carrots, celery, and onions on hand as well as the gravy and au ju packets. Only needed hubby to grab some little potatoes and green beans from the store and we had an amazing dinner that required me to do absolutely nothing for 90% of it.

Shout out to our HSA account for footing the bill for $70 worth of cold medicine and vapor rubs for the whole family and Walmart delivery for bringing them to my front door so I didn't have to put a bra on. You're the real mvp.

We're due for some pretty bad storms tonight so I'm trying to decide what do for dinner now so I'm not attempting to cook in a power outage or tornado (because both are possible).

April is starting out super fun.

 

[AJollyHoliday]

We're due for some pretty bad storms tonight so I'm trying to decide what do for dinner now so I'm not attempting to cook in a power outage or tornado (because both are possible).

Oh wow! Be safe!!

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

I'm sick now too. I believe it's just sinus infection (only in my face/sinus area) as I had Covid just in December. Plus, this hit different than it did when it was Covid. But it was a pretty low key Easter for us too besides church. Met my parents halfway for dinner Saturday (hadn't seen them since Christmas Eve) because we're about 2-1/2 hours from each other. Church yesterday was amazing then a couple at church took us out for lunch. We had picked up everything for a meat loaf but we wound up not needing to cook.

Thought about doing it today, but we're in for some bad storms between 6-8 p.m. (DFW area). And I'd hate to be cooking if/when the power goes out. So not sure what we'll do with that HB meat. Might try again tomorrow night or possibly Wednesday to do the meat loaf. Be safe out in those storms. I'm going to try and mow the yard in between work and the storms, although I'm hesitant since I'm dealing with this dern sinus infection.

We're all sick, so Easter was pretty low key yesterday. Threw a roast from our beef in the crock pot, already had some carrots, celery, and onions on hand as well as the gravy and au ju packets. Only needed hubby to grab some little potatoes and green beans from the store and we had an amazing dinner that required me to do absolutely nothing for 90% of it.

Shout out to our HSA account for footing the bill for $70 worth of cold medicine and vapor rubs for the whole family and Walmart delivery for bringing them to my front door so I didn't have to put a bra on. You're the real mvp.

We're due for some pretty bad storms tonight so I'm trying to decide what do for dinner now so I'm not attempting to cook in a power outage or tornado (because both are possible).

April is starting out super fun.

 

[Dsny4fun]

End of March update!

We actually stayed on track this month and that makes me so happy. I track our net worth monthly and this month for the first time since we combined finances when we got married (we are 32 and 30, married for 9 years in April) we are actually in the positive by quite a bit! Years of hard work is paying off and its so satisfying to watch. At this point our finances are basically automated with a couple of tweaks here and there each month. We follow the Budget Mom budget-by-paycheck method (started with DR but his methods and delivery of those methods don't work for me personally).

We booked our flights for our May CA trip and it was so nice to be able to just pay for it with cash (we are funding this trip with the bonus my husband received). We decided we are going to do 2 days at Disneyland when we are there to celebrate our two older kids turning 8 and 5 and I am SO excited. We are WDW locals now so that's what they are used to, but I was born and raised in Southern CA and was a DLR pass holder until I moved out of state for college. I am so excited to be able to take the kids and watch them enjoy my "home park".

Financial:
1. Pay off card #1 (starting balance $11,600) Current balance: $6,860
2. Pay off card #2 (starting balance $6,500) Current balance: $5,575
3. Grow emergency fund to $15,000 (currently at $7,350) Paused, debt is taking priority right now.

Personal:
1. 30 minute workout at least 5 days/week
Still on track! I still work out for at least 30 mins daily. It is usually more like 45min-hour. I switch between walk/run and cycling and I also take a 10min peloton stretching class every day.

2. Read 100 books
I passed my yearly goal this month!! I am currently at 122 books for the year and will likely finish 2-3 more before April starts. Next year my goal will be more like 400

I love The Budget Mom ! Her system really works

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I'm sick now too. I believe it's just sinus infection (only in my face/sinus area) as I had Covid just in December. Plus, this hit different than it did when it was Covid. But it was a pretty low key Easter for us too besides church. Met my parents halfway for dinner Saturday (hadn't seen them since Christmas Eve) because we're about 2-1/2 hours from each other. Church yesterday was amazing then a couple at church took us out for lunch. We had picked up everything for a meat loaf but we wound up not needing to cook.

Thought about doing it today, but we're in for some bad storms between 6-8 p.m. (DFW area). And I'd hate to be cooking if/when the power goes out. So not sure what we'll do with that HB meat. Might try again tomorrow night or possibly Wednesday to do the meat loaf. Be safe out in those storms. I'm going to try and mow the yard in between work and the storms, although I'm hesitant since I'm dealing with this dern sinus infection.

Can you freeze the meat?
Hope you feel better.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We're all sick, so Easter was pretty low key yesterday. Threw a roast from our beef in the crock pot, already had some carrots, celery, and onions on hand as well as the gravy and au ju packets. Only needed hubby to grab some little potatoes and green beans from the store and we had an amazing dinner that required me to do absolutely nothing for 90% of it.

Shout out to our HSA account for footing the bill for $70 worth of cold medicine and vapor rubs for the whole family and Walmart delivery for bringing them to my front door so I didn't have to put a bra on. You're the real mvp.

We're due for some pretty bad storms tonight so I'm trying to decide what do for dinner now so I'm not attempting to cook in a power outage or tornado (because both are possible).

April is starting out super fun.

Sorry to laugh at this. Being sick is not funny but your Walmart shout out just cracked me up.
Sometimes the little things mean so much to us.
Hope you’re all feeling better soon.