Debt Dumpers 2025

[mi*vida*loca]

Not all cards report to the authorized users credit. It really depends on the card.

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

It's a Capital One card. I'd assume they would report since it's one of the biggest CC companies in the world.

Not all cards report to the authorized users credit. It really depends on the card.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

It's a Capital One card. I'd assume they would report since it's one of the biggest CC companies in the world.

Not all cards take the authorized users social security number. It’s just their name. So it’s not reported. I’ve had this with my kids.

 

[pblack]

2025 Goals (subject to change):

End of February update.

Financial -
[ ] Get home equity loan down to $20k - Currently sitting at ~$23,800.
[ ] Pay off new ipad purchase ($860) - Currently sitting at $600.
[ ] Add $4k to emergency savings to get us to our 6 months saving goal - Only auto contributions have contributed to this so far. $750/$4000.


Personal -
[ ] Exercise - get my body moving. Stay focused on eating healthier. Stay focused on getting more protein in my day. - I've been doing really well with focusing on walking or using my exercise bike M-F. On the 3 days i'm in office i'll go for walk at work and i'll come home and still use the exercise bike, on the 2 days i'm home i'll just use the exercise bike. I've not weighed myself and I don't plan too, but I do feel maybe a smidgen slimmer overall in my clothes. I've also been trying to be mindful of what i'm eating and how much i'm eating.
[ ] Replace our patio cover - No progress
[ ] Build new fence in our side yard, level out the dirt, get a storage shed. (May or may not utilize 0% balance transfers depending on costs). - Small progress, on the days that it's been nice out i've been out there throwing dirt into our green waste bin for pick up, but I can only do so much before I need to stop and the bin gets picked up. Luckily our green waste bin is picked up weekly. We also already had one bulk pick up of some of the tree limbs/branches that we need to clear out before we can build the fence. I had hopes of trying to get out there this weekend to do more, but we'll see if it happens since it's supposed to rain again after a week of very pleasant weather. We've also looked at some storage shed options.

We don't have any big plans coming up until May when we're going on a 3-day cruise for a friend's 50th birthday. I'd love to start getting our backyard cleaned up and put back into "summer mode," but with the weather turning crappy again I'm pretty sure i'm going to have to put that off for a little while yet. Received my Costco rebate checks (executive member and credit card holder) and I plan on using them to stock up our freezer with meats and to grab some other things we routinely use. I'm also heading to SoCal next week for a work conference. I'm really hoping I can stay on my exercise/eating relatively healthy while i'm there. I know i'm going to be tired and i'll more than likely end up talking myself out of the gym, but maybe if I write it down here i'll have some accountability for myself lol.

It's been pretty quiet around here recently it feels like. I hope everyone is doing well. I saw something this morning that said something along the lines of "i've spent so much time surviving that I can't wait to start living" and I felt that. Let this be a reminder to not just survive, but also to live!

 

[pblack]

Pulled the trigger on a storage shed for our side yard today, even though the side yard isn't ready for it yet. We had been looking at one at costco that was on sale, but i decided to check sams to see what they had. They had a slightly bigger one on sale for cheaper than costco so that's what we ended up going with. It's out of stock at all the stores near us so I had to order it for delivery which is fine. At least this will give us a push to get our side yard complete

 

[barkley]

Pulled the trigger on a storage shed for our side yard today, even though the side yard isn't ready for it yet. We had been looking at one at costco that was on sale, but i decided to check sams to see what they had. They had a slightly bigger one on sale for cheaper than costco so that's what we ended up going with. It's out of stock at all the stores near us so I had to order it for delivery which is fine. At least this will give us a push to get our side yard complete

is it a wood floor?

 

[Tygerlilly]

Screwed up pretty decently. Somehow between making sure bills got paid between my house, my mom's apartment, and her old house, I missed our cell phone payment. I had intentions of paying it a couple days past the due date when we got paid (thinking it was just one month of payment), but service got shut off yesterday. Can't do anything about it til payday. At least our wifi is a different provider so we still have internet for tv and our texting and messenger works as long as we are hooked up to internet.

Just need to get my payments organized a little better for the future. Or finish getting that dang house ready to sell. I've made very good progress the last week and plan to have a yard sale in 2 weekends to clear more stuff out.

 

[pblack]

is it a wood floor?

It's not.

 

[barkley]

It's not.

good deal! if it had been I was going to share a hack we used that has extended the lives of ours (and made cleanups a breeze).

 

[firefly_ris]

Screwed up pretty decently. Somehow between making sure bills got paid between my house, my mom's apartment, and her old house, I missed our cell phone payment. I had intentions of paying it a couple days past the due date when we got paid (thinking it was just one month of payment), but service got shut off yesterday. Can't do anything about it til payday. At least our wifi is a different provider so we still have internet for tv and our texting and messenger works as long as we are hooked up to internet.

Just need to get my payments organized a little better for the future. Or finish getting that dang house ready to sell. I've made very good progress the last week and plan to have a yard sale in 2 weekends to clear more stuff out.

In the event of a backup plan, how about a Google Voice number? My 13 year old son has one of our old phones with some parental control limits on it, it does not have a SIM card or a phone plan, but I am able to text and call him when he is on wifi because it has a Google Voice number set up. This way I can communicate with him for after-school activities and such. It's free. You could use that and just have it as a backup if this should happen again and you need to make a phone call to someone/a company/work/whatever.

 

[Tygerlilly]

In the event of a backup plan, how about a Google Voice number? My 13 year old son has one of our old phones with some parental control limits on it, it does not have a SIM card or a phone plan, but I am able to text and call him when he is on wifi because it has a Google Voice number set up. This way I can communicate with him for after-school activities and such. It's free. You could use that and just have it as a backup if this should happen again and you need to make a phone call to someone/a company/work/whatever.

I have wifi calling and everything on this one and all texting works as long as I'm on a wifi network. Almost everywhere we go has a public wifi now, so it's just kind of mildly annoying.

I really need to get with them about lowering my bill as it is. I feel like we pay quite a lot for 2 lines and a watch.

 

[Nettlelondon]

We have a holiday home overseas (we had planned to retire there but Brexit has put an end to that idea - oh well). We had a notification that our cable TV box was so old it was going to stop working shortly so popped along to the shop to swap it out. During the conversation the assistant ran through the package we have and cut the cost by about 50%. Most lucrative 15 minutes I have spent in a long time.

There had been some legislative changes that meant we no longer needed to have a landline and a there was a charge that we thought was for one thing that was actually for something completely different that we don't use.

A nice little budget boost.

 

[firefly_ris]

I have wifi calling and everything on this one and all texting works as long as I'm on a wifi network. Almost everywhere we go has a public wifi now, so it's just kind of mildly annoying.

I really need to get with them about lowering my bill as it is. I feel like we pay quite a lot for 2 lines and a watch.

Oh okay, I gotchya.

I use Tello for my daughter, it is $15/month for her phone but it has data limits. I don't really know how they rate up against other more well-advertised services like Mint Mobile or anything like that.

 

[firefly_ris]

Our car insurance premiums went up this year despite no changes in coverage, vehicles or history. Shopping around but also planning to do the online Defensive Driving course which will help reduce it by a little bit. Anyone else done this?

 

[barkley]

Our car insurance premiums went up this year despite no changes in coverage, vehicles or history. Shopping around but also planning to do the online Defensive Driving course which will help reduce it by a little bit. Anyone else done this?

I've looked on and off but for us it ends up with a lower price on car but then the same company wants more for homeowners/umbrella...so it ends up still being about the same. our best method for trying to keep rates low is bundling all products under the same company and paying for car every 6 months vs. monthly.

 

[firefly_ris]

I've looked on and off but for us it ends up with a lower price on car but then the same company wants more for homeowners/umbrella...so it ends up still being about the same. our best method for trying to keep rates low is bundling all products under the same company and paying for car every 6 months vs. monthly.

We have everything bundled under one company, but I pay monthly on the auto -- I'll inquire about possibly knocking a few bucks off if I pay every 6 months, thanks for the thought.

 

[barkley]

We have everything bundled under one company, but I pay monthly on the auto -- I'll inquire about possibly knocking a few bucks off if I pay every 6 months, thanks for the thought.

you are welcome.

 

[DisneyHardin]

We have everything bundled under one company, but I pay monthly on the auto -- I'll inquire about possibly knocking a few bucks off if I pay every 6 months, thanks for the thought.

Some companies give a discount and some don't. We have State Farm and they don't give a discount for paying 6 months at a time anymore.

 

[Bellex917]

Hi everyone! A little update here...

My H is still in the job market. We are getting closer though... he is in tech and it's been DEAD, but the market is improving and he has had multiple interviews a day. Some he's a few rounds in (his industry is 6+ rounds of interviews per job). Hoping to get out of this soon.

We did end up getting a new car after our car fiascos in January/ Feb. The plan (once he has a job) is to save the cost of the car at the end of the lease so we can buy it out when the 3 year lease is up and own it, instead of trading it in or financing it.

If he gets a job soon (please, I pray) then we will have come out of this pretty good. We didn't use our savings or incur debt. We managed to get by with my income and unemployment. It will be a lifelong lesson that we were spending more than necessary. I am hoping to live like we are now for at least a year and save a ton of money to have us better set up. The tech industry is still so volatile.

If he doesn't find a job soon we will be needing to use our savings, and that's when its going to get dicy. I am really hoping that one of these pans out. He is in process with 4, and has multiple recruiters reaching out daily, so I do think it's a matter of time... let's hope!

 

[imbatman]

March update: My mom and I sign listing papers for our houses tomorrow. We’re moving closer to family asap.

Financial:
1. Get savings to $10k minimum. Done
2. Sit with financial planner for retirement info spread between 2 pensions and a handful on 401k’s. I need simple. Done. Still working through details but it’s going well.
3. Separate account for medical expenses. This will help me track. Forgot all about this.

Physical:
1. Room by room clean, organize, and update. In case we decide to move or I rent out the house. 0 of 6 Every week my trash bin is FULL. All rooms are painted. Organizing is emotional but moving forward.
2. Travel with my mom. My dad passed 3.5 years ago. We need some new memories, even if they are short weekend jaunts. 0 of 6 On hold until we figure out the move.
3. Finish writing three books that are in progress. 0 of 3 One done and turned into agent.

Grief is a strange bedfellow. It’s the shadow that follows and the warm sunbeam. I’m grateful to have switched my bills to auto payments through the credit card. It’s helping add points for future travel.