Debt Dumpers 2025

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

Well, in sh!t start to the weekend, I was laid off yesterday along with about 38 other people. My direct boss was also laid off and our dept only had 5 perm employees. I've already started reaching out to some contacts to get the ball rolling on the job search. At least I've used up my use or lose PTO for the year. This really scuppers my plan to pay off a lot of debt for 2026. I'll get the expected bonus, but I need to keep most of it in reserve in case the job search takes longer than expected. I'll get 10 weeks of severance and they are giving a payout for the RSUs that were supposed to vest on Dec 20. I'm using that money to pay off a couple of debts that would have been finished off with the bonus. I've already emailed the YMCA to cancel that membership and I'll be going through the budget to see what else I can remove and/or shift around. Sigh.

Oh no. So, so sorry to hear that. At least you've got lots of pay sitting there to get through some weeks. That 10 weeks of severance is crazy good. When I was let go back a few years ago, I got my 2 week paycheck and 2 more weeks. But the people we've had to lay off at our office (about 8 this year) haven't gotten a single penny. It sucks.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I must always be at the wrong airports then. I haven’t gotten into a lounge in ages.

I once got off the waitlist, but by that time I had already ordered food.

-If peeps will entertain a moment of tangent here-

That really sucks. My husband flies a lot for work so he uses lounges most often (if he is traveling with more than one person it depends on the situation since the Priority Pass only has one guest pass with the Chase Reserve).

We've used the one at our home airport which is an Escape lounge under the Priority Pass network (that just opened in the spring, Delta is the only other lounge at our airport and only since early 2023 when the de facto new airport opened) and my husband now uses almost every time he flies out of our airport.

This year alone either my husband alone or both of us when traveling together have done between Priority Pass and Chase Sapphire from Vegas (he actually just missed the new Chase lounge which opened a few days ago as his connection was too short but we've done the Priority Pass one a decent amount there), San Jose, LaGuardia, Atlanta, KCI (our home airport). Last year JFK, San Jose, Vegas, SeaTac, etc.

Internationally we've done Heathrow (which was quite honestly nutty and you could only get in 2 hrs prior rather than the normal 3 hrs prior), Athens Greece, Copenhagen Denmark.

We've done some lounges related to our airline ticket (meaning the high up ones but the tickets were bought with Chase points transferred to the airline. This year was Flagship Lounge in O'Hare (Iberia airlines used Chase points transferred to Iberia, the normal Priority Pass lounge is the one we've been denied twice now) as well as Madrid (don't remember the lounge name). Delta Sky Club in Orlando (Virgin Atlantic used Chase points transferred to Virgin Atlantic) as well as Manchester, UK via Virgin Atlantic (same as the other one points transferred to Virgin Atlantic.

There absolutely are airports that lounge access is just in a very crummy situation (Phoenix for one has a waiting list all the time for Priority Pass and my husband hasn't really tried to get into that one when he's flown there) but there's been a good value for us/my husband. I don't think I would suggest someone (especially in a debt thread) get a very high annual fee CC just for the lounge access but it's not our experience that it's a worthless perk. The end result in these days of flying is definitely becoming a crowded lounge game no denying that.

Okay back to normal talk

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Well, in sh!t start to the weekend, I was laid off yesterday along with about 38 other people. My direct boss was also laid off and our dept only had 5 perm employees. I've already started reaching out to some contacts to get the ball rolling on the job search. At least I've used up my use or lose PTO for the year. This really scuppers my plan to pay off a lot of debt for 2026. I'll get the expected bonus, but I need to keep most of it in reserve in case the job search takes longer than expected. I'll get 10 weeks of severance and they are giving a payout for the RSUs that were supposed to vest on Dec 20. I'm using that money to pay off a couple of debts that would have been finished off with the bonus. I've already emailed the YMCA to cancel that membership and I'll be going through the budget to see what else I can remove and/or shift around. Sigh.

Look into your state's unemployment eligibility, the severance pay can be a factor in your eligibility or other things related to the unemployment but that depends on your particular state. I just mention that because it's a spot that can be missed when going through such a drastic life change.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Oh no. So, so sorry to hear that. At least you've got lots of pay sitting there to get through some weeks. That 10 weeks of severance is crazy good. When I was let go back a few years ago, I got my 2 week paycheck and 2 more weeks. But the people we've had to lay off at our office (about 8 this year) haven't gotten a single penny. It sucks.

It can depend on the reason for the layoff, sometimes the agreements made and often your position within the company.

When my mom was laid off in 2020 the company targeted everyone aged 55 and up and at least employed with them for 5 years as that was when you were considered fully vested. The severance pay was quite decent plus an added payment related to loss of health insurance, she had however been there a few months shy of 40 yrs. A few years prior that same company laid off more than 30 people at once including supervisors and VP of the particular part of the company and others that were considered middle and up employees. The agreement there was that it was a 1 yr hiring freeze of those related positions so the severance pay was bumped up more as it was losing quite visible employees. Low level employees got absolutely nothing in severance pay at that company.

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

It can depend on the reason for the layoff, sometimes the agreements made and often your position within the company.

When my mom was laid off in 2020 the company targeted everyone aged 55 and up and at least employed with them for 5 years as that was when you were considered fully vested. The severance pay was quite decent plus an added payment related to loss of health insurance, she had however been there a few months shy of 40 yrs. A few years prior that same company laid off more than 30 people at once including supervisors and VP of the particular part of the company and others that were considered middle and up employees. The agreement there was that it was a 1 yr hiring freeze of those related positions so the severance pay was bumped up more as it was losing quite visible employees. Low level employees got absolutely nothing in severance pay at that company.

Yep you might be right.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We've had to let the VP (CFO), Assistant CFO, HR, several salesmen and several warehouse people go. None of them have gotten severance. They were laid off because we were struggling as a company. I talked to my boss the other day, and he said my spot was safe. So that's good news. But that's for now. That's what I'm trying to get this debt taken care of and get some EF saved up.

That's why I said "and sometimes the agreements made" The 1yr hiring freeze I mentioned for example was because they were in need of relieving themselves of those higher paid positions for monetary reasons so letting go of those people just to hire someone cheaper would have been in violation of that agreement and in opposition to their reasoning.

It really just depends on the company. Company policies matter. So it's hard to say whether the 10weeks severance pay the PP got is normal, above normal, below normal, etc.

 

[Tygerlilly]

That's why I said "and sometimes the agreements made" The 1yr hiring freeze I mentioned for example was because they were in need of relieving themselves of those higher paid positions for monetary reasons so letting go of those people just to hire someone cheaper would have been in violation of that agreement and in opposition to their reasoning.

It really just depends on the company. Company policies matter. So it's hard to say whether the 10weeks severance pay the PP got is normal, above normal, below normal, etc.

Also, since the comment was edited and no longer shows what he previously said....

If your company is letting people go and your boss says "your position is safe", don't trust that 100%. If I noticed people in my job were starting to get laid off, I'd immediately start going into the mindset that my job could end tomorrow and what would I need to do now to prevent immediate disaster should my job end.

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

Also, since the comment was edited and no longer shows what he previously said....

If your company is letting people go and your boss says "your position is safe", don't trust that 100%. If I noticed people in my job were starting to get laid off, I'd immediately start going into the mindset that my job could end tomorrow and what would I need to do now to prevent immediate disaster should my job end.

I deleted it out of precaution. I don't know that any of my 20 fellow employees are, but I don't want them to be a part of this site and know the company I'm talking about. So I felt better about deleting it.

 

[barkley]

Also, since the comment was edited and no longer shows what he previously said....

If your company is letting people go and your boss says "your position is safe", don't trust that 100%. If I noticed people in my job were starting to get laid off, I'd immediately start going into the mindset that my job could end tomorrow and what would I need to do now to prevent immediate disaster should my job end.

and some employers will say a position is safe in the hopes that other staff do not observe and take note of the layoffs and begin seeking more stable work elsewhere. I worked for an employer who was able to garner a sizeable amount of well trained and experienced staff from another employer who was doing some major layoffs (w/no severance packages). the new hires were forthcoming that despite what their former employer (and direct supervisors) were telling them they suspected the writing was on the wall so with the first wave of layoffs they began researching job openings in their field and submitting applications across the state. as it happened their former jobs started experiencing layoffs as well (and then their co-workers who had stayed on were calling them at our office to find out if we were still hiring).

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Back before dh started working for our county, when he'd get laid off they'd come tell you, then walk you to the door. Not just him but all the mechanics were treated that way, in case people get angry and think to steal some tools. No severance. Nothing but goodbye.

At the hospital where I work, a lady who worked in our radiology administration/billing dept. had been there over 50 years. She was well beyond retirement age. When the hospital announced layoffs, she attended a meeting with several higher ups to discuss how to talk to employees who are being laid off. What to say, what not to say, how to say it.
Little did she she know she was going to be laid off the next day. You just never know.
A few years later, she was my patient and we talked and that's how I learned about the meeting she attended the day before. She said she was upset at the time; they had security walk her out, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Easy to say when you're 70. Not so easy when you still have a lot of working years ahead of you before retirement.

 

[royeheat]

Also, since the comment was edited and no longer shows what he previously said....

If your company is letting people go and your boss says "your position is safe", don't trust that 100%. If I noticed people in my job were starting to get laid off, I'd immediately start going into the mindset that my job could end tomorrow and what would I need to do now to prevent immediate disaster should my job end.

Welcome back WDW Texas. I agree with Tygerlily with 100% not trusting that your position is safe. That is why ALL the people on here that have given A LOT of advice to you WDW is perhaps some of them have been in a position of being laid off AND having an emergency fund to fall back on until they get on their feet again. I know you are not laid off but think about how it felt when you were laid off and now seeing people most recently in your company getting let go. The writing seems to be on the wall that it is a matter of time when others, including yourself, may be in that position. As always, a question to ask yourself, Am I prepared and is my wife prepared if we are let go of our company?

 

[Twilghtsprkle]

-If peeps will entertain a moment of tangent here-

That really sucks. My husband flies a lot for work so he uses lounges most often (if he is traveling with more than one person it depends on the situation since the Priority Pass only has one guest pass with the Chase Reserve).

Not to go further off track, but CSR lets you bring 2 guests to lounges. When we travel together my husband brings the kids as his guests and I use one of my 4 visits per year from the US bank Altitude connect.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Not to go further off track, but CSR lets you bring 2 guests to lounges. When we travel together my husband brings the kids as his guests and I use one of my 4 visits per year from the US bank Altitude connect.

You're right! I'm so used to be the only one with my husband in the lounge that I totally forgot that it's two

 

[barkley]

Back before dh started working for our county, when he'd get laid off they'd come tell you, then walk you to the door. Not just him but all the mechanics were treated that way, in case people get angry and think to steal some tools. No severance. Nothing but goodbye.

when I worked for a county the one instance during my employment when layoffs were anticipated for a specific classification a seniority list was published. that's when people learned that despite being hired into the identical classification on the identical date as another employee you could end up with higher or lower seniority than that person (or multiple people). that's when people learned that the h/r computer system was set up so that if multiple people were officially appointed to their jobs the same calendar day (VERY common) there was a random assignment of seniority-it was all up to luck of the draw.

if someone was going to get fired (except for something grievous) it was always done on a friday-early afternoon. it allowed for a few hours of inevitable other employee gossiping and reaction with the weekend for them to cool down to get back to actual productive work for the new workweek.

 

[Nettlelondon]

I worked somewhere many years ago that had no meeting rooms in the building so any converstions that were going to be of the "I am afraid we are going to have to let you go" type were done in the coffee shop across the road, normally in the 15 minutes or so before the end of the day.

It was really obvious - but the directors didn't think anyone had noticed.

People would generally then work their notice period but sometimes that time was paid instead and they were just walked back in and collected their stuff.

One guy decided he didn't have anything to collect and just went to a bar. His frequent visits to the bar was part of the reason he was let go. The business was in a field linked to film, tv & music so visits to bars was not unusual but he took it just too far. I had the job of clearing out his desk as he technically reported to me. The main thing I found was his collection of bottle of brandy - turns out he would make a coffee in the morning and then just keep topping it up with brandy as the day went on! A few days after he left the landlord of the bar appeared and asked when Andrew was coming in to settle his tab! He had spent the eqluivalent of about $300 that night.

One day I was called to a meeting in the coffee shop. One of the owners spent about an hour telling me I was doing a terrible job. At the end of that he asked what he would do if I was him - he was not expecting my reply of "fire me". He spat out the mouthful of coffee he had just taken. I agreed that I had been doing a terrible job, but my team had goine from me as second in command with 3 working below me, to my boss leaving to do something else in the business and two of the team being let go. The remaining person had a number of health issues and was absent about as much as she was there.

I was reasonably confident that they weren't going to sack me as it was not the end of the day and more than 10 minutes had been spent talking to me. I had reached the point where I didn't actually care if the job continued or not.

What they actually wanted to do was bring in someone above me but thought I might be upset. I was delighted.

But "I'd fire me" was probably my finest moment at that company.

 

[barkley]

I worked somewhere many years ago that had no meeting rooms in the building so any converstions that were going to be of the "I am afraid we are going to have to let you go" type were done in the coffee shop across the road, normally in the 15 minutes or so before the end of the day.

It was really obvious - but the directors didn't think anyone had noticed.

People would generally then work their notice period but sometimes that time was paid instead and they were just walked back in and collected their stuff.

One guy decided he didn't have anything to collect and just went to a bar. His frequent visits to the bar was part of the reason he was let go. The business was in a field linked to film, tv & music so visits to bars was not unusual but he took it just too far. I had the job of clearing out his desk as he technically reported to me. The main thing I found was his collection of bottle of brandy - turns out he would make a coffee in the morning and then just keep topping it up with brandy as the day went on! A few days after he left the landlord of the bar appeared and asked when Andrew was coming in to settle his tab! He had spent the eqluivalent of about $300 that night.

One day I was called to a meeting in the coffee shop. One of the owners spent about an hour telling me I was doing a terrible job. At the end of that he asked what he would do if I was him - he was not expecting my reply of "fire me". He spat out the mouthful of coffee he had just taken. I agreed that I had been doing a terrible job, but my team had goine from me as second in command with 3 working below me, to my boss leaving to do something else in the business and two of the team being let go. The remaining person had a number of health issues and was absent about as much as she was there.

I was reasonably confident that they weren't going to sack me as it was not the end of the day and more than 10 minutes had been spent talking to me. I had reached the point where I didn't actually care if the job continued or not.

What they actually wanted to do was bring in someone above me but thought I might be upset. I was delighted.

But "I'd fire me" was probably my finest moment at that company.

my favorite former co-worker story did'nt involve a firing, she quit but it was not the end of her relationship with our shared employer....

she was arrogant, self impressed and particularly rude, demeaning and dismissive to our clients (and for some reason the admin and investigative staff w/the district attorney's office that we frequently interacted with). she applied to and got accepted into a PRESTIGIOUS law school, submits her notice of resignation about 3 months early and spends her remaining time on the job making demeaning remarks about how she will be raking in the big bucks in private practice. won't have to work with the 'dregs' anymore but might wave at us 'lowely civil servents' when she drives past the building fast forward 3 months and she's gone off to school so all her cases get transferred, primarily to a brand new hire freshly trained. new hire starts working the cases and after a few weeks goes to her supervisor and asks if she misunderstood how she was trained on a particular program b/c 'something seems off'. well..........the 'off' was that former co-worker was defrauding the county of public funds (as in 6 figures). when former co-worker gets wind of the investigation she's smug enough to think nothing will come of it but smart enough to hire an attorney who arranges for her to meet with investigators at his office for an interview. she cancels and rescheduals more than once so they continue to investigate and the d.a. signs off on an arrest warrant. d.a. investigators along with the obligatory law enforcement official travel many hours across the state (it was rumored the investigators volunteered to pay their own transportation) to her fu-fu fancy private university where they explain themselves to campus police and are then escorted....to a very large lecture room where a couple of hundred students are mid class. a plain clothes campus security supervisor pulls the professor aside and fills him in after which he returns to the lectern, looks at his seating chart and points at my former co-worker, announces her name and asks her to stand. she stands at which time the investigators and uniformed law enforcement walk into the room and up to her and announce 'name-you are under arrest for' (and start detailing every count of welfare fraud and theft of public funds-there were LOTS), cuff her and walk her out.

investigators said it was a VERY satisfying moment. her former co-workers were much more satisfied to see no slap on the wrist/restitution (sadly common with employee embezzlement) and she spent the remainder of her planned law school years (and a couple beyond) in state prison (where it was rumored some of her former clients had friends and family members who decided to show her the same level of courtesy, consideration and respect she had shared with their loved ones.

 

[Tygerlilly]

My casino host invited me and DH out to a special Christmas brunch today so we got a sitter and decided we'd go and just play the little freeplay we had and eat at the brunch buffet. I was able to pick a little stocking that had free play in it and won an additional $75, which gave me $150 total and he had his $20 of freeplay.

We left with overly full bellies and ran that free play up to $500! We were already mentally preparing to be okay with a very small Christmas for the kiddos and told them it was going to be less "full" than the last few years, but even with just the Santa gifts and a few others it was adding up. So this helped tremendously. We got quite a few things from their lists in addition to their Santa gifts and also some groceries and still came in under budget. I'm stoked at that bit of luck and now plan to put what we were going to spend on christmas from next paycheck towards the first credit card I'm trying to clear off. It should bring that down to almost $0.