Debt Dumpers 2025

[ruadisneyfan2]

When my

Will you be able to use it at Fort Wilderness? That could also help change the equation!

For a long time my BFF had a terrible fear of flying. Her hubby’s business was such that they were crazy busy in winter, but off all summer. They bought a motor home and camped all over, driving many times to FL and stopping to visit family and friends along the way in SC, GA and Venice, FL. They always stayed at FW in WDW. Their kids (now in late 30’s) could ride their bikes all over the resort. They have a lot of happy memories there.

Before we started dating, dh went with them a few times. After we were dating a while, I surprised him with a trip to WDW for his birthday & it was the first time he ever flew on a plane. He was shocked how quick it was and swore he’d never drive there again.

 

[Bellex917]

Update: I posted in Nov that my husband was laid off. It has been a JOURNEY. This man has done it all right- gone back to get certificates/learning in new tech (he's a developer so new coding language is constant), worked to earn his back end certificate so he can be full stack, etc. We were a real team and I'd search for jobs, he'd apply. We got a real rhythm going in Feb (the job market was DEAD Nov-Jan) and he finally got an offer. It's a contract for 5 months, so we aren't off this roller coaster, but at least it's something. It's also at a great company and the client is a HUGE name that we all know (and most of us their products daily, but he signed an NDA so I can't say more) so this is great for his resume. While it doesn't end this crappy situation, it gives us a pause.

But, to get to the debt dumpers side of it:
- During this time we did not need to tap into our Efund
- We were able to save a little each month (and considering unemployment was only 1/4 of his usual earnings, this is impressive IMO considering he's the breadwinner- the fact that we saved at all is exciting to me)
- We are coming out of this was only 2k in debt and that's only bc we had multiple major car emergencies. It is on a 0% credit card for another 19 months (it was a 21 month deal) so I plan to pay it off slowly bc we have decided our goal is to get our main emergency fund up to 1 year worth of mortgage payments.
- When he does this 5 month contract we plan to keep living like we have been and save the rest, which will help us really stack our Efund closer to our goal

 

[EilonwyWanderer]

The place I work just formed groups to look at reorgs and redundancies so....yeah. I'm nervous. Trying to figure out if we stop paying so much down on the credit card and put more into savings in case the worst happens.

 

[Bellex917]

The place I work just formed groups to look at reorgs and redundancies so....yeah. I'm nervous. Trying to figure out if we stop paying so much down on the credit card and put more into savings in case the worst happens.

If you're concerned I'd stack the savings, knowing you can then put it to the debt if in a period of time everything is ok.

I know my experience is very much impacting my answer (husband had 18 years in advertising/tech with no issues, got laid off in 2023 bc of tech bubble burst, took a job quickly at a start up that ended up laying him off after 18 months, so 2 unexpected lay offs in 18 months after a long successful career of none). I was always a Ramsey fan and felt "pay off the debt!!" but after this experience I think it's important to be really logical.

This is how I assessed my situation:
- Made a chart of all the bills we pay each month plus realistic numbers for food/gas/etc.
- Saw what my salary covered (I'm a teacher so my job is secure- if I was injured or sick I pay for disability insurance which would cover us)
- Saw the difference between what I can cover and what we need
- Decided that difference is the target of what we need per month, and multiplied it by however many months we'd need

The current job market was a beast for my H. In 2023 when he was laid off he had two job offers within weeks. In 2024/2025 it took months to get interviews, each company is doing 6+ rounds of interviews for what he does so it takes forever too. Obviously everyone's experience is different, but considering we are still in it we have decided NOTHING matters to us as much as a truly healthy emergency fund bc this... this is for the birds lol!