Debt Dumpers 2025

[disney-inspired]

This is where online shopping helps us. I don’t go browsing through stores because that’s their goal, to get us in there to make impulse purchases.
I unsubscribed to all stores’ weekly sales emails.

Most importantly, we weigh in mind every purchase, whether it’s in store or online, with “Is this a need or a want?”
Not that all wants are bad but it reminds us that a lot of wants may be unnecessary spending.

I do target pick ups - mostly because I don't feel like going into the store LOL - but it def does prevent overspending on impulse buying.

 

[ironz]

I'm currently in credit cycle - pay some off, spend some - rinse & repeat. I'm trying to get out of it asap.

I'm trying to decide when to move to Texas - my sister closes on her house this Friday. I'm flying out with them first week of June to help them get settled (likely as a kid watcher) as I had SW flight credit that was due to expire.
I'm trying to decide if I want to move before our big WDW/USO trip or after it.

Initial moving in costs seem to be much lower than that of CA as these places don't require a big security deposit (or any at all if your credit is good).
My biggest expenses would be furnishing the place but I'm only buying essentials at the start (bed, sofa, work desk, desk chair and a couple of lamps). I'm keeping detailed notes on apts I want to see, furniture I plan on buying (with prices), and expected monthly budget. I'm planning on scheduling apt tours the last day I'm there in June to finalize my decision -

I see you mentioned apartment living. But if you are looking at buying in Texas, our property taxes go up nearly every year, not like California where it is more steady. For some, it can make a difference.

 

[disney-inspired]

I see you mentioned apartment living. But if you are looking at buying in Texas, our property taxes go up nearly every year, not like California where it is more steady. For some, it can make a difference.

I won't be buying - not something I'm interested in. My sister and BIL are the ones who bought a house and he's a veteran, so no property taxes

 

[DisneyTexan]

It's crazy how many options there are for electric in Texas - I have to shop around for the right provider.

I recommend just getting a short term contract (like a few months) and then worrying about it more when its time to renew or switch providers. The providers vary the price by usage, and its hard to just guess on your usage before moving in.

Be sure to use powertochoose dot org to shop the rates. There are lots of copycat websites out there that will try to trick you with fees and inadequate information.

 

[barkley]

I recommend just getting a short term contract (like a few months) and then worrying about it more when its time to renew or switch providers. The providers vary the price by usage, and its hard to just guess on your usage before moving in.

Be sure to use powertochoose dot org to shop the rates. There are lots of copycat websites out there that will try to trick you with fees and inadequate information.

this is so alien to me. we only had the one provider available to us in California so no choice but the evil for profit, then we move to Washington State and we are in a zone that has a (then) 70 year old non profit consumer owned power company that operates with monies back to us periodically when their income margins exceed their operating costs. I can't imagine multiple providers or contracts.

so do companies try to entice customers in like the cell phone companies-lower rate lock if you commit to a longer contract?

 

[DisneyTexan]

this is so alien to me. we only had the one provider available to us in California so no choice but the evil for profit, then we move to Washington State and we are in a zone that has a (then) 70 year old non profit consumer owned power company that operates with monies back to us periodically when their income margins exceed their operating costs. I can't imagine multiple providers or contracts.

so do companies try to entice customers in like the cell phone companies-lower rate lock if you commit to a longer contract?

Yes. And lots of cash back deals in exchange for higher rates. And then there are the time-of-use contracts, where weekends are free, or nights are free. Its complicated, that's for sure.

 

[pblack]

2025 Goals (subject to change):

End of May update.

Financial -
[ ] Get home equity loan down to $20k - Currently sitting at ~$22600.
[ ] Pay off new ipad purchase ($860) - Paid off as of 3/29!
[ ] Add $4k to emergency savings to get us to our 6 months saving goal - No extra, just auto contribution $1675/$4000. *this number may also be off as I haven't been paying real close attention to what i've reported here.


Personal -
[ ] Exercise - get my body moving. Stay focused on eating healthier. Stay focused on getting more protein in my day. - May wasn't as great as January-April, but I still did fairly well. Lots of work in our side yard that i'm definitely counting as exercise. Lots of squatting is involved when trying to lay pavers lol.
[ ] Replace our patio cover - No forward progress on this yet.
[ ] 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). - My goal is still to be done by July 4th, but we'll see if that happens. We do have half our pavers down in the storage shed section of the yard. I'm hoping on Sunday we can continue with that progress and possibly finish, or at least get another 1/4 of it done. We're hitting triple digits for the first time today and tomorrow, but Sunday is only supposed to be mid/high 80s.

I wish we had the money to just be able to hire out for this side yard project, but I know it'll be more money then we want to put forth. Like everything else in our house/yard (mainly the yard since our house was a flip) we've put a lot of sweat equity into it.

Last time I posted I mentioned my husband having problems at work and interviewing with a company he was going to do a ride along with. He decided to not take that job after learning some insider information from a friend of a friend and because he also didn't want to cut his beard. Shortly after turning the ride along down he got pretty pissed off at work and rage applied to another driving type job, he interviewed like a week later and was basically offered the job on the spot. He will be starting in about a week and he's taking a couple days off from his current job before starting so we can have a long weekend somewhere. With this job he is taking a pretty significant pay cut, but we knew he'd end up taking a pay cut wherever he went since he didn't want to go into another management position. I'm ok with the pay cut as long as he actually enjoys this new job and comes home from work in a good mood. The last 6 months or so he's been in a bad mood pretty much every single day after work, including the weekends when he'd still be thinking about the sh*t show he'd be going back to on Monday.

Luckily over the past 5 years or so we've really worked to put ourselves in a better financial position, so i'm hopeful this pay cut won't affect us too much. We may just need to watch our "extra" spending a little bit more, but lets be honest we probably should have been doing that anyway. We're not sure what we're going to do before he starts this new job. We may head to SoCal for the beach, or head up to the redwoods, or I even threw out buying the Disney ticket package that Costco currently has and doing 1 day in Disney and saving the other 2 days for September when my bff is planning on going. We'll see what we end up deciding on.

Hope everyone has had a good May!

 

[Nettlelondon]

I have changed jobs a couple of times over the years because they were having too bad an effect on my mental health - and each time it has been the greatest thing to do. Life has been so much better afterwards. The reasons were different every time but the improvement in our lives was the same.

DH was generally happy, until he wasn't. He was sent on a senior management training programme (he worked for a global name in IT) that was 6 months of regular in person training sessions, self learning and mentorship. One part of the course was looking at the company's ethics, examining your own ethics and then working out how to realign your ethics with your employer. DH decided he wasn't prepared to compromise his personal standards to the extent required and got quite depressed about it. Eventually he was able to put in to words to me what the issue was - and I promptly told him that I didn't want him to do that either. He wouldn't be the person I married if he did.

At that point we started working on an exit strategy which has turned out to be the best thing ever.

Management is not always worth the money.

 

[EilonwyWanderer]

I once rage-quit a job and it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I remember sitting in a meeting that never should have happened, where my supervisor was chastising me for not taking a call from my coworker. I normally took 100+ calls a day to her 20 and had told her, at the time, what the solution was to the call (basically we couldn't do anything, she just needed to transfer them to another department) and she had complained that i wasn't helpful. And despite the fact I was clearly the top performer in the department...he decided to call me in and yell at me that I needed to be 'more helpful' and that I 'should have just taken the call.'

I remember sitting there and feeling so angry that my skin felt prickly and I said in a calm voice (I don't know where it came from) "Well, if that's how you're going to handle this situation then when I get back to my desk I will write up my two weeks notice. I'm done."

He spluttered and I got up and left. Later the manager of the department would plead with me not to go, but I was already interviewing. Got offered a position two days before my last day there and it's been onwards and upwards ever since!

One of those: wow I was stupid...but also stupid lucky moments. And I do not regret it at all even though I had nothing lined up! That place was toxic.

 

[disney-inspired]

I have changed jobs a couple of times over the years because they were having too bad an effect on my mental health - and each time it has been the greatest thing to do. Life has been so much better afterwards. The reasons were different every time but the improvement in our lives was the same.

DH was generally happy, until he wasn't. He was sent on a senior management training programme (he worked for a global name in IT) that was 6 months of regular in person training sessions, self learning and mentorship. One part of the course was looking at the company's ethics, examining your own ethics and then working out how to realign your ethics with your employer. DH decided he wasn't prepared to compromise his personal standards to the extent required and got quite depressed about it. Eventually he was able to put in to words to me what the issue was - and I promptly told him that I didn't want him to do that either. He wouldn't be the person I married if he did.

At that point we started working on an exit strategy which has turned out to be the best thing ever.

Management is not always worth the money.

100% agree. I'm at the highest level I can be before going into management. I've been with my company nearly 10 years and I don't like the bureaucracy and niceness politics so I told my leader that is NOT something I want to move into and am content in my sr. level role for now. She's salaried and works way more than 40 hours a week - no thanks!

People often ask me why I don't look for another job and I simply say 'stability'. I graduated after the '08 recession and not having a job for so long scarred me. Also, I have health issues and having a lot of PTO, flexible hours and good health benefits are not something I want to mess up.

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

Here are some of May's results for the things I noted at the beginning at the month.

Personal
- Eating healthier: Trying to add more fruits/veggies, less fried and less red meat;
(Haven't eaten anything fried in over 3 weeks. Been buying fruits on every Walmart trip.)
- More Exercise: Goal is to walk 2 to 2-1/2 miles at least 4 days per week.
Currently walking 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 miles 3-4 days per week.
- Weight loss: Goal of 250 by July 27. Started at 278 on April 1.
Currently sitting at 264.6

Financial
- Keep paying on/not using CC1: Currently down to $429. Still haven't used it this year.
Missed a payment last month for the first time ever because my dad fell and broke his arms, I was out of town to see them, and I didn't have my computer. I paid the payment as well as a late fee.
- Eat Out Less: Trying to cut eat out spending to under $800 for the month.
Have spent $669 eating out this month (with 1 day left).
- Sell, sell, sell: I sold $475 worth of baseball cards, while DW sold $100 worth of her old scrubs to a lady on Facebook.
- Save for Chicago ($1700/$2300): We put $575 toward our Chicago trip thanks to what we sold. And we also bought our tickets to the Cubs game. So all we lack is our tickets to the show and spending money.

Home/Projects
- Create an office space upstairs: Went through 3 boxes of stuff, and I got stuff to toss. But no real progress here.
- Growing veggies: No news here. Going to visit with mom and walk through how to redo them in the next weeks.

 

[Tygerlilly]

I'm not sure if I ever mentioned it, but I have a younger cousin that has NF1(basically cancerous brain tumors). He's 11. Last week he was admitted to the hospital with a virus. That virus quickly spread to pneumonia to the point he needed intubated and very very strong medicine. Unfortunately, his body couldn't handle it and he passed this afternoon. We have an unplanned trip to ND now for his funeral next weekend. We're going to leave a couple days early and try to do a few fun things with the kids before we go to the serious things since we will have to cancel our family vacation next month.

I'm doing a big vendor event and I told them I was going to stay half of tomorrow, but I'd be breaking down early and missing the 3rd day completely. I also decided to donate all funds I make from the event to a charity that was very active with him and his family called Brave the Shave. It just feels right.

 

[barkley]

I'm not sure if I ever mentioned it, but I have a younger cousin that has NF1(basically cancerous brain tumors). He's 11. Last week he was admitted to the hospital with a virus. That virus quickly spread to pneumonia to the point he needed intubated and very very strong medicine. Unfortunately, his body couldn't handle it and he passed this afternoon. We have an unplanned trip to ND now for his funeral next weekend. We're going to leave a couple days early and try to do a few fun things with the kids before we go to the serious things since we will have to cancel our family vacation next month.

I'm doing a big vendor event and I told them I was going to stay half of tomorrow, but I'd be breaking down early and missing the 3rd day completely. I also decided to donate all funds I make from the event to a charity that was very active with him and his family called Brave the Shave. It just feels right.

i'm so sorry for your loss.

 

[princesscinderella]

I'm not sure if I ever mentioned it, but I have a younger cousin that has NF1(basically cancerous brain tumors). He's 11. Last week he was admitted to the hospital with a virus. That virus quickly spread to pneumonia to the point he needed intubated and very very strong medicine. Unfortunately, his body couldn't handle it and he passed this afternoon. We have an unplanned trip to ND now for his funeral next weekend. We're going to leave a couple days early and try to do a few fun things with the kids before we go to the serious things since we will have to cancel our family vacation next month.

I'm doing a big vendor event and I told them I was going to stay half of tomorrow, but I'd be breaking down early and missing the 3rd day completely. I also decided to donate all funds I make from the event to a charity that was very active with him and his family called Brave the Shave. It just feels right.

So sorry for your loss, cancer sucks!!