Debt Dumpers 2025

[Cfabar1]

I've never been to any of mine, and have no intention to start. With limited vacation time and dollars, why give it up to spend a weekend visiting people I have not maintained a relationship with (for whatever reason)...

 

[focusondisney]

Are high school reunions as much of a thing as TV and films would have us believe? Especially detective shows.

My parents, both born in the early 30s went to all of theirs. My husband & I graduated in 73 & 75 respectively. He’s never been to a reunion, I went to our 5 year because a friend wanted me to. My BIL graduated with me, he’s been to them all. But he’s a much more social personality than we are. The reunions for my class have been at a local bar. My husband & I aren’t drinkers & have no desire to fake socialize with people we never keep contact with. None of my siblings go to their reunions either.

My kids (now in their 40s) went thru a different town’s school system. That town seems to have 1 reunion for all classes. But again, my kids have never gone to any either.

 

[piglet1979]

Thank you. This is all going to be completely unknown territory to me. I just don't want my kids to start off their adult lives with a bunch of student loan debt since we're only going to be able to hand them a paltry amount, especially if they major in something that they could get a degree for anywhere. I also don't know if any of them will want to not go to college and do something like trade school instead, which I don't know anything about either. So I have some reading to do soon here.

We had the kids apply to all sorts of places. DS applied to all schools that he would get into but all over the state. Then once we got award letters we tried to get more money so he could go to the school he wanted to go to. He didn't get enough to cover living on campus. It was a hard decision but he ended up at the private college in the city that we live in. He is now living in a house on campus with 5 other guys and stops home a few times a week. He absolutely loves this college though he only applied because it was close as a just in case.

DD applied to some schools she would get into and some that I knew she wouldn't but it was worth to try. She didn't care really were she went and it was all about the money for her. So She is at a state school in the area about 20ish minutes away and only had to pay for some fees (lab fees for her classes) and she did get a meal plan since she is on campus a lot.

DS does have some loans but only the federal ones and DD doesn't have any. They will both be in a pretty good spot.

The best thing they can do is apply to a wide variety of schools and really look at how much they will need to pay after any scholarship and grants.

Anothing we have done with our kids was getting the set up with a 401k at there work. One works at Chipotle and the other is at Culvers. Both have the option of a 401k but neither really match. It they do it is about a 1% match. But it is something for now and they are already starting to save for the future.

 

[MattB2G]

Anothing we have done with our kids was getting the set up with a 401k at there work. One works at Chipotle and the other is at Culvers. Both have the option of a 401k but neither really match. It they do it is about a 1% match. But it is something for now and they are already starting to save for the future.

Since there is no match, it might be a better option to open a Roth IRA with an online broker that provides them. Since they are probably making less money now and are in a lower tax bracket than they will be later on in life, this would be a better way to save for retirement. Either way it is always good to be saving for retirement.

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

We were a very tight class as a whole with only about 215 people. We had 10-year, 20-year, 25-year, 30-year. But I didn't go to any of them. I drove into the parking lot at the 20-year reunion, but DW didn't want to go in and see any of my friends. So we left and went on a date by ourselves to a dinner and movie. Was still lots of fun.

Are high school reunions as much of a thing as TV and films would have us believe? Especially detective shows.

 

[barkley]

well I got my Christmas shopping started officially today. target has their buy 2 get 1 free sale on books going (returnable for 90 days) so I snagged some of my youngest's overpriced (everywhere) d&d books and pre-ordered a March release for dh. on the non Christmas shopping I just found out our health insurance is dropping it's OTC benefit come 2026 so no more "free" paper products but target has a sale on Charmin (buy one get 25% off a second) so I paid cash out of pocket and got 2 large packs so I could zero out the OTC benefit with a Walmart order that restocked 3 of our regularly used OTC meds.

 

[Bellex917]

well I got my Christmas shopping started officially today. target has their buy 2 get 1 free sale on books going (returnable for 90 days) so I snagged some of my youngest's overpriced (everywhere) d&d books and pre-ordered a March release for dh. on the non Christmas shopping I just found out our health insurance is dropping it's OTC benefit come 2026 so no more "free" paper products but target has a sale on Charmin (buy one get 25% off a second) so I paid cash out of pocket and got 2 large packs so I could zero out the OTC benefit with a Walmart order that restocked 3 of our regularly used OTC meds.

I also started my Christmas shopping. From now until mid December I generally try to space out a few gifts per pay period.

I'd love to see an update on everyone's progress! 2025 is wrapping up in a few months... how are we doing on our goals?

We are still working to increase our savings. The summer is always a challenge for us- we spend way more in the summer than the rest of the year. For the past two years I've managed to get out of summer with no new debt, but minimal additional savings. I think I have to just accept that as our pattern. For years the summer added a LOT of debt, so this is definitely a positive step.

 

[Tygerlilly]

I started Christmas shopping last month. Just picking up a few smaller things here and there that I saw on clearance. Oldest kiddo has a birthday in November so I've been trying to grab a few extra things for her. We're going to Houston for her birthday so I plan to bring a few gifts with us, but mainly plan to let her pick out a couple extra things while we're down there.

I'd love to see an update on everyone's progress! 2025 is wrapping up in a few months... how are we doing on our goals?

After 2 years of staying home, I'm looking at going back to work because everything has increased so much we're not accomplishing anything. It sucks. We both hate it. But hopefully I can spend a year knocking out everything I can and can quit again.

 

[pblack]

2025 Goals (subject to change):

End of September update.

Financial -
[ ] Get home equity loan down to $20k - Currently sitting at just under~$21000. I think I'll be close to hitting my goal.
[ ] 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 - I've honestly lost track of what this number should be. I've had to change up my auto contributions some with my husbands new job and being paid less. So I'm going to say we're probably at about half ($2k) with for sure another $900 going in between now and the end of the year.


Personal -
[ ] Exercise - get my body moving. Stay focused on eating healthier. Stay focused on getting more protein in my day. - I don't wanna talk about this lol.
[ ] Replace our patio cover - We've decided to move this to next year. We're going to try and limp our current patio cover along for one more winter. We were out there over the weekend trying to seal up the areas that it leaks. Did it work? No idea, but hopefully it'll be better than it was. It's definitely not pretty though.
[ ] 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). - I'm going to go ahead and say this is complete! We do still need to make our bar top area where the old fence used to be, but at this point it will probably be a spring project. We won't really be using our backyard to host people between now and the end of the year, so this being pushed off to spring isn't a huge issue.

Before pic:


Before pic:


After pic (sorry the quality isn't great, I took a screenshot from my Ring camera since it gives a better overview):

Please ignore the boxes, those need to be broken down and thrown away. All in all i'm pretty proud/impressed with how it turned out. 98% of the work was done by just my husband and I, only using hand tools since that's all we had to work with. The other 2% came from some friends that came over to help my husband with setting the posts for the new fence.

I think that's really about it as far as updates go. I don't expect to make much extra progress on my remaining goal between now and the end of the year.

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

I finally hit $1k for my emergency fund. So I've got some questions.

Right now, it's just sitting in a regular checking account at our current bank that we have access to on our mobile app. Should I just leave it there? It's just a checking account like our other 3 and doesn't bring in any interest. But there's also no fees or penalties should we need to draw from it in an emergency or should we need it to make ends meet at the end of the month. Or should I look into a HYSA or other savings account whether through my current bank or another bank?

My next question is this, should I just use the $1k to pay off my 2 CCs (about $800 total) then use the $60/month I would be paying on the CCs back into the savings account? It will take me about 12 months to build it back up to $1k, but I would have my CCs paid off (I wouldn't close them since it would help build my credit score). However, we'd be in trouble should something happen like a dishwasher going out, etc.

 

[LadybugsMum]

Keep the $1k in the savings account. You'll need quick access to it when a tire blows or the oven breaks.

 

[Bellex917]

I finally hit $1k for my emergency fund. So I've got some questions.

Right now, it's just sitting in a regular checking account at our current bank that we have access to on our mobile app. Should I just leave it there? It's just a checking account like our other 3 and doesn't bring in any interest. But there's also no fees or penalties should we need to draw from it in an emergency or should we need it to make ends meet at the end of the month. Or should I look into a HYSA or other savings account whether through my current bank or another bank?

My next question is this, should I just use the $1k to pay off my 2 CCs (about $800 total) then use the $60/month I would be paying on the CCs back into the savings account? It will take me about 12 months to build it back up to $1k, but I would have my CCs paid off (I wouldn't close them since it would help build my credit score). However, we'd be in trouble should something happen like a dishwasher going out, etc.

Leave it where it is.

Pay off your debt.

THEN open a HYSA and keep the rest of your savings there.

I keep about 3k in my local bank savings for "quick grab" emergency money, and the rest in a HYSA that takes a few days to transfer over if needed

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

Thank you. I just worry about it being right there and ready to transfer at the drop of a hat. I'm afraid we'll get to the end of the month and not have enough for groceries then we'll just take a little out here. Then a little out there and so on.

Leave it where it is.

Pay off your debt.

THEN open a HYSA and keep the rest of your savings there.

I keep about 3k in my local bank savings for "quick grab" emergency money, and the rest in a HYSA that takes a few days to transfer over if needed

 

[Bellex917]

Thank you. I just worry about it being right there and ready to transfer at the drop of a hat. I'm afraid we'll get to the end of the month and not have enough for groceries then we'll just take a little out here. Then a little out there and so on.

This is where you have to practice exercising discipline. You just CAN'T. An emergency fund cannot be used for those purposes. You have to act like it doesn't exist. I know how much I have, but it is not mine. I don't look at it as money I have. It's invisible.

 

[Tygerlilly]

I finally hit $1k for my emergency fund. So I've got some questions.

Right now, it's just sitting in a regular checking account at our current bank that we have access to on our mobile app. Should I just leave it there? It's just a checking account like our other 3 and doesn't bring in any interest. But there's also no fees or penalties should we need to draw from it in an emergency or should we need it to make ends meet at the end of the month. Or should I look into a HYSA or other savings account whether through my current bank or another bank?

My next question is this, should I just use the $1k to pay off my 2 CCs (about $800 total) then use the $60/month I would be paying on the CCs back into the savings account? It will take me about 12 months to build it back up to $1k, but I would have my CCs paid off (I wouldn't close them since it would help build my credit score). However, we'd be in trouble should something happen like a dishwasher going out, etc.

Good job. Leave the EF alone. The whole point of it is to have it accessible if there's an emergency, not to pay off bills or credit cards. It's there so if you need a new tire cause yours blew out, then you don't need to use a credit card.

 

[Sheree]

Thank you. I just worry about it being right there and ready to transfer at the drop of a hat. I'm afraid we'll get to the end of the month and not have enough for groceries then we'll just take a little out here. Then a little out there and so on.

can you remove the account from your app so you can't transfer it easily?

btw congrats

 

[barkley]

keep the emergency fund so that you don't end up in another situation where you have to resort to one of those 'payday loan' kind of places in a real emergency. if you are even questioning your resolve on not dipping into b/c of easy access to it I would put it into a separate account in another institution and don't set up an app for that one on your phone. I personally like credit unions b/c they frequently offer a better interest rate on lower dollar accounts to encourage saving (mine pays 5.15% on the first 500 then an average rate on the remaining balance-and no fees) . you might see if there's one near enough to you to be able to access in an emergency but not so close that you're tempted to do non emergency withdrawls (and just decline the debit card when they offer it wherever you get an account).

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

Thanks everyone. I also posted in the budgeting group on Facebook. And the majority of responses on there was to pay off the CCs then rebuild the EF. Then if we have an emergency before the EF is rebuilt, we can use the CC to deal with the emergency. They're saying that because the amount of money I'd be saving on interest by paying off the CC is more than the amount of money I'd be getting on interest from the EF. I know what DR says, but what are your thoughts on that?

 

[FreeTime]

Thanks everyone. I also posted in the budgeting group on Facebook. And the majority of responses on there was to pay off the CCs then rebuild the EF. Then if we have an emergency before the EF is rebuilt, we can use the CC to deal with the emergency. They're saying that because the amount of money I'd be saving on interest by paying off the CC is more than the amount of money I'd be getting on interest from the EF. I know what DR says, but what are your thoughts on that?

Congrats on saving. Keep the $1000 in your EF. Now, reflect on how you got the money there? Extra hours? Side job? Eating in? Apply the same method to start chipping away at the cc. It should not take you very long to get them paid off. You should easily be able to make $800 part time in a month. With the holiday season coming up, start looking for a seasonal job now. Cancel that Disney trip if you haven’t already taken it. Do not use the savings to pay the cards offs. It is only for emergencies!

 

[afan]

Thanks everyone. I also posted in the budgeting group on Facebook. And the majority of responses on there was to pay off the CCs then rebuild the EF. Then if we have an emergency before the EF is rebuilt, we can use the CC to deal with the emergency. They're saying that because the amount of money I'd be saving on interest by paying off the CC is more than the amount of money I'd be getting on interest from the EF. I know what DR says, but what are your thoughts on that?

Both amounts are small enough that having the EF should an actual emergency happen is far better than using a card and then having to deal with more debt.

Also I don't understand the worry about the dishwasher breaking. Your landlord should fix things that break in the rental unless it broke because of something you did.