Debt Dumpers 2025

[Tygerlilly]

Not to corrupt you.. I know we're the Debt Dumpers thread but the I Love Credit Cards thread could probably show you how you can get cc points to cover the flights.

Yes, I've lurked in that thread for a while now. I'm just not in the situation yet to play the credit card game. I'm insanely jealous of everyone who can travel hack tho! Hopefully in a few years I can get to that point to join in!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I discovered this Debt Snowball calculator. It will show you when you'll be out of debt and shows the payments along the way.
https://undebt.it/debt-snowball-calculator.php
You don't have to create an account to try it.

Even if you're not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel yet, hopefully this lights your way.

 

[Tygerlilly]

I discovered this Debt Snowball calculator. It will show you when you'll be out of debt and shows the payments along the way.
https://undebt.it/debt-snowball-calculator.php
You don't have to create an account to try it.

Even if you're not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel yet, hopefully this lights your way.

Decided to play around on it a minute and did a very rough estimate at the CC debt we have and input it all. If we follow only the snowball with doing an extra $30/month above just the min payments, we can knock our CC debt out in a year. Obviously I want to do that faster, but interesting to see it can happen fairly quickly.

 

[barkley]

Decided to play around on it a minute and did a very rough estimate at the CC debt we have and input it all. If we follow only the snowball with doing an extra $30/month above just the min payments, we can knock our CC debt out in a year. Obviously I want to do that faster, but interesting to see it can happen fairly quickly.

those calculators can be addictive AND encouraging-have a few extra dollars at the end of the month? plug into the calculator how many days that will eat off the end date and it becomes a habit. we used a similar type for our mortgage and anytime I got a little rebate check or a utility bill ran a bit lower than expected I would plug in the numbers and see the days dropping off and the end date getting closer.

 

[firefly_ris]

Has anyone here ever put a large, lump sum on their mortgage principal, and then had the loan re-cast? Did you feel it was worth having it re-cast or if you did it again, would you simply keep with the remaining schedule as-is? Just trying to get some ideas together.

 

[FreeTime]

Has anyone here ever put a large, lump sum on their mortgage principal, and then had the loan re-cast? Did you feel it was worth having it re-cast or if you did it again, would you simply keep with the remaining schedule as-is? Just trying to get some ideas together.

I worked for a lender where we handled recasts. I would personally keep the schedule as is and just apply the lump sum payment.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Has anyone here ever put a large, lump sum on their mortgage principal, and then had the loan re-cast? Did you feel it was worth having it re-cast or if you did it again, would you simply keep with the remaining schedule as-is? Just trying to get some ideas together.

I never did but would just say to make sure it's applied to principal or they will consider it a future payment by default. Sure, it's nice to be paid up through February but if the goal was to reduce the interest being charged, you have to tell them it's going to the principal.
You probably know this already but just saying for anyone lurking.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

When we refinanced in 2020 my husband just applied additional monies towards the principal, ensuring it's a payment strictly made to the principal only, to maintain the loan repayment term as opposed to pushing it out further. But we didn't do a recast. He didn't make a large payment just an additional payment each month to better align with what it was previously on the loan term. This was a more conservative approach as it meant if we needed the additional money we could take it.

In our case we've refinanced twice, once about 1 1/2 years-2 years into the loan as the home appreciated enough in that timeframe the PMI could be gone (which wasn't super super high to begin with). For context our home was a new build and the value is first calculated off the price the home was when you signed the contract. Then each January 1st the state requires the homes to be re-valued at "fair market value". We also got a slight reduction in interest rate (which was a combined goal with the PMI to be removed). The 2020 refinanced was purely to get a lower interest rate although it wasn't like a dramatic (when thinking about how high the interest rates have gotten) drop since our interest rate was already pretty low (in historical terms).

I think recasting vs just applying additional payments on the principal can come down to your own comfort level. But I can also see it could depend on what other debt someone may have. To me mortgage payment is a more steady payment structure, something like CC debt or a medical situation or a car situation can be a more sudden uptick in an expenditure.

Both my husband and I paid our Federal student loans each month even when there was a pause in interest rates and payments but knew that if we had to we could take that money and use it elsewhere. I also paid an additional payment (almost equal to a full month's payment) towards one of my private student loans each month knowing that if need be the extra $50 I was spending could be used elsewhere if need be. I also applied a large lump sump payment towards my other private student loan which helped lower the monthly payment for about 6 months or so....until the Federal government increased the interest rates which affected my loan so that ended up being nearly nullified. Luckily our student loans have been gone for several years now.

 

[pblack]

2025 Goals (subject to change):

End of the year update:

Financial -
[ ] Get home equity loan down to $20k - Once I make my December payment this should be sitting at roughly $21k. So I won't end up hitting my goal, but I got pretty close.
[ ] 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. We are currently roughly $4k away from hitting our 6 months savings goal. I don't remember what number I started at at the beginning of the year, but I haven't pulled any money from this savings at all so I feel like my math or something was off at the beginning of the year when I made the goal. New goal for next year will be finding a better way to keep track.


Personal -
[ ] Exercise - get my body moving. Stay focused on eating healthier. Stay focused on getting more protein in my day. - I've definitely slacked off on the exercise over the last couple months. Over the Thanksgiving holiday I did finally pull the trigger on a treadmill though. I've been wanting one for awhile, just haven't wanted to spend the money, and i'm hoping with this purchase I can get this goal back on track.
[ ] Replace our patio cover - This will be on my 2026 list.
[ ] 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). - This has been complete and some smaller projects will hopefully be completed in the spring.

I think I definitely need a better way to keep track of my goals for next year since as you can see I lost track on them. This year came with some big changes, mainly my DH switching jobs, so i'm not mad about the progress we've made. I will definitely be thinking about what my 2026 goals will be. Some of these things will carryover into next year, but i'm sure i'll add some new ones as well.

For anyone still making progress on their 2025 goals - you've got this!!

 

[Nettlelondon]

Has anyone here ever put a large, lump sum on their mortgage principal, and then had the loan re-cast? Did you feel it was worth having it re-cast or if you did it again, would you simply keep with the remaining schedule as-is? Just trying to get some ideas together.

The best thing we ever did was overpay our mortgage. We had a mortgage that tracked the base rate - I think it was base +1% so every time the Bank of England changed the rate our mortgage changed but we took it out when rates were relatively high and not expected to increase.

Thankfully this gamble paid off and the rates began to drop not long after but we always kept the repayment the same. The lender would write to us and say your repayment has dropped to £x, I would then phone them and ask to keep it the same. Then we had a savings policy mature and paid off 9% of the original advance in one hit (10% in one year was the maximum overpayment which is how I know it was 9%). This led to a recalculation which dropped the repayment hugely as we were a long way into the term by then. When I phoned to say I want to carry on paying £1000/month, rather than the £200 that they wanted as they were sticking to the original repayment date the agent I spoke to asked if I wanted to just change the repayment to being fixed at £1000 as it was unlikely any interest rate increase would ever take our payment that high. We took years and years off the term. It was great and then the money just went straight in to retirement savings as that had become our priority as the mortgage was the last thing we owed.

 

[disney-inspired]

Happy Thanksgiving! Moving is such a tempting time to go all out and buy new things. Out with the old, in with the new! You'll pay it off in no time. You've got this!

It didn't help that I had literally nothing - had been living at home so just brought my clothes.

 

[Tygerlilly]

It didn't help that I had literally nothing - had been living at home so just brought my clothes.

Don't underestimate the absolute value that is thrift stores, yard sales, or fb marketplace. Especially now! So many people are getting rid of their perfectly unopened gifts from last year for cheap to make room for more stuff they don't want or need. Also plates/bowls etc are SO CHEAP for entire sets. And they're always so nice.

 

[barkley]

Has anyone here ever put a large, lump sum on their mortgage principal, and then had the loan re-cast? Did you feel it was worth having it re-cast or if you did it again, would you simply keep with the remaining schedule as-is? Just trying to get some ideas together.

we did a lump sum on ours but did not recast-we applied it to the principal and continued to pay at the existing payment amount. that said-that lump sum took a good number of years off the life of the loan so when rates dropped we opted to re-fi which dropped our monthly payment BUT we continued to pay at the previous higher payment amount (throwing the extra to principal) which resulted in our paying off MUCH sooner than we had anticipated.

 

[barkley]

Don't underestimate the absolute value that is thrift stores, yard sales, or fb marketplace. Especially now! So many people are getting rid of their perfectly unopened gifts from last year for cheap to make room for more stuff they don't want or need. Also plates/bowls etc are SO CHEAP for entire sets. And they're always so nice.

for sure and if you live anywhere close to any colleges right after Christmas/winter break you will find stuff the students were gifted that their roommates were also gifted (crockpots and air fryers and other kitchen goods in particular).

 

[pblack]

Don't underestimate the absolute value that is thrift stores, yard sales, or fb marketplace. Especially now! So many people are getting rid of their perfectly unopened gifts from last year for cheap to make room for more stuff they don't want or need. Also plates/bowls etc are SO CHEAP for entire sets. And they're always so nice.

Dollar Tree is also a great place for plates/bowls/cups. We still own a set of plates and bowls that we bought like 12 years ago when we first moved in together and they've honestly held up better than the set we got for our wedding.

I'd also suggest your local Buy Nothing group on FB. I can't speak for all of them, but my local one usually posts some good things.