Debt Dumpers 2026

[ruadisneyfan2]

Lots of great advice all around - and the idea of continuing to live like you are without that extra raise is the best thing you can do...

as to where to put the next dollar, I'd personally try to get that car loan paid off as soon as possible... that interest rate is really really steep...

Not sure where your EF is - the Money Guy Show thinks of step 1 as "deductibles covered" - where step 1 is having an EF equal to your single highest deductible. For some people that could be a modest say $500 or so - for those of us who live in hurricane prone areas, or those of us with HDHPs that could be $10-15k...

So, if your EF were really really low I would maybe go there...

The one other thought I have is - at least for me - it is hard personally to commit to two goals at once i.e. saving more for retirement AND paying down debt. Might be better to go full boar on one over the other. That's what I would need to do personally.

I agree with both of these points completely. I only know how to be gazelle intense at one thing. Anything else just feels like I'm back to my old ways, pre-DR, throwing a little here, a little there and not seeing much progress.

Our debt has been paid off for years but I still calculate my snowball every paycheck; it just goes to savings instead. Even with that I have different goals from time to time. Right now I'm saving for my next car. My current one is 10 years old and it's still a great car and I still like it. It's about to hit 60k miles but I'd prefer to be ready for when I do need another one and I'd like to not have to take out a loan.

 

[pblack]

Finally added up our costs for replacing our patio roof panels and in total it came out to about $800. If we had replaced the entire patio cover we were looking at a minimum of $2000, likely more as we possibly would have hired professionals for it. I'll take the cost savings!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I really hate when something a company is doing breaks down like that and its on you to fix it. Every year my home insurance is supposed to send the updated documents to my bank. Every year, they fail to do it. And it's one of those things where insurance says "Well, if they don't get it, they can just request it!" and then the bank says, "Well, do you even have us on the insurance docs???" and I'm always like "Yes. Obviously. This happens every year."

And in the end I just have to download and send them in myself. But what really gets me is this happen EVERY YEAR so I try to be proactive and get them in myself, but if on the off chance something comes up (one year we were traveling and I had been ASSURED things were finally worked out) I came home to threatening letters from the bank that they were just going to buy insurance for me.

Like guys, look at the history of the account and figure it out please.

That is absolutely crazy and shouldn't be happening. If it's every year I would actually question if the mortgage company is listed correctly on your policy, being listed on your policy and being listed correctly (including exact name, address and under the correct line item) are two different things.

The only thing with mortgage companies is they can switch frequently by that I mean who owns your loan or who services your loan. We've gone through multiple companies and funny enough our current loan servicer is one we had years back. On the very first loan of our house it was from People's Bank IIRC but the loan was sent about 6months later to a different office so even though the docs would show People's Bank all documentation and all insurance bills needed to be sent to a different address. Then we had where the servicer of our loan changed. In all these cases though once it was updated on the insurance policy via our agent everything was fine so this is where I really would question if the information on your insurance company is accurate especially the address of the mortgage company, especially where they are listed on the policy. Unless the insurance company you have does not do digital transmission of information (meaning they don't digitally transmit the information to your mortgage company) which would seem quite unlikely.

 

[disney-inspired]

Hi All, hope you're doing well on your debt dumping journeys. I've been MIA for a bit, just busy with work and my mom visiting this month.

My goal right now is to not accrue new debt while I'm paying off my consolidation loan. I cannot wait for this loan to be paid off, it's a large monthly payment but it will all be over in 2 years - DVC paid off as well. Still trying to see how I can pay it off faster but don't want to leave myself with no fun money - that tends to push me into reckless spending; a reaction to being too restrictive. I think I may also move to cash for my spending money - object permanence and all that.

I leave for WDW at the end of July, need to save up my food/souvenir/misc money. I bought my ticket using airline points and DVC for the hotel so it's a relatively cheap trip. I really need this break to have some fun with my friend.

I'm planning a cousins WDW trip for next year with my girl cousins - were originally planning early May but looks like it's moving to September, which I prefer for the lower crowds. The heat doesn't really bother me and I've gone during that season a few times now. Super excited as two of them have never been and we haven't seen them in a really long time.

 

[EilonwyWanderer]

That is absolutely crazy and shouldn't be happening. If it's every year I would actually question if the mortgage company is listed correctly on your policy, being listed on your policy and being listed correctly (including exact name, address and under the correct line item) are two different things.

The only thing with mortgage companies is they can switch frequently by that I mean who owns your loan or who services your loan. We've gone through multiple companies and funny enough our current loan servicer is one we had years back. On the very first loan of our house it was from People's Bank IIRC but the loan was sent about 6months later to a different office so even though the docs would show People's Bank all documentation and all insurance bills needed to be sent to a different address. Then we had where the servicer of our loan changed. In all these cases though once it was updated on the insurance policy via our agent everything was fine so this is where I really would question if the information on your insurance company is accurate especially the address of the mortgage company, especially where they are listed on the policy. Unless the insurance company you have does not do digital transmission of information (meaning they don't digitally transmit the information to your mortgage company) which would seem quite unlikely.

I confirm every year that it is correct and is listed correctly. It's extremely frustrating. It just becomes a big game of "They need to send it to us" "They need to request it so we can send it" in a circle.

 

[QueenIsabella]

Not truly a "debt dumper" thing, but we cancelled our planned trip to Switzerland for the fall. DS20 is still going for the semester--we had planned to visit him there. But...DS29 wanted to go. DD23 wanted to go. (DD30 is visiting him separately, over Thanksgiving--that's still a "go".) I started pricing out hotels/ Air B&B's, flights, and the trip would be an easy $10k. On top of our Iceland trip--we leave next week--I just thought it was a lot of money going out. We can afford it, but--I don't want to be counting every penny while we're in Iceland.

 

[huggybuff]

My goal right now is to not accrue new debt while I'm paying off my consolidation loan. I cannot wait for this loan to be paid off, it's a large monthly payment but it will all be over in 2 years - DVC paid off as well. Still trying to see how I can pay it off faster but don't want to leave myself with no fun money - that tends to push me into reckless spending; a reaction to being too restrictive. I think I may also move to cash for my spending money - object permanence and all that.

You're doing great. I went the debt consolidation route for my old debt as well. It's hard to see such a big chunk of change going out every month, but you'll be so grateful when it's paid off. It's a huge relief. I also think you have the right idea to use cash/debit for your spending for the time being. Good luck!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I confirm every year that it is correct and is listed correctly. It's extremely frustrating. It just becomes a big game of "They need to send it to us" "They need to request it so we can send it" in a circle.

Geez that sounds incredibly frustrating to deal with

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Not truly a "debt dumper" thing, but we cancelled our planned trip to Switzerland for the fall. DS20 is still going for the semester--we had planned to visit him there. But...DS29 wanted to go. DD23 wanted to go. (DD30 is visiting him separately, over Thanksgiving--that's still a "go".) I started pricing out hotels/ Air B&B's, flights, and the trip would be an easy $10k. On top of our Iceland trip--we leave next week--I just thought it was a lot of money going out. We can afford it, but--I don't want to be counting every penny while we're in Iceland.

Switzerland is widely known to be the most expensive destination out there. ETA: we're doing the Swiss Travel Pass which basically covers almost all public transit (except mountain cable cars which typically are 50% off with the Pass or certain trains) and covers a ton of museums as well as offers free entry to other things and that is $1,050 per person USD for 15 days. Financially it may not give us the best but because it means we don't have to worry about doing tickets each and every time like we did in Japan when we opted to not get the JRail pass after it went through a huge increase it will help us out there.

We'll be there next month into August. Because of its expense we opted to do a lesser vacation in terms of time and grandeur for the other vacation we'd do this year and that's why we did Costa Rica last month for 7 days.

TBH you're really late to booking stuff for September anyhow between flights (we booked ours last year) to hotels. That's only 3 months away and is really very late to doing that stuff for Switzerland. Things are much more expensive the longer you wait for a place like that most especially for a place like that.


Maybe next year for y'all??

 

[QueenIsabella]

Switzerland is widely known to be the most expensive destination out there. ETA: we're doing the Swiss Travel Pass which basically covers almost all public transit (except mountain cable cars which typically are 50% off with the Pass or certain trains) and covers a ton of museums as well as offers free entry to other things and that is $1,050 per person USD for 15 days. Financially it may not give us the best but because it means we don't have to worry about doing tickets each and every time like we did in Japan when we opted to not get the JRail pass after it went through a huge increase it will help us out there.

We'll be there next month into August. Because of its expense we opted to do a lesser vacation in terms of time and grandeur for the other vacation we'd do this year and that's why we did Costa Rica last month for 7 days.

TBH you're really late to booking stuff for September anyhow between flights (we booked ours last year) to hotels. That's only 3 months away and is really very late to doing that stuff for Switzerland. Things are much more expensive the longer you wait for a place like that most especially for a place like that.


Maybe next year for y'all??

You must have missed the part where I said my son was going to Switzerland for a semester abroad. He just got accepted a couple weeks ago, there was no choice in timing of either the trip or the planning.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

You must have missed the part where I said my son was going to Switzerland for a semester abroad. He just got accepted a couple weeks ago, there was no choice in timing of either the trip or the planning.

You're right I missed the semester abroad. If he likes it no reason to not try and do a try and do a trip together next year he could show you around but absolutely do it a lot further in advance for it if you're wanting to try for lower (relatively speaking) costs, it's unfortunately not a destination you can do with short time and be lower (again relatively speaking) in costs. The upside though is at least with the swiss travel pass you don't have to plan out trains with exception to certain panoramic ones in advance. That is always my annoyance when we travel trying to buy train tickets in advance so we know we actually have a place to sit. With Switzerland I'm finding the apprehensiveness of not actually having much planned in stone as it's incredibly difficult to do so for that country with the weather. Originally I was wanting to go May/June but even that was risky as certain mountain stuff aren't fully open for people yet, one of the trains we're doing only opens up for the season this week. September is on the other end where things start to close back down again, by October you're facing a lot more closures.

 

[QueenIsabella]

You're right I missed the semester abroad. If he likes it no reason to not try and do a try and do a trip together next year he could show you around but absolutely do it a lot further in advance for it if you're wanting to try for lower (relatively speaking) costs, it's unfortunately not a destination you can do with short time and be lower (again relatively speaking) in costs. The upside though is at least with the swiss travel pass you don't have to plan out trains with exception to certain panoramic ones in advance. That is always my annoyance when we travel trying to buy train tickets in advance so we know we actually have a place to sit. With Switzerland I'm finding the apprehensiveness of not actually having much planned in stone as it's incredibly difficult to do so for that country with the weather. Originally I was wanting to go May/June but even that was risky as certain mountain stuff aren't fully open for people yet, one of the trains we're doing only opens up for the season this week. September is on the other end where things start to close back down again, by October you're facing a lot more closures.

Since everyone seemed so interested in Switzerland, I'm definitely game to add it to the Family Bucket List. However, next year's taken--DH is going to Gdansk for 3 weeks, for the Boy Scout World Jamboree. And the year after that, DS20 graduates. I asked if he'd like a big trip--Iceland is for his brother's graduation this past May--and he was thrilled. "How about the Seychelles? Or Uzbekistan!" (did I mention he's an international studies major?). I told him he had to pick a place that people could spell and pronounce! He's already been to Croatia and Bosnia this year, over spring break, so I'm also budgeting for him to go somewhere over spring break next year, as well.

 

[georgina]

Since everyone seemed so interested in Switzerland, I'm definitely game to add it to the Family Bucket List. However, next year's taken--DH is going to Gdansk for 3 weeks, for the Boy Scout World Jamboree. And the year after that, DS20 graduates. I asked if he'd like a big trip--Iceland is for his brother's graduation this past May--and he was thrilled. "How about the Seychelles? Or Uzbekistan!" (did I mention he's an international studies major?). I told him he had to pick a place that people could spell and pronounce! He's already been to Croatia and Bosnia this year, over spring break, so I'm also budgeting for him to go somewhere over spring break next year, as well.

It gets harder the older they get! We are finding planning for a family trip complicated by having grandchildren.

 

[QueenIsabella]

It gets harder the older they get! We are finding planning for a family trip complicated by having grandchildren.

No grandchildren on the horizon, but DD30 is married. So, we typically travel either with 5 or 7 people, which makes the logistics...interesting. For the Iceland trip, the newlyweds aren't going--they just bought a house, so they're busy and poor. We'd pay for the travel, but there would still be snacks and souveniers and the like. It's a pricey endeavour, bringing them all along, but as you say, it's not going to get easier as they get older!

 

[Tygerlilly]

No grandchildren on the horizon, but DD30 is married. So, we typically travel either with 5 or 7 people, which makes the logistics...interesting. For the Iceland trip, the newlyweds aren't going--they just bought a house, so they're busy and poor. We'd pay for the travel, but there would still be snacks and souveniers and the like. It's a pricey endeavour, bringing them all along, but as you say, it's not going to get easier as they get older!

If you can, I hope you will continue, even if logistics get weird.

I wish I could have taken more trips with my parents/grandparents as an adult. My parents both had/have a lot of health problems and couldn't/can't do a lot of travel. It makes me sad sometimes to see all the awesome multigenerational trips families take knowing I never got to do them. It's definitely in my long term goals travel with my adult children and grandchildren and foot the bill on the accommodations/food so they only needed to worry about any souvenirs or things they wanted when we weren't around.

 

[QueenIsabella]

If you can, I hope you will continue, even if logistics get weird.

I wish I could have taken more trips with my parents/grandparents as an adult. My parents both had/have a lot of health problems and couldn't/can't do a lot of travel. It makes me sad sometimes to see all the awesome multigenerational trips families take knowing I never got to do them. It's definitely in my long term goals travel with my adult children and grandchildren and foot the bill on the accommodations/food so they only needed to worry about any souvenirs or things they wanted when we weren't around.

We did Tauck's "Grand Hawaii" trip a few years back--the 7 of us. On that trip was an extended family of 23--I think Grandpa paid, there were three generations (youngest maybe 10). We try to do something similar (with fewer people) every few years. It's the whole "giving with a wrm hand" thing.

 

[Tygerlilly]

We've been trying for years to make a big family trip happen with the whole family and it's never panned out. There's so many of us that unless it is a wedding or funeral, we only all see each other back up "home". I'd love to get the whole family to go somewhere together that isn't where we've always been.

 

[Cfabar1]

Our family is now spread out - so it's the weddings and funerals that become the trips and e get to see each other...

 

[pblack]

We've been trying for years to make a big family trip happen with the whole family and it's never panned out. There's so many of us that unless it is a wedding or funeral, we only all see each other back up "home". I'd love to get the whole family to go somewhere together that isn't where we've always been.

This is how my family is. We've never done a big family trip and since my grandma passed, none of us get together anymore. My parents are poor, oftentimes I have to help supplement them, so trips with them as an adult will never happen unless I foot the bill. Which I could do, but both my parents also have health issues and I just dont have the mental capacity to try and coordinate that.

My husband's family is a bit better at the family trips, but we aren't always able to go since my DH usually can't take the time off. They did pay for all of us to go on a cruise for their 40th anniversary 2 years ago though. Honestly traveling with all of them just makes me realize I dont like traveling with big groups.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

This is how my family is. We've never done a big family trip and since my grandma passed, none of us get together anymore. My parents are poor, oftentimes I have to help supplement them, so trips with them as an adult will never happen unless I foot the bill. Which I could do, but both my parents also have health issues and I just dont have the mental capacity to try and coordinate that.

My husband's family is a bit better at the family trips, but we aren't always able to go since my DH usually can't take the time off. They did pay for all of us to go on a cruise for their 40th anniversary 2 years ago though. Honestly traveling with all of them just makes me realize I dont like traveling with big groups.

Our 3rd Disney cruise was a large group of 19: my parents, my in-laws, some of dh's siblings, their kids or grandkids, etc. We all made an agreement at the time of booking that "it's your vacation too" meaning we don't all need to agree to do everything together. If we only meet up at dinner, that's cool and even if you don't feel like going to dinner, that's cool too. The only day we spent the whole day together was in Cozumel when we got a huge taxi and visited a private beach club, Paradise Beach. (Dh and I still visit there in Cozumel for the memories now that 3 out 4 of our parents are deceased.)

Anyway, it was just enough togetherness without it feeling like too much.