Debt Dumpers 2026

[ruadisneyfan2]

• A. I've banked with them for years and have never had a problem keeping the minimum balance.
• B. They have a branch that is literally within walking distance of my home.
• C. Pretty much every brick and mortar bank in this area charges monthly fees unless you have direct deposit or maintain a minimum balance. This bank has the most friendly terms.

So, no. I won't be closing my account and moving it elsewhere. But you do you.

Congratulations. It's working well for you.

I'm not saying no one should bank at a place with minimum balances, I'm saying no one HAS to. There are free options. This bank has other conveniences that make it worthwhile to you.
Mostly everyone here is trying to get out of debt and improve their finances. Having money that is untouchable without paying a fee isn't really helpful in that situation.

 

[barkley]

Pretty much every brick and mortar bank in this area charges monthly fees unless you have direct deposit or maintain a minimum balance. This bank has the most friendly terms.

that's disappointing-i hate to see that practice. I guess we are fortunate in that we have a wealth of brick and mortar options none of which I'm aware charge for an account. the credit unions actually encourage joining with inflated interest paid on the base savings account (or share as they call it) associated with your checking (and any other) accounts you set up. the one I use charges no fees and pays 5.01% on the first $500 in that base account.

 

[LadybugsMum]

Joining this thread. Those in the 2025 thread know that I was laid off in early December. So my main goal for the first quarter is to find a job! I was very lucky with severance and I am also getting the bonus that I would have received. I will be putting the majority of that into savings in case the job search lasts longer than expected. However, I did pay off 2 debts with some of the extra money. One personal loan with $3k left and I paid off my fridge. Now, I have just have one loan and 2 cc debts left.

Here's a question - do I pay of my DVC dues in a lump sum ($4300) or do I do the monthly payment ($358) until I have a job? I'm leaning heavily to the latter, but it would be nice to just not have that payment.

 

[Cfabar1]

Lump sum for now, then when you get your feet you can bay the balance.

 

[barkley]

Joining this thread. Those in the 2025 thread know that I was laid off in early December. So my main goal for the first quarter is to find a job! I was very lucky with severance and I am also getting the bonus that I would have received. I will be putting the majority of that into savings in case the job search lasts longer than expected. However, I did pay off 2 debts with some of the extra money. One personal loan with $3k left and I paid off my fridge. Now, I have just have one loan and 2 cc debts left.

Here's a question - do I pay of my DVC dues in a lump sum ($4300) or do I do the monthly payment ($358) until I have a job? I'm leaning heavily to the latter, but it would be nice to just not have that payment.

if there's no advantage to prepaying for the year (I can't remember how it works-i owned and sold my dvc years ago) I would pay month by month on the dues if only to have that extra cushion in my savings. if there is some kind of repair or replacement need (like when you replaced your fridge) you might be less stressed being able to pay upront for it vs knowing you have your dues paid through 12/26.

 

[Willow Ufgood]

Here's a question - do I pay of my DVC dues in a lump sum ($4300) or do I do the monthly payment ($358) until I have a job? I'm leaning heavily to the latter, but it would be nice to just not have that payment.

DVC doesn't discount for pre-payments and they don't charge interest if you pay monthly. Set up the automatic EFT to be paid monthly and when you're on your feet, pay the lump sum if you're so inclined. The rule of thumb when you're out of work is that cash is king and you want to keep as much in your pocket as you can until you find another job.

 

[Nettlelondon]

We are off to Whistler for a holiday in a few weeks - nephew's 21st. He and his family, and DH, love skiing. Not for me at all. I last did a trip like this 17 years ago, mainly as possible childcare for said nephew if he hated ski school. We went to Canada as he could go in to ski school at 4, whereas Europe was 5 year minimum. He loved it and has been hooked ever since.

As it is a long time since I have been anywhere that cold I had no suitable clothing and wasn't really looking forward to the likely cost of getting kitted out. However, yesterday I managed to pick up a jacked and trousers in the sales for half price and got sorted for a very acceptable price. DH had been planning to rent a helmet as his is quite old and obviously you don't know what has been happening to the strength of the plastic over the years until the point at which it gets used, and that could be a very unpleasant discovery. However, the helmets were also on offer and he bought a new one for the price of 3 days rental which seemed like a good deal to me. It should fit in our suitcase, if not it will fit in his carry on so that's fine.

So all in all a good shopping trip - sometimes there is no alternative to spending money but there is no need to go silly, The funds are sitting in an account waiting to be used for anything related to this trip. I suspect we will go over budget but it is not often we do a trip like this so it will be worth it.

We can do laundry whilst we are away so won't need to purchase too much by way of base layers which reduces the possible expenditure there.

 

[firefly_ris]

January is off to an expensive start. I was going to start off the year on a high point by doing 1/4th of one of my goals which is 4 extra mortgage principal payments, but I think I'm going to hold off until February just to soften the blow.

We are heading to Orlando at the end of the month for 5 days to take advantage of my husband's work retreat at Vistana (his flight covered, room covered, rental covered -- drastically reduces overall cost). The kids and I will do 2 days at Disney this time. Husband's schedule won't allow him to participate so just us this time unfortunately. We decided on one full day at MK, for which I haven't bought the tickets yet, and an EPCOT After Hours event ticket. I pulled out what I *thought* was a used Disney gift card just to throw whatever balance was left on it at those tickets to reduce the cost a little -- turns out it was a fresh, unused $450 gift card. Not sure how in the world I overlooked that from last year (bought them at Sam's Club). So I only ended up "spending" $271 for 4 After Hours tickets (thank you, past me for spending that money last year instead). So when I buy the MK tickets I won't feel as bad, ha.

We had an unexpected gift in late December, which I am very grateful for, but of course there is cost attached. My parents finally chose a new vehicle, so they gifted us their older 2010 Journey for a car to have once the kids start driving (my oldest will be 16 in a few months). It was free, but needed about $1000 worth of work (heater core, seized rear calipers, rear pads, 2 front tires, and an undercoating), plus NY registration and inspection fees, and of course the cost of adding it to our insurance policy. But all-in not bad, I know the entire service history of the car, and for WNY most importantly, it's from Maryland and the body condition is like new compared to any 16 year old vehicle native to Buffalo. I had cash on hand to take care of all of these costs so no problem (good job E-Fund), but of course now I just re-adjust the first couple months of the year to re-coup and re-organize funds a bit. Now I drive it 2 or 3 times per week to keep everything moving and bonus, keeps a couple extra miles off my truck.

I am however dreading what our insurance premium is going to look like once I start adding teen drivers. Bleh.

So between the Orlando trip and the car and Christmas, all still good but just waiting until next month to start knocking out some goals.

My hope is that if I can stomach 4 extra mortgage payments this year, next year I will be more comfortable upping it to 6 or 8 even. Watching that "interest paid over time" number go down will be my big motivator.

 

[LadybugsMum]

DVC dues have been set up to pay monthly. Let's hope the job search is brief.

 

[firefly_ris]

Joining this thread. Those in the 2025 thread know that I was laid off in early December. So my main goal for the first quarter is to find a job! I was very lucky with severance and I am also getting the bonus that I would have received. I will be putting the majority of that into savings in case the job search lasts longer than expected. However, I did pay off 2 debts with some of the extra money. One personal loan with $3k left and I paid off my fridge. Now, I have just have one loan and 2 cc debts left.

Here's a question - do I pay of my DVC dues in a lump sum ($4300) or do I do the monthly payment ($358) until I have a job? I'm leaning heavily to the latter, but it would be nice to just not have that payment.

I hope you are able to find something soon! Good luck to you. Getting laid off blows.

For the dues, if there is no added benefit to paying all at once, and if there is no interest accrued paying monthly, then I would continue paying monthly. Keep cash on hand in case the job search takes longer.

Even after you get a job, to me might make more sense to just keep that monthly and focus on throwing more at the remaining credit cards since that interest is killer.

 

[LadybugsMum]

I hope you are able to find something soon! Good luck to you. Getting laid off blows.

For the dues, if there is no added benefit to paying all at once, and if there is no interest accrued paying monthly, then I would continue paying monthly. Keep cash on hand in case the job search takes longer.

Even after you get a job, to me might make more sense to just keep that monthly and focus on throwing more at the remaining credit cards since that interest is killer.

Overall, I tend to prefer the debt snowball and pay off the lower balance items first as that gives me momentum for the larger items and frees up money to add to the larger item payments. If I can get a job before the severance runs out then I'll have a nice chunk to pay down some of my debt.

 

[AliceandPete]

Joining this thread. Those in the 2025 thread know that I was laid off in early December. So my main goal for the first quarter is to find a job! I was very lucky with severance and I am also getting the bonus that I would have received. I will be putting the majority of that into savings in case the job search lasts longer than expected. However, I did pay off 2 debts with some of the extra money. One personal loan with $3k left and I paid off my fridge. Now, I have just have one loan and 2 cc debts left.

Here's a question - do I pay of my DVC dues in a lump sum ($4300) or do I do the monthly payment ($358) until I have a job? I'm leaning heavily to the latter, but it would be nice to just not have that payment.

My husband had a permanent layoff in early November too. I know the stress and worry that comes with that ( he’s the main earner in our home). So all my fingers and toes are crossed for your job search.

To update on our situation, round one of interviews went really well for my husband in mid December. There was a big pause for the holiday period and round two is at the end of this week. So we are ok and just waiting patiently for this to pan out. I’m cautiously hopeful.

The minute he is employed again I’ll pay off the credit card with savings and restart investments.

We have one car loan with about 13.5k left. I think I want to knock that out this year. I don’t feel comfortable with debt anymore. I just want it all gone and to focus on building as much of a buffer as we can. If life has taught me anything it’s that a curveball is always coming.

 

[LadybugsMum]

If life has taught me anything it’s that a curveball is always coming.

This right here!

 

[barkley]

I am however dreading what our insurance premium is going to look like once I start adding teen drivers. Bleh.

well ahead of time find out what your insurance company offers/accepts for teen driver discounts. with ours (when ours was new driver age) there was an online class they took for one discount and if they took a more enhanced form of driver's training (schools don't offer it here-it's all private and you pay out of pocket) there was another. there was also the 'good student discount' (maintain a 3.0 gpa) that we had to send in periodic report cards for. the BIGGEST savings for us though was that our young driver decided not to get a license until age 18. we were fully willing at 16 but nerves and availability of other transportation made them not as eager as I/dh remember being (allot of their friends of the same age range also opted not to). insurance agent said the premium savings (on the increase portion) was something like 40% by waiting.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

well ahead of time find out what your insurance company offers/accepts for teen driver discounts. with ours (when ours was new driver age) there was an online class they took for one discount and if they took a more enhanced form of driver's training (schools don't offer it here-it's all private and you pay out of pocket) there was another. there was also the 'good student discount' (maintain a 3.0 gpa) that we had to send in periodic report cards for. the BIGGEST savings for us though was that our young driver decided not to get a license until age 18. we were fully willing at 16 but nerves and availability of other transportation made them not as eager as I/dh remember being (allot of their friends of the same age range also opted not to). insurance agent said the premium savings (on the increase portion) was something like 40% by waiting.

That depends on how the insurance company is written and filed with each state and subject to each state's insurance laws.

The insurance company I used to work for once a child reached the age of 16 regardless of having only a learner's permit (or not even that) they were rated on the policy. Certain states you could for 1 term only (meaning 6 months for a 6 month policy or 12 months for a 12 month policy) return that particular individual to a non-rated status but it was only for one term. That was the rule in the 30+ states they wrote in minus 1 and only 1 state that prohibited a non-full DL's individual from being rated on the policy. The rules didn't change even though states have progressively moved the age of DL to 17 (or 17 1/2); they may have now I'm not sure but they didn't back then.

So that is just something a person has to check on how their exact insurance policy is written, some will require you to notify immediately upon the driver getting a permit, some when they get a license, some an automatic age. And this is where I'll be honest that you (general you) need to be honest because you do not want to be at risk of a claim being denied and/or dropped coverage because you were trying to save some money. It won't be worth it in the end. And don't just trust what your agent says, sometimes they make mistakes or advise more risky stuff to their clients. Check what is in your policy terms are and if you're not given the full documents via your renewal documents request the full entire policy coverage that spells out all the stuff even though truthfully most is written in legalese.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

My husband had a permanent layoff in early November too. I know the stress and worry that comes with that ( he’s the main earner in our home). So all my fingers and toes are crossed for your job search.

To update on our situation, round one of interviews went really well for my husband in mid December. There was a big pause for the holiday period and round two is at the end of this week. So we are ok and just waiting patiently for this to pan out. I’m cautiously hopeful.

I'm not sure what industry your husband is in but I know for my husband in engineering it's actually been a lot of work with recruiters themselves reaching out. He actually just got a text last weekend from one he hadn't heard of in many years asking if he was interested in this other company. The income scale however was absolutely nowhere near what he is currently making and he's not interested in leaving his present company (he's been working there for now almost 4 years after working at his prior company for 15yrs that he left due to stagnation in his career).

Hopefully the interviews for your husband goes well and for success for ladybugsmum

 

[barkley]

The insurance company I used to work for once a child reached the age of 16 regardless of having only a learner's permit (or not even that) they were rated on the policy.

so even if a person will NEVER drive they are still being charged for? that's awful! I think of homes with seniors who have voluntarily given up licenses, younger people who have disabilities that preclude them from driving or just younger that opt not to (I believe the stats back a few years ago showed that people under age 25 without licenses had dropped from 80% in the 1980's to 60% currently). I must have a company that does'nt do this b/c nothing happened when my oldest hit any of these ages until I notified them of aquiring a permit/license. with my youngest-he will never drive and is approaching 29 without ever making an impact on our coverage/premiums.

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

Overall, I tend to prefer the debt snowball and pay off the lower balance items first as that gives me momentum for the larger items and frees up money to add to the larger item payments. If I can get a job before the severance runs out then I'll have a nice chunk to pay down some of my debt.

This is what I'm preferring too. My coworkers are all like no no no. You pay the highest debt/highest APR first. That would be my car at 23.9%. But my coworkers also say I don't need an EF. If my fridge goes out or something like that happen, they say to either finance it at the store or just put it on a CC.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

so even if a person will NEVER drive they are still being charged for? that's awful! I think of homes with seniors who have voluntarily given up licenses, younger people who have disabilities that preclude them from driving or just younger that opt not to (I believe the stats back a few years ago showed that people under age 25 without licenses had dropped from 80% in the 1980's to 60% currently). I must have a company that does'nt do this b/c nothing happened when my oldest hit any of these ages until I notified them of aquiring a permit/license. with my youngest-he will never drive and is approaching 29 without ever making an impact on our coverage/premiums.

Yes even if a person never drives. At least at that insurance company with the states they were in state law only permitted a handful of states to have what was called a "non-driver's" status. For youth drivers if they just had a permit it would be coded as "permitted" but only for that one term except for that one state that prohibited permitted drivers from being rated. Another status that was newer under a newer product took into account college students, there was away at college with or without a vehicle.

The insurance company's main guideline was "rated or excluded" and the majority of people couldn't be excluded (a registered owner even if located states away for example couldn't be excluded). A few states allowed a spouse to be excluded but that was rare (spouses are considered one entity that's why). There was a status for "surrendered license" that you're talking about but again that is state by state as well as marital status (meaning some states could allow a spouse to be listed as surrendered license others didn't). Disabled is also a code that would vary by state. Basically with them it was all drivers are rated unless they are Y (as permitted by state law some code that prevents them from being rated).

The vast majority of people don't add their kids onto the policy UNTIL they get a DL that's why it's probably not generally talked about what the insurance company and the product the person is under has for rules because people don't often proactively add their children in before they get a permit, even when they get a permit. Many years ago the insurance company I worked for had a "new parent" discount which would incentivize parents to add their children in when they were young.

The documents you get when you first sign up with a company entails what you are supposed to do from disclosure of all drivers to disclosure of all individuals in the household and then the system can code them how the insurance company wants them to be disclosed and not all insurance companies may require you to notify them unless a certain condition is met. I was in underwriting and I non-renewed a lot of policies for unrated exposures as that was in part what my job entailed. The majority were found out because the person was involved in an accident and they wanted the insurance company to cover it. Some were found by accidental disclosure, either by the agent calling up saying "my insureds just told me..." or by the agent's own omission to which I couldn't just ignore legally speaking.

There's a mixture of stuff going on here. There's state law, there's the product the person is under within an insurance company and then there's how an insurance company is filed with the state for compliance reasons. Some states are incredibly strict themselves on their insurance commission where you'll commit perjury if you don't disclose everyone in the household.

And while I know it's like far from our present-day minds back when same-sex marriage wasn't legalized we couldn't rate people as married if they were in a same-sex marriage (this affect the rates usually lowering the rates), then it was a state by state thing where we knew this state legalized it so we could go ahead and change people's status, then after the legalization in 2015 by the Fed government level it could apply to everyone but that's just adding in an extra detail about how things can be very state by state at times.

The insurance company I worked for risk and exposure was one of the main things to them so they were quite often very strict on this. Another insurance company may have something else they are strict on. It's just one of those things you have to know what your particular insurance company is set up as. It's not across the board treated the same.

 

[piglet1979]

I have 2 goals for this year. One is to pay off my car. This should happen in May. Once it is paid off then the only debt we have left is the mortgage. The other is to sign papers to build a new house. We have been looking but right now just saving as much as we can so hopefully by the spring/summer we will be able to start building.

Personal goals -- I would like to lose 10 pounds this year and get rid of the clutter we have in this house so when we do move it will be easier to pack and move.