Debt Dumpers 2026

[focusondisney]

We had to put our puppy down.

I’m sorry, that’s really hard.

 

[afan]

It's early in 2026, and I checked this board for 2025 and learned some tips, and mostly, motivation! I think I'm going to try to check in here at least once a month with some personal goals this year.
I am not struggling financially, but there are definitely areas that I want to do better in, and not be so wasteful and just be more conscientious with my spending and work more towards saving instead of spending every penny.

1) One of my biggest pitfalls is Amazon shopping! It is so easy. I tend to order so many things. I also return a ton of stuff. I'm that person going into the UPS store every week or so with a dozen packages to return. While I do a pretty good job at returning what I don't want to keep, I know I am not perfect. I am trying to think of ways to curb the spontaneous buying. When that Amazon bill comes at the end of the month, I can cover it, but I'm shocked at how high it is... and wonder, what did I even get??
How can I improve this? I am thinking of setting a budget or tracker system. Every time I want to place an order, I should go right to my tracker and mark it down. That may help me refrain from unnecessary buying and seeing how it adds up each month. The problem is... I do buy stuff that I really need sometimes. So when that happens, I feel sort of justified in buying all the "other stuff" too. I need to think about this!

2) I also just have too much excess. Clothes is a big issue. I want to sell some things. Ebay used to be great but it's harder now, and hardly any return. FB marketplace is only OK; it's not that active by me for just general women's clothes. During football season, my weekends are dedicated to that. But in a couple weeks that will end, and I want to make a plan to spend a couple hours every weekend at least trying to list some things on Ebay and see if I can even make a few dollars.

I hope to update on these goals each month!

Add things to your cart and don't buy them until you have more than a couple things you need. I often do this because I try not to ship just one item, esp if it's small, but sometimes I end up not ordering it because I don't actually need it.

I also never use the buy now 1 click button. I have subscriptions for things I regularly order so I'm not ordering and adding more.

I think the other thing to look at is why are you buying this stuff. Do you browse Amazon when you are bored or do you see ads somewhere that prompt it?

 

[barkley]

running some errands today-set up Walmart curbside to curb impulse buys (only going in for some produce/dairy products) so ideally no more grocery trips till february. was planning on hitting up a local restaurant for some to-go b/c when I bought some gift cards in December (I buy them when they have them on sale in anticipation of my youngest's birthday in February) they had a bonus deal so it will be zero out of pocket but now we will be going to 3 restaurants (thankfully all in the same mall parking lot) b/c I got emails reminding me that I have deals about to expire next week at both honey baked ham and red robin. when I ordered our ham for Christmas I signed up for honey baked's new rewards program and between the sign-up bonus and my purchase I've got enough to get a large chef's salad and a couple of small side salads, and when we went to red robins a couple months ago (first time in YEARS) it was not great but when I did the customer satisfaction survey they apologized and loaded my rewards with a $30 credit which is enough with a few dollars paid to get 2 wrap meals. so no need to plan lunches for dh and I for the next few days

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

1) One of my biggest pitfalls is Amazon shopping! It is so easy. I tend to order so many things. I also return a ton of stuff. I'm that person going into the UPS store every week or so with a dozen packages to return. While I do a pretty good job at returning what I don't want to keep, I know I am not perfect. I am trying to think of ways to curb the spontaneous buying. When that Amazon bill comes at the end of the month, I can cover it, but I'm shocked at how high it is... and wonder, what did I even get??
How can I improve this? I am thinking of setting a budget or tracker system. Every time I want to place an order, I should go right to my tracker and mark it down. That may help me refrain from unnecessary buying and seeing how it adds up each month. The problem is... I do buy stuff that I really need sometimes. So when that happens, I feel sort of justified in buying all the "other stuff" too. I need to think about this!

What are you buying from Amazon? Clothes, knick knacks, cleaning supplies or storage ideas, decor? Sometimes people buy stuff to solve a problem (like a storage container) only to create a new problem (bulk meaning size or excuse to buy more since now it's more organized).

On my Amazon account I have a decent amount of lists I keep mostly so I don't forget a product or an idea of something but by doing so at least for me it's also easy to kinda forget about the items until I think of them later so instead of impulse buying it's more of a careful drawn out thing.

IMO though I think you need to work more on the impulse to buy something, tracking your purchases would be great if you were just looking at where your money is going so you can understand that but if you're trying to reduce the volume of what you buy it would be more working on how much and how often you're purchasing. Sit on some items for a while, mull over if you really need it, etc. I often employ this when out shopping there are times where I've found a clothing item and though hmm I'd like that but not at that price and I sit on it and sorta use the "well if it's there when I come back that might be my sign" but it's important to know that when I come back is usually a month or more later. If the item wasn't there or my size is no longer there welp it wasn't meant to be (this is for when I'm not wanting to pay the price something is and I don't really actually honestly truly need it especially at that price).

 

[Tygerlilly]

So so sorry to hear this. I'm sure this has been emotionally wracking for your children as well.

Not to sound cold but does your local SPCA offer any kind of 30 day health "warranty"? I know you said pneumonia but at the dog's age it almost sounded like Parvo but guessing he tested negative for that. I'm just wondering if the SPCA has any kind of 30 day insurance or something. I know most don't but there are a few out there I think. If so maybe some kind of reimbursement or replacement is possible....?

I did stop in to the spca on my way back from the vet since I had to drive past it to get home. She was really nice (I had been updating them the whole week). She offered to waive the fee on a new puppy when we found one. I had zero intentions of bringing one home but something told me to go look at the 2 they had. My kids were sad, obviously, but they understood that we couldn't help Pickle anymore and that we had to put her down and were already asking if we could get another one, so I told them I'd look.

And then this little lady chose me. Came barreling thru the outside into her pen, tripped over and into the water dish, and then came out and sat down in front of me and cocked her head to the side like "so when we going home?".

 

[disney-inspired]

We had to put our puppy down. Over $500 between the two vet appointments. Plus hubby had to take today off unpaid since the appointment to put her down was after he would have gone in and I couldn't take the kids with me (they have a 2 person limit on who can go in the room because the office is so small).

I'm a little stressed about money, but we've decided I'm going to do my deliveries in the bigger city all weekend. Having the option to deliver from 4 different stores instead of fighting for 1 seems like it will be worth it. We'll see how much I can earn over the weekend.

I am SO SORRY about your dog. That is such a hard thing to do.

 

[afan]

I did stop in to the spca on my way back from the vet since I had to drive past it to get home. She was really nice (I had been updating them the whole week). She offered to waive the fee on a new puppy when we found one. I had zero intentions of bringing one home but something told me to go look at the 2 they had. My kids were sad, obviously, but they understood that we couldn't help Pickle anymore and that we had to put her down and were already asking if we could get another one, so I told them I'd look.

And then this little lady chose me. Came barreling thru the outside into her pen, tripped over and into the water dish, and then came out and sat down in front of me and cocked her head to the side like "so when we going home?".

Omg that face! And that she chose you is great. I saw a thing on the news a couple weeks ago about a shelter that let's the dogs pick their people. They had a room that all the adopters sat in and they'd let the dogs in one at a time and they'd go past people and jump on their person. It was the cutest thing and a great idea. They know, dogs are smarter than a lot of people give them credit for.

 

[princesscinderella]

I did stop in to the spca on my way back from the vet since I had to drive past it to get home. She was really nice (I had been updating them the whole week). She offered to waive the fee on a new puppy when we found one. I had zero intentions of bringing one home but something told me to go look at the 2 they had. My kids were sad, obviously, but they understood that we couldn't help Pickle anymore and that we had to put her down and were already asking if we could get another one, so I told them I'd look.

And then this little lady chose me. Came barreling thru the outside into her pen, tripped over and into the water dish, and then came out and sat down in front of me and cocked her head to the side like "so when we going home?".

She’s such a cutie I love her big ears, you will have to let us know what the kids name her. So sorry you had to put Pickle down, but it sounds like it was for the best. I got a very sick puppy once with parvo and it was very touch and go for a few days but he luckily pulled through, the trauma of it though made his skittish of strangers.