Debt Dumpers 2026

[barkley]

Replace patio cover - Have not purchased this yet and instead we may end up going the pricier route of having someone do it for us. We re-measured our space and the couple different options I found won't work. We think this is because our house is older and the space our current one is in is not to the same specs as what's the norm today. So this is still TBD.

one of 'joys' of owning an older home. we ran into stuff like this with one of former homes and also lived on a prayer with at least one of the major systems b/c to replace it would have required bringing it up to (then) current code-which would have entailed ripping up part of our garage floor.

I don't consider our current home 'old' but just today I had a discussion with our electriction to schedual a bid on updating some of our light fixtures. there are some I just flat out want to replace due to the style (I had no say-it was a spec home). others? not sure if they've lived their lifespan or are not getting along with newer lightbulb technology (electrician say it could be either or both-and may be influenced by quality of light bulbs we use). fun fun.



the yard projects sound awsome!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I highly recommend staying onsite at universal. our last Orlando trip was dedicated to universal (everyone wanted it vs. Disney-kind of burned out on it). I was mentally ready to spend the same high costs for lodging as we do at wdw so I was VERY surprised at the much more reasonable rates we found the rooms very spacious and the vibe lower-key so more more relaxed. I love the boats you can transport in and we took advantage of pool hopping. we did NOT do a full bore kitchen type room (did a suite with a second bedroom attached) but the little mini kitchen w/fridge and microwave (actually 2 b/c there was another of each in the attached room) worked fine.

Just to add onto this. There are 3 Universal hotels that offer unlimited Express Pass by just showing your room key: Royal Pacific Resort, Hard Rock Hotel, Portofino Bay Resort.
They are not cheap but they're on par with Disney deluxe resorts. Hard Rock is about a 5 minute walk and Royal Pacific is about a 15 minute walk. We only stay at Portofino once and honestly it felt so Italian themed, I felt like I walked into my grandmother's living room. Back then it was a 5* hotel and the food places were very expensive and it was far away enough to use the water taxis but since then they have remodeled with the usual "bland diet" kind of decor, white walls and minimalistic look. Meh.

Dh has sworn he will never visit a Universal park without having a room key benefit. You are instantly spoiled. Back when our kids were young it was only those 3 hotels onsite and we had APs and they offered a great AP discount. By the time one went to college, I just bought myself an AP and it paid for itself with the hotel discounts.

When our oldest was finally tall enough for the Hulk, he said he wanted to ride it 8 times in a row. (why, Idk.) By the end of the 2nd or 3rd time, we knew exactly when the photo was coming and we'd pose and make silly faces. By the 5th time, he had enough. whew.

 

[barkley]

Just to add onto this. There are 3 Universal hotels that offer unlimited Express Pass by just showing your room key: Royal Pacific Resort, Hard Rock Hotel, Portofino Bay Resort.
They are not cheap but they're on par with Disney deluxe resorts. Hard Rock is about a 5 minute walk and Royal Pacific is about a 15 minute walk. We only stay at Portofino once and honestly it felt so Italian themed, I felt like I walked into my grandmother's living room. Back then it was a 5* hotel and the food places were very expensive and it was far away enough to use the water taxis but since then they have remodeled with the usual "bland diet" kind of decor, white walls and minimalistic look. Meh.

Dh has sworn he will never visit a Universal park without having a room key benefit. You are instantly spoiled. Back when our kids were young it was only those 3 hotels onsite and we had APs and they offered a great AP discount. By the time one went to college, I just bought myself an AP and it paid for itself with the hotel discounts.

When our oldest was finally tall enough for the Hulk, he said he wanted to ride it 8 times in a row. (why, Idk.) By the end of the 2nd or 3rd time, we knew exactly when the photo was coming and we'd pose and make silly faces. By the 5th time, he had enough. whew.

we pool hopped at hard rock. it seemed to have a nice laid back vibe. I like the water taxis enough that on a couple of nites we just rode back and forth on the waterways. I also like the lower key vibe of the universal's city walk.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

we pool hopped at hard rock. it seemed to have a nice laid back vibe. I like the water taxis enough that on a couple of nites we just rode back and forth on the waterways. I also like the lower key vibe of the universal's city walk.

We last stayed there at the peak of their love for the Guitar Hero game. They were fogging up the glass looking at so much of the memorabilia. So many happy memories there.

 

[Tygerlilly]

Out main problem with wherever we decide to stay is fully dependent on which rooms will hold 5 people. Luckily little dude will be about 5.5 when we go so the flip down bed in most rooms will be just fine for him and the girls can share the second bed, but I'm not 100% sure what the deluxe hotels at Universal offer vs Surfside/Dockside or Cabana Bay that have the more family oriented rooms.

 

[DanceDisney23]

Out main problem with wherever we decide to stay is fully dependent on which rooms will hold 5 people. Luckily little dude will be about 5.5 when we go so the flip down bed in most rooms will be just fine for him and the girls can share the second bed, but I'm not 100% sure what the deluxe hotels at Universal offer vs Surfside/Dockside or Cabana Bay that have the more family oriented rooms.

The Universal deluxe hotels really weren’t made with larger families in mind. I think you would need a rollaway bed for the fifth person or go for a suite which are $$$.

There are plenty of options at WDW that sleep five, however, at different price points. If you go the DVC route, most studios sleep 5 while most one bedrooms only sleep 4, with some exceptions. The one bedrooms at Kidani and BLT sleep 5 and even have two full bathrooms, which is nice. All Stars Music has family suites with three beds and two bathrooms and will be you most economical option if you want space.

 

[mmbrad02]

I'm still spending my tax return 2378234879 different ways in my head What Do you all do with yours? Save? Spend? Pay off bills? My options are endless - haha!

We could pay off some same as cash CC's but the whole point of that was.... 0% interest. So while I like to knock out some monthly bills, it's not necessarily what I consider the best option. We could stick it in our regular savings.... normally I do put like $1K in there to have on hand for upcoming things that arise in the next year. We could throw it all at our HELOC (still wouldn't pay it off, but is our highest interest rate expense). DH needs new tires for his truck so we could just set aside cash for that and keep all of last years debt We could take a small part as a fun thing for vacation this summer. See, it's endless

When it hit our checking account I immediately moved it to savings till I decided. It's been almost a month now and while I guess it's not hurting anything, I feel like I need to stop being so indecisive.

 

[EilonwyWanderer]

We sadly always use it to throw against a credit card. REALLY hoping to get the main one down we can just put it in savings going forward.

 

[mmbrad02]

I've never been to 1000 step beach so I can't comment on that, but if price is at all a concern, i'd definitely look into doing the 1 day rental over Uber. Uber/Lyft will probably end up costing you a pretty penny to go there and back. Hop onto one of those apps and check on the pricing of it vs a rental. With you arriving so "late" in the afternoon on arrival day and having to adjust to the time difference, I don't think i'd recommend adding an extra day to your tickets for arrival day. You'd be better off taking it easy, visiting the beach, grabbing dinner, and calling it an early night to be rested for your park days. If the price difference isn't all that much for a 3 vs 4 day, and you guys don't mind being up early to take advantage of the time you'll have, then i'd say it probably wouldn't hurt to have a 4th day for your departure day. I'm pretty positive all the hotels I listed above will hold your luggage. Another option would be to go into Downtown Disney on arrival or departure day, grab a leisurely meal, and peruse the shops. Our Downtown Disney is nothing like Disney Springs though and you definitely don't need a lot of time for it.

I'll definitely be considering ALL of this. For now I think we have definitely marked arrival day park tickets OFF the list. For all the reasons you mentioned. Plus if we really want to see the beach, this seems like the best time to squeeze it in. Which beach remains a mystery - if we Uber, we will just make the decision spontaneously depending on when we land, get our luggage, etc. If it's all smooth and "on time" I would like to splurge for 1000 step beach. But if time becomes an issue, we may go to Huntington Beach, dip our toes in the sand, etc.

My hang up with renting a car is what seems like the hassle of returning it. We would have to step away from the park on Monday, drive it the return location, and uber back. So while that may be super easy, just kinda sounds like a pain. So it's not completely off the table, but that does keep me from settling on that option.

I've honestly not been to Disney Springs since it became Disney Springs - Well, we did go one evening in 2024 but it was dark by the time we arrived, super crowded, we went to the Coke store (left because the lines were nuts), went to Kendra Scott where we had to wait to get inside, and left. So I still think of it back in its DTD set up myself - back in like 2008 I said that to say, I'm okay with a smaller DTD to browse!

 

[barkley]

not really a tax refund but when I did our taxes I ran a rough estimate for 2026's b/c I'll be old enough to qualify for the next 3 years of the added senior deduction which results in a roughly $800 decrease (more probably but I want to be conservative) in what we need to pay in estimated taxes per year. my plan is to sock it away in one of our holding accounts to offset any increased expenses this upcoming year.

 

[Bellex917]

I'm still spending my tax return 2378234879 different ways in my head What Do you all do with yours? Save? Spend? Pay off bills? My options are endless - haha!

We could pay off some same as cash CC's but the whole point of that was.... 0% interest. So while I like to knock out some monthly bills, it's not necessarily what I consider the best option. We could stick it in our regular savings.... normally I do put like $1K in there to have on hand for upcoming things that arise in the next year. We could throw it all at our HELOC (still wouldn't pay it off, but is our highest interest rate expense). DH needs new tires for his truck so we could just set aside cash for that and keep all of last years debt We could take a small part as a fun thing for vacation this summer. See, it's endless

When it hit our checking account I immediately moved it to savings till I decided. It's been almost a month now and while I guess it's not hurting anything, I feel like I need to stop being so indecisive.

We don't have debt besides our mortgage at this point, but if we did that is where I'd be putting it.

What we did this year was pay for my son's sleepaway camp, pay for our pool club membership, save towards each kids college accounts, saved towards our new car, and are buying a snow blower. We do get a lot back which I know is "bad" but I prefer to do it this way and don't plan to change. It works for us. It's usually my biggest savings at once and I always use it for "good" so I don't care if I gave the government a 0% loan.. I prefer the security of knowing I won't owe!

 

[Tygerlilly]

We don't have debt besides our mortgage at this point, but if we did that is where I'd be putting it.

What we did this year was pay for my son's sleepaway camp, pay for our pool club membership, save towards each kids college accounts, saved towards our new car, and are buying a snow blower. We do get a lot back which I know is "bad" but I prefer to do it this way and don't plan to change. It works for us. It's usually my biggest savings at once and I always use it for "good" so I don't care if I gave the government a 0% loan.. I prefer the security of knowing I won't owe!

We do the same thing. I'm more likely to spend that extra little every check on nonsense whereas with the lump sum coming back I can put it towards our yearly membership fees and things like that.

 

[EilonwyWanderer]

Same! Everyone I know lectures me about 'letting the government keep your money' but I would much rather get it back in February than do my taxes and find out I owed something! I would never have that kind of money just laying around!

 

[piglet1979]

I'm still spending my tax return 2378234879 different ways in my head What Do you all do with yours? Save? Spend? Pay off bills? My options are endless - haha!

We could pay off some same as cash CC's but the whole point of that was.... 0% interest. So while I like to knock out some monthly bills, it's not necessarily what I consider the best option. We could stick it in our regular savings.... normally I do put like $1K in there to have on hand for upcoming things that arise in the next year. We could throw it all at our HELOC (still wouldn't pay it off, but is our highest interest rate expense). DH needs new tires for his truck so we could just set aside cash for that and keep all of last years debt We could take a small part as a fun thing for vacation this summer. See, it's endless

When it hit our checking account I immediately moved it to savings till I decided. It's been almost a month now and while I guess it's not hurting anything, I feel like I need to stop being so indecisive.

This year it all went into a savings account as we are saving to build a new house in the next year or so. When the kids were little, it went towards summer camp/daycare and anything on the credit card. Anything left went to savings.

We do get a lot back which I know is "bad" but I prefer to do it this way and don't plan to change. It works for us. It's usually my biggest savings at once and I always use it for "good" so I don't care if I gave the government a 0% loan.. I prefer the security of knowing I won't owe!

We do the same thing. I just don't want to owe at the end of the year.