Debt Dumpers 2026

[Twilghtsprkle]

I had a coworker who's neighbor got pregnant at 14 and the boyfriend was 14 too. They're equally clueless.

My daughter has a classmate that is 16 and pregnant - she was freaking trying to get pregnant. The girl will be finishing up her junior year & then dropping out of high school. Her parents are ecstatic which feels wrong. The father has been living with the girl and her parents and details seem sketchy. He may be over 18.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

My daughter has a classmate that is 16 and pregnant - she was freaking trying to get pregnant. The girl will be finishing up her junior year & then dropping out of high school. Her parents are ecstatic which feels wrong. The father has been living with the girl and her parents and details seem sketchy. He may be over 18.

When I was 16, my boyfriend was 21. It didn't seem weird. Most of my friends were a few years older than me. Kids in my own grade seemed very immature.

 

[DanceDisney23]

Sorry, I have no answers. I come in, shoot a portable xray, sometimes hear somethings, some stuff the nurses would tell me, and I'm out the door. I never got to stick around for the drama.

I had a coworker who's neighbor got pregnant at 14 and the boyfriend was 14 too. They're equally clueless.

Teenagers do dumb things, sure. But a girl who was pregnant six times by the time she is 18? That’s beyond not knowing how to use a contraceptive.

 

[pblack]

Sorry, I have no answers. I come in, shoot a portable xray, sometimes hear somethings, some stuff the nurses would tell me, and I'm out the door. I never got to stick around for the drama.

I had a coworker who's neighbor got pregnant at 14 and the boyfriend was 14 too. They're equally clueless.

Luckily I didn't expect answers lol. Just stating that I definitely have a lot of questions.

 

[Nettlelondon]

We got back from our trip Sunday - I haven't yet had the courage to open the credit card app and see what we ended up spending but I will soon. Not all of the costs are ours though - we need to sort out who paid for what between us and the in-laws and then square off between the two. The main thing that we need to split is dinner each night. Breakfast we had in our room, everyone came down to our room as we had more useable space.

On arrival I realised the hotel was a Marriott brand and as a Bonvoy member we were upgraded to a suite which was handy. The in-laws were already booked in to a suite as there were the 3 of them (nephew was sleeping on the sofa bed) and it turned out they were directly above us which was useful.

Eating breakfast in was a real cost saver, and SIL had brought a lot of protein bars and candy bars (saved from various Christmas bits and pieces) which saved a lot of minor expenses for the skiiers in the group. It doesn't take long for those minor costs to add up. The leftovers of those were also useful on the flight home. DH and I were fine as we got a meal but they had run out of main courses by the time the crew got to SILs row, which was less than helpful.

Our cab arrived within a few minutes of us exiting arrivals and we were home exactly at the time the satnav had predicted. As our journey involvef the most unpredictable road in the UK this was pretty impressive.

We didn't spend much on souvenirs as we have a rule - any souvenir must be physically small and useful so I bought some earrings and DH has a new pair of cufflinks. Some boxes of cookies formed the balance of the items we bought home as gifts for family (they don't need more junk either).

Whilst we were away we were discussing an upcoming short trip that involves a flight and I realised I had not booked any parking for that. I sorted that out today using a cashback site - as a result I have saved money over the cost of on the day parking and saved a lot of stress over realising as we drove to the airport that there was no booking. It would not have got the trip off ot a relaxed start!

And on a personal note I made progress on one of my "60 Before 60" challenges. I have never, ever been able to do a push-up. I had a gym class today and at one point one of the options on a round of exercises was a push-up from the knees. I was going to go with the other option, but I thought "why not - give it a go" and I managed about 5 push-ups. And then did a second round. I wouldn't win any prizes for them, and the form was not perfect, but it was a significant step forward - physically and mentally.

 

[FreeTime]

This month, our DD finally got tired of hearing about our debt free journey and asked for help on reaching it herself. I’m so relieved that she is ready to get at it. Together we developed a 12 month plan. At the end of it, we are going to then get to plan a fun trip somewhere as a celebration - that she will save for before we do it.

For my 50 in 50, like @Nettlelondon (great Job on the push up!) had a physical item listed. Mine is a flat foot downward dog by year end. I’ve never done any type of yoga or stretching really. I have about a 1/2 to go.

One of my financial 50/50 was to stockpile some cash to build up the liquid savings, I am behind on that as I need to round out the 2025 Roth. But the big goal, which in line with this thread, is to take on no debt after having kicked it to the curb. Good there so far. Hoping to be able to save enough for new windows and a roof which is likely needed soon.

 

[Tygerlilly]

I'm having the small dilemma of phones for my kids. With both kids in sports in 2 different places at the same times, I'm feeling like they need to have one for emergencies. I'm torn between adding to our plan, buying a cheap prepaid, or going to ultra-censored bark phone.

 

[barkley]

I'm having the small dilemma of phones for my kids. With both kids in sports in 2 different places at the same times, I'm feeling like they need to have one for emergencies. I'm torn between adding to our plan, buying a cheap prepaid, or going to ultra-censored bark phone.

granted it's been many moons since mine were young but we went with dirt cheap burner phones (flip/no screen to entice usage) and bought minutes on cards as needed. they were strictly for emergencies so it was next to no cost and we weren't heart broken if one was lost/broken (we purposely only put a handful of minutes on periodically so no loss there either).

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

This month, our DD finally got tired of hearing about our debt free journey and asked for help on reaching it herself. I’m so relieved that she is ready to get at it. Together we developed a 12 month plan. At the end of it, we are going to then get to plan a fun trip somewhere as a celebration - that she will save for before we do it.

For my 50 in 50, like @Nettlelondon (great Job on the push up!) had a physical item listed. Mine is a flat foot downward dog by year end. I’ve never done any type of yoga or stretching really. I have about a 1/2 to go.

One of my financial 50/50 was to stockpile some cash to build up the liquid savings, I am behind on that as I need to round out the 2025 Roth. But the big goal, which in line with this thread, is to take on no debt after having kicked it to the curb. Good there so far. Hoping to be able to save enough for new windows and a roof which is likely needed soon.

Don't you love that feeling when your kids finally 'see the light'?
Our younger ds listens to DR prophylactically. Mostly just to hear what NOT to do. He is shocked at some of the calls. I have to admit I am too with some of them.
He refuses to have any debt besides his mortgage and even though there are so many things he could use, he says he would rather suffer without than to have debt. After a year there he is finally carpeting the bedrooms and downstairs den. Last year I suggested dropping his retirement savings from 10% to 5% just for the first year after house buying so he would free up some cash to fix it up and furnish it. He says no way; he doesn't want to struggle financially when he's old. His job is very physical and he sees his older coworkers who are my age and doing their job over the years has really taken a toll on their bodies.

He is a firm believer of "living like your grandparents did". Back then no one had credit cards. If you didn't have the money, you couldn't afford it. You gradually furnished your home a little at a time by saving up for a living room set or bedroom set and you made do however you could until you could afford them.