Debt Dumpers 2026

[FreeTime]

We did for the most part. Gas-tolls and groceries went higher than normal. So I adjusted the budget for this upcoming month, and that means we should be good to go.

As far as the sports card market, the market is absolutely booming, more than ever. People are not taking a backseat. Every show I go to is packed shoulder to shoulder with people buying, selling and trading. The card market is very strong, speaking from the experiences of what I see. The people that have the money to spend in it are younger and aren't caring about retirement or the future. They want to buy cards. And here's my year-to-date numbers as proof:

January: Spent $154 on cards. Sold those cards for $389. Profit of $235 after all fees and shipping.
February: Spent $232 on cards. Sold those cards for $515. Profit of $283 after all fees and shipping.
March: Spent $345 on cards. Sold those cards for $524. Profit of $179 after all fees and shipping.

Total for the firs quarter of 2026: Spent $731 on cards. Sold for $1428. Profit of $697 after all fees and shipping.

I say all those numbers to show the sports card market is super strong, the strongest it has probably ever been.

Something to consider, how much time are you spending shopping by for cards, then how much time on the selling and shipping side? Take the amount of profit and divide by the number of hours. What is the hourly rate you would have made? If it is low, may be better to get a part time job for those hours.

 

[Willow Ufgood]

Can I ask where you live that gas is only up 20 cents a gallon? It’s up $1.30 a gallon in the last month by me. It’s up went from $2.64 to $3.95.

I live in southeastern PA. Gas just went up another 20 cents/gallon yesterday. It's now sitting at $4.19/gallon. If I cross the border into Delaware, it's $3.89/gallon. So yes, I drive 10 minutes across the border to get gas and then do shopping while I'm there.

 

[EilonwyWanderer]

We're up over $4 here in New England. Had to get gas this morning, ugh.

 

[piglet1979]

Gas here in Ohio is only $3.86. It has been slowly going up for several months now.

 

[afan]

We're up over $4 here in New England. Had to get gas this morning, ugh.

Got gas Saturday. It was 5.49 a gallon so with my fuel points I paid 4.49 which is almost a dollar more than I paid with my dollar fp last month.

I don't remember the last time I saw gas under 4 before fp.

 

[Tygerlilly]

Gas here is $3.15. Not as bad as most states, but really sucks when your side hustle involves a lot of driving.

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

Something to consider, how much time are you spending shopping by for cards, then how much time on the selling and shipping side? Take the amount of profit and divide by the number of hours. What is the hourly rate you would have made? If it is low, may be better to get a part time job for those hours.

Interesting. I've never thought of it this way. But honestly, I'd be doing cards anyway, whether I had a part time job or not. It's my hobby. I've been collecting since 1987. So, I won't stop, even if I get a part time job (and I've been trying to find one).

 

[Willow Ufgood]

Interesting. I've never thought of it this way. But honestly, I'd be doing cards anyway, whether I had a part time job or not. It's my hobby. I've been collecting since 1987. So, I won't stop, even if I get a part time job (and I've been trying to find one).

Your sales on eBay would probably classify you as a "hobby seller" as far as the IRS is concerned. But you could also be considered to be a "business seller" if your volume exceeds a certain level and there are tax implications for both. Keep careful records and report all of the income from your sales. You should pay income tax on all profits that you make, regardless of how little the amount is, and maybe even self-employment taxes (i.e. Social Security and Medicare contributions on income). You might want to look into to this more deeply if you plan to buy low/sell high on a consistent basis.

I'm not trying to rain on your parade because I think you've found a niche side hustle. But I do want to warn you that the IRS doesn't fool around and will go after you for unpaid taxes...with interest and penalties! So it's best to report what you make.

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

Your sales on eBay would probably classify you as a "hobby seller" as far as the IRS is concerned. But you could also be considered to be a "business seller" if your volume exceeds a certain level and there are tax implications for both. Keep careful records and report all of the income from your sales. You should pay income tax on all profits that you make, regardless of how little the amount is, and maybe even self-employment taxes (i.e. Social Security and Medicare contributions on income). You might want to look into to this more deeply if you plan to buy low/sell high on a consistent basis.

I'm not trying to rain on your parade because I think you've found a niche side hustle. But I do want to warn you that the IRS doesn't fool around and will go after you for unpaid taxes...with interest and penalties! So it's best to report what you make.

Thanks. Yes, I've been dealing with that for a while. I got a form last year because they dropped the threshold to $600. But it went back to $20k in 2025, so I didn't get any tax forms. I'm not that big of a seller. I might have $2k-$3k in sales per year. And I sell a lot on Facebook and not as much on eBay (I don't have any luck on eBay ofr some reason as none of my stuff gets views). Plus, on Facebook, you typically get paid a lot quicker. But I have been keeping an eye on it.

 

[barkley]

Can I ask where you live that gas is only up 20 cents a gallon? It’s up $1.30 a gallon in the last month by me. It’s up went from $2.64 to $3.95.

we were at an avg of $3.87 a month ago-we are now at $4.90 (regular). we drive across the state line to spend just under $4 (up from just under $3 a month ago).

 

[Tygerlilly]

Filed taxes Friday and got them today. I don't think I've ever gotten them that fast. Going to put that towards our trip this week and then whatever we have leftover I'll probably use for just whatever we need. Didn't get a ton back, but that's fine.

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

DW checked gas today, and it was $3.41 here in DFW.

 

[SnowWhite09]

I’m from Australia and just did the conversion from litres to gallons. When I filled up my car two days ago it was $10.37 per gallon in AUD which in USD is $7.20 per gallon!

 

[Tygerlilly]

I’m from Australia and just did the conversion from litres to gallons. When I filled up my car two days ago it was $10.37 per gallon in AUD which in USD is $7.20 per gallon!

I'm curious what your average base pay is down there. Over $7/gal here would absolutely bankrupt most of my city because our average pay isn't high enoigh to sustain it.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I'm curious what your average base pay is down there. Over $7/gal here would absolutely bankrupt most of my city because our average pay isn't high enoigh to sustain it.

You could probably say that about the whole country.

 

[FreeTime]

Thanks. Yes, I've been dealing with that for a while. I got a form last year because they dropped the threshold to $600. But it went back to $20k in 2025, so I didn't get any tax forms. I'm not that big of a seller. I might have $2k-$3k in sales per year.

The 1099-k is $20000 or 200 transactions. Regardless of whether you receive a form or not you are still required to report all taxable income and know when you meet a threshold. When you say you may make $2-3k a year it implies you are unsure. Do not rely on forms to report to you how much you make. You should also be tracking your expenses and if you sell a card for less than you paid, taking a deduction.

Edit: no idea why my reply to @WDW_fan_in_TX appears to be from him.

 

[pblack]

*End of March Update*

2026 Financial Goals:

• Get home equity loan down to $15k (which means paying about $500 a month) - Paid $300 in March
• Pay off my new wedding ring and treadmill purchase - needs to be done by April (Roughly $1800) - This has now been paid off!
• Add $4k to our emergency savings to hit 6 month goal (Will need to add $700 to my auto contributions to hit $4k) - Only added auto contributions so far.

2026 Personal Goals:

• Exercise - use the treadmill at least 20 times a month. (I'm hoping setting a monthly goal will work better for me than a weekly goal.) - I don't have the number off the top of my head, but I know I did not hit this goal this month for one reason or another. I had some work travel, we went to Vegas to see Luke Combs, I had a bad migraine a couple of the days, I'm now sick and have been since we got back from Vegas. We've also been working on finishing up our side yard project in the evenings.
• Donate monthly to my favorite cat charity/shelter (Aiming for $50-100/mo. This could technically be a financial goal also, but i'm choosing to put it as a personal goal.) - Donated $50 in March.
• Replace patio cover - No progress on this.
• Finish creating bar top out of old fence posts - This has been finished. We just need to add the decorative panels to the other side of it, but that shouldn't take more than 10 mins.
• Buy a grill gazebo - We did not end up buying a louvered pergola and instead purchased a regular gazebo to cover most of our turf area where the grill will be going. This is partially built, hope to finish building it by the end of the month, but i'll call this item finished.
• Take weekend/long weekend trips to at least 3 new places (My DH has really crappy time off with this job he started, so i'm aiming for weekend getaways to keep my sanity.) - Not new places, but I was in Monterey for work one weekend in March. We also just got back from Vegas. We'll be going to San Diego soon (I will be there for work and DH will be joining me) and I think we're gonna go to a Padres game. Next big travel for us will be Cabo.

I didn't feel like we made much progress in March, but I guess we made some decent progress on my personal goals list. March was definitely a spendy month for us. We booked a cruise for September out of Galveston (first time out of Galveston). I also already booked our flights for this because I'm worried with fuel prices that airline prices are gonna sky rocket. I didn't have enough points to pay for those flights so I'm borrowing money from other savings goals to pay for this. Usually I wouldn't do it this way and i'd just wait on booking flights, but like I said....i'm worried about flight prices sky rocketing. I was hoping to fly someone other than Southwest, but Southwest is what ended up working best for our travel plans.

I may need to divert my focus from my home equity loan to paying off our new CC that we've been putting our big side yard purchases on, but that's ok. The home equity loan isn't going anywhere anytime soon. I still want to pay it off ASAP, but other things may need to take priority right now.

As I mentioned above, i've been sick since we got back from Vegas (some kind of head cold), and i'm finally starting to feel better. Hoping to get back into my workout routine soon. I did come back from Vegas $240 up on what I gambled with, so i'm not mad about it. Since I don't really use cash for anything in my daily life, that cash will be set aside to start my gambling pot for our cruise.

 

[barkley]

happy April one and all (aka the second quarter of 2026)! it's a soggy start to the month where I live (rain,rain,rain) but we can use the water and the ducks on my pond are loving it condolences to those (like myself) who have their property tax payment due for the first half of the year

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

happy April one and all (aka the second quarter of 2026)! it's a soggy start to the month where I live (rain,rain,rain) but we can use the water and the ducks on my pond are loving it condolences to those (like myself) who have their property tax payment due for the first half of the year

Welcome yourself. No rain here yet. It's supposed to rain tonight, tomorrow night and Saturday night into Sunday morning. Praying its gone by sunrise for all those sunrise service people.