Debt Dumpers - 2016

[Angeejoe]

Back from vacation & all caught up. This thread has been hopping!!!

 

[Dentam]

Back from vacation & all caught up. This thread has been hopping!!!

I hope you had an amazing time! I'll be waiting for your trip report... hee hee!

 

[PrincessKymm]

I made a deposit that started our emergency fund. It's small, but it's a start!

Way to go!

 

[Angeejoe]

I hope you had an amazing time! I'll be waiting for your trip report... hee hee!

I knew you'd say that!!! You need to work on your TR!!!

 

[Dentam]

I knew you'd say that!!! You need to work on your TR!!!

I know, I know - and I knew you'd say that! Mine is old news - and I've never been on a Disney cruise before!

 

[bcwife76]

Back from vacation & all caught up. This thread has been hopping!!!

Welcome back! Hope you had a fantastic time!

 

[Angeejoe]

I know, I know - and I knew you'd say that! Mine is old news - and I've never been on a Disney cruise before!

Welcome back! Hope you had a fantastic time!

We had a great time getting away, we were a bit disappointed with the lack of Star Wars on the "Star Wars Cruise," but we didn't let it sour our trip. I'm glad we got the VGT rate & didn't pay the premium others did.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I bought a used elliptical machine 3 years ago on Craigslist. When I got married, DH wanted a treadmill instead, so I bought one last spring with 0% financing. I decided that the new year was the perfect time to list the elliptical up for sale since it isn't getting use anymore. I paid $600, so I listed it at $700 knowing that people would haggle down the price. Well, someone came by last night and gave me $650! So we not only sold it, but profited by $50. This money is going into our emergency fund. We also filed our taxes with a $1,700 refund coming soon which will also go into our emergency fund.

So far this year we have paid off 1 credit card and saved $2350 towards our emergency fund. Our remaining goals are to finish paying off 4 more credit cards, all currently at 0% interest plus pay off DH's student loans and save in the emergency fund as much as possible. Feeling good about 2016.

 

[PrincessKymm]

$1500 for a transmission rebuild! It still needs an additional $750-$1,000 worth of work so I'll make that a priority over my snowball.

I'm going to pay for it with my rewards card then pay it off when I get my tax refund. The remainder of my refund will go to my Disney trip in June and then I will just need to figure out how to pay for the rest of the stuff I need to save for. I'm sure some belt tightening is the way to go.

I'm super proud of myself tho! I still don't have to touch my EF and I cash rolled all of this. I have been packing my lunch every day except once when I forgot. I've also tamed down our eating out. This training is so exhausting! It's 7-1/2 hours of learning, I haven't done this kind of schooling in forever! Once I'm on a normal schedule I will start cooking more often.

 

[DisneyMandC]

$1500 for a transmission rebuild! It still needs an additional $750-$1,000 worth of work so I'll make that a priority over my snowball.

I'm going to pay for it with my rewards card then pay it off when I get my tax refund. The remainder of my refund will go to my Disney trip in June and then I will just need to figure out how to pay for the rest of the stuff I need to save for. I'm sure some belt tightening is the way to go.

I'm super proud of myself tho! I still don't have to touch my EF and I cash rolled all of this. I have been packing my lunch every day except once when I forgot. I've also tamed down our eating out. This training is so exhausting! It's 7-1/2 hours of learning, I haven't done this kind of schooling in forever! Once I'm on a normal schedule I will start cooking more often.

I can't believe yours went out considering the mileage you have on it! I thought mine was bad going out at 100k. What a bummer. I did a rebuild on mine too and drove it for another 160k miles without any problems. Do you get any sort of warranty on it from the place doing the rebuild?

 

[gracie1]

$1500 for a transmission rebuild! It still needs an additional $750-$1,000 worth of work so I'll make that a priority over my snowball.

I'm going to pay for it with my rewards card then pay it off when I get my tax refund. The remainder of my refund will go to my Disney trip in June and then I will just need to figure out how to pay for the rest of the stuff I need to save for. I'm sure some belt tightening is the way to go.

I'm super proud of myself tho! I still don't have to touch my EF and I cash rolled all of this. I have been packing my lunch every day except once when I forgot. I've also tamed down our eating out. This training is so exhausting! It's 7-1/2 hours of learning, I haven't done this kind of schooling in forever! Once I'm on a normal schedule I will start cooking more often.

Wow - that's shocking since your car only has 60k miles on it. But the plus side is that it was less than you thought! That's really not a bad price for the transmission!

 

[Dentam]

$1500 for a transmission rebuild! It still needs an additional $750-$1,000 worth of work so I'll make that a priority over my snowball.

Do you trust the place that told you this? Wouldn't hurt to get a second opinion... seems like pretty major work for such low mileage as others have said. I had an issue with my starter a few years back and had to tell the guy that if it was the transmission I'd just get rid of the car. I had a gut feeling that if I didn't say that he was thinking of just telling me it was the transmission.

 

[momtosam]

Dodged a major Murphy bullet. Dh's friend got us the part needed for our furnace for $120 and DH could install it himself. Woo hoo!!

 

[PrincessKymm]

Do you trust the place that told you this? Wouldn't hurt to get a second opinion... seems like pretty major work for such low mileage as others have said. I had an issue with my starter a few years back and had to tell the guy that if it was the transmission I'd just get rid of the car. I had a gut feeling that if I didn't say that he was thinking of just telling me it was the transmission.

I was told there wasn't enough fluid so there might've been a leak but I never saw anything under my car so maybe it's just the age? It's 7 years old so it's held up pretty well! Apparently it was in real bad shape. I'm also hoping this rebuild and the other two repairs it currently needs will be it for at least 6 months. If that's the case then I'll keep it for a while. I am really hoping it lasts so I can give it to DS to learn to drive in. I still want a new car but now that might have to wait until next year instead of late this year. I don't want DS to learn in a fairly new car that I pay for! I know we beat up my dads van when my sister and I learned how to drive and he only kept it for that reason. I also can't wait for DS to be able to drive himself around!

I do trust this repair place. They have a good reputation and they came recommended by a coworker who is in the business. I am too afraid to drive it to somewhere else for a second opinion.BI forgot to ask about the warranty of the work but with their reputation I would trust that they'd help me if something bad happened to the transmission again. I'll be sure to ask them more details though.

I'm going to readjust my budget and add in savings for "car repairs". I've been spoiled by not needing too many but I think it's time to add in a substantial amount. This will take away from my snowball but I think it's necessary. I still have my EF so I'm thinking of adding another $1k over the course 8-12 months.

At least I will earn 1500 rewards points! That's not much, but I'm going to save them for my cruise in November since this will hurt that budget as well. Hopefully I can save up enough to pay for a few drinks on board since I'm gonna need them!

 

[Dentam]

I feel like I must be super lucky with my current car that is 15 years old. Aside from replacing the starter, I've only had to do regular upkeep on it. I hope I get this lucky with the new to me vehicle I get this fall! Best of luck with your car, @PrincessKymm and I'm glad you've found a place you trust!

 

[mrsabbott]

We had to put a bunch of money in on our Suburban the past couple of years! Engine, transmission, alternator.. now it needs tire rods and brakes. But it is paid off and holds our entire family (and does GREAT on the snowy/icy roads) so we just fix what it needs and will keep driving it until it falls apart! "Bessie" is my baby! LOL! Still.. I feel your pain on the expensive car repairs! $1500 is a pretty good deal, though!

Nothing new on the debt dumping front.. just waiting and waiting for our tax returns so we can pay some stuff off! I know I just filed, but I am so anxious for that money to get here and to start the debt snowball. Waiting is not my favorite thing to do...

 

[Kimberly1]

I am working on debt dumping this year as well. I have 4 credit cards, 2 person loans, a student loan, and a car loan. My goal is to end 2016 with only a student loan and car loan and to have made extra payments on both. Unfortunately, January was just catching up from Christmas so my real paying down starts with my February paycheck this month.

I am a teacher so I also plan to get a job this summer which will go 100% towards debt.

 

[DisneyMandC]

This isn't so much a debt dumping comment as a general spending comment, but man do I feel like we've gone through some money on groceries lately! DH and I are really trying to commit to not eating out as often, and have done pretty well over the last couple weeks. I feel like we just spent a ton of money on groceries, and already we were out of lunch meat this morning and literally didn't have a thing I could bring in for lunch. I'm going to have to go to the grocery store again this weekend when I was hoping to make our trip last Saturday last a pretty good chunk of time. DH and I realized this morning that part of the reason we've been going through groceries so much is because we're not eating out though, so I guess technically we are saving money that way. I just feel like we need to meal plan and strategize with our food better. That way I can dump some more debt! (See, I worked debt in there).

 

[Kimberly1]

This isn't so much a debt dumping comment as a general spending comment, but man do I feel like we've gone through some money on groceries lately! DH and I are really trying to commit to not eating out as often, and have done pretty well over the last couple weeks. I feel like we just spent a ton of money on groceries, and already we were out of lunch meat this morning and literally didn't have a thing I could bring in for lunch. I'm going to have to go to the grocery store again this weekend when I was hoping to make our trip last Saturday last a pretty good chunk of time. DH and I realized this morning that part of the reason we've been going through groceries so much is because we're not eating out though, so I guess technically we are saving money that way. I just feel like we need to meal plan and strategize with our food better. That way I can dump some more debt! (See, I worked debt in there).

I find that to be true of us as well when we eat at home more. One strategy we are doing right now is trying to "empty the pantry/freezer." Before each shopping trip, we look at what is in the freezer/pantry and see what we could make with it if we just had one more thing, etc. That is saving us a little money when it comes to food.

 

[dayvewc]

This isn't so much a debt dumping comment as a general spending comment, but man do I feel like we've gone through some money on groceries lately! DH and I are really trying to commit to not eating out as often, and have done pretty well over the last couple weeks. I feel like we just spent a ton of money on groceries, and already we were out of lunch meat this morning and literally didn't have a thing I could bring in for lunch. I'm going to have to go to the grocery store again this weekend when I was hoping to make our trip last Saturday last a pretty good chunk of time. DH and I realized this morning that part of the reason we've been going through groceries so much is because we're not eating out though, so I guess technically we are saving money that way. I just feel like we need to meal plan and strategize with our food better. That way I can dump some more debt! (See, I worked debt in there).

I find that to be true of us as well when we eat at home more. One strategy we are doing right now is trying to "empty the pantry/freezer." Before each shopping trip, we look at what is in the freezer/pantry and see what we could make with it if we just had one more thing, etc. That is saving us a little money when it comes to food.

One of the things I did several years ago, before I got into debt dumping, because I lived 45 minutes away from a grocery store and only got paid once a month was to create a "pantry list" (ok off topic, but I almost said I made a "panty list" which would have been really amusing) of the ingredients I needed to make what I liked. I looked at the various recipes and figured out which items I would most likely make each month, and then bought ALL of those ingredients on my "major" shopping trip. Then, about 2 weeks later I would have to go back for perishables (bananas, yogurt, bread, and milk). The shopping list kept me from buying extra things, and I kept a list of the different meals I made each month to know what to put on the next list to replenish. Of course, at the time I was living by myself, so I cooked 8 meals a month. lol. I would make 2 different casseroles on Sunday, and then partition them out into 6-8 servings and put all but one of each in the freezer. As I got one out of the fridge, I would move one of the same type from the freezer, and then basically alternate between the two each day for lunch and dinner over the course of the week. But it did help me control spending on impulse food buys, and I pretty much knew exactly what I have on-hand to make at all times.