Debt Dumpers - 2019

Not debt dumping related...but just found out that Carnival will start sailing out of San Francisco starting in March of 2020. I'm so excited by this since i've always wanted to sail out of San Francisco and it's only ~1.5 hours from where we live. I kind of want to sail on the inaugural sailing which is a 4 day. All in total will be $1266 including gratuities and all we'd have to pay today would be $100 for a deposit. I've put a 48 hour hold on the room i'd like to book and DH will discuss if we want to go ahead and book it. We'd have a year to pay off the balance of $1166 so i'm not overly concerned with it. Plus it would get a jump start on planning out vacations for 2020 :rolleyes:

ohh interesting, we don't live near there (in BC, Canada), but DH's sister does..is it a new ship? May just have to go have a look...
 
ohh interesting, we don't live near there (in BC, Canada), but DH's sister does..is it a new ship? May just have to go have a look...
Not a new ship, it's the Carnival Miracle, just a new home port. I've actually been on the Miracle and while it's not upgraded like most of the other ships, it was still a nice/fun ship. I'm hoping they add more of the 2.0 upgrades before she sets sail out of SF.
 
Since a lot of you guys like to cruise, I figured I'd ask here. Other than Disney, which is your favorite cruise line? We're looking at 3 to 5 night cruises for the honeymoon and I've checked out Carnival, RCCL, and Norwegian. Any others I should look at?
 


There are 2 I'm aware of. One is a Bank of America Card. The other is the Amex Everyday.

I already have the Amex Everyday, so can't get that again. But maybe for DH and I could get the BoA card. I would love for each of us to get a 0% APR card and transfer some of the HELOC balance to cut down on interest. Anything helps.
 
Since a lot of you guys like to cruise, I figured I'd ask here. Other than Disney, which is your favorite cruise line? We're looking at 3 to 5 night cruises for the honeymoon and I've checked out Carnival, RCCL, and Norwegian. Any others I should look at?

I am biased because I always sail Royal Caribbean. Being a diamond members gives me lots of nice perks, so it helps keep me loyal. I will be going on a 3 night Bahamas cruise right after New Year's on Mariner of the Seas. It will be the largest of their ships that I have ever been on, so I am excited to get a taste of what our 2020 cruise on Harmony of the Seas will be like.
 
I already have the Amex Everyday, so can't get that again. But maybe for DH and I could get the BoA card. I would love for each of us to get a 0% APR card and transfer some of the HELOC balance to cut down on interest. Anything helps.

I've asked this before, but do you know, if you close out a card would you be eligible again for the offer later down the road. I know with rewards cards with some you can get the rewards again later down the road. But I'm wondering, if I close out the BOA when/if I get the Everyday....when the everyday promo is up, I wonder if I could open another BOA and swap the balance back to it.
 


I am biased because I always sail Royal Caribbean. Being a diamond members gives me lots of nice perks, so it helps keep me loyal. I will be going on a 3 night Bahamas cruise right after New Year's on Mariner of the Seas. It will be the largest of their ships that I have ever been on, so I am excited to get a taste of what our 2020 cruise on Harmony of the Seas will be like.

Royal Caribbean had one itinerary I really liked that was Nassau and Coco Cay for 4 nights. I thought it was a good starter cruise, even though we aren't super excited for Nassau. But I'm a little worried about the fact that it seems a lot of food choices you have to pay for (like the burger place, for example). Do you find enough variety with their dining room and buffet to be happy you won't be eating the same thing all 4 nights? Are there any 24 hour places that we could get a snack at? We work midnights so we're usually hungry around midnight.
 
I've asked this before, but do you know, if you close out a card would you be eligible again for the offer later down the road. I know with rewards cards with some you can get the rewards again later down the road. But I'm wondering, if I close out the BOA when/if I get the Everyday....when the everyday promo is up, I wonder if I could open another BOA and swap the balance back to it.

So I know that with Amex, the reward bonus is generally only available once, but I am not sure about the APR promo rate. And though I have a BoA card, I have never closed it. I think the best place to ask would be on the "I love credit cards thread." Also, APR promos can change over time, so it might not always offer 0% interest and a $0 transfer fee.
 
Royal Caribbean had one itinerary I really liked that was Nassau and Coco Cay for 4 nights. I thought it was a good starter cruise, even though we aren't super excited for Nassau. But I'm a little worried about the fact that it seems a lot of food choices you have to pay for (like the burger place, for example). Do you find enough variety with their dining room and buffet to be happy you won't be eating the same thing all 4 nights? Are there any 24 hour places that we could get a snack at? We work midnights so we're usually hungry around midnight.

We are going to Nassau and Coco Cay for our trip right after New Year's. It is my bestie's 40th birthday celebration and she has never been on a cruise, so I told her we would do it for her birthday.

Eating in the main dining room is included in your cruise. The menus always have some items that are the same night after night (prime rib), but they also have 5 or so entrees (also appetizers and desserts) that are new each night and they never duplicate any of those on other nights, so you always have several new choices each night. I find that there is pretty of variety and never get bored of the food. We never pay extra to eat in the specialty dining restaurants because we think the food in the main dining room is great and we would rather spend our money on excursions. You can also eat at the Windjammer for dinner, which is a buffet style restaurant. It is pretty quite during dinner most of the time because most people eat in the main dining room or specialty restaurants. Windjammer also has some items that are always the same, like burgers/hot dogs, but they also have a very large selection of entrees, sides and desserts that change nightly. We don't usually eat there for dinner, but if you want something more casual, this is a good option. I would say that breakfast in either the main dining room or Windjammer is much more static, with the same kinds of selections each day.

There aren't any true 24 hour places that I know of, but there are some that are open until 3am or so to get snacks later in the evening. Some of those options might be the coffee bar or the cafe at the Solarium. There will be different options on different ships, so I can't give you perfect information unless I know what ship you are considering.
 
I'm newish and would like to join in!
I left my ex husband in 2016 and our divorce was finalized last summer. I incurred an incredible amount of debt from the lawyers and moving and traveling back and forth. I have $10,000 in CC debt I would like to pay down. I also have a car I owe $9,000 on and no savings. I also recently moved in with my boyfriend of 18 months. We are planning to get married in 2020, so I would like to start saving for that. Small ceremony, and probably no more than $5,000 total for clothes, event, etc. He also has a car with a very high interest rate that I think we should pay down quickly.
I am very good with numbers and SETTING UP a budget, but I am also impulsive and a giver, so I tend to max out myself in buying stuff I don't need to. Which also leads to a lot of clutter in my house, etc

I might need help setting realistic goals, because while I can look at the numbers and see what I SHOULD do, actually doing it is pretty hard.
I will probably get $3,000 ish back from my taxes, but I need a new bed (mine is like 15 years old, or more) and a washer and dryer. And I also need to prepay rent for June and July because I don't get child support those months when my kids go to their dads so it is harder to make bills then. So basically, I can't put that towards debt.

Cutting costs on food, keeping my electric bill down (Florida gets HOT!) and honestly, cutting back on our jaunts to Disney, or at least packing food and snacks would help a lot, too. Being a passholder and living an hour away is trouble, really.
 
Since a lot of you guys like to cruise, I figured I'd ask here. Other than Disney, which is your favorite cruise line? We're looking at 3 to 5 night cruises for the honeymoon and I've checked out Carnival, RCCL, and Norwegian. Any others I should look at?
Princess, Celebrity. Not sure what is their minimum cruise length. What ports? I think it's more about the ship then the line, and the port can be a decision leading to what ship to choose. I went on Carnival Magic from Galveston, loved it. I've sailed twice on it. Went on Carnival Vista out of POM, disliked it. However, the ports of call were some of our best times. Yes, and ports of call another factor! I think we may cruise on RCCL in 2021 would love to go on the Oasis class unless something newer comes out. Of course, DCCL is always on my bucket list, I just don't ever think we can justify the cost unless we can somehow go off season. But we tend to travel in season, within April-August timeframes for personal type travel. By that I mean more than two hours from home!
I'm newish and would like to join in!
I left my ex husband in 2016 and our divorce was finalized last summer. I incurred an incredible amount of debt from the lawyers and moving and traveling back and forth. I have $10,000 in CC debt I would like to pay down. I also have a car I owe $9,000 on and no savings. I also recently moved in with my boyfriend of 18 months. We are planning to get married in 2020, so I would like to start saving for that. Small ceremony, and probably no more than $5,000 total for clothes, event, etc. He also has a car with a very high interest rate that I think we should pay down quickly.
I am very good with numbers and SETTING UP a budget, but I am also impulsive and a giver, so I tend to max out myself in buying stuff I don't need to. Which also leads to a lot of clutter in my house, etc

I might need help setting realistic goals, because while I can look at the numbers and see what I SHOULD do, actually doing it is pretty hard.
I will probably get $3,000 ish back from my taxes, but I need a new bed (mine is like 15 years old, or more) and a washer and dryer. And I also need to prepay rent for June and July because I don't get child support those months when my kids go to their dads so it is harder to make bills then. So basically, I can't put that towards debt.

Cutting costs on food, keeping my electric bill down (Florida gets HOT!) and honestly, cutting back on our jaunts to Disney, or at least packing food and snacks would help a lot, too. Being a passholder and living an hour away is trouble, really.
Welcome! Good luck on your 2019 goals. By the way, I wish I lived an hour from Disney! That would be hard to cut back on though I'm sure!

@JenandAshwin, I had a popup come up for a Citi that had 0% interest, $0 transfer fee on balances.
 
Since a lot of you guys like to cruise, I figured I'd ask here. Other than Disney, which is your favorite cruise line? We're looking at 3 to 5 night cruises for the honeymoon and I've checked out Carnival, RCCL, and Norwegian. Any others I should look at?

I've done 2 on Royal, 1 Disney, 1 Princess, 1 Holland America- Disney was amazing, but we just can't justify the prices, Princess and Holland were good but we found a bit boring...Royal is our fav
 
I'm newish and would like to join in!
I left my ex husband in 2016 and our divorce was finalized last summer. I incurred an incredible amount of debt from the lawyers and moving and traveling back and forth. I have $10,000 in CC debt I would like to pay down. I also have a car I owe $9,000 on and no savings. I also recently moved in with my boyfriend of 18 months. We are planning to get married in 2020, so I would like to start saving for that. Small ceremony, and probably no more than $5,000 total for clothes, event, etc. He also has a car with a very high interest rate that I think we should pay down quickly.
I am very good with numbers and SETTING UP a budget, but I am also impulsive and a giver, so I tend to max out myself in buying stuff I don't need to. Which also leads to a lot of clutter in my house, etc

I might need help setting realistic goals, because while I can look at the numbers and see what I SHOULD do, actually doing it is pretty hard.
I will probably get $3,000 ish back from my taxes, but I need a new bed (mine is like 15 years old, or more) and a washer and dryer. And I also need to prepay rent for June and July because I don't get child support those months when my kids go to their dads so it is harder to make bills then. So basically, I can't put that towards debt.

Cutting costs on food, keeping my electric bill down (Florida gets HOT!) and honestly, cutting back on our jaunts to Disney, or at least packing food and snacks would help a lot, too. Being a passholder and living an hour away is trouble, really.


Welcome :)
Good for you for moving on with your life and congrats on finding a new partner :)
I'm guessing if you just moved in with BF then your living costs should be down? maybe start with looking at where those dollars can be re-allocated?
I can't even imagine only living an hour away from WDW, when you go, do you tend to stay, or just day trips? Making sure you are bringing your own food and drinks would be a great spot to save, and maybe plan for one special treat..when we made a huge effort to cut eating out spending 2 years ago, I couldn't believe the amount of money we saved.
 
Welcome :)
Good for you for moving on with your life and congrats on finding a new partner :)
I'm guessing if you just moved in with BF then your living costs should be down? maybe start with looking at where those dollars can be re-allocated?
I can't even imagine only living an hour away from WDW, when you go, do you tend to stay, or just day trips? Making sure you are bringing your own food and drinks would be a great spot to save, and maybe plan for one special treat..when we made a huge effort to cut eating out spending 2 years ago, I couldn't believe the amount of money we saved.

They actually are about the same because my mom was renting my 4th bedroom until we blended our families. He goes half on the household bills, but we bought a bigger car for our new family of 6 and I tend to buy a lot of stuff for his kids to try to create a better relationship with them and I tend to pick up the tab more often because I bring in more income, so not really. I also cut back hours at my 2nd job to spend more time with my family and lost that income. I will probably ramp up the extra hours over the summer when all of the kids go to their other parents' houses and I have more free time.

75% of the time day trips, 25% staying. My boyfriend is a Cast Member so I talk myself into the costs because "we get such good discounts" haha. We should just drive home honestly. We spent $500 for dapper day weekend for 2 nights plus dining plan for 4 of us (my kids were at their dads house) and honestly it was so unnecessary. We have started doing more adults only day trips because we want to try a restaurant or something and it't too expensive x 6. I feel like we are all just over the same rides, same shows, etc so we look for "new things" which tend to be 'try a new restaurant, try a new snack, try a new resort' etc and I know I have to drop that while trying to pay off debt.
 
Alright, so I applied for the BoA BankAmericard which has the $0 transfer fee and 0% APR for 15 months. I got instantly approved for $15k. I will order a balance transfer check and use that to transfer $15k of the HELOC to the credit card. This should save us about $1250 in interest over that time. And then when the promo on this card is close to expiring, I will look into opening the Chase Slate, which offers the same $0 transfer fee and 0% APR for 15 months. DH is also going to apply for the BoA BankAmericard too so that we can do the same thing with more of the HELOC balance. And then I have to decide if I want to use a balance transfer offer on my Capitol One card that gives 0% for 12 months with a 2% fee. It would cost us about $200 in fees, but it would save us about $663 in interest, so a net savings of $463. I will just have to make sure that I am on top of all of the payments and when the APRs expire so that I don't get any unexpected interest or penalty fees.
 
Alright, so I applied for the BoA BankAmericard which has the $0 transfer fee and 0% APR for 15 months. I got instantly approved for $15k. I will order a balance transfer check and use that to transfer $15k of the HELOC to the credit card. This should save us about $1250 in interest over that time. And then when the promo on this card is close to expiring, I will look into opening the Chase Slate, which offers the same $0 transfer fee and 0% APR for 15 months. DH is also going to apply for the BoA BankAmericard too so that we can do the same thing with more of the HELOC balance. And then I have to decide if I want to use a balance transfer offer on my Capitol One card that gives 0% for 12 months with a 2% fee. It would cost us about $200 in fees, but it would save us about $663 in interest, so a net savings of $463. I will just have to make sure that I am on top of all of the payments and when the APRs expire so that I don't get any unexpected interest or penalty fees.

Such a good idea!
 
Such a good idea!

Our HELOC rate is prime + 1.38%, which for a HELOC is pretty good. But since prime is currently 5.25%, the interest on the HELOC is at 6.63%. I would like to as little of our debt to accrue interest fees at that rate as possible so that we can pay off the HELOC as soon as possible.

I keep hoping that they will post that intermediate developer position that DH's boss said they would be hiring for soon. That was probably two months ago. I know that DH would be a likely candidate for the position and it would mean a big income jump that we could use towards paying down the HELOC faster.

And the guy came for the crack repair today. They found 6 cracks that had some kind of moisture coming into the basement. :headache: It cost $1700 to repair it all. But it's not like it is something that we could just skip doing because if we don't address the leaks then they will end up ruining the drywall and carpet, etc. or cause mold. Just have to grin and bear it I guess.
 
Picked up an extra day of work for Friday. I'm not expecting to be super busy on Monday, so this will help a little with the shorter day. Thinking about picking up a day next week too. If I do that, I can probably knock out that last loan I was hoping to pay off this year.

In a bit of a frugal note, this morning I made a double batch of waffles, 2 dozen egg muffins, and some mini pizzas for the freezer. Hoping that helps with the urge to buy my breakfasts at work and helps DF with some easy breakfast and dinners for him and the kids when I'm working/sleeping. Next up is a giant crock pot full of shredded chicken and a couple lasagne and pasta freezer dishes and breakfast burritos. Really trying to reign in the extra convenience food spending in the upcoming year.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!










Top