Debt Dumpers - 2016

[Jen and Ashwin]

DH and I order a treadmill from Amazon on Cyber Monday. We didn't originally plan to buy it, but we had talked about getting a second one for a while. And my grandmother just sent us a very late wedding gift. We put most of the gift money towards our emergency fund, but we decided to use $500 of it towards the treadmill. The goal is that we can both walk and watch TV in the evenings now, rather than just sitting on the sofa. I want to lose about 30 lbs. and DH could stand to loose some too.

I also got a table sort of thing that sits across the top of the treadmill so now I can use it as a working desk too when I work from home. I am very excited about that!

So they delivered it this morning, but they only would bring it in the front door. DH and I just spent the last hour getting it down the stairs into the basement. Insanity! Amazon Home Services is coming tomorrow to assemble it. It was a deal for just $20 more, so I figured, why not let someone else deal with that? Save me the aggravation.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I floated the idea of taking me and my mom going on a short trip to Disney last night to DH last night. The response was a resounding "no way are you going to Disney and leaving me here!"

Well, certainly can't say I blame him. I'd feel the same way!

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I floated the idea of taking me and my mom going on a short trip to Disney last night to DH last night. The response was a resounding "no way are you going to Disney and leaving me here!"

Well, certainly can't say I blame him. I'd feel the same way!

My bachelorette party was a 4 day Bahamas cruise. DH whined so bad because he didn't get to go. He didn't even want a bachelor party so much as he wanted to go on a cruise. I can't say that I blame him. It was crazy fun.

 

[Ngwira]

Dh's car is fine. We thought it was the alternator but mechanic tested it and said it was fine. It's a 2011 Honda CRV with 190k miles so it's bound to have issues. The mechanic charged him $0.

I also found out this morning that I am getting a small raise. 4 percent from this year's salary. I work for a non profit so this is actually amazing . I upped my 403b contribution so I don't think i will see an increase in my weekly salary but at least I'm contributing to retirement.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Dh's car is fine. We thought it was the alternator but mechanic tested it and said it was fine. It's a 2011 Honda CRV with 190k miles so it's bound to have issues. The mechanic charged him $0.

I also found out this morning that I am getting a small raise. 3 percent from this year's salary. I work for a non profit so this is actually amazing . I upped my 403b contribution so I don't think i will see an increase in my weekly salary but at least I'm contributing to retirement.

Good news all around! Congrats on the raise.

 

[Ngwira]

Good news all around! Congrats on the raise.

Thanks, Jen! Now if I can only stop "churning"..lol

 

[Dentam]

I should be getting a Christmas bonus in my paycheck this Friday - we never know what it will be until we are paid. I have my checks direct deposited so I will be checking as soon as I wake up on Friday! We were also told we should be getting a cost of living raise - hopefully 3% like we got last year. Previous years ranged from 2-3% so we'll see.

 

[dayvewc]

So I listed our points up at David's last month. They just sent a request this morning and I jumped right on it. Now our 2016 points and a few of our 2017 points have been rented out and we can just bank the remaining 2017 points into 2018 for our next trip. One of the exciting parts of this to me is that I plan to take the money we get from renting out points and put it towards our savings fund for a new DVC contract. DH and I both like the idea of getting some points at Wilderness Lodge next. This really helps give a jump start to that savings fund, an exciting prospect for future trips!

I've used David's in the past to rent points. It was super easy to do, so if I ever decide to rent my points out again I'm sure that is the way I'll go. But can I say that I your idea for the money from renting? I've been contemplating another contract in a few years. I may have to adopt this plan in the meantime.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I've used David's in the past to rent points. It was super easy to do, so if I ever decide to rent my points out again I'm sure that is the way I'll go. But can I say that I your idea for the money from renting? I've been contemplating another contract in a few years. I may have to adopt this plan in the meantime.

Thanks. I thought it made sense to keep that money focused towards Disney. We are hoping to get a 50-60 point contact at Wilderness Lodge, so $1000 will be quite a jumpstart. And I think it will give us motivation to put other found or leftover money towards the fund too and get a new contract that much sooner. I did a little contract work last month and am expecting $500 from that, which I plan to also put towards this fund. That means we might be about 1/3 of the way there already!

 

[DisneyMandC]

Dh's car is fine. We thought it was the alternator but mechanic tested it and said it was fine. It's a 2011 Honda CRV with 190k miles so it's bound to have issues. The mechanic charged him $0.

I also found out this morning that I am getting a small raise. 4 percent from this year's salary. I work for a non profit so this is actually amazing . I upped my 403b contribution so I don't think i will see an increase in my weekly salary but at least I'm contributing to retirement.

Would the car not start when you tried it? If it was cold, consider your sparkplugs if they haven't been changed in a while. Often the sign of that can be the car refusing to start on a cold morning, but fires up fine later on when it warms up a little.

 

[Ngwira]

Would the car not start when you tried it? If it was cold, consider your sparkplugs if they haven't been changed in a while. Often the sign of that can be the car refusing to start on a cold morning, but fires up fine later on when it warms up a little.

We had been driving around a bit so the car was warm. At 190k I think it's just a matter of time before he needs a new one. Thanks for the advice, though.

 

[Ngwira]

Thanks. I thought it made sense to keep that money focused towards Disney. We are hoping to get a 50-60 point contact at Wilderness Lodge, so $1000 will be quite a jumpstart. And I think it will give us motivation to put other found or leftover money towards the fund too and get a new contract that much sooner. I did a little contract work last month and am expecting $500 from that, which I plan to also put towards this fund. That means we might be about 1/3 of the way there already!

I'm so jealous of you DVC owners. We've gone every year since 2012 on a Labor Day deal but when I add up how much we've spent...especially in the first few years before I learned churning and getting discounts on Disney gift cards, Amex offers...etc.. we could've had a nice down payment for a contract. This year will be the cheapest year yet as our transportation costs were paid with points..but still

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I'm so jealous of you DVC owners. We've gone every year since 2012 on a Labor Day deal but when I add up how much we've spent...especially in the first few years before I learned churning and getting discounts on Disney gift cards, Amex offers...etc.. we could've had a nice down payment for a contract. This year will be the cheapest year yet as our transportation costs were paid with points..but still

You should only really count your resort costs, since DVC doesn't cover anything else. DH and I were lucky to have a big chunk of wedding money from my parents to use to purchase our first contract. Otherwise, we probably wouldn't have it. My mom thought it was a terrible use of money and berated me a bit for our decision. My dad seemed to think it was fine. DH and I are very glad that we bought it and have no regrets. We bought it thinking towards the future of many, many wonderful family vacations with our kids. And that thought has been very helpful over the past few months to keep me in a positive frame of mind.

 

[dayvewc]

I'm so jealous of you DVC owners. We've gone every year since 2012 on a Labor Day deal but when I add up how much we've spent...especially in the first few years before I learned churning and getting discounts on Disney gift cards, Amex offers...etc.. we could've had a nice down payment for a contract. This year will be the cheapest year yet as our transportation costs were paid with points..but still

You should only really count your resort costs, since DVC doesn't cover anything else.

@Jen and Ashwin have it nailed, @Ngwira. I love my DVC, but if I wasn't planning on going back to Disney on at least an every other year basis, it isn't worth it. And honestly, financially DVC doesn't make as much sense as contracts with some other timeshare resorts. DVC is unbeatable for the Disney Bubble effect, but all it provides is rooms (and a few discounts, but they are not guaranteed). Every resort I have stayed at outside of Disney has always had larger rooms for a lower exchange cost than the Disney resorts, they just don't have the themeing. And for what I spent for my DVC contract, I have much bigger units available through my other timeshare, with some of the exchange resorts are closer to the parks than some of the DVC resorts *cough* Animal Kingdom *cough**cough* Saratoga Springs *cough*. Plus, with my other timeshare, exchanging to non-Disney locations is much easier (and with better value) than trying to use my DVC.

In perspective, I spent about $16k on my DVC contract. I also spent about the same amount on my other timeshare. The DVC points will almost let me stay 1 week during the summer in a 1-bedroom every year, but it is on property. My other timeshare, I can get 2 full weeks (or more) in a 1-bedroom during the summer every year, but it is off-property. Though I've discovered that I really like Silver Lake resort and it is as close to Animal Kingdom as the AK Lodge.

 

[Miss Whimsy]

one of my favorite things about YNAB is the reports, and looking at my end of year numbers I kicked almost $3000 of debt this year! considering the massive vet bills that occurred in 2016, I'm actually pretty pleased with that, though obviously I could have done better.

 

[Ngwira]

@Jen and Ashwin have it nailed, @Ngwira. I love my DVC, but if I wasn't planning on going back to Disney on at least an every other year basis, it isn't worth it. And honestly, financially DVC doesn't make as much sense as contracts with some other timeshare resorts. DVC is unbeatable for the Disney Bubble effect, but all it provides is rooms (and a few discounts, but they are not guaranteed). Every resort I have stayed at outside of Disney has always had larger rooms for a lower exchange cost than the Disney resorts, they just don't have the themeing. And for what I spent for my DVC contract, I have much bigger units available through my other timeshare, with some of the exchange resorts are closer to the parks than some of the DVC resorts *cough* Animal Kingdom *cough**cough* Saratoga Springs *cough*. Plus, with my other timeshare, exchanging to non-Disney locations is much easier (and with better value) than trying to use my DVC.

In perspective, I spent about $16k on my DVC contract. I also spent about the same amount on my other timeshare. The DVC points will almost let me stay 1 week during the summer in a 1-bedroom every year, but it is on property. My other timeshare, I can get 2 full weeks (or more) in a 1-bedroom during the summer every year, but it is off-property. Though I've discovered that I really like Silver Lake resort and it is as close to Animal Kingdom as the AK Lodge.

Thanks for the honest feedback, Dave.

 

[Eureka]

Well, we bought a car yesterday. A 2012 RAV4 with 30k miles. Keeping the van to see if it'll make it long enough for DS16 (today's his birthday!) to get his license in August. Had to put the new car on insurance yesterday but going to call my local agent tomorrow to drop the van to liability only. We got a decent 3.7% interest rate but the term was 6 years, longer than we wanted, so once we finish our other car payment in a year, we'll work on paying the new one off more quickly. However, the lower monthly payment will help for now. Still haven't figured out what to cut back on to make this all happen but we have options. It'll pretty much be a toss up between putting less in retirement or less into the college funds for a year. And the new car is mine. DH loves his Camry, which I've been driving, and said as long as he gets it back, he didn't care what we bought (in a certain price range). I like being a little higher up on the road but we decided we didn't need another van.

 

[dayvewc]

Thanks for the honest feedback, Dave.

@Ngwira, you are quite welcome.

I'm a little biased , but I think if travel and vacations are important to you (at least every other year) timeshares can be a great purchase , and the earlier the better. having said that, there are better companies and less good companies. then there are the exchange companies, most resorts are only on 1 exchange. so there is a lot to consider. if you have questions I'd be glad to answer them as best I can.

 

[Ngwira]

Well, we bought a car yesterday. A 2012 RAV4 with 30k miles. Keeping the van to see if it'll make it long enough for DS16 (today's his birthday!) to get his license in August. Had to put the new car on insurance yesterday but going to call my local agent tomorrow to drop the van to liability only. We got a decent 3.7% interest rate but the term was 6 years, longer than we wanted, so once we finish our other car payment in a year, we'll work on paying the new one off more quickly. However, the lower monthly payment will help for now. Still haven't figured out what to cut back on to make this all happen but we have options. It'll pretty much be a toss up between putting less in retirement or less into the college funds for a year. And the new car is mine. DH loves his Camry, which I've been driving, and said as long as he gets it back, he didn't care what we bought (in a certain price range). I like being a little higher up on the road but we decided we didn't need another van.

Congratulations on the new car!!! Toyotas rock.

 

[Ngwira]

@Ngwira, you are quite welcome.

I'm a little biased , but I think if travel and vacations are important to you (at least every other year) timeshares can be a great purchase , and the earlier the better. having said that, there are better companies and less good companies. then there are the exchange companies, most resorts are only on 1 exchange. so there is a lot to consider. if you have questions I'd be glad to answer them as best I can.

Definitely not looking to buy a timeshare. We like the freedom to vacation when we can afford to. If we don't have the money, we don't go.