Debt Dumpers - 2019

[Scoobie]

Working towards saving for driveway repair - have 1/5th saved. Shooting for Oct. to have it done. Right now, been spending on home improvement stuff, small things that add up! Redoing outdoor rocking benches (look terrible) at 5-6 cans of paint each. One side of the house needs painting, gets hammered by the sun. Carpets shampooed this week as well, and need a bit of sod to go in a couple areas that look slap dash right now. Bit of cement to replace some yard edging. All by the end of first week of August since DH is home on another vacation (staying home to get things done. He gets 6 weeks a year that are 12 days every time, we don't need to be gone that much!). Savings for Dec. DW trip on track, but may bump that up if rumors are true that GE in DL are already raising prices on some things (have not heard what yet, but it came from Rteetz so I'm listening). Younger DS still sabotaging my plans, he swears he will stop, he just keeps "needing things", lol. He will be helping me put more up on ebay, which is going pretty well. He is temporarily forgiven. Older DS has stopped spending completely, forgoing his massive Subway craving for 3 days so far (he's special needs, I may let him have it as a reward!). Will keep everyone posted! Happy hump day!

 

[barkley]

Working towards saving for driveway repair - have 1/5th saved

we had to redo the entire cement pad in front of our garage a few years back yikes-concrete is EXPENSIVE!!!! now i won't let dh go near it with any kind of de-icer (it led to the demise of the original). never want to have to pay out that kind of money again.

Carpets shampooed this week as well,

one of the best investments we ever made was a steam cleaner for our carpets. it pretty much paid for itself after the first few uses (as compared to renting one let alone having a carpet cleaner come in). so many stains have been prevented due to being able to immediatly deal with spills. i highly reccommend it.

Older DS has stopped spending completely, forgoing his massive Subway craving for 3 days so far (he's special needs, I may let him have it as a reward!).

my special needs son loves subways as well! i think it's because he has very specific likes and dislikes so any place that lets him dictate the ingredients and then direct the preparation of his food from start to finish ranks high in popularity

 

[jen7233]

Nothing really any additional or unusual for bills in August, buy things for school and pay some fall activities. I really want to move out of our rental, so dislike the second floor and the bedroom and bathrooms configuration it doesn't work well at all for us, and with horribly squeaking floorboards on second floor and stairs and continues to settle it really drives me crazy, can't imagine owning this place and the repair costs if it were ours. We have another year on the lease and we will probably move then anyway.

Adding more to vacation savings now as I think if I don't will come up short next year with our current plans. Planning two trips next year, one is WDW spring, other looking at late summer before school starts, and make that three trips if counting visit with family sometime next year which still has its expenses. Would love to do YC at WDW in spring, but I don't think there will be any good deals for the timeframe of spring break.

Looking ahead to 2020, and earmarking and changing some savings plans starting now for next year, including Roth.

 

[crazycatstacy]

Got my husbands check. Didn't really pay extra on debt, but was able to pay for Mickey's Christmas party tickets, the concert tickets for November, put the money away for our trip to see friends in two weeks, put money away to spend with friends that are staying with us this weekend, and had a $200 extra charge on our phone bill from when my husband got a new phone. So although no extra on debt we won't be accruing any and were able to put money away for upcoming plans.

My husband currently has the same amount of overtime already worked for his next check so we hope to be able to pay a big chunk then!

 

[pblack]

Nothing greatly new or exciting on my debt dumping front. I wasn't able to pay any extra to our student loans with this paycheck, but hopefully next month I will be able to. The rent check our house-mate will give us will go straight to our tree removal fund and we will only need $150 more after that. I had a 2.5% raise on today's paycheck, but it was pretty much a wash since I upped my 457 contributions. Next month I will also have my next "step-up" raise which I believe is 5%.

We've been trying really hard to not spend unnecessary money, especially since I ended up buying a hybrid elliptical/recumbent bike from Costco. It was $300 on sale and should hopefully be here tomorrow. We also leave on vacation in 2.5 weeks to go see my best friend, her husband, and their brand new baby. We do have a DCA one-day turn around trip planned for next Saturday 8/10 (we're blocked out of DL with our APs). Other than that we've just been trying to stay cool with all the high temperature days we've been having.

 

[imbatman]

Mickey's Christmas party tickets

My family LOVED MVMCP and it's on our "must do" list for next time!

but it was pretty much a wash since I upped my 457 contributions

However, that'll pay you back so much more years from now.

My kids and I are having some fun with no or low cost house updates and maintenance. We built a firepit out of leftover flagstone (we get for free up on family's property) and will be turning in our cans and plastic bottles to pay for the gravel to surround it. That massive freak snowstorm in February that toppled over 20 of our trees? Well, some of those logs will be seats! Painted bathroom #2 with leftover living room paint. Bathroom #1 will get a couple of touchups.

Our big to-do is flooring. We are buying vinyl plank flooring two boxes at a time. Yes, yes, we know about the different dye lots, but this is how we can afford it, so this is how it goes.

 

[Scoobie]

we had to redo the entire cement pad in front of our garage a few years back yikes-concrete is EXPENSIVE!!!! now i won't let dh go near it with any kind of de-icer (it led to the demise of the original). never want to have to pay out that kind of money again.

That's what happened to ours! What do you put on the cement now for the ice? Any reason you had it replaced instead of repaired? I have already told DH he's not putting anything on it that I haven't researched form now on. Our winters are pretty mild, but the last 2 have had a crazy amount of ice and snow for a 3 week block. Want to be prepared ahead of time for this winter.

 

[Scoobie]

My family LOVED MVMCP and it's on our "must do" list for next time!


However, that'll pay you back so much more years from now.

My kids and I are having some fun with no or low cost house updates and maintenance. We built a firepit out of leftover flagstone (we get for free up on family's property) and will be turning in our cans and plastic bottles to pay for the gravel to surround it. That massive freak snowstorm in February that toppled over 20 of our trees? Well, some of those logs will be seats! Painted bathroom #2 with leftover living room paint. Bathroom #1 will get a couple of touchups.

Our big to-do is flooring. We are buying vinyl plank flooring two boxes at a time. Yes, yes, we know about the different dye lots, but this is how we can afford it, so this is how it goes.

We put that in almost our entire house since I wanted wood but needed something indestructible. The only carpet we have now is a small bit in the living room for visual breakup of giant area. When I was looking, I went around buying one piece of everything I liked, brought them home, and abused them horribly. I got on the ladder and threw tools, knives, scissors, rocks, so many things at them to see which ones held up the best, heh. My family thinks it's funny. I even let water sit on them for like 2 days to see what would happen if someone dropped an ice cube and it melted. I think you'll like it!

 

[barkley]

That's what happened to ours! What do you put on the cement now for the ice? Any reason you had it replaced instead of repaired? I have already told DH he's not putting anything on it that I haven't researched form now on. Our winters are pretty mild, but the last 2 have had a crazy amount of ice and snow for a 3 week block. Want to be prepared ahead of time for this winter.

repairing concrete is hit and miss-that new top layer they put on can crack and chip away from the bottom which would have put us back where we were. we also used it as an opportunity to change the way it was leveled-our 'driveway' is the large 4 car pad in front of the garage which is accessed from the long graveled driveway on our property so we had the concrete guys make it a smidge higher on the approach side as well as the entry to the garage, it also is a smidge lower on the full right hand side. reason for this is so any rain or melting snow will go to the center which was designed to use gravity to push it to the right where (in the adjacent gravel) we put a drain that has an underground plastic (large) pipe that feeds down to a garden area. it's helped as snow has melted from just sitting there and creating an ice dam.

as far as putting anything on it-we don't. i got some electric heating mats that plug in near the front steps that keep them clear for entry to the house but the cement pad gets either plowed or snow blowed when it hits a certain depth (have to do the gravel anyway). the only issue we've seen in the past year or two is w/the stuff the state is using on the highways now-very corrosive but we can't do anything about tracking it in.

 

[imbatman]

Not budget related, but I have a hyper passive-aggressive coworker who is just digging in her heels with me and I don't know why. She's talked to my boss behind my back, done my work without my permission, and worst of all, stolen/eaten my food AND stolen my bowl (I use it to eat soups and salads) from the cupboard. My boss won't do a dang thing. He's all "work it out."

I can't leave this job because of the pay and benefits. Not yet. DH is facing another foot surgery and I carry the insurance. Plus, the pay is helping us get the debt down. Once the debt is gone and we have savings? That's a different story. Plus, it's not causing me any physical symptoms other than "I-don't-want-to-be-here."

It's hard pulling into the parking lot and having to give myself a pep talk to walk inside. I keep Disney soundtracks rolling on my computer to help. Anyways, thanks for letting me vent. Payments are still on track to have CC #3 paid off in November. I'm getting there!

 

[Nettlelondon]

imbatman - If your boss won't get involved, is there another colleague you might be able to involve on a "Hey, what has imbatman done? There seems to be a lot of tension between you two at the moment" kind of basis? No one wants a bad atmosphere at work, and they often stem from misunderstandings and just spiral in people's heads. Hands off bosses don't help much.

I've got a situation on a volunteer work committee I am on. One of the other members seems to have taken against a number of us and we can't work out why or how we can resolve it as he insists "I don't want to complain but ...." the whole time, about just about everything. At least it isn't my day to day activities.

 

[barkley]

stolen/eaten my food AND stolen my bowl

we had a food thief at work so i took EXTREME measures. next time i went to my doctor i mentioned the problem and hit him up for a handful of those zip lock bags marked WARNING-BIO HAZARDOUS MATERIALS-WARNING and a half dozen of those screw top urine sample cups. i started packing my lunch inside the the zip locks and any liquids like salad dressing went in the urine sample cups inside the zip lock. my lunch was never stolen again (and until others caught on no one would put theirs near it). the alternate option is to do your normal lunch but HIGHLY SEASON IT (thousand island dressing looks no different with the addition of a generous amount of sirache sauce, a sandwich with mayo isn't noticeably different w/horseradish...).

 

[imbatman]

imbatman - If your boss won't get involved, is there another colleague you might be able to involve on a "Hey, what has imbatman done? There seems to be a lot of tension between you two at the moment" kind of basis? No one wants a bad atmosphere at work, and they often stem from misunderstandings and just spiral in people's heads. Hands off bosses don't help much.

The next guy on the chain of command is the same as the boss. They want it to just go away. And PAC (passive-aggressive coworker) would never say that kind of question. She's super sneaky and asked suggestive questions to get her point across. When I asked her about my bowl, she answered in a Snow White voice, "Well problem solved! Bring in a new bowl!" No malice in her tone and then she laughed which made another coworker think it was a joke and he laughed, and asked the office dog if he had my bowl.

I tell myself to be kind or polite, because I want to be above her pettiness. If she wants to be a miserable human being, so be it. But it is totally a drag to work with.

 

[imbatman]

we had a food thief at work so i took EXTREME measures. next time i went to my doctor i mentioned the problem and hit him up for a handful of those zip lock bags marked WARNING-BIO HAZARDOUS MATERIALS-WARNING and a half dozen of those screw top urine sample cups. i started packing my lunch inside the the zip locks and any liquids like salad dressing went in the urine sample cups inside the zip lock. my lunch was never stolen again (and until others caught on no one would put theirs near it). the alternate option is to do your normal lunch but HIGHLY SEASON IT (thousand island dressing looks no different with the addition of a generous amount of sirache sauce, a sandwich with mayo isn't noticeably different w/horseradish...).

What's crazy is that I saw her with my bowl and then my can of soup disappeared. So she knows that I know and still won't say, "Oh my word! I am sorry because I thought it was mine!" (even though it's on my shelf--the same shelf I've had for 9 years). Really, she's a toad. (also, we have 6 people in the office...)

 

[pblack]

What's crazy is that I saw her with my bowl and then my can of soup disappeared. So she knows that I know and still won't say, "Oh my word! I am sorry because I thought it was mine!" (even though it's on my shelf--the same shelf I've had for 9 years). Really, she's a toad. (also, we have 6 people in the office...)

I think it's time you start slipping laxatives in your food...

 

[barkley]

I think it's time you start slipping laxatives in your food...

so long as they are in something you did'nt offer to anyone else otherwise it can be prosecuted under the law (there was a case near us where someone did it in a potluck setting so there was allot of discussion on the news about 'intentional infliction' of harm to another, but hey, if someone steals your chocolate brownies from your lunch they gets what they gets).

 

[Scoobie]

What's crazy is that I saw her with my bowl and then my can of soup disappeared. So she knows that I know and still won't say, "Oh my word! I am sorry because I thought it was mine!" (even though it's on my shelf--the same shelf I've had for 9 years). Really, she's a toad. (also, we have 6 people in the office...)

Here's an article that might make you feel better about the lunch theft. Apparently it's a rampant problem in workplaces everywhere. Maybe put your food in a small zippered soft lunchbox with a lock on it? Then you can laugh it off if anyone ever points it out! https://www.thecut.com/2018/10/why-do-people-steal-their-co-workers-lunch.html#comments

 

[jen7233]

Thinking about credit cards, credit scores, car insurance, and bank rates today.

Credit score/car insurance:
On credit scores and car insurance. My score recently went down some. I have heard (note, *heard via financial podcast and finance articles, not confirmed personally) that a lower credit score can lead to an increased car insurance rate. Any thoughts or experiences on if your credit score went down, did your car insurance rate go up, if you've had insurance with the same company for years? How would you know the rate increase was due to a credit score reduction rather than the company increasing the rates?

 

[imbatman]

Thinking about credit cards, credit scores, car insurance, and bank rates today.

Credit score/car insurance:
On credit scores and car insurance. My score recently went down some. I have heard (note, *heard via financial podcast and finance articles, not confirmed personally) that a lower credit score can lead to an increased car insurance rate. Any thoughts or experiences on if your credit score went down, did your car insurance rate go up, if you've had insurance with the same company for years? How would you know the rate increase was due to a credit score reduction rather than the company increasing the rates?

We didn't have this happen. And also the flip side didn't prove true: when our scores went up, the rates didn't go down.

 

[DLgal]

Thinking about credit cards, credit scores, car insurance, and bank rates today.

Credit score/car insurance:
On credit scores and car insurance. My score recently went down some. I have heard (note, *heard via financial podcast and finance articles, not confirmed personally) that a lower credit score can lead to an increased car insurance rate. Any thoughts or experiences on if your credit score went down, did your car insurance rate go up, if you've had insurance with the same company for years? How would you know the rate increase was due to a credit score reduction rather than the company increasing the rates?

If you are trying to get car insurance quotes from a new company, they will check your credit, usually. They will quote higher rates to people with lower credit. That's kind of a standard thing with any kind of insurance, which is why they say a low credit score can cost you in other areas of your life. Your existing car insurance company isn't going to monitor your credit and adjust it accordingly, though. I've never heard of that happening.