Debt Dumpers - 2019

[barkley]

on the bank account stuff-

just as a suggestion, if you are going to do this (or the cascading system of paying bills w/credit cards to maximize rewards)-detail out what you are doing in writing in case someone else has to handle it for you in an emergency.

i say this b/c a family member had to deal with the finances of someone who did the credit card thing and it was a nightmare trying to figure out what in the world they were doing. stuff was set to auto transfer/pay/charge but the primary person was doing manual transactions as well to make it work so stuff got all messed up resulting in penalty fees and unpaid household expenses. bank accounts need to be listed out for someone else to deal with esp. if any vital payments are set up for auto pay w/vendors who are eager to cancel contracts/services (health insurance/life insurance in particular). in the event of the worst circumstance and someone has to deal with your estate-not knowing about where bank accounts exist can mean the funds in them sit for years in limbo even if another co-owner is listed or a p.o.d.. i'm dealing with this now-brother passed in 2017 leaving no clue to banks and the state he lived in gives 3 years without activity on the account to the bank before they have to BEGIN to try to first contact the named owner (which could be via the email address that died w/the person) and then upwards of another year before they turn over the funds to the state controller's office to begin their time consuming processing before they post it on their website. in my case if anythings out there it may help reimburse the expenses another sib and i had to pay but if there was anyone reliant on those monies for day to day expenses it would be a nightmare.

 

[pblack]

A tip for those of you traveling soon (I head to the airport for anaheim in a couple hours), buy one of those days of the week pill holders and put your normal OTC in it. It saves space and you dont have to have many tiny bottles/packs. You could also put a little note inside each compartment to remind you what it is/directions. I've been doing this the last couple years and its saved me so much space in my toiletry bag.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

on the bank account stuff-

just as a suggestion, if you are going to do this (or the cascading system of paying bills w/credit cards to maximize rewards)-detail out what you are doing in writing in case someone else has to handle it for you in an emergency.

i say this b/c a family member had to deal with the finances of someone who did the credit card thing and it was a nightmare trying to figure out what in the world they were doing. stuff was set to auto transfer/pay/charge but the primary person was doing manual transactions as well to make it work so stuff got all messed up resulting in penalty fees and unpaid household expenses. bank accounts need to be listed out for someone else to deal with esp. if any vital payments are set up for auto pay w/vendors who are eager to cancel contracts/services (health insurance/life insurance in particular). in the event of the worst circumstance and someone has to deal with your estate-not knowing about where bank accounts exist can mean the funds in them sit for years in limbo even if another co-owner is listed or a p.o.d.. i'm dealing with this now-brother passed in 2017 leaving no clue to banks and the state he lived in gives 3 years without activity on the account to the bank before they have to BEGIN to try to first contact the named owner (which could be via the email address that died w/the person) and then upwards of another year before they turn over the funds to the state controller's office to begin their time consuming processing before they post it on their website. in my case if anythings out there it may help reimburse the expenses another sib and i had to pay but if there was anyone reliant on those monies for day to day expenses it would be a nightmare.

I'm sorry for the loss of your brother. His accounts being a nightmare to deal with I'm sure only compound your grief. I have told dh where to find my list of bonuses that lists all the steps I'm following with those that are completed are crossed through like this.

After dealing with my inlaws estate and dh's sister unable to follow through with the duties of being executor, I can relate.
I will point out where to find these things for my kids or maybe just leave a list in an easy to find place to give directions. My kids are still grieving the loss of 3 grandparents in 3 years plus a great grandmother, like suddenly everyone is dying. Even though for all of us our days are not infinite, I'd rather not put that idea in their head like, Hey here's what to do just in case I die too....

 

[jen7233]

on the bank account stuff-

just as a suggestion, if you are going to do this (or the cascading system of paying bills w/credit cards to maximize rewards)-detail out what you are doing in writing in case someone else has to handle it for you in an emergency.

i say this b/c a family member had to deal with the finances of someone who did the credit card thing and it was a nightmare trying to figure out what in the world they were doing. stuff was set to auto transfer/pay/charge but the primary person was doing manual transactions as well to make it work so stuff got all messed up resulting in penalty fees and unpaid household expenses. bank accounts need to be listed out for someone else to deal with esp. if any vital payments are set up for auto pay w/vendors who are eager to cancel contracts/services (health insurance/life insurance in particular). in the event of the worst circumstance and someone has to deal with your estate-not knowing about where bank accounts exist can mean the funds in them sit for years in limbo even if another co-owner is listed or a p.o.d.. i'm dealing with this now-brother passed in 2017 leaving no clue to banks and the state he lived in gives 3 years without activity on the account to the bank before they have to BEGIN to try to first contact the named owner (which could be via the email address that died w/the person) and then upwards of another year before they turn over the funds to the state controller's office to begin their time consuming processing before they post it on their website. in my case if anythings out there it may help reimburse the expenses another sib and i had to pay but if there was anyone reliant on those monies for day to day expenses it would be a nightmare.

Agree that's it's important to have your designated person have some awareness of things important to know in the event of one's passing. I have thought about that before regarding the credit card game in particular, imagining finding a large amount of cards could feel really overwhelming to the person handling the estate.

 

[barkley]

I will point out where to find these things for my kids or maybe just leave a list in an easy to find place to give directions. My kids are still grieving the loss of 3 grandparents in 3 years plus a great grandmother, like suddenly everyone is dying. Even though for all of us our days are not infinite, I'd rather not put that idea in their head like, Hey here's what to do just in case I die too....

i understand entirely. what you can do is look into a workbook called 'for those i leave behind'. it's a spiral notebook with every category of personal information you can think of. you can list who they need to contact on any subject imaginable. i've taken to keeping a list of bank and credit card information in it that i periodically update with new ones opened/old ones closed (and the date in case someone has to do my taxes and won't know which banks to look for interest statements from). when we finally got our estate planning finished up this summer our attorney was on keeping these kinds of records b/c she's done too many estate plans wherein people dictate how they want their assets dispersed but then fail to document what/where the assets are.

 

[barkley]

Agree that's it's important to have your designated person have some awareness of things important to know in the event of one's passing. I have thought about that before regarding the credit card game in particular, imagining finding a large amount of cards could feel really overwhelming to the person handling the estate.

OMG i think my late mil and fil took on every free card offered to them. we couldn't believe the number of random cards we found squirreled away among their stuff. it finally got to the point that we went to a credit reporting agency and got a credit report pulled so we could see which were active and which had balances on them. we made sure the agency knew both were deceased so that they could freeze them and avoid potential identity theft.

i don't do the credit card thing much but i do have the ones that might have cash back rewards noted in my spiral book.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Boston Market does TG turkey meals?

https://www.bostonmarket.com/holiday-meal-catering-and-delivery/

 

[Scoobie]

workbook called 'for those i leave behind'.

Thanks for this - I'm going to get one now.

 

[Scoobie]

we had snow again yesterday,

You already had snow? We've had some cold days, mostly low 50's, but brutal winds (normal for us). Will have a cold snap mid-week, low 40's, then back up again for a bit. Last year we had a tiny bit of snow xmas eve (when we arrived home by plane from Orlando, cue tear of joy) and then basically none until January.

 

[jen7233]

OMG i think my late mil and fil took on every free card offered to them. we couldn't believe the number of random cards we found squirreled away among their stuff. it finally got to the point that we went to a credit reporting agency and got a credit report pulled so we could see which were active and which had balances on them. we made sure the agency knew both were deceased so that they could freeze them and avoid potential identity theft.

This is one reason I think I'll scale all our accounts when we are in our late 60s, just to keep things simple, and for ourselves, too.

 

[DLgal]

A tip for those of you traveling soon (I head to the airport for anaheim in a couple hours), buy one of those days of the week pill holders and put your normal OTC in it. It saves space and you dont have to have many tiny bottles/packs. You could also put a little note inside each compartment to remind you what it is/directions. I've been doing this the last couple years and its saved me so much space in my toiletry bag.

I use tiny pill ziploc bags. They are like the size of half a credit card and have a space where you can write on them. I then put all those into one ziploc sandwich bag. It's a huge space/weight saver. I keep one in my purse that has a variety of OTC and Rx meds in it so I am prepared with one dose for any issue, no matter where I am. Like these:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/100-Pill...ine-bags-Travel-Reminder-Medication/835046554

 

[DisneyMandC]

I would get new YNAB. We used to use Mint and it was not nearly as powerful as YNAB. I haven’t tried Everydollar, so I can’t compare that. I think since you owned the old version you are grandfathered into a better annual rate? Maybe check on that? We joined right when new YNAB launched so we are locked into $50 per year.

I just signed up for it this morning and am now trying to figure it out. I guess at least I'm close to the end of the month, so I'm just going to kind of start fresh for November. I need to watch some of the videos since I think right now it's treating my credit card balances like debt that I need to budget to pay off, but it's actually just my expenses from this month lol.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I just signed up for it this morning and am now trying to figure it out. I guess at least I'm close to the end of the month, so I'm just going to kind of start fresh for November. I need to watch some of the videos since I think right now it's treating my credit card balances like debt that I need to budget to pay off, but it's actually just my expenses from this month lol.

I would sign up for some of the workshops. They are so helpful. And when you first start, you need to budget money into your credit card balance to get to "zero," then afterward it should treat all of your new expenses normally since those will be coming out of specific categories.

Also, since you were a previous YNAB 4 member, did you get a discount?

 

[DisneyMandC]

I would sign up for some of the workshops. They are so helpful. And when you first start, you need to budget money into your credit card balance to get to "zero," then afterward it should treat all of your new expenses normally since those will be coming out of specific categories.

Also, since you were a previous YNAB 4 member, did you get a discount?

Yeah, I'm watching some of the videos now since it's a slow day at work. I'm on the free trial right now, but it says that I should get 10% off as a YNAB4 member. So I guess I'll see if I still like it after 30 days and then decide if I want to start paying.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

DH decided after our WDW visit that he wants to add more point to our Riviera DVC contract. We rode the Skyliner just for fun from Epcot to Hollywood Studios and back. It went right past the Riviera Resort and man, it looks awesome. Ideally, we would like just 30 more points to get to a total of 100, but I called our rep and he said the minimum contract is now 50 points. UGH. We don't want to finance it, so we are looking to get creative in how we can afford this. I just signed us each up for a $750 checking account bank bonus. 8 points down, 42 to go.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Yeah, I'm watching some of the videos now since it's a slow day at work. I'm on the free trial right now, but it says that I should get 10% off as a YNAB4 member. So I guess I'll see if I still like it after 30 days and then decide if I want to start paying.

Let me know if I can help or answer any questions. I love it so much and have found it so helpful for us. I just want everyone to be successful with it too.

 

[jen7233]

A tip for those of you traveling soon (I head to the airport for anaheim in a couple hours), buy one of those days of the week pill holders and put your normal OTC in it. It saves space and you dont have to have many tiny bottles/packs. You could also put a little note inside each compartment to remind you what it is/directions. I've been doing this the last couple years and its saved me so much space in my toiletry bag.

One of the reasons I like the boards is for some travel tips. I can always use some good packing ideas. I should be good at packing, but I’m not. I overpack things I think I’ll need, and as far as bathroom items feel I’m taking too much.

 

[barkley]

as far as bathroom items feel I’m taking too much.

i'm trying a new tactic on this trip. for the past few months when something someone regularly uses is getting to the point of about 2 weeks of remaining usage left i stash it in one of my cabinets and pull out a new one. the partial containers of deodorant, body wash, shampoo and such will get packed in ziplocks in the checked luggage to go with us. i figure that way i don't feel guilty about tossing out the last bit of any single one if any is left at the end of vacation but i don't have it taking up space in the luggage on the return trip. toothbrushes always get tossed anyway so it should leave next to nothing to have to unpack into the bathroom when we get home (the worst part of unpacking as far as i'm concerned-the rest i deal with by packing any clean clothes remaining in one single suitcase with the dirty stuff in the others ready to go directly from rolling into the garage into laundry baskets i've left ready before we leave so i can separate them into loads to start running.

i'm hoping i have'nt just made a decision that will bust the budget i set for our trip. dh has needed a new leather jacket for ages so i checked and sure enough wilson leather has a location at the outlet mall near universal. outlets are so darn tempting-esp with stuff we buy on a regular basis like vans shoes. oh well, the upside is there are a number of places to eat there that we like so even if we end up spending some money on purchases we can offset some meal expenses (i plan on several low key days kicking back at the hotel so panera and 5 guys would be fine lower cost meals).

 

[dayvewc]

i understand entirely. what you can do is look into a workbook called 'for those i leave behind'. it's a spiral notebook with every category of personal information you can think of. you can list who they need to contact on any subject imaginable. i've taken to keeping a list of bank and credit card information in it that i periodically update with new ones opened/old ones closed (and the date in case someone has to do my taxes and won't know which banks to look for interest statements from). when we finally got our estate planning finished up this summer our attorney was on keeping these kinds of records b/c she's done too many estate plans wherein people dictate how they want their assets dispersed but then fail to document what/where the assets are.

Along those same lines, I have a folder on my google drive titled "end of life" that is shared with a couple of people - sisters, significant other, really close friends. I try to keep at least 4 to 6 people on the shared list, but will add or remove people as relationships change. In the folder, I have

• a spreadsheet listing where
  • my bank accounts currently are,
  • who my life insurance policies are with and links to forms if available,
  • current debts -
    • student loans,
    • credit card,
    • mortgage,
    • car loan,
    • etc.
• a document describing
  • funeral arrangement preferences
  • burial preferences
  • burial locations

I go through at least once a year and update the spreadsheet and document as needed. It is shared as a "view only", so no one else has access to edit or change anything, and it doesn't have enough information on the spreadsheet for anyone to access my accounts, but it does have enough that with a death certificate they will know which banks to contact.

 

[barkley]

Along those same lines, I have a folder on my google drive titled "end of life" that is shared with a couple of people - sisters, significant other, really close friends. I try to keep at least 4 to 6 people on the shared list, but will add or remove people as relationships change. In the folder, I have

• a spreadsheet listing where
  • my bank accounts currently are,
  • who my life insurance policies are with and links to forms if available,
  • current debts -
    • student loans,
    • credit card,
    • mortgage,
    • car loan,
    • etc.
• a document describing
  • funeral arrangement preferences
  • burial preferences
  • burial locations

I go through at least once a year and update the spreadsheet and document as needed. It is shared as a "view only", so no one else has access to edit or change anything, and it doesn't have enough information on the spreadsheet for anyone to access my accounts, but it does have enough that with a death certificate they will know which banks to contact.

that's a great way to do it.

when we had to deal with a couple of family member's affairs (both while alive and after death) some of the things that you think would be simple were the most difficult. on utilities/cable-none we were listed on and neither made it simple to deal with them. for that reason in my spiral book i list who we use/what account numbers/the user name and password (and with one that keeps the deposit on hold for the life of the account-how much we paid for that deposit years ago).

it was also a royal pain dealing w/one's pension organization. they would'nt give out any information on who was the beneficiary on the life insurance portion so we just told anyone who might have been listed to go ahead and apply so i've detailed out the rules on survivorship on both mine/dh's along with information on what to do when one of us predeceases the other (b/c w/one plan a new beneficiary can be named for a death benefit only but the other can be a small monthly amount for life plus the death benefit). i've gone to the extent of printing out the page from one former employer's pension plan book to show the specific rules that apply and stapling it to the pension page.

i'll admit, i overthink this stuff but we've got the added complexity in our lives of a disabled adult child. we've got our estate planning done with that in mind but there are things with his health insurance, social security and guardianship that only come to be known by virtue of having dealt with it for years so along with everything else are the current copies of the guardianship letters along with photocopies of the yearly paperwork we have to file with the courts b/c be it our other adult child or a public guardian-someone is going to have an easier time navigating everything if we give them a clear map to follow.