Debt Dumpers - 2019

[grumpy28]

I'm thinking about booking Great Wolf Lodge this would probably be the last year with the ages of kids that they'd enjoy it. The down part is that one has to pay a lot up front, and I don't like the refund policy.

So, so true! We love GWL but the upfront payment and horrible refund policy is the worst.

 

[Ngwira]

As long as you have it consolidated into the correct place you should be fine. The people that were denied did not consolidate correctly. I can't imagine thinking that you've been paying into it the whole time only to realize you didn't do direct loans and you get denied. What a horrible feeling.


In budget news, I my parents came and I spent quite a bit on food in preparation for them, but they paid for everything else! They even bought me a plane ticket to go visit family this summer. So I actually came in less than budgeted for for the last two weeks!

I can’t imagine that 99 percent of people were that dense. More likely, the current administration does not want people’s loans forgiven. That’s just my guess. I hope I’m wrong and the approval rate goes up as time goes on. The bottom line is the Department of Education has the final say on loan forgiveness. The courts even came to this conclusion when a few public interest lawyers sued to force the Department of Education to accept their applications.

 

[potterfanatic]

I can’t imagine that 99 percent of people were that dense. More likely, the current administration does not want people’s loans forgiven. That’s just my guess. I hope I’m wrong and the approval rate goes up as time goes on. The bottom line is the Department of Education has the final say on loan forgiveness. The courts even came to this conclusion when a few public interest lawyers sued to force the Department of Education to accept their applications.

Yes I have been following this closely because we are 8 years in. You’re right, it’s a scary mess that we most certainly can’t count on to come through.

 

[DisneyMandC]

It has now been 4 weeks since starting weight watchers. I am down 9 lbs. and DH has lost 9.5 lbs. We had to go shopping for DH yesterday. He took DD to swim class and his swim trunks were almost falling off him. We went to Old Navy and they had a time of stuff on clearance, so DH got some workout clothes too. 3 pairs of shorts, 1 pair swim trunks, 1 pair jeans, and 3 shirts for $65. My jeans are getting super baggy, so I need to go through my closet and try on some of my smaller sizes to figure out what will work. I really don't want to buy anything new at this stage as I would rather wait until I loose more and then buy some nice items from Trunk Club.

And in budget news, we added on some new debt, but it is at 0%. We decided to get a new camera. Our older one is bulky and heavy, so we never ended up actually taking it with us anything. I don't want to keep relying on my cellphone for pictures because it just doesn't take pictures as well as I would like. We settled on a Sony A6500. It cost us $1300 for the camera and lens. We put it on the card that has 0% until June 2020. I sold our old camera for $200 on Facebook marketplace and put that money towards the cost of the new camera. I also plan to sell a canon color printer, hopefully for $100-200 and will put that towards the camera too. And DH and I have agreed that the gift money that my mom always gives DH and I for our birthdays and Hanukkah, which we use as personal fun money, will all go towards the camera this year. That would have us pay off the camera in full by the end of the year without incurring any in interest.

And we settled on Labor Day plans for this year. Last year we went to northern Michigan and loved it, but DH doesn't have enough vacation time to take any days off, so we will have just Friday after work through Monday. We decided to go to Columbus to visit the children's museum, zoo, botanical gardens and do some biking. I booked us at a Residence Inn on points and we plan to pack all of our food for the weekend, so it should cost us just gas, activities and bird sitter fees.

The zoo is great!! DH and I got engaged after a day there Take some time to get some Jeni’s ice cream. You won’t regret it.

I just read the terrible news about PSLF. Less than one percent of the over 30,000 people who applied were actually approved. You are smart to be paying off your private loans as fast as possible.

As long as you have it consolidated into the correct place you should be fine. The people that were denied did not consolidate correctly. I can't imagine thinking that you've been paying into it the whole time only to realize you didn't do direct loans and you get denied. What a horrible feeling.


In budget news, I my parents came and I spent quite a bit on food in preparation for them, but they paid for everything else! They even bought me a plane ticket to go visit family this summer. So I actually came in less than budgeted for for the last two weeks!

I can’t imagine that 99 percent of people were that dense. More likely, the current administration does not want people’s loans forgiven. That’s just my guess. I hope I’m wrong and the approval rate goes up as time goes on. The bottom line is the Department of Education has the final say on loan forgiveness. The courts even came to this conclusion when a few public interest lawyers sued to force the Department of Education to accept their applications.

Yes I have been following this closely because we are 8 years in. The study you read about is people who applied under the expansion program. You’re right though, it’s a scary mess that we most certainly can’t count on to come through.

I’ve kept up with the PSLF news closely on people who’s applications were denied. As others have mentioned, many of these people filed for forgiveness while not under the correct plans or on loans that don’t actually qualify, which isn’t surprising given how complicated the process is. Others applied under the pre-2007 expansion which was EXTREMELY restrictive so very few people qualified for that simply based on limited funds. The only thing I’ve found concerning under the reports are people working for non-profits who are getting denied after being told their employment has been certified. My employment has all been in government though, so I should be safe in that regard.

If mine gets denied for some reason, I’ll be the named plaintiff in the class action lawsuit against the Dept of Ed

 

[Ngwira]

The zoo is great!! DH and I got engaged after a day there Take some time to get some Jeni’s ice cream. You won’t regret it.









I’ve kept up with the PSLF news closely on people who’s applications were denied. As others have mentioned, many of these people filed for forgiveness while not under the correct plans or on loans that don’t actually qualify, which isn’t surprising given how complicated the process is. Others applied under the pre-2007 expansion which was EXTREMELY restrictive so very few people qualified for that simply based on limited funds. The only thing I’ve found concerning under the reports are people working for non-profits who are getting denied after being told their employment has been certified. My employment has all been in government though, so I should be safe in that regard.

If mine gets denied for some reason, I’ll be the named plaintiff in the class action lawsuit against the Dept of Ed

I hope it comes through for you, but just have a Plan B. The only guarantee in life is death and taxes..lol.

 

[Ngwira]

Yes I have been following this closely because we are 8 years in. You’re right, it’s a scary mess that we most certainly can’t count on to come through.

Good luck and let us know how it works for you in two years.

 

[crazycatstacy]

Back from Disney last Wednesday and back at work today. We had a great time but overspent. Not really surprised we overspent and we should have the excess paid off next month. Although off property was not as bad as I expected, I don't know that I saved much and I prefer staying on property. Although if I have the chance to go to Disney and I have to stay off property I will gladly do so.

Now we need to focus on December trip. Our daughter is coming home for a week with a friend the end of May but other than one dinner out and pedicures it shouldn't cost us anything.

Our fiscal year at work is July 1-June 30. Have heard we are getting a 2.5% raise at that time but there is also talk that they are upping our pay scale as well. not sure what exactly that means for my income as I can't seem to get an exact answer. We have annual training starting tomorrow out of town so hopefully it can get clarified.

Ready to stop being out of town- out for Disney, out the rest of this week for work and then out the last week of April for work, so I can focus on budget and weight watchers. I am not good at sticking to healthy eating while out of town.

 

[jen7233]

So, so true! We love GWL but the upfront payment and horrible refund policy is the worst.

I know, they want such a large down payment. On the positive, I suppose it's mostly paid by the time one goes since the deposit is so large, however, it's more consistent with what I see for non-refundable hotel room rates, well maybe taking that out a stretch, but it feels like it to me. Refund of deposit less 15% up to 7 days of arrival, and less 30% up to 4 days of arrival, and beyond that they try to rebook you, so best hope that no plans change!! With kids that makes it a little nervous, but, I've gone a few times in the past and never had a change of plans, but I do worry what if someone is sick! I think we'll still plan to go one last time, mine will be aged out of this I think next year, I feel past 13 years old, I don't know, they might not be that into it.

On another note, now looking at the lodge got me considering Disney 2020 summer and Wilderness Lodge! Terrible! Not the place, but that I'm thinking of a year away already. Definitely not making any reservation there until after New Year's 2020 and see what the rates look like first.

 

[DLgal]

I know, they want such a large down payment. On the positive, I suppose it's mostly paid by the time one goes since the deposit is so large, however, it's more consistent with what I see for non-refundable hotel room rates, well maybe taking that out a stretch, but it feels like it to me. Refund of deposit less 15% up to 7 days of arrival, and less 30% up to 4 days of arrival, and beyond that they try to rebook you, so best hope that no plans change!! With kids that makes it a little nervous, but, I've gone a few times in the past and never had a change of plans, but I do worry what if someone is sick! I think we'll still plan to go one last time, mine will be aged out of this I think next year, I feel past 13 years old, I don't know, they might not be that into it.

On another note, now looking at the lodge got me considering Disney 2020 summer and Wilderness Lodge! Terrible! Not the place, but that I'm thinking of a year away already. Definitely not making any reservation there until after New Year's 2020 and see what the rates look like first.

If you have to cancel due to illness, they work with you. We had to do that last year due to flu. We wanted to move our visit to a later month, and they were able to do it and honor the same rate we paid (it was a promotional rate), even though the rates were higher for the dates we wanted to reschedule. We were happy with that outcome.

Also, my boys are 13 and almost 15 and still love it and want to go later this year. I've seen teens much older than that having a great time each time we have gone.

 

[jen7233]

If you have to cancel due to illness, they work with you. We had to do that last year due to flu. We wanted to move our visit to a later month, and they were able to do it and honor the same rate we paid (it was a promotional rate), even though the rates were higher for the dates we wanted to reschedule. We were happy with that outcome.

Also, my boys are 13 and almost 15 and still love it and want to go later this year. I've seen teens much older than that having a great time each time we have gone.

Good that they can work it into a later booking, if sick, because that concerns me. Especially if planning during winter, when it seems like one thing after another pops up with illnesses. Mine will be 11 and other will be about to turn 13 when we go again. Yes, they probably would enjoy it still as they like arcades, the magicquest, of course waterparks. My almost preteen is really turning into a teen so fast this year with everything, I just wonder at what point he'll think something is too boring!

 

[crazycatstacy]

Well final answer is that we are only getting a 2.5% raise. Better than nothing but not what was hoped.

 

[rosegoldmonorail]

hopping on this board. i spent way too much on my solo disney trip last month, between not having enough saved, and also upgrading to the annual pass. in the long run i'm saving money though, since i'm going back again in august. i've also spent way too much these past couple weeks on eating out/ordering in, and online shopping. i currently owe over 1400 on my credit card aaand i still need to save money for my disney trip.

if i pay $400 a month towards my card, $350 towards disney, everything will be paid off by august, and i'll need to save $750 a month. this means i would have to work 62.5 hours a month, and i'm a part-time waitress, part-time student, and i normally work a little more than this. i make $12 an hour, plus tips, so saving this much shouldn't be too hard, as the tips allow me to have some sort of spending money, albeit small.

 

[KearneyFam02]

I posted last week about the semi tire falling off and hitting our van (with one more payment left). We had just paid off all but one of our smaller debts and put the remainder of the tax refund and my husbands bonus on the van. Murphy hit us HARD this week. The van is worth maybe 12-13k and damages are at 16k. It's not looking like they are going to pay to fix it, though we don't have the final word on that yet. Then yesterday my husbands car broke down. We have a loan on it as well and its a beater. Its a 2013 Chevy Cruze and has been problem after problem since we got it. We have done so much maintenance on it and still owe more than its worth. And last night my dog passed away. We took him to the emergency vet and had him euthanized and will be cremated. All of this happens as we finally thought we'd have the money to get my daughters braces put on. I hate how everything happens at once. You get a moment to breathe and you are right back where you started. It's so defeating.

 

[pblack]

@KearneyFam02 i'm so sorry for the loss of your dog. Hopefully things will turn around for you soon.

 

[pblack]

I just re-checked my upcoming Southwest flights for May and August to see if the price had gone down any since I bought my tickets and both of my travel dates had went down in price! (May was really surprising since we are travelling Memorial Day weekend.) For our May trip, I received $160 back to use on a future flight and for our August trip I received just over 1500 points back to my account.

 

[FQLover]

@KearneyFam02 Omg. I am so sorry all this has happened to you guys. And I am really sorry about you losing your furry family member. Hugs!

 

[Dentam]

@KearneyFam02 Ugh, what an awful time you've had recently! I'm so sorry.

 

[Dentam]

I just re-checked my upcoming Southwest flights for May and August to see if the price had gone down any since I bought my tickets and both of my travel dates had went down in price! (May was really surprising since we are travelling Memorial Day weekend.) For our May trip, I received $160 back to use on a future flight and for our August trip I received just over 1500 points back to my account.

I love this about SW! I usually recheck my airfares with them as well and have gotten credits towards future flights several times as a result!

 

[mom2rb]

Update- I paid off my son’s tuition last month. Today I paid off my surgery. Credit card is up to $5000 because I had to buy a new washer and dryer. I have paid off travel and hotel for my family to go to my son’s graduation. I only have to save for the graduation dinner. I am starting a new job in May. It will be full time. Between that, the surgery paid off and no more tuition, I think that we will be doing pretty well. I hope that on next year’s thread my goal is to pay off the house. That will probably be 2020-2024 though.

DH got a bonus! I paid off the credit card and had work done around the house. The fence was falling down and the sprinkler system was broken. We also owed the IRS a lot. Not being able to deduct the two 20 year olds that I still support was hard. I used the bonus and paid off everything plus money for the graduation dinner. I put in my notice at my old job and was promptly fired. Now I just have to live cheaply for 3 weeks until the new job starts.

I am debt free!!!

 

[barkley]

I am debt free!!!

congrats!!!

so has anyone else been reading about the new w-4's the irs will be requiring? seems they want to greatly eliminate the numbers of tax payers who either owe big amounts at tax time or use their withholding's to create a yearly big refund situation. the early drafts have it looking like the old 1040 tax forms and you have to estimate your anticipated income/itemized deductions.