Debt Dumpers - 2019

[gypsy_at_heart]

I'm posting this because I just really wanted to share....

I'm 100% debt free as of today!!

My car is 100% paid off! My line of credit, paid! Credit cards, paid! I may have done a little happy dance in my office when my final car payment went through I even prepaid my upcoming Disney vacation for June AND my trip to India in November.

I downloaded the Dollar bird app and started tracking my income and expense and by the end of the year I plan to have my RRSP (I think this is like a 401k for my american neighbours) at $65K and $20K in savings!!!


I feel so responsible!

 

[pblack]

I'm posting this because I just really wanted to share....

I'm 100% debt free as of today!!

My car is 100% paid off! My line of credit, paid! Credit cards, paid! I may have done a little happy dance in my office when my final car payment went through I even prepaid my upcoming Disney vacation for June AND my trip to India in November.

I downloaded the Dollar bird app and started tracking my income and expense and by the end of the year I plan to have my RRSP (I think this is like a 401k for my american neighbours) at $65K and $20K in savings!!!


I feel so responsible!

Congratulations!

 

[pblack]

I don't have a mid-month update yet since my DH probably won't get paid till tomorrow. But I walked every day this week (sometimes twice)! It's the little things lol. Now to just keep the momentum going.

 

[Shughart]

I think it would depend. We used Mint before YNAB and it just wasn't granular or flexible enough for us, so we find YNAB to be so much better. For me, I don't think I would stick with it if I had to manually put in every transaction, so I appreciate the auto import feature that YNAB has. I am not sure what your spreadsheet allows, but I use the funding goals in YNAB for pretty much every single category so that setting up each month is super fast, but you might be able to just copy and paste a spreadsheet, so it might be equally quick. I also like seeing the trends and the age of money because I find it pretty motivating. An really detailed excel spreadsheet could probably handle something similar if you are really good at it. But I think the thing that I like the most with YNAB that I would find challenging with a spreadsheet is that I can't break it. I have had to work with budgets for work in excel and I always seem to accidentally delete some formula and the numbers go wonky.

I think you should find a tool that works for you and stick with it because you will see progress. For us, that tool is YNAB.

When you link it up to your account, does it automatically deduct from your budget line items so you can see where your money is going? That's always been such a neat idea. However we use our card for a lot of our budget line items (my husband likes to earn the points for them) and then I roll the money budgeted for them into the credit card payment, if that makes sense. It's a little annoying because we're still trying to debt dump, and I'd like to keep everything separate, but if it was up to me, we'd take a hard line, very militaristic approach where no one would have any fun and I don't want that either.

Also we have a few quarterly bills too and I tried playing around to see if the different bills would let me change their frequency and at least on the free trial it doesn't seem to let me. We also tend to change things around each month and float some things from categories. Like if GROCERY is lower than normal I will float it over to the MISC column. Or if for some reason an anticipated expense is no longer necessary, I will move it over to an additional CC payment. Do you move things over like that a lot?

I'm pretty wary of connecting my account to things, which is why I started with excel about 5-6 years ago when my husband was finally salary. We budget to the penny now and I do it 6 month at a time. But I'm always looking for more things to keep me in line.

 

[Shughart]

I'm posting this because I just really wanted to share....

I'm 100% debt free as of today!!

My car is 100% paid off! My line of credit, paid! Credit cards, paid! I may have done a little happy dance in my office when my final car payment went through I even prepaid my upcoming Disney vacation for June AND my trip to India in November.

I downloaded the Dollar bird app and started tracking my income and expense and by the end of the year I plan to have my RRSP (I think this is like a 401k for my american neighbours) at $65K and $20K in savings!!!


I feel so responsible!

CONGRATULATIONS!!

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

When you link it up to your account, does it automatically deduct from your budget line items so you can see where your money is going? That's always been such a neat idea. However we use our card for a lot of our budget line items (my husband likes to earn the points for them) and then I roll the money budgeted for them into the credit card payment, if that makes sense. It's a little annoying because we're still trying to debt dump, and I'd like to keep everything separate, but if it was up to me, we'd take a hard line, very militaristic approach where no one would have any fun and I don't want that either.

Also we have a few quarterly bills too and I tried playing around to see if the different bills would let me change their frequency and at least on the free trial it doesn't seem to let me. We also tend to change things around each month and float some things from categories. Like if GROCERY is lower than normal I will float it over to the MISC column. Or if for some reason an anticipated expense is no longer necessary, I will move it over to an additional CC payment. Do you move things over like that a lot?

I'm pretty wary of connecting my account to things, which is why I started with excel about 5-6 years ago when my husband was finally salary. We budget to the penny now and I do it 6 month at a time. But I'm always looking for more things to keep me in line.

It does automatically deduct from your budget line items. It learns where common expenses generally come out of and applies to automatically. For example, if I make a purchase at Kroger, it automatically categorizes it as groceries. Sometimes it doesn't always line up or an expense that typically would be for one line item is actually for another, but it is easy to just change the line item. You can also split transactions and have things come out of several categories. I find this particularly useful at Target and Costco since we have a grocery category and a baby supplies category. I often buy from both of these in the same transaction at each place.

When you make a purchase on a credit card, it automatically moves the money from the line item into the credit card's available funds so that money is accounted for and doesn't become debt. This is how I always know that I have enough money to cover my auto-pay credit card bills.

We have quarterly, bi-annual and annual bills. I handle these by figuring out the annual cost and then dividing by 12, so I am saving an equal amount each month towards these expenses. For example, I save $65 per month towards HOA and rec fees. These are each due once per year.

And I move money around categories pretty often, at least a few times a month and sometimes more if an unexpected expense comes up. There is a function that just lets you move between categories and it is very simple. And I have been moving leftover funds from certain categories over to the trailer loan to pay that off quicker. So totally doable as well.

 

[Shughart]

It does automatically deduct from your budget line items. It learns where common expenses generally come out of and applies to automatically. For example, if I make a purchase at Kroger, it automatically categorizes it as groceries. Sometimes it doesn't always line up or an expense that typically would be for one line item is actually for another, but it is easy to just change the line item. You can also split transactions and have things come out of several categories. I find this particularly useful at Target and Costco since we have a grocery category and a baby supplies category. I often buy from both of these in the same transaction at each place.

When you make a purchase on a credit card, it automatically moves the money from the line item into the credit card's available funds so that money is accounted for and doesn't become debt. This is how I always know that I have enough money to cover my auto-pay credit card bills.

We have quarterly, bi-annual and annual bills. I handle these by figuring out the annual cost and then dividing by 12, so I am saving an equal amount each month towards these expenses. For example, I save $65 per month towards HOA and rec fees. These are each due once per year.

And I move money around categories pretty often, at least a few times a month and sometimes more if an unexpected expense comes up. There is a function that just lets you move between categories and it is very simple. And I have been moving leftover funds from certain categories over to the trailer loan to pay that off quicker. So totally doable as well.

Oh so do you add your CC accounts too? That's neat how it kind of moves the money for your when you use a CC. That might make things a little more seamless for me. So it basically says OK, you spent $50 on dining on a CC, I'm moving that $50 from dining to the CC payment line?

Thank you for answering all my questions by the way!! I like my spreadsheet system, but I delete the info after the money is gone and after the pay period so I don't get any historical data on how we are spending our money and I think that would be helpful.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Oh so do you add your CC accounts too? That's neat how it kind of moves the money for your when you use a CC. That might make things a little more seamless for me. So it basically says OK, you spent $50 on dining on a CC, I'm moving that $50 from dining to the CC payment line?

Thank you for answering all my questions by the way!! I like my spreadsheet system, but I delete the info after the money is gone and after the pay period so I don't get any historical data on how we are spending our money and I think that would be helpful.

Yes, you link your credit cards as well and it imports all of the transaction data. And yes, if you spent $50 on dining on a credit card, it would move the $50 that you spent from your dining category to the credit card payment line. It is really nice for credit cards, which is good for us because we like to accumulate credit card rewards as much as possible and this keeps us organized.

And having the historical data is really nice. There are tons of different ways to sort it and view it, so I can compare spending between years or months or by category. It also shows net worth data, etc. I just really like it and have found it to be a super powerful tool.

 

[Tygerlilly]

I'm posting this because I just really wanted to share....

I'm 100% debt free as of today!!

My car is 100% paid off! My line of credit, paid! Credit cards, paid! I may have done a little happy dance in my office when my final car payment went through I even prepaid my upcoming Disney vacation for June AND my trip to India in November.

I downloaded the Dollar bird app and started tracking my income and expense and by the end of the year I plan to have my RRSP (I think this is like a 401k for my american neighbours) at $65K and $20K in savings!!!


I feel so responsible!

Congratulations!!!!!

 

[MN_Andi]

I'm posting this because I just really wanted to share....

I'm 100% debt free as of today!!

Wahoo! Congratulations!

Nothing really to report here. Even after I had contacted the people that I interviewed with earlier this month, they haven't responded at all. Oh well, I've applied to a bunch of more positions today, including some other positions at the University I work at. I got paid this week, and now my loans are under $33,000, and it always feels great to see a new "digit", heh heh. I started the year *just* under $35,000, so I am happy about that! Staying on budget too, doing a lot better about pacing my spending throughout the month, and doing a lot of meal prepping, as a big expense is eating out for lunch with coworkers.

 

[DisneyMandC]

So I made a slight impulse purchase today. Well, I thought about it for 36 hours, but that’s still an impulse for me haha.

I got an email yesterday from Sheraton with an offer to stay at the Sheraton Vistana Villages in Orlando for 4 nights for $199 TOTAL (not per night) plus I will receive 15,000 Marriott points, which are valuable to me! We do have to sit through the 2 hour timeshare presentation, but obviously we won’t be purchasing and I have no problem saying “no” repeatedly. I asked specifically if there were any additional resort fees or parking and she told me there weren’t, and that there also wasn’t any tax on the stay. There also are no blackout dates, so we can travel any time through April 2020. There are some dates (Christmas, spring break) where we would pay a $25/night “red date” fee, but since we don’t have kids and can travel any time, it will be easy for us to avoid any of those dates.

I’m looking forward to this!! We probably won’t take this trip until next January/February and will use it as a nice getaway when it’s cold here. I’ll continue to save credit card points to fly down, as it can cost me as little as $49 per person one way on points. DH has been talking about wanting to go to WWOHP again, and I’m thinking we might even rent a car and finally check out Busch Gardens in Tampa one day.

 

[TashK]

I'm posting this because I just really wanted to share....

I'm 100% debt free as of today!!

My car is 100% paid off! My line of credit, paid! Credit cards, paid! I may have done a little happy dance in my office when my final car payment went through I even prepaid my upcoming Disney vacation for June AND my trip to India in November.

I downloaded the Dollar bird app and started tracking my income and expense and by the end of the year I plan to have my RRSP (I think this is like a 401k for my american neighbours) at $65K and $20K in savings!!!


I feel so responsible!

Congratulations!

 

[barkley]

SAVE YOUR COSTCO RECEIPTS!!!!!!!!!

i started doing this several months ago when i learned that their policy is to refund the difference if an item you buy goes on sale w/in 30 days. i hold on to mine until the new ad comes out and then check it, 9 times out of 10 something is on sale the next month. today's check reveals a $7 savings on an otc med so i'll take the receipt w/me when i head over there in a week or so.

every penny saved can go towards debt dumping.

 

[Dentam]

I got an email yesterday from Sheraton with an offer to stay at the Sheraton Vistana Villages in Orlando for 4 nights for $199 TOTAL (not per night) plus I will receive 15,000 Marriott points, which are valuable to me! We do have to sit through the 2 hour timeshare presentation, but obviously we won’t be purchasing and I have no problem saying “no” repeatedly. I asked specifically if there were any additional resort fees or parking and she told me there weren’t, and that there also wasn’t any tax on the stay. There also are no blackout dates, so we can travel any time through April 2020. There are some dates (Christmas, spring break) where we would pay a $25/night “red date” fee, but since we don’t have kids and can travel any time, it will be easy for us to avoid any of those dates.

I went with my sister to Sedona last year and booked a great place to stay through Priceline. Little did I know that it was a timeshare but as we were checking out they offered us a similar deal. We'll be staying for four nights at the end of this month for $149 plus they gave us a $50 visa card when we signed up, which we used for dinner. I was the only one who qualified for it based on my income, so I get to sit through the two hour presentation. I've never done one before except at WDW with my parents when they bought DVC at the Poly. I've heard other companies can be much more aggressive with their sales tactics so I'm kind of dreading it. Just have to keep saying no and realize that legally I can get up and leave after putting in the two hours!

 

[DisneyMandC]

I went with my sister to Sedona last year and booked a great place to stay through Priceline. Little did I know that it was a timeshare but as we were checking out they offered us a similar deal. We'll be staying for four nights at the end of this month for $149 plus they gave us a $50 visa card when we signed up, which we used for dinner. I was the only one who qualified for it based on my income, so I get to sit through the two hour presentation. I've never done one before except at WDW with my parents when they bought DVC at the Poly. I've heard other companies can be much more aggressive with their sales tactics so I'm kind of dreading it. Just have to keep saying no and realize that legally I can get up and leave after putting in the two hours!

Wow that’s a great deal! Yeah DH thought only I had to go LOL. I burst his bubble when I told him he had to be there too. But it’s only 2 hours and I like saying no

 

[thiabelle]

Happy Sunday everyone! I've decided that if I could just stop giving the Mouse my money I would be better off! I purchased MVMCP tickets for my December trip. I can't wait to take my mom! DD wants to go but I don't have the funds right now.. I told her that we will just hope that it doesn't sell out.
You all won't hear from me next Sunday because I will be at Disney!! It's my birthday and I never ever thought I would get to be at MK on my actual birthday. I also never thought I would get to see Flower and Garden so I am super excited.
I have to get through tomorrow at work- I'm sure I can do it. I took Tuesday off because DD needs to go the pediatrician one last time and get her college forms filled out. I think they would have seen her without me because she just turned 18 but she really didn't want to go by herself. Then we fly out in the evening. I have to figure out where to come up with $370 for the dog sitter. Did you ever have a known cost but just keep telling yourself you will figure it out? Welp- I didn't figure it out yet...
We went and picked out DD's prom flowers. That was a lot of fun because she was able to design exactly what she wanted. I also took her for a pedicure for her birthday.
I hope everyone has a great week!

 

[Ngwira]

Officially 25 pounds down since January 1. My raise was deposited on Friday which gives us an extra cushion since we’re traveling next week. So excited to see Bryce and Zion National Parks. Also looking forward to the strip and pool time in Vegas! We are doing great and continuing to pay down our debts one month at a time.

 

[Etonduf]

Do you think YNAB is useful to someone who already uses a spreadsheet system? I went in and signed up for a trial, but not sure it's my style.

I think it would depend. We used Mint before YNAB and it just wasn't granular or flexible enough for us, so we find YNAB to be so much better. For me, I don't think I would stick with it if I had to manually put in every transaction, so I appreciate the auto import feature that YNAB has. I am not sure what your spreadsheet allows, but I use the funding goals in YNAB for pretty much every single category so that setting up each month is super fast, but you might be able to just copy and paste a spreadsheet, so it might be equally quick. I also like seeing the trends and the age of money because I find it pretty motivating. An really detailed excel spreadsheet could probably handle something similar if you are really good at it. But I think the thing that I like the most with YNAB that I would find challenging with a spreadsheet is that I can't break it. I have had to work with budgets for work in excel and I always seem to accidentally delete some formula and the numbers go wonky.

I think you should find a tool that works for you and stick with it because you will see progress. For us, that tool is YNAB.

Just chiming in a couple days late to add that I love YNAB. With it, I feel like I've gone from someone who was pretty good with money to being totally in control and, most significantly, as stress-free as money matters can be. They'll extend the trial to three months if you contact them and ask, and to me that made a big difference. After one month I wasn't convinced, but the more I used it the more I appreciated it. (Side note: I teach college Excel courses, and feel it would take a significant effort to accomplish with a spreadsheet what I can do with YNAB. Though it may change some day, for now I'm happy to pay for YNAB and save myself the time)

As a side benefit, it's made me so organized with my money that I can now maximize my credit card reward earning--we're comfortable putting every possible purchase on a card because with YNAB I know the spending is within budget and will be paid in full when the statement comes.

I do think that (like diets) the best budget tool is the one you stick with. That may not be YNAB for everyone, but it's definitely worth a close look.

 

[StacyStrong]

Oof. April is turning out to be pricey as well.

I bought my dress for the wedding I'm the maid of honor for. I also bought the airline tickets for my October WDW trip.

I bought my friends ticket as well, but the total cost was about what is remaining on our room, so she's going to cover that cost.

Luckily my April trip was under budget and I created a maid of honor fund that will cover the dress! But oof. That's a lot of money in one weekend!

 

[Dentam]

I booked our hotel/park ticket package for DLP yesterday! Ended up going with the Newport Bay Club Hotel since it was refurbished in 2016 and was over $650 cheaper for the room and park ticket package (2 nights and 3 day park hopper tickets for two people) than the DLP hotel. I think the DLP hotel will be refurbished in the next couple of years, but right now it's maybe a little more dated... I still would have loved to stay there, but I've been doing well with my debt dumping this year and this will help me stay on track. Plus this hotel looks really nice! I also got 35% off by booking through the UK DLP website. My sister and I will be splitting the cost of everything. I was able to pay a deposit yesterday with the remainder due 60 days before our trip.

The only thing left to do now is figure out our plans for the few days between the conference and DLP. Need to book hotels once we figure out what we're doing on those days. Everything else is taken care of already!