Debt Dumpers - 2019

[imbatman]

I'm going to scrounge around my house for things to sell. DH's work has a convention in Anaheim in November. Free hotel. But, due to change of debt-free heart, DH doesn't want to buy tickets on CC.

God bless him...but I really want DL!

 

[barkley]

I'm going to scrounge around my house for things to sell. DH's work has a convention in Anaheim in November. Free hotel. But, due to change of debt-free heart, DH doesn't want to buy tickets on CC.

God bless him...but I really want DL!

what part of november? the majority of my adult trips to both dl and wdw have been in the months of november and december but there are periods of time during both that i avoid like the plague b/c the crowds are such you can only get a handful of rides done over the course of an entire day (got so much worse when allot of the california schools started giving the entire week of thanksgiving off, between that eating up the later part of the prior week/thanksgiving week proper/part of the week following once you added in the days before/during/after vets day it was nutz trying to plan).

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Only tiny issue we had was at Maria and Enzo's. I booked it specifically for the 40% off lunch for AP's. We get there and the waitress tells us that is over and it is only a 15% discount. I am fairly quiet and don't like conflict so she walked away and I legit thought "What would JenandAshwin do in this situation? They wouldn't stand for this..." I knew it was supposed to go through May so when the waitress came back I just told her I was confused because I thought the discount was through May... and she said they would honor the 40% off because I brought it up. I know for a lot of people speaking up is no big deal but for me that was huge.

Good for you! And yes, that is exactly what I would have done.

 

[DisneyHardin]

[QUOTE="barkley, post: 60558182, member: 64696" (but keeping an eye out for target's deals on paper products b/c i haven't found anyone to beat them).[/QUOTE]

I feel like the paper product deals at Target haven't been great lately. I used to get all our toilet paper at Target with the deals, but have had to get it at Sam's Club the last couple times we were low because I just haven't gotten any great deals at Target.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Finishing up April well. Have about $150 leftover and I will split that between our Tokyo fund and our horse show fund. The only category I am "over budget" for is our Travel fund because I had to book a hotel room for work this month that I can't be reimbursed for until July. It's a bummer, but it's just how it goes and I have to do it every year. Hoping next month is a little cheaper since I feel like we spent a ton of money this month. I've asked DH to PLEASE quit buying plants for the garden!!

We received our personal property tax bills over the weekend. I felt like they had DH's 2013 car valued WAY too high considering it has 110k miles on it, so I called yesterday and they said the value will drop if I submit a maintenance receipt showing the mileage. I had my mechanic send me one yesterday, so I'm going to put that in the mail today. I'm tempted to do the same for my 2012 car with 115k miles (same make as DH's), but they have it valued for about half of what his is, which I feel like is a more a appropriate value.

Also, I just logged on to my student loan provider website and saw this... that's a nice feeling

 

[barkley]

[QUOTE="barkley, post: 60558182, member: 64696" (but keeping an eye out for target's deals on paper products b/c i haven't found anyone to beat them).

I feel like the paper product deals at Target haven't been great lately. I used to get all our toilet paper at Target with the deals, but have had to get it at Sam's Club the last couple times we were low because I just haven't gotten any great deals at Target.[/QUOTE]

yup, you definitely have to keep an eye out for them b/c they are very hit and miss right now.

they do have a deal on bounty paper towels going now that i might take advantage of. i'm stocked up on enough of them (and tp) to get through the end of may but right now bounty is buy 3 packs and get a $10 gift card so it's essentially 20% off. i'll just save the gift card until sometime in may when they are having a sale on charmin (or i'm just to the point i have to restock) and i'll have the gift card to pay for the first $10.

 

[StacyStrong]

I feel like the paper product deals at Target haven't been great lately. I used to get all our toilet paper at Target with the deals, but have had to get it at Sam's Club the last couple times we were low because I just haven't gotten any great deals at Target.

yup, you definitely have to keep an eye out for them b/c they are very hit and miss right now.

they do have a deal on bounty paper towels going now that i might take advantage of. i'm stocked up on enough of them (and tp) to get through the end of may but right now bounty is buy 3 packs and get a $10 gift card so it's essentially 20% off. i'll just save the gift card until sometime in may when they are having a sale on charmin (or i'm just to the point i have to restock) and i'll have the gift card to pay for the first $10.[/QUOTE]
I also couple these deals with cartwheel !

 

[pblack]

End of April update:

My savings accounts have definitely taken a hit this month! Not my main savings, but my travel/bill/car savings. All of them were expected though. I had to pay the first nights deposit for our stay at the Grand Californian in October ($390), my water and utilities bills hit back to back ($177), and our Camry registration was due ($299). Good news is that I had the money for all of these things saved, so even though my accounts look really dismal right now, i'm ok with it.

My goals at the beginning of the year:

• Pay off the last $5235 in credit card debt that we have (all currently at 0% interest) ... Once my roommate gives me his rent (in the next few days), we will be down to $1266 left to pay off! (A decrease of $3969!!)
• Pay off DH's student loans $3340 ... before I made this last payment it says we still owe just over $3000, so it's down by a few hundred.
• Save $2000 in our emergency fund ... our emergency savings is currently sitting at $1273, will be $1398 tomorrow when my auto-transfer hits. Would have had more because my dad owed me some money, but I told him not to worry about it.
• Increase mine and DHs retirement contributions (not sure by how much, but any little bit helps) ... increased DH's back in December by 2% I will increase mine when my raises hit in July/August.
• Exercise more and lose some weight ... don't think i've lost any weight, but i've started walking 4-5 times a week while at work. Ranges from 1-2 miles depending on how often I can get out of the building.
• Travel out of the country this year for my 30th birthday and our 5th wedding anniversary ... pretty sure this won't happen, but it's still early in the year.
• See my best friend at least twice, if not more ... this will be happening! First trip is scheduled for Memorial Day weekend (just a few weeks to go!) and second trip will be August when she has her baby.

We're trying to do a lot of backyard home projects now that the weather has been nicer. I have a feeling we will be adding a little bit to our debt as we want to get some landscaping rock for parts of our front and back yards. Of course the rock I want is also the most expensive. Most of our spending last month aside from the usual monthly expenses went towards these backyard/front yard projects. We ate really badly the last week as well, so I definitely need to get that back on track this week. I also really want a treadmill, and if I can find one that I want for a reasonable price I may add to our debt for it. (Taking recommendations if anyone has some!) I don't really want to join a gym as i'd much rather just work out at home.

 

[Eureka]

Got paid today and my overtime from when I traveled was on there. Nice chunk and I need to start looking at mattresses. That's what I earmarked this year's for. Also, DH did some number crunching and we don't think we'll need to touch the 529 yet for DS18's first year of college. We put a LOT into retirement every year and while the kids are in college, that will be scaled way back, while still doing enough to get our matches. But we'd rather do that and save the 529 for when we have them both in at the same time (they're two years apart). What a relief.

 

[imbatman]

what part of november? the majority of my adult trips to both dl and wdw have been in the months of november and december but there are periods of time during both that i avoid like the plague b/c the crowds are such you can only get a handful of rides done over the course of an entire day (got so much worse when allot of the california schools started giving the entire week of thanksgiving off, between that eating up the later part of the prior week/thanksgiving week proper/part of the week following once you added in the days before/during/after vets day it was nutz trying to plan).

November 15-16. Early enough to beat the Thanksgiving crowds. He has to work the 15th, so I may get a solo day, but we'll see if we can get the funds together.

 

[imbatman]

Hey, everyone with biweekly checks, May is almost here! Hurray for our extra checks!!!

 

[jen7233]

Happy May to those who check-in here.

I just finished doing May bill paying and savings, and readjusting some savings categories. Had to recover a bit from April Disney trip and the unexpected family help last month, so back in the saddle to start another month. I'm starting to think I may relook my plan on savings and bill paying, I'll probably let things go for a few months as I normally do it, but I am considering stopping all miscellaneous savings and the ESA savings and going after the car loan at $540 a month I'm tired of looking at it, the loan is 48 months at 1.9%. I may let the balance go down some more through the rest of this year, throw some more in the emergency fund, and then have this be the focus starting in January and stop everything else. We have a few big bills at the end of this month, have to pay pool membership and summer camps. I broke my iWatch at Disney after a fall landing on my arm and busting the whole screen off, and do not want to repair it, but I think my DH who had originally bought me it as a present has plans to try and fix it, but I am trying to convince him just let's take it off the AT&T bill, I'm fine without it. We also have our computer that decided to die last month, after a long good run I think 2011 it was, anyway, will be replacing that.

Who was it that suggested Ally bank transfers get down to one day after doing back and forth transfers over $200? Yes, I am starting to see that now! I went in to transfer some money over to my Ally savings account today, and sure enough it says it's transferring tomorrow.

 

[makthompson]

my goal is to get everything paid off except for 2 houses and pool by june of 2021 when I lose my son's social security. Getting back on track with my weight loss journey.

 

[rg35]

but I am considering stopping all miscellaneous savings and the ESA savings and going after the car loan at $540 a month I'm tired of looking at it, the loan is 48 months at 1.9%.

Understandable that it's hard looking at a big loan balance, but 1.9% interest is almost nothing. It would really be unwise to pay more towards that loan at the expense of putting that money into accounts that would earn more than 1.9% in returns. Over the longer term you're losing money doing that.

 

[makthompson]

Understandable that it's hard looking at a big loan balance, but 1.9% interest is almost nothing. It would really be unwise to pay more towards that loan at the expense of putting that money into accounts that would earn more than 1.9% in returns. Over the longer term you're losing money doing that.

Not all savings are offering more than 1.9 %. If your savings rate is 1.9 and your int is 1.9, then you arent gaining anything, just paying someone else interest.. I would pay off the loan.

 

[jen7233]

Understandable that it's hard looking at a big loan balance, but 1.9% interest is almost nothing. It would really be unwise to pay more towards that loan at the expense of putting that money into accounts that would earn more than 1.9% in returns. Over the longer term you're losing money doing that.

Perhaps it could go to better use, I’m just tired of looking at the amount autodrafted come out each month from checking. I’d probably not bother at 0% or if it were less of a payment I wouldn’t feel so bothered seeing it. Now, it’s doable in our budget, I just am really finding I hate seeing it! I didn’t have an auto loan for years. I don’t know what I’ll end up doing, it’s just on the table, to relook down the road. My bank accounts that earn anything worth talking about are Ally which is 2.2% on savings and Vanguard Prime MM which I also use as my savings currently at 2.44.

 

[jen7233]

End of April update:

My savings accounts have definitely taken a hit this month! Not my main savings, but my travel/bill/car savings. All of them were expected though. I had to pay the first nights deposit for our stay at the Grand Californian in October ($390), my water and utilities bills hit back to back ($177), and our Camry registration was due ($299). Good news is that I had the money for all of these things saved, so even though my accounts look really dismal right now, i'm ok with it.

My goals at the beginning of the year:

• Pay off the last $5235 in credit card debt that we have (all currently at 0% interest) ... Once my roommate gives me his rent (in the next few days), we will be down to $1266 left to pay off! (A decrease of $3969!!)
• Pay off DH's student loans $3340 ... before I made this last payment it says we still owe just over $3000, so it's down by a few hundred.
• Save $2000 in our emergency fund ... our emergency savings is currently sitting at $1273, will be $1398 tomorrow when my auto-transfer hits. Would have had more because my dad owed me some money, but I told him not to worry about it.
• Increase mine and DHs retirement contributions (not sure by how much, but any little bit helps) ... increased DH's back in December by 2% I will increase mine when my raises hit in July/August.
• Exercise more and lose some weight ... don't think i've lost any weight, but i've started walking 4-5 times a week while at work. Ranges from 1-2 miles depending on how often I can get out of the building.
• Travel out of the country this year for my 30th birthday and our 5th wedding anniversary ... pretty sure this won't happen, but it's still early in the year.
• See my best friend at least twice, if not more ... this will be happening! First trip is scheduled for Memorial Day weekend (just a few weeks to go!) and second trip will be August when she has her baby.

We're trying to do a lot of backyard home projects now that the weather has been nicer. I have a feeling we will be adding a little bit to our debt as we want to get some landscaping rock for parts of our front and back yards. Of course the rock I want is also the most expensive. Most of our spending last month aside from the usual monthly expenses went towards these backyard/front yard projects. We ate really badly the last week as well, so I definitely need to get that back on track this week. I also really want a treadmill, and if I can find one that I want for a reasonable price I may add to our debt for it. (Taking recommendations if anyone has some!) I don't really want to join a gym as i'd much rather just work out at home.

I once had a treadmill paid a few hundred for and it became more of a coat hanger!! That’s back when I ran all the time, was on active duty and much younger, but I ran outside mostly anyway even after work so didn’t really need it. Now, my lifestyle currently I think I would use it and want one, but we are paying for a gym monthly, so not happening plus the other reason the treadmill ended up selling is I didn’t want to ship it around anymore as we moved. I’d say look at the prices, decide what quality you want and the expected exercise on it. Will you be walking or running, etc. Some of that will determine price. If I were to actually get one, I’d be searching for used ones, trying to find one that’s in good shape but that somebody that was once like me just got done trying to keep moving houses with or that found they don’t really use it. Whatever your best used classifieds are where you live like Let it Go, etc., try that, and doesn’t hurt to browse the stores to get ideas of what capacity treadmill you even want to hunt for.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Perhaps it could go to better use, I’m just tired of looking at the amount autodrafted come out each month from checking. I’d probably not bother at 0% or if it were less of a payment I wouldn’t feel so bothered seeing it. Now, it’s doable in our budget, I just am really finding I hate seeing it!

DH's auto loan is at 1.9% and we hope to have it eliminated by the end of the year. It isn't so much that I care about the auto draft, but I want to free up the money so that we have greater cashflow when a baby #2 comes along. We need that money for daycare expenses. The most logical thing to do would be to put the money towards our HELOC which is at 6.5% interest, but that loan won't be paid off in a year and therefore won't help us with increased cash flow. People have different reasons for tackling loans early.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Well, DH's raise seems to be retroactive to the past month and a half or so. That means that he ended up with an extra $1100 additional paycheck this week that we weren't expecting. We put the majority of it towards his car loan. This means that if we put all of the extra money from his raise each month into his car loan, then we should have his car paid off in December or January.

We went over on our grocery budget again for April, but we have been working from a deficit each month since December, so DH requested that I top off the grocery fund to the normal $500 for May. Hopefully, this will get us back on track there. We also went over on the baby fund. DD is getting more proficient at opening doors so I had to buy a few more baby proofing items. We also got her a new helmet with MIPS because her head is big enough now for the Giro Scamp.

We did not go over on our dining out budget for the first time in a while, so I was pleased about that. I also was able to make an extra $325 in payments towards the trailer loan. I have about another $400 pending in swagbucks that I should be able to apply to the loan later this month. I did the Door Dash offer for $150 for both myself and DH, so that alone netted me about $320 after payment for the single "dash" that I did for each of us. Our trailer loan should be down to about $10,600 by the end of the month!

 

[barkley]

We went over on our grocery budget again for April, but we have been working from a deficit each month since December, so DH requested that I top off the grocery fund to the normal $500 for May.

keep an eye on the grocery ads for may-it can be a month of good savings b/c stores start having nice sales in anticipation of bbq/summer. i tend to stock up on condiments, and if you're a carnivore there can be some great deals on meat (i'll be stocking up on ground beef this friday-$2.99 per pound for the 93% super lean).