Debt Dumpers - 2019

btw-since you do this every year, is it just sticker shock for me having not traveled back to orlando for several years or are the flights from washington to mco higher in cost this year?
They started going up last year. For 20+ years I paid about the same at around the 2 month mark (from $510 - $590 pp). Last year, could not find anything under $700, and I always start looking about 5 mo. out. Ended up paying $712pp for Dec. at 2 mo. mark. So this year I started looking in Jan. and found $588pp, but that was in Feb. for our Dec. trip. I did buy them, but you REALLY have to be sure your going, or get trip ins.
halloween? i would love to decorate but no one would see it
I do all that decorating indoors for my special needs son - its tradition sooooo I end up doing it every year. And I have a lot. My younger DS24 still loves it, too, and they both live with us as DS24 is also still going to college.
i'm just hopefull that we don't get massive amounts of snow while we're gone
We don't get much snow where we live in southeast Wa., but have been getting more the last couple of years.
my special needs son is 22 and is a gamer as well so it' largely video games, gift cards to buy video games, anime books and this year-d&d stuff)
That is my son to a T! He's 27 now, but shortly after he graduated HS he started going to community college and took 2 yrs. of japanese, then learned more on his own - he watches anime in japanese online. He's a huge DW fan, but I told him he'll have to translate when we go to Japan to visit Disney and Uni parks (lol, he won't even talk, but we tell him this anyways). Younger DS24 is a DM (Dungeon Master) and runs campaigns with a bunch of friends that DS27 joins, so that allows him to play. DS27 plays a lot of Final Fantasy, DS24 plays a lot of WoW - and they both play a lot of other games. They are also huge Harry Potter fans so going to Uni every year before DW is a given - we all have the robes, wands, ties, scarves, and sweaters that we bought there years ago (I bring them every trip) and wear them the whole time. It's a lot of fun. If you'll be there Dec. 13 or 14, a website called Orlando Informer has a private event in Uni at night that is fantastic - we did it last year and it was a highlight, doing it again this year. It is in the middle of our Disney time, but we just Uber over from our Disney resort for the evening and Uber back. Worked really well last Dec.!
 
Well I think that sounds like an excellent tradition. We just haven't ventured to Universal Orlando yet. I've been to CA Universal back in, I don't remember, maybe 2004. You stay a good amount of time, too, love that!

Next Thursday will be a decision day for us on WDW in spring, Southwest extends their reservation booking schedule to 13 April. Have to see what rates look like, points for flights, schedule, etc. Next, waiting to see if Disney renews the Salute tickets for 2020 which typically has been announced end of September, and unlikely will have room discounts during the time frame I'm looking at, as they weren't available last year during the week we went.
Thanks! We've tweaked what works for us over the years, and although we've been to the parks in CA. since they are so much closer, the boys are bigger fans of Orlando so we just go there now. Although, we have been to DL Paris as well (they still prefer DW). Now trying to plan an asian tour of Dsiney parks, would like to hit the 2 in China and end up in Japan - and also Uni in Japan. I keep saying"maybe next year", then something comes up that has us back in Orlando. Your lucky you can fly SW, I've read people can get great deals through them. We don't have SW, so no real airfare deal to be had.
 
Thanks! We've tweaked what works for us over the years, and although we've been to the parks in CA. since they are so much closer, the boys are bigger fans of Orlando so we just go there now.
Orlando seems to me more of a destination, as you get engulfed in the parks there, particularly with WDW and then Universal and Sea World so close. So have they been to both Universal Hollywood and Universal Orlando? I've been to Hollywood, not yet Orlando.

Now looking at a possible DL trip late next year with DD and grandchild.
 
Happy Friday friends! For some reason I stopped getting notifications for this board and just had to go through the last few days worth of posts. 🤔

Nothing new to report on my end as of right now, but we did find out on Tuesday that DH's sister is pregnant. This will be the first grandchild for DH's parents.
 


have they been to both Universal Hollywood and Universal Orlando
Yeah, we live much closer to CA. than Orlando. When they were growing up we went to all the parks in Ca., and most in Orlando until they were done with some. The two of them went to Ca. without me (sniff) for a Blizzard (video game company, DS24 plays World of Warcraft) convention that I wouldn't have much to do at, last Oct. While there they hit the halloween party at DL and Halloween Horror Nights at Uni - then we all went to Orlando in Dec. They prefer both parks in Orlando, but the Ca. ones will do if they are going to be there anyways (we have a lot of family there as well).
 
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Update on DS24: He has had 3 Dr. appts now, they think it's Crohn's disease. Not going to look up too much until they are sure, though. Also, he was diagnosed with Psoriasis
Update, again: Finally got him an appt. with a gastro next week - hard since he is a new patient and they tend to put them waay out. Our Dr. put a rush on it under the circumstances and they obliged! Otherwise we could've been looking at 2-3 mo. That would've sucked. And he got the psoriasis med filled and started, but will have to wait longer to get into a rheumatologist - but I'm ok with that since the other issue is more pressing. Fortunately, we have quite a bit left on our FSA account (money set aside for medical through employer) and will be able to use that before paying anything out of pocket. Also, I have a question for everyone: Those of you that purchase Memory Maker, are you still going to get it? Box cameras instead of photographers reeeaallly bothers me, but our trip is in Dec. and I've read its at like only 9 places so far? So I'm torn, I do like the ride photos and we don't get as many character pics as we used to (plus I take all the pics with my own camera, but not ride photos!). But this decision is really bothering more than some of the other bad decisions Disney has made lately. Pics (and interactions with characters that photographers catch!) are literally THE memories for these trips. Way more important than parking fees and straws taken away (although those irked me). And it's quite a chunk of money. I still have time to decide - what does everyone think?
 
Checking in here! I've decided to kick out my car loan instead of paying off the cruise. The car is at 4.99% and the cruise is at 0% until July. The 2% BT fee is already paid so why not take full advantage of that 12 month offer? I should have the car paid off by mid-late Dec. I owe around $5700 on it.

I just found flights to Rome for $359.80 RT including tax on Norwegian Airlines. This is for next March which is a little chilly there still but it's not much more for April & May. Paris is also super cheap with them.
I'd love to surprise dh with tickets to see Bocelli in Italy if I can coordinate great flight prices with tour dates.
He would so love that. :cloud9: That might even earn me the Goddess-Wife of the Year Award. :worship: lol. I'm not even a huge Bocelli fan. I mean, he's talented, but it might not be so easy for me to sit through a whole concert. Dh would do it for me if roles were reversed.
I gotta get my head out of this spending mentality. We can afford any of these things but not while still paying off our last round of "must-have" fun. It can't ALL be a must have. This is how we get buried up to our necks in debt.
 


Happy Monday friends! Usually Mondays are pretty soggy here in the PNW, but today not even the dense fog could get me down! After months of searching and interviewing I finally got a new job with the state!! I'm so excited to be able to use my brain again at work and put the raise money toward crushing some debt!
 
Question for the board:

I'm very familiar with credit card to credit card balance transfers, but I did not know that you could do a balance transfer from a credit card to put "cash" into your checking account. Maybe it's something new? (I bank with Chase.) Anyways, my question is have any of you done this before? I'm debating doing it and paying off my husbands student loans ($2600) to save on some interest. I hope to have one of the loans paid off by the end of the year, and the other sometime during the beginning of next year. The offer Chase is currently giving me is 0% thru Nov 2020 with a 4% balance transfer fee (which equals about $100).

I'm not set on doing it, but am curious to hear from others on what they think, whether bad or good.

ETA: Looking into my husbands student loans more, I don't think it would be beneficial to pay them off this way. But i'm still interested to hear if others have used this method since I've not heard of it before. I know you could pull "cash" out of a credit card with an exorbitant fee, but i had not heard about the balance transfer to checking account option.
 
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Question for the board:

I'm very familiar with credit card to credit card balance transfers, but I did not know that you could do a balance transfer from a credit card to put "cash" into your checking account. Maybe it's something new? (I bank with Chase.) Anyways, my question is have any of you done this before? I'm debating doing it and paying off my husbands student loans ($2600) to save on some interest. I hope to have one of the loans paid off by the end of the year, and the other sometime during the beginning of next year. The offer Chase is currently giving me is 0% thru Nov 2020 with a 4% balance transfer fee (which equals about $100).

I'm not set on doing it, but am curious to hear from others on what they think, whether bad or good.

ETA: Looking into my husbands student loans more, I don't think it would be beneficial to pay them off this way. But i'm still interested to hear if others have used this method since I've not heard of it before. I know you could pull "cash" out of a credit card with an exorbitant fee, but i had not heard about the balance transfer to checking account option.
This isn't new and I have done it many times. It works just like a BT except that they give you blank checks that you can make payable to anyone, including yourself. They even suggest that option. Honestly, I usually end up using them to pay off other Chase accounts which they say can't be done with a standard BT offer. So I write the check to me, deposit it at my local bank, then pay off whatever I need to pay off. AFAIK, only Chase allows you to write the check to anyone. I did receive some blank checks from Capital One but they never suggested writing yourself a check. This doesn't mean it's not permitted. Most banks when extending a BT offer want to pay your other account directly and will say something like, 'give us your other cc acct numbers and we'll pay that off' sort of thing.
I like that checks are much more flexible.
Most recently (2016), I used the blank check deposited to my bank account to pay off ds's/our Parent Plus loan and even dh's truck which was also with Chase. Even though car & student loans are viewed more favorably than credit card debt by creditors, it still saved us hundreds to BT to our Disney visa and pay that off. Now that I've done it a few times and had everything paid off, I stopped accepting their offers and they stopped sending them. Luckily, Discover had a good offer (3% BT fee > 0% x12 mos) so we used them for our Northern Europe cruise. Back when Chase kept sending blank checks their 'usual' fee was 3% but they were offering a special deal for 2% if I used the check before some deadline. This has been a few years so maybe now 4% is their standard? If you have a Discover card, I'd look to see if they have an offer for you. Dh and I both had offers that I didn't know of until I logged in; we never used those cards.
 
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Question for the board:

I'm very familiar with credit card to credit card balance transfers, but I did not know that you could do a balance transfer from a credit card to put "cash" into your checking account. Maybe it's something new? (I bank with Chase.) Anyways, my question is have any of you done this before? I'm debating doing it and paying off my husbands student loans ($2600) to save on some interest. I hope to have one of the loans paid off by the end of the year, and the other sometime during the beginning of next year. The offer Chase is currently giving me is 0% thru Nov 2020 with a 4% balance transfer fee (which equals about $100).

I'm not set on doing it, but am curious to hear from others on what they think, whether bad or good.

ETA: Looking into my husbands student loans more, I don't think it would be beneficial to pay them off this way. But i'm still interested to hear if others have used this method since I've not heard of it before. I know you could pull "cash" out of a credit card with an exorbitant fee, but i had not heard about the balance transfer to checking account option.

I did this with our home equity loan for $20,000 with Bank of America. I would look into the Bank AmeriCard because it had a $0 transfer fee for the first month or two. They sent checks and so I could use the money towards whatever I wanted. It is saving us thousands in interest costs over the 15 month time period. When that 0% period is up, I plan to apply for the Chase Slate card, which also offers a fee-free transfer, but only allows me to transfer from one credit card to another.
 
This isn't new and I have done it many times. It works just like a BT except that they give you blank checks that you can make payable to anyone, including yourself. They even suggest that option. Honestly, I usually end up using them to pay off other Chase accounts which they say can't be done with a standard BT offer. So I write the check to me, deposit it at my local bank, then pay off whatever I need to pay off. AFAIK, only Chase allows you to write the check to anyone. I did receive some blank checks from Capital One but they never suggested writing yourself a check. This doesn't mean it's not permitted. Most banks when extending a BT offer want to pay your other account directly and will say something like, 'give us your other cc acct numbers and we'll pay that off' sort of thing.
I like that checks are much more flexible.
Most recently (2016), I used the blank check deposited to my bank account to pay off ds's/our Parent Plus loan and even dh's truck which was also with Chase. Even though car & student loans are viewed more favorably than credit card debt by creditors, it still saved us hundreds to BT to our Disney visa and pay that off. Now that I've done it a few times and had everything paid off, I stopped accepting their offers and they stopped sending them. Luckily, Discover had a good offer (3% BT fee > 0% x12 mos) so we used them for our Northern Europe cruise. Back when Chase kept sending blank checks their 'usual' fee was 3% but they were offering a special deal for 2% if I used the check before some deadline. This has been a few years so maybe now 4% is their standard? If you have a Discover card, I'd look to see if they have an offer for you. Dh and I both had offers that I didn't know of until I logged in; we never used those cards.

Thanks for the reply! I've received the checks before (not from Chase) and I guess I just didn't put 2 and 2 together. That totally makes sense though. It just threw me off when Chase gave me that option since I hadn't seen it online through them before. I think i'm going to keep the idea in my back pocket for other things that may come up. I do have a Discover card and out of all the cards in my name they do have the best balance transfer offer.
 
I did this with our home equity loan for $20,000 with Bank of America. I would look into the Bank AmeriCard because it had a $0 transfer fee for the first month or two. They sent checks and so I could use the money towards whatever I wanted. It is saving us thousands in interest costs over the 15 month time period. When that 0% period is up, I plan to apply for the Chase Slate card, which also offers a fee-free transfer, but only allows me to transfer from one credit card to another.

Thanks! I'm debating doing it for my student loans instead of DH's. I think that would end up benefiting us more, but i'd have to look into a little bit before I decide to do anything.
 
I have been feeling like our budget was getting a bit wonky for a while. Not sure how to explain it except that we seemed to have gone a bit off track with shifting money around constantly. It was stressing me out a lot, so I decided to use the "fresh start" feature in YNAB. This basically takes all of your money and puts it all back into the "to be budgeted" field. From there, I looked at each of our categories and reorganized some things as well as created some new categories and deleted some as well. Then I budgeted all of our funds, reprioritizing some things in the process.

I am feeling a lot better about everything and I hope this will give the budgeting push I need, as I have been feeling kind of lackluster lately. The HELOC is so huge, it doesn't feel like we are making much of a dent even though we have been putting $1k each month towards the debt. But even at that rate, it will take years to pay it all off.

DD went for her 2-year wellness exam on Tuesday. The doctor thought she seemed to be doing very well overall, though she asked for a new audiologist appointment because at her appointment in July they couldn't do a hearing test and I am still a little worried about her speech. DD talks a ton, and though I have started to understand more of what she is saying, it is still really difficult for the most part. The doctor did say that DD seems to be advanced in her comprehension and language usage skills though. She makes sentence structures and uses pronouns, which the doctor said is more common around age 3 than at age 2. I called right away and the audiologist actually had an appointment for this morning, so I took her. They said her hearing is within the normal range and shouldn't be affecting her speech, but during active ear infections, that could be different.

And I have been calling for months trying to get an earlier speech evaluation appointment because her was scheduled for Oct. 10, but I will be traveling for work and wouldn't be able to take her. I love my husband, but when he takes her to appointments, he just never really tells me much when I ask him questions about what happened. So I called yesterday and I expressed my frustration to the lady about the waitlist system. They basically send an email sometime between 5:30 pm -7 pm in the evening saying that an appointment is available, but the email goes to everyone on the waitlist and whoever snags it first gets it. I am always busy taking care of DD during that time, so I haven't been able to get anything sooner. The lady was so nice and said she would email all of the schedulers and ask if an appointment came up sooner that someone would call me. Well, this afternoon, she called back and said they had an appointment available for 8 am tomorrow. I was thrilled. So tomorrow morning, DD will be going for her third appointment in the past 3 days, but then I will finally know if my concerns about her speech are something that needs attention or not.
 
I have been feeling like our budget was getting a bit wonky for a while. Not sure how to explain it except that we seemed to have gone a bit off track with shifting money around constantly. It was stressing me out a lot, so I decided to use the "fresh start" feature in YNAB. This basically takes all of your money and puts it all back into the "to be budgeted" field. From there, I looked at each of our categories and reorganized some things as well as created some new categories and deleted some as well. Then I budgeted all of our funds, reprioritizing some things in the process.

I am feeling a lot better about everything and I hope this will give the budgeting push I need, as I have been feeling kind of lackluster lately. The HELOC is so huge, it doesn't feel like we are making much of a dent even though we have been putting $1k each month towards the debt. But even at that rate, it will take years to pay it all off.

DD went for her 2-year wellness exam on Tuesday. The doctor thought she seemed to be doing very well overall, though she asked for a new audiologist appointment because at her appointment in July they couldn't do a hearing test and I am still a little worried about her speech. DD talks a ton, and though I have started to understand more of what she is saying, it is still really difficult for the most part. The doctor did say that DD seems to be advanced in her comprehension and language usage skills though. She makes sentence structures and uses pronouns, which the doctor said is more common around age 3 than at age 2. I called right away and the audiologist actually had an appointment for this morning, so I took her. They said her hearing is within the normal range and shouldn't be affecting her speech, but during active ear infections, that could be different.

And I have been calling for months trying to get an earlier speech evaluation appointment because her was scheduled for Oct. 10, but I will be traveling for work and wouldn't be able to take her. I love my husband, but when he takes her to appointments, he just never really tells me much when I ask him questions about what happened. So I called yesterday and I expressed my frustration to the lady about the waitlist system. They basically send an email sometime between 5:30 pm -7 pm in the evening saying that an appointment is available, but the email goes to everyone on the waitlist and whoever snags it first gets it. I am always busy taking care of DD during that time, so I haven't been able to get anything sooner. The lady was so nice and said she would email all of the schedulers and ask if an appointment came up sooner that someone would call me. Well, this afternoon, she called back and said they had an appointment available for 8 am tomorrow. I was thrilled. So tomorrow morning, DD will be going for her third appointment in the past 3 days, but then I will finally know if my concerns about her speech are something that needs attention or not.
It Is obvious you are checking everything to make sure dd is on track with her speech, so
I apologize in advance. I truly do not wish to offend by asking what may be an obvious question. Has any doctor ever mentioned if dd is tongue tied? It is an actual thing. Our pediatrician diagnosed ds immediately as an infant. I learned at a young age that my mother was tongue tied with no ill effect, so I was never worried about it. Long story short, it never affected my mother but more than likely affected ds. DH still regrets we never had his tongue clipped as an infant. At 14 it is not an issue, but he did have speech therapy from ages 6-10. His issues related to his tongue were resolved very quickly. By the start of 2nd grade he spoke more clearly than most of his class.
 
It Is obvious you are checking everything to make sure dd is on track with her speech, so
I apologize in advance. I truly do not wish to offend by asking what may be an obvious question. Has any doctor ever mentioned if dd is tongue tied? It is an actual thing. Our pediatrician diagnosed ds immediately as an infant. I learned at a young age that my mother was tongue tied with no ill effect, so I was never worried about it. Long story short, it never affected my mother but more than likely affected ds. DH still regrets we never had his tongue clipped as an infant. At 14 it is not an issue, but he did have speech therapy from ages 6-10. His issues related to his tongue were resolved very quickly. By the start of 2nd grade he spoke more clearly than most of his class.

We went for feeding issues when she was a newborn and she was evaluated for tongue tie. Two different medical professionals (pediatrician and lactation doctor) determined that she does not have a lip or tongue tie.

I just got back from the speech evaluation. DD is above average for comprehension and below average for language articulation, though not to a degree that they feel that she needs speech therapy. They said her range of motion and movement of her tongue seems normal, so it is not likely tied to her early eating difficulties. I am pleased to hear that because that was my main concern. They said her frequent ear infections could be the cause of some delay. They want us to come back in 6 months if concerns persist, but said that she actually makes consonant sounds that usually develop closer to the 3-year age range, such as 'g' and 'k.'

I am glad that we kept the appointment. It confirms my concerns that her articulation is a bit delayed, but not overly so. The therapist said that the articulation delay is likely more apparent because of her comprehension being so advanced in comparison. So we will keep watching and see how things progress. I plan to call and schedule the follow-up appointment now, just in case. It took us so long just to get in the first time that I don't want to have another wait if there are still concerns later on.
 
@Jen and Ashwin I had never noticed the fresh start button... I've been starting a new budget in January always to tweak categories and such, that will make it so much easier!

Hope everything continues to go well with DD. Your story reminded me that my MIL has said my DH had that issue, frequent ear infections when he was little caused some speech delay but ended up being okay with no therapy. That is a funny waitlist system, I would get the follow up scheduled too! :crazy:
 
Budget news from the Bat Cave: DH's work seems to be the Titanic, slowly, but inevitably, sinking. All three of his closest friends have either left or are actively looking to leave. We're keeping an ear to the ground for jobs for him but he plans on riding it out. Believe it or not, remember my foster brother who sideswiped us on the trip cost? Out of the blue, he let me know that he is working on a job that may need a remote position that is exactly what DH does. It's based in Brooklyn. We are in CA. But if it works out (we won't find out for a while) it'd be a TREMENDOUS Godsend. DH would be getting a huge pay increase and have to travel 5-8 times a year, but he digs that.

Also, the DL trip for DH's work convention is still planned for November. I haven't looked up ticket prices because, you know, cart in front of the horse with the way things are going. Well, I looked yesterday and nearly cried!!! I'll use the $175 in SW Disney gift cards to offset 1/4 of it, but my oh my!

And...my oldest DD has been in a bad relationship. I've been praying for so long. So very long. It was never physically abusive. But she met a young man over the weekend who has opened her eyes as to everything her boyfriend is not. She stopped wearing her ring from him, removed his pic from her phone case, and the lock screen. While I hope this may turn into something wonderful (I was able to meet this young man too! They were in the wedding together and I swear, he's one of those "if-I-could-pick-a-guy-for-my-kid" types), I'm so grateful that she is HAPPY again. It's been four days and she's bubbly and joyful. And this plays into my budget how? Well, we live 5 hours from where he is stationed. They decided to go to a concert that is midway between us. My youngest is going, too (and she's admitted to being excited to be the third wheel because we all really like this kid). I told them both that I'm getting them separate hotel rooms so they do NOT have to drive back that night. Honestly? $200 well spent for me.
 

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