Debt Dumpers - 2019

greetings from universal orlando! i decided to pop on to the boards will everyone is still asleep. we lucked out and arrived during the end of what locals consider a cold period (long sleeves or light jacket weather for us) to now beautiful weather (comparable to our nicest summer days). keeping an eye on our spending of course but i am finding as i've read others post-prices at universal can be so much more reasonable than disney (esp if you hop out of a park over to city walk for a meal). did avail ourselves of the outlet mall-not much more than a couple t shirts for myself but finally found a nice leather jacket for dh at a great price. we will hit downtown disney before we leave to get a house of blues meal fix and enjoy the decorations.


For example, Target has their 10% off gift card sale Sunday up to $300. I'll say I didn't plan on a $300 purchase for use of future gift cards when I planned the month, but then, know at some point next year of course I'll be spending $300 at Target.

the advantage i could see to this is if like me you buy your cleaning products through target. i wait till they have them on sale/with a free gift card if you buy so many items at a time. using those prior gift cards you bought on sale will bring the price down further and you will end up netting yet more gift cards at no cost beyond what you would normally spend in your household budget for the cleaning items.

take care all.
 
greetings from universal orlando! i decided to pop on to the boards will everyone is still asleep. we lucked out and arrived during the end of what locals consider a cold period (long sleeves or light jacket weather for us) to now beautiful weather (comparable to our nicest summer days). keeping an eye on our spending of course but i am finding as i've read others post-prices at universal can be so much more reasonable than disney (esp if you hop out of a park over to city walk for a meal). did avail ourselves of the outlet mall-not much more than a couple t shirts for myself but finally found a nice leather jacket for dh at a great price. we will hit downtown disney before we leave to get a house of blues meal fix and enjoy the decorations.




the advantage i could see to this is if like me you buy your cleaning products through target. i wait till they have them on sale/with a free gift card if you buy so many items at a time. using those prior gift cards you bought on sale will bring the price down further and you will end up netting yet more gift cards at no cost beyond what you would normally spend in your household budget for the cleaning items.

take care all.
I'm here too! But we did not miss the cold weather, we got in Tues. afternoon. We check out tomorrow and move to DW. Enjoy your stay!!
 
2019 Wrap Up:
Car Loans = $0 - $41,549 change from the beginning of the year
House Fund = $56,000 - $38,350 change from the beginning of the year
Emergency Fund = $10,000 - $7,721 change from the beginning of the year
Auto Fund = $4,000 - $3,859 change from the beginning of the year

Oh no, I haven't posted since 10/25 🙈 I will admit I had to redo some things in Ynab so there was a slight manipulation in where to put funds to get these nice even numbers for this month. Also started simplifying some categories for next year. I had pulled aside a chunk for taxes, because I know we are going to owe, but when I saw where the E fund is at I just threw them in there and figure we will pay out of there and replace it when the time comes.

Now to tackle Christmas and then figure out what our 2020 goals will be!

2019 Financial-y Goals:
  • Pay off my car
    • Done!
  • Set an extra amount to go towards DHs car each month
    • Done AND paid off! Well, we've got the last bit in a savings account and I've been using it to earn credit card rewards as we make the payments and they are far outweighing the interest.
  • Add to our house savings (will figure this out with DH this weekend… think that after base expenses, any OT/XT income will go into different goals on a percentage basis)
    • Done!
  • Move my old 401k (~$1800) to an IRA
    • shame... 🙈
  • Balance 401ks/IRAs savings amounts
    • Sooooo… we did. And then DHs income was way higher than we ever imagined and I pushed mine back up to the max to help with our taxes. DHs has been so hard, because his base is paid out over 26 checks and then commissions are once a month in an additional check if he has any... so if anything pays out this month, he'll get really close to maxing it but if it doesn't he'll be a bit under 🤷‍♀️
  • Make a Christmas budget - I keep saying this and it hasn't happened, maybe third time's the charm...
    • It wasn't
  • Finish the last of combining accounts/changing names since getting married
    • I think so? Until I run into something else...
2019 Lifestyle Goals:
Cutting to the chase... none of these happened. But our overall eating out spending is down compared to 2018 so I will count that as a small win
  • Eat out less - for health, but that's also our budget buster
  • Get into a regular exercise routine
  • Lose weight - I’ve got a goal in mind for June, before we go on a family trip

2019 starting balances:
Car Loans - $7616 + $33933 = $41,549
House Fund = $17,650
Emergency Fund = $2,279
Auto Fund = $141

Progress as of 1/30/19:

Car Loans - $5216 + $33485 = $37,746 - $3,803 change from the beginning of the year
House Fund = $17,650 - $0 change from the beginning of the year
Emergency Fund = $2,323 - $44 change from the beginning of the year
Weight goal - 0%, 20 weeks to go

Progress as of 3/4/19:
Car Loans - $0 + $33024 = $33,024 - $8,525 change from the beginning of the year
House Fund = $18,290 - $640 change from the beginning of the year
Emergency Fund = $2,704 - $425 change from the beginning of the year
Weight goal - ?%, 16 weeks to go (need to weigh myself...)

Progress as of 4/7/19:
Car Loans - $0 + $29152 = $29,152 - $12,397 change from the beginning of the year
House Fund = $18,694 - $1,044 change from the beginning of the year
Emergency Fund = $2,906 - $627 change from the beginning of the year

Progress as of 5/2/19:
Car Loans = $25,810 - $15,739 change from the beginning of the year
House Fund = $19,339 - $1,689 change from the beginning of the year
Emergency Fund = $3,295 - $1016 change from the beginning of the year

Progress as of 7/3/19:
Car Loans = $16,391 - $25,158 change from the beginning of the year
House Fund = $25,229 - $7,579 change from the beginning of the year
Emergency Fund = $5,082 - $2,803 change from the beginning of the year

Progress as of 9/17/19:
Car Loans = $0 - $41,549 change from the beginning of the year
House Fund = $30,772 - $13,122 change from the beginning of the year
Emergency Fund = $6,057 - $3,778 change from the beginning of the year
Auto Fund = $792 - $651 change from the beginning of the year

Progress as of 10/25/19:
Car Loans = $0 - $41,549 change from the beginning of the year
House Fund = $42,550 - $24,900 change from the beginning of the year
Emergency Fund = $7,822 - $5,543 change from the beginning of the year
Auto Fund = $2,411 - $2,271 change from the beginning of the year
 
Hope those in Orlando are having a good time and maybe enjoying some good weather compared to home! I'm interested to hear any review of RotR if you went! I'm starting to read over on the Theme Parks board, and just wow it's a lot to wade through.

Tomorrow I am trying to get on SW in the morning when the new flight schedule opens and hoping the points aren't outrageous. We already have April WDW flights, need some for later in summer now.
 


Back from an awesome DL trip! We went over budget, but that was due to some issues out of our control. This was a bit of a pricey trip as we had some big, but pre-planned expenses (an expensive, but VERY special dinner, Sabre build from GE, Droid Build, Olga's) but other than that, we were good.


2019 Wrap Up:
Goals:
Financial Goals for 2019:
-Car Fund: Get serious about this...if we are going to buy the Hyundai Kona electric in 2 years or so, I want to have a good chunk saved- I'm going to save the money our friend is paying us back, and figure out an amount to save also, but I'd like to have say 1/3 to put down, so next year when the first models come out, will get an idea of around how much that will be, but I'd say have 5K by the end of next year.

DONE- we have about 7K designated for the next new car.

-get DD's RESP (Canada's equivalent to education savings plan) started- she's 2 now and we haven't got this going for no reason other than just not getting to it. Initial deposit of 1.5K is ready and get a direct deposit going.

NOT DONE- just didn't get to this...mainly due to time/crazy schedules.

-Replace the dining room furniture- we are using the table, chairs and hutch that I grew up with, I really want to get some nicer stuff.

NOT DONE- just didn't prioritize doing this. See time/schedule comment above.

-one big trip (short listed are WDW, Kentucky, or a cruise of some sort) and 1-2 small trips (short listed are Vegas, Disneyland, Palm Springs)
---use aeroplan for the big one

DONE- we did do Kentucky, and it was amazing. I had sold a pony to an American family and they qualified him for a crazy high level of show, so we went to watch and then also loved the bourbon/history trail etc.

Personal:

-Get the last 15 pounds off- I'm so much happier now that I've lost the weight that I have, and feeling more like myself, but still got more to go.

NOT Done, in fact I put some on..oops...will re-work this goal for the new year.

-Participate in 2-3 riding clinics- although the craziness of working full time and a 2 year old doesn't allow me to have a horse in full training, I did get out for lots of riding this year and did one clinic in the fall which I loved, there are 3 scheduled for next year and I want to do them.

DONE- well I did a clinic and a show, so classifying as done.


Now on to think about 2020...
 
Back from an awesome DL trip! We went over budget, but that was due to some issues out of our control. This was a bit of a pricey trip as we had some big, but pre-planned expenses (an expensive, but VERY special dinner, Sabre build from GE, Droid Build, Olga's) but other than that, we were good.
Glad it was a good time at DL!
Anyone else say "Sab-ray" like the song from The Office? Cause I did.
No, what episode was that? Sounds like Dwight may pronounce it like that?!
 


So my DVC rental plans fell through for my Nov 2020 trip. They didn't have what I wanted for the dates I needed, but they sent me a list of alternatives that were a bit more than I wanted to spend. Since my DH and I couldn't agree on what we wanted to do, we just decided to hold off on the DVC rental and i've instead booked a room at All Star Music for $450 for 3 nights. This is cheaper than what I would have spent on DVC, but I know it's not nearly as nice. Once I started thinking about it though, I think it will be fine since I don't anticipate us being in the room very much since we only have 2 days in the parks. If we had a longer trip, I probably would have splurged on the DVC rental. I will still look for other deals/different hotel as the year goes on, but at this price I at least wanted to lock in that room rate in case nothing better comes along.
 
This is cheaper than what I would have spent on DVC
I told DH that next time we go, unless we are offered to stay in a friend's DVC for free, we are going to ASMu. We also aren't in the room much, other than to sleep and shower. I liked ASMu, especially their restaurant, and would only splurge for a room closer to the main building.
 
I told DH that next time we go, unless we are offered to stay in a friend's DVC for free, we are going to ASMu. We also aren't in the room much, other than to sleep and shower. I liked ASMu, especially their restaurant, and would only splurge for a room closer to the main building.

Glad to hear you like it! I was definitely a bit hesitant on booking since I didn't really want a value hotel, but it just makes the most sense. For splurging closer to the main building, would I just choose a higher room category? I chose standard since it didn't really matter to me.
 
Glad to hear you like it! I was definitely a bit hesitant on booking since I didn't really want a value hotel, but it just makes the most sense. For splurging closer to the main building, would I just choose a higher room category? I chose standard since it didn't really matter to me.
Preferred rooms are the ones closer to the lobby. There is no difference with the actual room. By fall all of ASMu should be refurbished as well.
 
I went in for my blood draw this morning at 7:30 am. Results came back around noon saying that it was a positive pregnancy result with a good HCG level. I go back on Friday for another blood draw to make sure the HCG levels are rising as they should and everything looks on track. I didn't think I would get too emotional, but I totally cried with joy when I read the letter with the results. Then called DH, my mom and texted my best friend.

DH wants to decorate the baby's room in a Mandalorian theme.
 
I went in for my blood draw this morning at 7:30 am. Results came back around noon saying that it was a positive pregnancy result with a good HCG level. I go back on Friday for another blood draw to make sure the HCG levels are rising as they should and everything looks on track. I didn't think I would get too emotional, but I totally cried with joy when I read the letter with the results. Then called DH, my mom and texted my best friend.

DH wants to decorate the baby's room in a Mandalorian theme.

Congratulations!! party:
 
Today I finally used Chase Pay for gas at Shell along with my Fuel Rewards for the 5% category on CF card, and the fuel rewards for grocery shopping at Giant. I've wanted to try Chase Pay at the pump for a while but haven't until this morning. It was actually easier I thought to use Chase Pay at the pump than to do my traditional way.

Yesterday I was trying to load my Fuel Rewards card in the Chase Pay app, but because it is my Giant card and already entered in Chase as a Giant loyalty ID, scanning the back of that wasn't working to also load it as Shell. I entered my phone number as an Alternate ID in the Chase Pay app for Shell and it worked. Gas station wasn't busy at 7 so I thought I'll try it out, and had no problems with Chase Pay at the pump. Wish I had tried this EARLIER in the quarter! I screwed up at Walmart the other day, I tried to use Walmart Pay app at checkout, and it wasn't working. With the line, I gave up and tried another card. At home I had a better chance to look at the app and noticed I had an old CF card still in my Walmart account. Oh well, updated now.
 
Hi all, it's been a while. I have been so busy at work, at home and haven't had the patience to read posts lately. I hope everyone is well.

Good news here, DH still has a job. The new contract started this week and while it's a transition time, a lot of things have fallen into place and he's got a spot. He is doing something different now (or will be once the details shake out) and will be working more from home and in DC (versus a farther away MD suburb where he's been working). He said he hopes he likes working from home more because it would be good for stress levels, less gas, less wear and tear on the car etc. He has been so stressed out about this and had to lay off three people, which he hated doing. But we are grateful he's working.

We've had some major expenses lately. His car needed $700 of work, we paid for a mini van rental for Thanksgiving travel because we no longer have a vehicle that fits six people and for the holiday weekend it was over $600. And DS16's wisdom teeth started bothering him so he is having them out over the break, which will be another $600. Plus, our dryer saga hasn't ended. Fuse blew again but the part was under warranty and the repair people just can't figure this out. We decided next time it blows (there WILL be a next time, because of course there will), we're going to buy a new one. Hopefully it's a machine issue and not an air flow issue coming from our house (which would make no sense because we've had the ducts cleaned and while it's been a problem off and on for the last year, it hasn't always been).

DS19 (can't believe that, his birthday was this week!) is finishing up his first college semester and will be home soon, yay! I've gotten used to him being there and the fact that he's pretty local (an hour away) and we've seen him a handful of times this fall has helped. If I had had to drop him August and not see him until now, I think I'd be a mess. We've been paying tuition on the 10-mo plan so have not really needed to use his 529 yet, we're hoping to wait until we have two in college at once if we can. We are putting a lot less into retirement to make it happen, but our standard of living has not dropped, so we're happy it's working out. Cross your fingers, I think I just jinxed myself, lol.

I'm almost done holiday shopping and we have paid cash (well, debit card ;)) for everything. Literally cash for Chanuka because I have put odd amounts of money in envelopes for the boys and they'll pick one each night. We've needed to use some savings for the above expenses, oh, and I did not mention DH's aunt died in October, so he and I flew to New England for the funeral and those tickets were not cheap. But it's all been doable and we feel really lucky. Our main goal now is to get through the next five years (DH's contract up for rebid again then), one kid will be out of college, the other almost done, and the house will almost be paid off. And then DH will start thinking about ramping down toward retirement. Again, knock on wood.

Thanks for reading this lengthy post. My office is closed between Christmas and New Year's so I hope to catch up on a lot of board reading then. Happy holidays!
 
I went in for my blood draw this morning at 7:30 am. Results came back around noon saying that it was a positive pregnancy result with a good HCG level. I go back on Friday for another blood draw to make sure the HCG levels are rising as they should and everything looks on track. I didn't think I would get too emotional, but I totally cried with joy when I read the letter with the results. Then called DH, my mom and texted my best friend.

DH wants to decorate the baby's room in a Mandalorian theme.
Congrats!!!! When is your EDD?
 

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