Debt Dumpers - 2019

[barkley]

when it rains it not only pours-it's a freaking typhoon! march has been AWFUL! first the big freezer bit the dust so about $800, then one vehicle needed a new battery at $130, then this weekend some road gravel cracked the other vehicle's windshield so another $100 for that.........but today........figured we would take the cracked windshield car in for the minor servicing needed (oil change, just check things out-not one of the big ones) and find out that we need $1450 in repairs/replacements GOOD GRIEF!

on the bright side it will be offset by our property taxes due in april being reduced this year by $150, and $125 in credit card rewards that i used as a statement credit so i won't have to take quite as much from the old emergency fund.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

My performance review is Thursday. I'm not sure if I'll get a raise (effective April 1) because I was promoted off-cycle in November. Fingers crossed that I do, but I don't want to get my hopes up.

When I got promoted off cycle, I straight up asked my boss that I still get the regular yearly cost of living raise 6 months later as well, since without it my actual raise/promotion would have been lessened by 2-3%. She agreed and I got the COL raise too.

 

[DisneyMandC]

While it wasn't necessarily a "surprise" check, I received an $840 check from my horse show association yesterday for the success I had showing my horse last year. I knew that I would be getting some money, but the valuations in how much you get vary every year, so I didn't realize it would be that much! I just went ahead and deposited it in my Ally account for right now marked as savings, but may pull some out for our horse show fund later if we have a pricier show.

I did some math this morning and realized that we now have 8 months worth of our mortgage payment in our savings account. Between DH's bonus and stock payout in April and May, we should be able to fund this up to a full year's worth of mortgage payments. I've never had this much money in savings before, so it's a nice feeling!

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

While it wasn't necessarily a "surprise" check, I received an $840 check from my horse show association yesterday for the success I had showing my horse last year. I knew that I would be getting some money, but the valuations in how much you get vary every year, so I didn't realize it would be that much! I just went ahead and deposited it in my Ally account for right now marked as savings, but may pull some out for our horse show fund later if we have a pricier show.

I did some math this morning and realized that we now have 8 months worth of our mortgage payment in our savings account. Between DH's bonus and stock payout in April and May, we should be able to fund this up to a full year's worth of mortgage payments. I've never had this much money in savings before, so it's a nice feeling!

I totally understand the excitement. We have a full years worth of mortgage payments in our emergency fund. Obviously, it wouldn't really be used that way if we experienced a job loss because we would need to cover other expenses as well. It would basically cover 3 months of actual expenses, but our goal is to bring that up to 6 months eventually. Then we will feel comfortable redirecting the $500 that we are saving each month towards our emergency fund into the HELOC or mortgage to pay that down faster.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I totally understand the excitement. We have a full years worth of mortgage payments in our emergency fund. Obviously, it wouldn't really be used that way if we experienced a job loss because we would need to cover other expenses as well. It would basically cover 3 months of actual expenses, but our goal is to bring that up to 6 months eventually. Then we will feel comfortable redirecting the $500 that we are saving each month towards our emergency fund into the HELOC or mortgage to pay that down faster.

Exactly. DH has pretty good job security, but I always feel like things are a little squirrelly for me working for elected officials, and I'm now in my second election year in a row. I'm glad that we're boosting our savings this year in case things get weird in November.

 

[jen7233]

March has been expensive, I'm ready for April! Also excited about WDW next month. Summer costs are starting to surface, I was asked to help with a family situation, and that means unexpected plane tickets for me there and back, and there and back another time, and the extra tickets also for the little one I'm watching, so, that's alot. I have some points, but was saving them and don't think the points are enough to cover it all anyway. This is exactly why I'm trying to shift focus for the year to building up an emergency fund, and also if my mom passes I'll be responsible for her final expenses, something I've already agreed to as my sibling can't afford it but is helping on their part by being there with her now for her medical needs and day-to-day. Now, if the surprises can just stop a year or two I could work on it, but it never works out that way for me.

 

[imbatman]

Frustrated because the mortgage hit a day early and due to an unplanned alternator purchase last week, we are overdrawn until tomorrow. I don't understand how they can just change days. I was hyperventilating just trying to make it through to payday tomorrow and now this.

Going to wallow for a bit, then adjust my sails and move on accordingly.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

March is looking to be ending mostly on budget. We again went over on our grocery budget again, so I am thinking that we might have to reevaluate and add additional funds there going forward. I don't mind the extra spending so much because we have definitely been eating healthier in the past 2.5 weeks. I have lost 7+ lbs. now and am feeling pretty great. Some clothes are even feeling loose. I am going to see how April goes and just take it from there in terms of that budget.

And one of my credit cards wasn't reconciling in YNAB properly. I went back through all of my transactions for several months, but I couldn't figure it out, especially since it was fine earlier this month. I think it probably has something to do with the balance transfers. DH's new balance transfer card didn't work with the HELOC, probably because it is in my name only, so I had to get creative. I made transfers to several of our credit cards in order to hit the total available amount of $7k. That basically meant that those cards had a surplus available in the payment field and so I moved that money into the HELOC fund and made an extra payment. But something went wonky and I just couldn't figure it out, so I made a reconciliation transaction in YNAB and moved enough money over from the HELOC fund to cover the difference. And since the money was all there in the budget, just not showing up where it should have been, I didn't stress over being short or anything.

And when I was reviewing our budget going forward, starting in May it looks like we will have almost $300 extra because we will finally have caught up in paying ourselves back for some things that we had to borrow from ourselves for. So I was looking at what $300 a month might be go to put towards. One of my goals at the beginning of the year was to make extra payments towards DH's car. This money combined with any overtime that DH gets from being on call could mean that his car would be mostly paid off by the end of the year, which would be great. And DH does his first on call week the first week of April, so we should be able to make an extra payment towards his car next month with whatever he gets from that.

 

[Birdie dog]

I'd like some advice from the budget gurus please. I've already told you all about my sincere goal to pay off all of my debt ASAP. I've started out by snowballing and have paid off one CC already with another one gone in a couple months. So far, my tactic is that I pay the amount that will have the card paid in 3 years on all my cards (which is less than I'd been paying to each card in the past) and then taking the additional I would be paying and throwing that at my smallest card. I've been comfortable with the plan but (and this is embarrassing) I'd NEVER even really paid attention to APR before, and of course, my highest card (used on major renovations in our home) is also the highest APR. I received at 0% for 15 months offer this week from another company and am considering transferring the balance and paying that card off in the 15 months. I kind of messes with my snowball a little, but I think what my plan would be is this... The amount I'd have to pay monthly to pay the card off on time is approx $450. I already pay about $300 to the CC that I'd be transferring. if necessary, I might withhold the amount of one other "overage" and sent it to the transfer card to easily make the $150 a month. If a disaster happened and I was unable to pay off the card in time, the APR on the second card is 13% instead of 18% so I'd still be saving money. Since I'm so green at this, I'd love your opinions on the situation. I'm sure there's something I haven't though of. Thanks for the input.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I'd like some advice from the budget gurus please. I've already told you all about my sincere goal to pay off all of my debt ASAP. I've started out by snowballing and have paid off one CC already with another one gone in a couple months. So far, my tactic is that I pay the amount that will have the card paid in 3 years on all my cards (which is less than I'd been paying to each card in the past) and then taking the additional I would be paying and throwing that at my smallest card. I've been comfortable with the plan but (and this is embarrassing) I'd NEVER even really paid attention to APR before, and of course, my highest card (used on major renovations in our home) is also the highest APR. I received at 0% for 15 months offer this week from another company and am considering transferring the balance and paying that card off in the 15 months. I kind of messes with my snowball a little, but I think what my plan would be is this... The amount I'd have to pay monthly to pay the card off on time is approx $450. I already pay about $300 to the CC that I'd be transferring. if necessary, I might withhold the amount of one other "overage" and sent it to the transfer card to easily make the $150 a month. If a disaster happened and I was unable to pay off the card in time, the APR on the second card is 13% instead of 18% so I'd still be saving money. Since I'm so green at this, I'd love your opinions on the situation. I'm sure there's something I haven't though of. Thanks for the input.

What is the transfer fee on the offer? Usually, the card will charge 2-5% of the total balance that is to be transferred. You need to calculate that fee into your budget. And how much higher is this APR than your other cards? I am of the mindset that it is best to tackle the higher interest rate first, but for many people going for the lowest balance helps them keep momentum. I have been utilizing balance transfers to save money on our basement project, so I don't see anything wrong with using them. My other question would be, do you have any emergency savings in case something unexpected does happen, because at least something will likely happen in 15 months so having a bit of a cushion is important.

 

[Birdie dog]

The transfer fee is 3%. I have about $7000 sitting in my savings for real emergencies. Plus a ton that I could pull from retirement if the worst happened. (knock on wood).

 

[jen7233]

I'd like some advice from the budget gurus please. I've already told you all about my sincere goal to pay off all of my debt ASAP. I've started out by snowballing and have paid off one CC already with another one gone in a couple months. So far, my tactic is that I pay the amount that will have the card paid in 3 years on all my cards (which is less than I'd been paying to each card in the past) and then taking the additional I would be paying and throwing that at my smallest card. I've been comfortable with the plan but (and this is embarrassing) I'd NEVER even really paid attention to APR before, and of course, my highest card (used on major renovations in our home) is also the highest APR. I received at 0% for 15 months offer this week from another company and am considering transferring the balance and paying that card off in the 15 months. I kind of messes with my snowball a little, but I think what my plan would be is this... The amount I'd have to pay monthly to pay the card off on time is approx $450. I already pay about $300 to the CC that I'd be transferring. if necessary, I might withhold the amount of one other "overage" and sent it to the transfer card to easily make the $150 a month. If a disaster happened and I was unable to pay off the card in time, the APR on the second card is 13% instead of 18% so I'd still be saving money. Since I'm so green at this, I'd love your opinions on the situation. I'm sure there's something I haven't though of. Thanks for the input.

I’m not clear on what your’re saying about the smallest, I reread but it’s not clicking with me. If you get the transfer card wouldn’t you transfer all balances over to it? Will having the 15 months zero interest allow you to get it paid all off in 15 months since you would have it all going to principal? So, just going to go with what I am understanding, and that’s yes I’d go for a balance transfer if it meant I’m paying it off so much sooner than 3 year plan. I’d try to keep it simple.

 

[Ngwira]

Got notice today of a $2800 raise effective January 1 so I will get a small retroactive check after the next pay period. I am also down 22 pounds from January 1. I started adding 30 minute walks and sprints to my daily routine. Weekend workouts are Les Mills Combat and Tae Bo. I can definitely notice a difference in my clothing and energy levels. And people are starting to notice my weight loss. Must. keep.going!

I have lost weight in the past but have never been able to keep it off. I now realize that what I have been doing to lose it must be maintained FOR LIFE. That includes weighing every day to keep me accountable, portion control, healthy water intake and eating lots of fruits and vegetables as well as making meals at home.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I have lost weight in the past but have never been able to keep it off. I now realize that what I have been doing to lose it must be maintained FOR LIFE. That includes weighing every day to keep me accountable, portion control, healthy water intake and eating lots of fruits and vegetables as well as making meals at home.

I totally agree with this. It is a lifetime committment because it is so easy to slip into bad habits. I think my biggest issue is portion control, especially when I eat around other people. So easy to match what someone else is doing. And I just do the weekly weigh-ins. Every day gets too crazy for me because it definitely goes up and down a bit throughout the week, but the downward trend shows up within a week usually. I haven't started incorporating a ton of extra exercise yet, but with the weather perking up I am much more motivated to get out for a walk.

 

[StacyStrong]

Getting healthy is starting to cost $$$$$.

I am registering for a bunch of races in the coming months. Wonder Woman 10k, Rock n Roll 10k, Hot Chocolate 15k, Fairy Tale Challenge 10k/Half. Definitely costing quite a bit and I'll have to replace my running shoes in the next couple months.

But, I'm enjoying it (even if I'm still slow!) and these races are keeping me motivated. 91.2 miles so far this year!

I have nothing budget related to report otherwise - business as usual.

 

[Tygerlilly]

Getting healthy is starting to cost $$$$$.

I am registering for a bunch of races in the coming months. Wonder Woman 10k, Rock n Roll 10k, Hot Chocolate 15k, Fairy Tale Challenge 10k/Half. Definitely costing quite a bit and I'll have to replace my running shoes in the next couple months.

But, I'm enjoying it (even if I'm still slow!) and these races are keeping me motivated. 91.2 miles so far this year!

I have nothing budget related to report otherwise - business as usual.

I have my eye on a few races this year as well, but with my work schedule it's going to be very hard to actually do any of them. Which is a major bummer because I love races and they keep me motivated. What shoes are you getting? I've had my eyes on Brooks Ghosts for almost a year now.


In other news, Pi got her cast off today!! We have one final follow up appointment in a month just to make sure all is well, but he said her x rays were fantastic and she should finish healing up good as new!

Turns out a month from now is a busy week, Pi has her follow up on Wednesday and Thursday is Bug's 2 year wellness appointment. Both are at offices 45 minutes from our house, which means extra gas needs to be budgeted. I'm going to try and get my mom to watch the non-appointment kid and have a mommy/daughter date with each girl after their appointments.

And, feeling overly accomplished because I'm done birthday shopping for Bug's birthday on the 5th! She got a few new toys and I managed to snag Saturday off so we'll be going 2 hours to Oklahoma City to spend the day at the zoo there! Going to get their big passes which include the giraffe and other animal feedings, train/carousel rides, and a few different shows. Should be about $100 for the day. Although, I'm going to pack snacks for "lunch" and we'll just get dinner somewhere quick on the way home because their food was awful and super expensive last time.

 

[StacyStrong]

I have my eye on a few races this year as well, but with my work schedule it's going to be very hard to actually do any of them. Which is a major bummer because I love races and they keep me motivated. What shoes are you getting? I've had my eyes on Brooks Ghosts for almost a year now.


In other news, Pi got her cast off today!! We have one final follow up appointment in a month just to make sure all is well, but he said her x rays were fantastic and she should finish healing up good as new!

I'm not sure what I'll get. I have Brooks Ravenna currently but I'm halfway through mileage. I'd like another pair before then to rotate.

I'll likely go to the running store again, get fitted, and try a million pairs on to see what feels good. Nothing in particular in my mind currently

Is it that you work weekends? Or don't have time to train?

 

[thiabelle]

Congratulations on her acceptances! Wow that is a lot for out of state. I personally couldn't do that amount, now if there were scholarships covering the majority that could make the decision different. Not to pry too much but UF will be $6400 for you, so you are FL residents? Just curious, we may look into moving to FL or GA eventually when DH retires from service, TX is also on our radar, all job dependent but we also have somewhat of a choice on where to go as we don't have any ties. Of course, my older at home still has 6 years until he graduates high school, so tuition will change by then significantly if it's true that college tuition goes up 6-7% yearly I've read somewhere (I don't remember the source). Mine are going in-state, and to a public university, unless somehow they get scholarships elsewhere that would make me reconsider. But anyway, that's not a bad rate in my opinion, if that is for a full time status and is that without scholarship?

For the purposes of tuition DD has been granted in state tuition. We own a home in Florida and DH is considered a FL resident. We purchased at the end of her freshman year and DH immediately began the process of setting up his residency. Fun fact- the schools asked for the dates of everything... date car registered... date of voter registration... etc. For FSU and USF she was deemed instate easy peasy. Filled out the affadavit (sp?) and they declared her instate. UF- not so easy. They kept asking for more information. Cool cool- you want an 82 page PDF of our cable and utility bills?- no problem. We had people tell us that sometimes they ask about "who is your dentist" or "who is your hairstylist"- don't know if that is true- didn't happen to us. She was awarded UF's largest out of state scholarship (Gator Nation) but we lost it because of her in state determination. It was still cheaper to pay full price instate than scholarship out of state.

where did you buy your couch from? I like looking at them online trying to figure out what I want.

I bought it at Boscov's. I love Boscov's.

 

[Ngwira]

I totally agree with this. It is a lifetime committment because it is so easy to slip into bad habits. I think my biggest issue is portion control, especially when I eat around other people. So easy to match what someone else is doing. And I just do the weekly weigh-ins. Every day gets too crazy for me because it definitely goes up and down a bit throughout the week, but the downward trend shows up within a week usually. I haven't started incorporating a ton of extra exercise yet, but with the weather perking up I am much more motivated to get out for a walk.

Im learning that weight loss is different for everyone. What works for me may not work for you and vice versa. You have to find what works for you and stick with it for the rest of your life.

 

[Ngwira]

Getting healthy is starting to cost $$$$$.

I am registering for a bunch of races in the coming months. Wonder Woman 10k, Rock n Roll 10k, Hot Chocolate 15k, Fairy Tale Challenge 10k/Half. Definitely costing quite a bit and I'll have to replace my running shoes in the next couple months.

But, I'm enjoying it (even if I'm still slow!) and these races are keeping me motivated. 91.2 miles so far this year!

I have nothing budget related to report otherwise - business as usual.

91.2 miles is so impressive. Congratulations.