Debt Dumpers 2021

[ruadisneyfan2]

We were supposed to be doing Orlando (Disney/Universal/Sea World) with friends of ours in April. We have kids who are all roughly 9 months apart from each other and our boys will be about 3 weeks apart once mine finally comes out. In a crazy line of events, while having herd, her mother took her older two to their house in their car and ended up running head on into a truck and totaled the car. Everyone is okay, but now they have the added stress of buying a new vehicle and all that fun and may not be able to do the trip at all.

So, I basically said instead of doing the house, let's plan to just both get rooms on property and we can meet up wherever. It's a little more expensive than sharing a house and we'd lose the full kitchen, but I'd rather stay where I'm not going to be worried they could cancel at any point and leave me hanging with no safety net. We also decided since this trip is to celebrate our middle child's 5th birthday (poor girl had every single party cancelled due to flu/covid/etc), so we're doing it big this year with a split stay! First 2 nights at AKL in a savanna view room on her actual birthday and 8 more nights following that at Pop Century. She is an animal loving girl so to be able to splurge a little on the room makes my heart so so happy. It's going to cost roughly $5500 for both hotels and 6 days of park tickets. Sea World one day will be "free" because we'll already have platinum annual passes from San Antonio that we can use there. I'm figuring another $1500 for food and another $1500 on spending money. Also factoring in $500 for hotel stops on the way there and back and gas. Total trip estimate: $9000.

In other non-fun news, I've unexpectedly taken an extra weekend off work unpaid. I literally couldn't do it anymore. It was causing so much stress I was having contractions at 34 weeks. We decided that even though it's going to be really tight financially for a few weeks, my health and baby boys health come first. I'm considering taking a small 401k loan out of my account to cover lost wages with a very quick repayment plan. Since we are choosing to get the advance CTC, I know we'll be okay by mid-July, but these first 2 weeks are going to be kinda rough.

Doesn't short term disability kick in once you can't work? My job is very active and on my feet lifting, twisting, bending, pulling, pushing, etc. With my first child I worked to 32 weeks and the 2nd child to 34. I probably could have hung in there a little longer with the 2nd one since I had moved from general xray dept to breast imaging, but there was a nasty coworker (who had never been pregnant) making snarky comments that I wasn't working fast enough. I happened to have a dr appt the next day and I told him, "That's it! I'm done with that place." and he signed me out. I wanted to go tell Miss Snarky, "Instead of having me pitch in for 8 hours at a slightly slower pace, now you have me there for zero hours." I ended up being almost 2 weeks overdue with him too but I was in no hurry because I was getting paid to enjoy being home with my older son who was 3 at the time.

 

[CaleCakes]

I think with Disney World being something in my opinion you have to plan in advance for, that is disappointing if the date came and went. Since it requires redoing budget for travel and plans.

Yes I do feel disappointed but I actually feel more hurt that I was strung along but also that I allowed it. I kept pushing back the "need to know by" date and I shouldn't have. This was a big lesson for me not to book a trip with this person again.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Yes I do feel disappointed but I actually feel more hurt that I was strung along but also that I allowed it. I kept pushing back the "need to know by" date and I shouldn't have. This was a big lesson for me not to book a trip with this person again.

This happened to me with a 3-night cruise that I invited an old friend from school who I traveled often with before we both got married and had kids. She was a even a bridesmaid in our wedding. It was going to be a girls' getaway, to catch up since she moved further away, then had preemie twins, etc. Our lives were both really busy with work/kids/homework, etc. for a long time. Anyway, long story short, she kept saying she needed to talk to her husband and wasn't sure he'd be thrilled with the idea of her leaving him to deal with 3 school age/tween kids and their activities. I kept telling her it's no problem, just let me know, I understand that might be a lot put on him, etc.

Well, with cruising you can choose your cabin and I happened to have a good one and it was an Onboard Booking (booked while onboard a previous cruise) which gives several perks. If I cancelled, I'd lose the onboard booking code. I could move it to a later cruise just to preserve the onboard code but then I'd lose the good cabin I secured. The final payment date was just a few days away and she was ignoring all of my contacts.
I was soooo annoyed to just be left hanging like that.
So I asked another friend (former neighbor) that we've sailed with many times with our families. She was prompt with a Yes!, contacted my TA the next day to make her share of the payment, and it was all set.
My old friend called me like 2 weeks later to ask if I still wanted to go, oblivious to the world of deadlines. Grrrr... I actually lied and told her that I cancelled it and not going.

Our friendship became more distant after that. The final blow that ended our friendship was when my mother died. I couldn't even speak the words so I texted her my mom's obit. She knew my mom well and lived in our home the last 3 months of xray school because she was living with her boyfriend and they broke up and her family home was over 1.5 hour drive from school. Anyway, her reply to my text was a very cool, "I'm sorry for your loss." Kind of what you'd say to any stranger, not a long time friend. Then a second later asked if I knew of some specialist doctor at the hospital where I work. It just killed me. Then she never came to the funeral or even offered an excuse why she couldn't come. I thought maybe she didn't read the obit but I know she did because she said sorry.
I decided I really don't need people in my life who yank me around like that, and oblivious to what I say. I'm done.

 

[shawthorne44]

I was soooo annoyed to just be left hanging like that.

I've been there too. Our Disney trip was supposed to be with another family. We were going to share a house for two weeks in Jan 2021. It was super-duper, really cheap since we were splitting the cost. The dad takes college classes in the evenings, so we picked the best low crowd days that worked with his classes. Then they said that they're taking their dog on all vacations because he gets super-depressed. So they bought an RV. She thought they could reserve a Disney RV campsite at the last minute, so I got frustrated and reserved the campsite and cancelled the house. Then Nov 2020 they said they can't go at all because is going to take winter-mester classes. This will be our once-in-a-lifetime trip, so I postponed our trip to Jan 2022 until things are normal. I really wish I knew another family that had a late elementary-school girl that wanted to go to Disney. I'd had this great house 5 bedrooms with Star Wars decorations. Heated pool in WH. I really liked the idea off DD having someone to run around with and burn off energy.

 

[Tygerlilly]

Definitely if it's hard to work the last weeks sometimes it's necessary to take the time off. That really is hard to have to lose pay. I know about unpaid leave and FMLA, but I don't know anything about state short-term disability programs, but have heard of people at a previous employer I worked for, of a few employees going out on a paid temporary paid disability. Not worker's comp on the job injuries. Is there maybe something your company can do temporarily such as temporary disability if doctor stated?

Doesn't short term disability kick in once you can't work? My job is very active and on my feet lifting, twisting, bending, pulling, pushing, etc. With my first child I worked to 32 weeks and the 2nd child to 34. I probably could have hung in there a little longer with the 2nd one since I had moved from general xray dept to breast imaging, but there was a nasty coworker (who had never been pregnant) making snarky comments that I wasn't working fast enough. I happened to have a dr appt the next day and I told him, "That's it! I'm done with that place." and he signed me out. I wanted to go tell Miss Snarky, "Instead of having me pitch in for 8 hours at a slightly slower pace, now you have me there for zero hours." I ended up being almost 2 weeks overdue with him too but I was in no hurry because I was getting paid to enjoy being home with my older son who was 3 at the time.

If I had the doctor pull me out, it would actually cut into my maternity leave, because it would automatically start that instead of it starting when he's born. I don't want to "waste" the two extra weeks. We'll be fine, just won't have the extra I'd like to have.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I've been there too. Our Disney trip was supposed to be with another family. We were going to share a house for two weeks in Jan 2021. It was super-duper, really cheap since we were splitting the cost. The dad takes college classes in the evenings, so we picked the best low crowd days that worked with his classes. Then they said that they're taking their dog on all vacations because he gets super-depressed. So they bought an RV. She thought they could reserve a Disney RV campsite at the last minute, so I got frustrated and reserved the campsite and cancelled the house. Then Nov 2020 they said they can't go at all because is going to take winter-mester classes. This will be our once-in-a-lifetime trip, so I postponed our trip to Jan 2022 until things are normal. I really wish I knew another family that had a late elementary-school girl that wanted to go to Disney. I'd had this great house 5 bedrooms with Star Wars decorations. Heated pool in WH. I really liked the idea off DD having someone to run around with and burn off energy.

That is so frustrating. If it’s just a matter of giving ur dd a vacation buddy, offer her to choose a friend or cousin. This way you’re the adults in charge and the parent’s plans are less likely to have an effect on your plans. You choose where you want to stay, where to eat, etc.

 

[pblack]

First I want to send my deepest condolences to @DisneyMandC. I'm so sorry for your double loss.



End of June Update:

• Pay $1000 extra towards Highlander loan.......DONE!
• Kick out our roommate.....We FINALLY have a date! He will be moving out mid-July. It would have been sooner, but the apartment he found won't be ready until the middle of the month.
• Exercise 4-5 times a week for 30-45 minutes.....Still doing fairly well. I had a week where I didn't utilize Team Body Project at all, but it was the same week we were in Disneyland for 3 days and walked a billion (exaggeration) steps. So I'll call it a wash.
• Refinance the house....DONE!
• Get a new roof......This is scheduled to take place next week with the solar hopefully happening the week after. But I just received a call from the company who let us know that we'll end up needing to do a panel upgrade/relocation due to how old ours is and that's going to add on another $6000. To say I'm frustrated would be an understatement. At this point I wish we would have just waited. (I'm also still tired and cranky from our DL trip last week so maybe that's where some of this frustration is coming from.)
• NEW goal: pay as much as I can towards our Camry loan....Haven't really paid much extra to this yet, but I hope too mid-month.

Once our roommate is gone we can finally continue/finish some of the house projects that we've been working on/wanting to do. We'll see how July goes with the roof and solar and how many more frustrations arise between now and then. I hope everyone has a safe and fun 4th of July!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

But I just received a call from the company who let us know that we'll end up needing to do a panel upgrade/relocation due to how old ours is and that's going to add on another $6000. To say I'm frustrated would be an understatement. At this point I wish we would have just waited.

Can they do that?
Are you able to back out of it? That is really misleading and quite a scummy way of doing business. Kind of bait and switch imo.
I’d want a different company out of principle more than anything. Businesses that pull that crap should not be rewarded with more $.
Sheesh, I’m all twisted here 3 time zones away and it’s not even my roof nor my $$ but I really feel for you being in such a predicament.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

If I had the doctor pull me out, it would actually cut into my maternity leave, because it would automatically start that instead of it starting when he's born. I don't want to "waste" the two extra weeks. We'll be fine, just won't have the extra I'd like to have.

Back when I had kids, maternity disability began 2 weeks before due date and ended 6 weeks after birth for vag delivery or 8 weeks for c-section. We could then opt to take up 12 weeks unpaid FMLA once the disability time ran out. If someone had a dr sign her out early for medical reasons, it didn’t cut short her time after the baby was born.
Apparently some idiot thought that was too generous cuz coworkers say they cut it way down here too.

 

[pblack]

Can they do that?
Are you able to back out of it? That is really misleading and quite a scummy way of doing business. Kind of bait and switch imo.
I’d want a different company out of principle more than anything. Businesses that pull that crap should not be rewarded with more $.
Sheesh, I’m all twisted here 3 time zones away and it’s not even my roof nor my $$ but I really feel for you being in such a predicament.

They can do that and I don't know if we'd be able to back out at this point. He did mention to us before we did anything that there was a possibility that we may need to upgrade our electrical panel which would only be ~$2500, but they apparently can't upgrade it where it's at because the space isn't large enough so they would also need to relocate it which adds on that extra ~$3500. So we did know about the possibility of the upgrade, but we didn't think it would need to be relocated. My brother is an electrician and I texted him to get his opinion on it. I would just have him do the work but he's so busy I don't think he has the time. I think what really irked me is that they did their inspection almost 2 weeks ago and are just now telling us that we need to do this....5 days before the roof work is supposed to begin. Thanks for the sympathy frustration.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

They can do that and I don't know if we'd be able to back out at this point. He did mention to us before we did anything that there was a possibility that we may need to upgrade our electrical panel which would only be ~$2500, but they apparently can't upgrade it where it's at because the space isn't large enough so they would also need to relocate it which adds on that extra ~$3500. So we did know about the possibility of the upgrade, but we didn't think it would need to be relocated. My brother is an electrician and I texted him to get his opinion on it. I would just have him do the work but he's so busy I don't think he has the time. I think what really irked me is that they did their inspection almost 2 weeks ago and are just now telling us that we need to do this....5 days before the roof work is supposed to begin. Thanks for the sympathy frustration.

Well, it’s good to have family in the trades when honest answers are needed. My brother is in HVAC and they are swamped. He couldn’t even come down to check our dad’s AC during the last heatwave. He lives 1 hr drive away. Luckily our close friends are in the biz and my brother handled discussions with them of what to check and thanks to his input they were able to fix it. At first they were saying he’d need to replace it.
Hopefully your brother can give you some guidance and at least let you know their advice is reasonable.

 

[slightly_obsessed]

But I just received a call from the company who let us know that we'll end up needing to do a panel upgrade/relocation due to how old ours is and that's going to add on another $6000. To say I'm frustrated would be an understatement.

Holy moly!!! I'm so sorry. I hope your brother can help. Reading about it made me sick to my stomach for you, I think you are totally justified in your frustration.

 

[pblack]

Holy moly!!! I'm so sorry. I hope your brother can help. Reading about it made me sick to my stomach for you, I think you are totally justified in your frustration.

Thank you. At this point I feel like we're too far in to turn back, so if it's needed I guess we don't really have a choice. Luckily it can be rolled into the rest of the loan and it also sounds like we'll get the 26% tax credit on it as well as the solar portion of our project. I'm ready to go back to not owning my own home now

 

[slightly_obsessed]

Checking in.

2021 Goals

• Pay off Discover/stay CC debt free - Done in January
• Emergency Fund - up to $10000. Done (for now) May 2021!
• Vacations in cash - We went over what I thought we would in Yellowstone but we still covered it in cash/savings. We added a few extra activities and food was way more expensive than I anticipated. It was the best time and I have no regrets, we were definitely not ready to come home!
• DVC - $5000 extra paid off by December. $3849.36/$5000. Getting so close! I was able to put just over $1500 towards this goal this month. I am hoping I will actually pay this whole loan off by the end of the year, but that depends largely on how busy my husband is at work and the cost of some of the repairs we need to make, among other things.
• Trust/Will - met with our neighbor and decided to go with the trust now. I need to get current paperwork to him to get this moving along.

 

[slightly_obsessed]

Thank you. At this point I feel like we're too far in to turn back, so if it's needed I guess we don't really have a choice. Luckily it can be rolled into the rest of the loan and it also sounds like we'll get the 26% tax credit on it as well as the solar portion of our project. I'm ready to go back to not owning my own home now

haha, I totally understand that feeling!!!

 

[Tygerlilly]

Just heard a rumor that the dining plans will be back soon! I know it's a hot debate on if it saves money, but I'm overly excited for that because I'd prefer to just pay it in advance as part of our package deal and then not have to think about it anymore. Plus it makes those $150+ character meals not sting so much. We'll also be there during F&G festival, so food booth snacks.

Now I just have to figure out how it works because we're doing a split stay. All our park tickets (6 days) are going to be linked to our original hotel stay (which is two nights) and then we have a separate 8 night hotel only reservation. Is there a way to link it together or do I just buy the dining plan on each package?

 

[TEM1234]

Just heard a rumor that the dining plans will be back soon! I know it's a hot debate on if it saves money, but I'm overly excited for that because I'd prefer to just pay it in advance as part of our package deal and then not have to think about it anymore. Plus it makes those $150+ character meals not sting so much. We'll also be there during F&G festival, so food booth snacks.

Now I just have to figure out how it works because we're doing a split stay. All our park tickets (6 days) are going to be linked to our original hotel stay (which is two nights) and then we have a separate 8 night hotel only reservation. Is there a way to link it together or do I just buy the dining plan on each package?

You buy it on each reservation (or you used to) and each one is its own thing- it expires on checkout day of each resort, and you can’t start new one until old one is empty. I was able to go to the checkin desk of my second resort and have the leftover meals moved to my new plan though- (but I think they may have been making an exception as we were a group of six and I had three meals and some snacks left). You can also do different levels for each reservation. We sometimes did quick service on our short hop and then deluxe on our longer one (and then planned our meals accordingly…..) this of course was how things used to work- everything may change when it comes back!

 

[shawthorne44]

Just heard a rumor that the dining plans will be back soon! I know it's a hot debate on if it saves money, but I'm overly excited for that because I'd prefer to just pay it in advance as part of our package deal and then not have to think about it anymore. Plus it makes those $150+ character meals not sting so much. We'll also be there during F&G festival, so food booth snacks.

Now I just have to figure out how it works because we're doing a split stay. All our park tickets (6 days) are going to be linked to our original hotel stay (which is two nights) and then we have a separate 8 night hotel only reservation. Is there a way to link it together or do I just buy the dining plan on each package?

One idea would be to just get the DDP for the two night stay and do the expensive meals on those days. Otherwise you would have 10 nights of DDP and only 6 park days. Most meals outside the parks are cheaper.

 

[Tygerlilly]

One idea would be to just get the DDP for the two night stay and do the expensive meals on those days. Otherwise you would have 10 nights of DDP and only 6 park days. Most meals outside the parks are cheaper.

We're planning a character breakfast each park day, so there will be 6 of them. It's our bigger splurge for the trip, plus we want the snack credits to eat our way around flower and garden. Lol.

 

[Tygerlilly]

Happy 4th of July weekend to those celebrating! We went to our small town parade this morning and the girls got loaded down with candy. Tonight we're heading downtown for a fun little city festival followed by fireworks. And tomorrow evening we're heading down to Tulsa for the BIG festival and fireworks show.

Instead of spending a ton on the food trucks and snack areas, I'm going to pack picnic lunches and snacks for the day and then we can get a fun ice cream/popsicle/slushy treat just before the fireworks. Luckily, both festivals are completely free (well, plus $5 to park tomorrow that gets donated), so it should be a low cost fun weekend!

What is everyone else doing?