Debt Dumpers - 2018

[Eureka]

Well, that sigh of relief was very premature.

The jobs fell through. No jobs for any of them. I'm trying to find a way to pay bills one week at a time. And I have no idea how, at this point.

I'm throwing myself a little bit of a pity party. Sorry to be a downer, I'm just at the end of my rope on adulting, and I'm feeling very stuck.

So, for today, I'm not changing out of my pajamas. I'm just going to sit on my couch and watch Moana, and maybe Frozen, and who knows what else after that. It won't do anything to solve my problems, but it will let me escape for a day from worry.

I'm sorry to hear this Dave. But I am going to be blunt. Why are they not going out and getting ANY job they can while they look for the RIGHT job? Is fast food or similar places hiring? Now I am the first to say that when I was laid off, I was looking for something I was qualified for and wanted a certain salary range (that's why I have a 48-mile commute each way) but I was only out of work for 3.5 months and DH was still working and we had savings so we were OK. If I was single and had to work to pay the bills, I would like to think I would not be nearly as choosy. Can you not have a frank talk with your fiance about it? I feel like all of them - or at least the two to whom you are not engaged - are taking advantage.

Edited to add, Tygerlilly and I seem to have one brain today, lol. And I didn't even read hers first before I ran my mouth.

 

[dayvewc]

So, I'm going to sound like an absolute jerk for a minute, but other than your fiance, it may be time to have them consider other living options. At this point, they are only costing you money. You may have to cut your losses on ever getting your money back from them, but I don't feel like them continuing to stay is a good move.

I hope it starts looking up for you. We're in the same boat right now, trying to figure out what gets paid and what can wait another 2 weeks. Maybe June will be kinder to us both.

You aren't sounding like a jerk. I gave them an ultimatum that they had to have "gainful employment" by June 1st or they needed to leave. I then defined "gainful employment" as a "job that would consistently provide monthly income in excess of twice the rent".

I'm sorry to hear this Dave. But I am going to be blunt. Why are they not going out and getting ANY job they can while they look for the RIGHT job? Is fast food or similar places hiring? Now I am the first to say that when I was laid off, I was looking for something I was qualified for and wanted a certain salary range (that's why I have a 48-mile commute each way) but I was only out of work for 3.5 months and DH was still working and we had savings so we were OK. If I was single and had to work to pay the bills, I would like to think I would not be nearly as choosy. Can you not have a frank talk with your fiance about it? I feel like all of them - or at least the two to whom you are not engaged - are taking advantage.

That's what I've been asking. One of the two doesn't have a drivers license, so is limited to either places in town (and this a REALLY small town), or if he can get hired where one of the others can also get hired. He's looking, but all of them lost a week looking for other jobs waiting to start this week with the crop-dusting company.

The other one has adamantly declared that he will NOT work fast food. Had a blunt conversation with him last night that he was not in any position to pick and choose, and he had to have a job if he wanted to stay. And fast food was a horrible job, yes, but it would provide him income while he keeps looking.

And yes, there are times when I am absolutely certain that they are taking advantage. And then I look at where the work that I physically can't do around the house is getting done, and I'm less certain they are intending to take advantage.

 

[fifthdimensiondweller]

Well things are finally getting better for us!

It turns out our "hit and run" a few weeks back wasn't a hit and run- it was actually one of the other drivers that hit us! I'm not sure exactly what happened, but it seems like in all of the confusion we simply didn't realize that the dark colored SUV that hit us was actually one of the ones there. Liability was given to her so her insurance is covering everything for us and presumably the other driver as well, and insurance replaced our car seat with zero fuss, which was a relief. Hopefully we'll get our deductible back and it'll be like this never happened! Anyone have any tips on that since the other driver was at fault? Our insurance rep just said "They always try to recover it but can never guarantee" I feel like there should be no reason we shouldn't get it back since the other driver was cited by the police and everything, but I also know these things don't always play out the way they should.

Other than that, June is going to be extremely spendy for us, but we're prepared for it so that'll help. Driving 11 hours for the wedding I'm a bridesmaid in, hotel there and back, plus 3 nights there for the wedding itself. Food while traveling, etc. I think all of my expenses relating to the wedding itself (wedding gift, dress and shoes, etc.) are done, except for a bachelorette gift, which won't be much. I used some points to get a discount on our room and activated eBates, so at least I saved a little and will get a little back later! Every little bit helps!

Other than that, we are making our final payment on our Disney Cruise in just a few days!!!! the money has been sitting waiting in the account for awhile, and this will be the first time ever we've taken a trip without having at least a little worry about money. I am going to enjoy this trip so much more knowing that!

 

[Ngwira]

Well, that sigh of relief was very premature.

The jobs fell through. No jobs for any of them. I'm trying to find a way to pay bills one week at a time. And I have no idea how, at this point.

I'm throwing myself a little bit of a pity party. Sorry to be a downer, I'm just at the end of my rope on adulting, and I'm feeling very stuck.

So, for today, I'm not changing out of my pajamas. I'm just going to sit on my couch and watch Moana, and maybe Frozen, and who knows what else after that. It won't do anything to solve my problems, but it will let me escape for a day from worry.

Big hugs to you, Dave. My unsolicited (I know) advice is to show some tough love to your roomates and make them take ANY job to help make ends meet. Not fair that you get to be the only "adult" in this scenario. I am thinking good thoughts for you and hope it gets better.

 

[FQLover]

@Ngwira put this so well, and very lovingly. I don't think that you are having a pity-party at all! You are understandably disappointed and worried.
I am sending you my good thoughts, as well.

 

[Ngwira]

May was a good month budget wise due to the extra income I received and the lower bills we had. Since we went solar, our electric bill was $9 when it's been historically $100. Our water bill and gas bill have also dropped since we fixed the running toilet and we haven't had the heat on (gas) since April. I did have an unexpected repair cost due to fixing our gutters (the bad storms throughout the winter actually removed nails from parts of our gutters) and the pollen and trees had clogged them. That was an extra $140 that I easily covered. I doubled my 401k contribution and fully replenished the money I moved from savings to pay for some miscellaneous expenses.

The next three months will be spendy due to birthdays (DH is June, I am July and DDs 11 and 8 are August).

 

[Eureka]

May was a good month budget wise due to the extra income I received and the lower bills we had. Since we went solar, our electric bill was $9 when it's been historically $100. Our water bill and gas bill have also dropped since we fixed the running toilet and we haven't had the heat on (gas) since April. I did have an unexpected repair cost due to fixing our gutters (the bad storms throughout the winter actually removed nails from parts of our gutters) and the pollen and trees had clogged them. That was an extra $140 that I easily covered. I doubled my 401k contribution and fully replenished the money I moved from savings to pay for some miscellaneous expenses.

The next three months will be spendy due to birthdays (DH is June, I am July and DDs 11 and 8 are August).

Wow, that solar difference is amazing!

 

[Bamaclan4]

Dave while I've rarely replied to posts I've followed closely for a few years. You strike me as a tender hearted , nurturing care giver. While these traits are a blessing they can also be a curse because people will take advantage if allowed to. I've been told and shone that it happens to me because of my caring nature. But at some point we have to say enough and I think you've reached that point. You are stressing over income and stress is one of the worst factors on your health , it took having a minor stroke for me to learn that lesson. Don't let this be you, it isn't good for you or your loved ones. Take care and God Bless.

 

[DisneyMandC]

May was an expensive month for us, but June should be better. I just had some once a year bills/one-off expenses hit this month that made it expensive. Bought plane tickets for my mom and I to fly to NYC in December, paid personal property taxes, and had to pay the deposit for my hotel for a work conference in August that my work can't reimburse me for until July 1. All that totaled up to just over $1000. I also bought a new phone since mine was 2 years old and having some issues, and DH got a new pair of glasses. Looking forward to June being much calmer and cheaper! Only extra expenses will be accumulating some discounted Disney gift cards for our DL trip in July!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Big hugs to you, Dave. My unsolicited (I know) advice is to show some tough love to your roomates and make them take ANY job to help make ends meet. Not fair that you get to be the only "adult" in this scenario. I am thinking good thoughts for you and hope it gets better.

I agree. Just want to add that just because they apply for a job, that is no reason to kick back and rest. They should keep searching and applying and dont stop until they actually have a start date.

Helping out around the house is no substitute for paying rent. They should be doing that anyway IN ADDITION to paying.

Unless they are doing major projects like repainting the exterior, remodeling bathrooms/kitchen, building a shed, or something that would otherwise cost you big bucks, they’re not earning their keep.

JMHO

Good luck to you.

 

[dayvewc]

I agree. Just want to add that just because they apply for a job, that is no reason to kick back and rest. They should keep searching and applying and dont stop until they actually have a start date.

Helping out around the house is no substitute for paying rent. They should be doing that anyway IN ADDITION to paying.

Unless they are doing major projects like repainting the exterior, remodeling bathrooms/kitchen, building a shed, or something that would otherwise cost you big bucks, they’re not earning their keep.

JMHO

Good luck to you.

That's actually what some of the projects are. My shed is needing a new roof, and they are working on that, one panel at time as I can buy them. The back part of the lot has overgrown to where I could probably shoot a remake of Apocalypse Now, and they are working through that with hand tools. One of the bathrooms is getting repainted, we are replacing my French doors out the back with sliding glass doors, and there are some other projects down the line as well. (Build a back patio, rebuild the front porch, remodel the kitchen, rewire the entire house) Some of which they are able to do, some I'll have to hire certified electricians / plumbers for.

 

[milwaukeemommy]

Hellooooo.....I was part of this board about a year ago & danged if I didn't just get totally lost! I've tried subscribing to this particular thread a few times & it just doesn't seem to want to work for me. And if I'm not notified.....I forget. So I'm back, probably with the same amount of debt that I had last year but I tell ya, with one in college & one in high school about to get his drivers license.....well kids sure are expensive aren't they?! LOL)

This time I'll just leave this board up & open at all times so I don't forget about it!!! Hope all is well with everyone (wish I could go back & read the last year's worth of posts but ummmm....)

 

[imbatman]

Today I wallow. I am behind in my budget spreadsheets and I know they will be ugly. I will work on them this weekend. Honestly, it's got me so down that I'm behind and don't know the exact amounts. But it's a catch-22, knowing they will not be what I'd like.

Also, cancelled conference in August in favor of paying bills down. There are a million reasons for me to be excited today: my DD graduated from 8th grade, I have a steady job, DH is still on board with this budget thing-a-ma-jig. But until I have this all worked out, it feels like a millstone around my neck. So here's to hoping I get some time tonight so that my weekend is smooth sailing.

What's new with everyone in their budget land?

 

[DLgal]

Whew...what a month May was! I just completed my part time scoring at home job and netted $5500! That's more than I was anticipating. Of course, I was working 50hrs/week for 7 weeks, but it was worth it. As of today, our ENTIRE July WDW trip is paid off! I am still debating getting a rental car, so there might be that expense, but my mom also offered to loan us her car for the week (my parents live near Kissimmee and have two cars), so we might take her up on that offer unless rental car rates come WAY down. Prices for 10 days are hovering over $500 right now, and I am not paying that much.

In other news, my grandmother passed away last December and her estate was settled a few weeks ago. She was 91 and her four children (my dad and his brother and sisters) split the estate equally. It wasn't much, but ended up being more than they originally thought so my dad VERY generously gave my two sisters and I each $5000 to put towards whatever debts/savings goals we have. That is a huge boost for us and totally unexpected. I'm very grateful to my dad for this gift.

So now, our savings is at $8000 (of a $12,000 goal by the end of this year).

My two 0% balance transfers are at:
$4950
$4350

We are doing fine paying these down with the schedule that will have them paid off by February 2019, so we are sticking with that rather than use the savings to pay them off now.

Looking ahead, we need to get back on track with our daily spending. We've gone way over the past two months...bought some new furniture, DH took a weekend trip to San Francisco for a big 40th birthday party for his best friend, we've bought a bunch of clothes and shoes for the kids, gone out to eat too much, etc. Gotta reign it in so we won't have a problem paying for our expenses the days we are on vacation. I'm estimating we'll spend around $2000 on everything. We are staying Club Level so our food/drink expenses will be much less than usual. I think $200/day is a good estimate. We only have 4 sit down meals planned plus a visit to Beaches and Cream on my older son's birthday, which is our last day. He really wants the Chocolate Lover's Kitchen Sink so we are going to attempt it!

Our other large expense coming up will be our Disneyland Annual Pass renewal at the end of August. Right now, I've enough money in Disney Visa and Chase rewards to bring the cost down to $2500, but I am anticipating getting that down another few hundred between now and then, so it will be right around $2000. I want to pay it off in full, but if we can't, I'll pay as much as I can and do the payment plan for the remainder. Other than that, we should be able to hit our savings goal for this year and then we will be working on a more aggressive goal for 2019.

 

[Tygerlilly]

After 4 attempts, I finally got into the other position on my shift! It doesn't pay any more, but it does get me trained on all equipment, which will give me the opportunity to work overtime on any shift now! I talked to a friend of mine who is a manager for the later morning shift and asked if I could stay a few hours late each day and work for him. I'm hoping to pick up 3-4 hours each work day for some overtime. If I can max my 18 hour days out for the 3 days I work, it would give me 14 hours of overtime a weekend and 28 hours of ot per check (which works itself out to be almost $800 a check!) If i can keep this ridiculous schedule up for a couple months, I can get a chunk of our debt paid off super early to where I won't be as burdened with the garnishment.
Second bit of positive news, our super amazing landlord let me work out a deal. For $50 more in rent (1/2 of the late fee), she is allowing me to split rent between my 2 checks per month. It's going to help the burden at the beginning of the month when most of our stuff is due.

And since we can't have good without bad... We owe about $2200 on DF's SUV. It hasn't been running right since December so we've been sharing mine. He knows quite a bit about cars and to have everything fixed to get it running well enough, it will cost in the $5000 range. Right now, we are paying for it to sit in the driveway. As much as I want to be done with that payment, we really need a second reliable vehicle. Because we bought from a buy here, pay here place, they allow us to trade in once the loan gets under $2500. They use the trade in as down payment on the newer vehicle. I told him if he can keep his payment at the same amount, we could trade it in. The new one would be paid off in approximately 2.5 years. So I guess we are going to look at cars this weekend.

 

[ArielSparrow]

Hope things are going well for everyone. I love seeing people beating debt and winning with money! I have been saving for 5 years for this year's trip and while I'd love to go more often, I love the feeling of not owing anyone a whole lot more!

 

[imbatman]

Today I wallow. I am behind in my budget spreadsheets and I know they will be ugly.

Other than the monotonous typing and looking back at the totals, it's okay! Less uglier than I thought. I knew we'd carry a balance because of the airline tickets, but those should be handled by the end of June, or mid-July at the latest.

And bonus!!! I used my Disney rewards and a gift card and my work trip balance is $56. I paid to arrive a day early and for park tickets, which I'm rolling into an AP for both trips for the memory maker.

**edit to add** Just to update you all who have been with me since the beginning of the year, DH is still firmly aboard the debt payoff. He checks with me about the balances and actively makes sure to ask if there is an out-of-the-ordinary expenditure.

My two 0% balance transfers are at:
$4950
$4350

Someday I'll be able to say this! Good job!

So I guess we are going to look at cars this weekend.

I hope that you find the vehicle you need in your price range.

I have been saving for 5 years for this year's trip and while I'd love to go more often, I love the feeling of not owing anyone a whole lot more!

We've been saving for 5 years for our family trip in December. Things got sidetracked with some debt...but that was at the end of last year. We still are going to have the trip paid off before we go, though.

 

[Aurora_Australis]

What's new with everyone in their budget land?

Being permanently broke isn't new but it is my current state

3 paychecks in May helped but still have a good $1.5k owing to me from work for moving expenses. Staying with the in laws til our tenants vacate, another 2 weeks. FIL has said that since we gave them $1500 a couple of months ago when they were in a tight spot refinancing then not to worry about paying them for food and utilities etc for the 8 weeks we are here. We'll get them a voucher for dinner or something when we go though.

Both credit cards under $2000 now and DH has picked up his first substitute teaching work this week so looking up.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Hope things are going well for everyone. I love seeing people beating debt and winning with money! I have been saving for 5 years for this year's trip and while I'd love to go more often, I love the feeling of not owing anyone a whole lot more!

Have a great cruise!!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Today I wallow. I am behind in my budget spreadsheets and I know they will be ugly. I will work on them this weekend. Honestly, it's got me so down that I'm behind and don't know the exact amounts. But it's a catch-22, knowing they will not be what I'd like.

Also, cancelled conference in August in favor of paying bills down. There are a million reasons for me to be excited today: my DD graduated from 8th grade, I have a steady job, DH is still on board with this budget thing-a-ma-jig. But until I have this all worked out, it feels like a millstone around my neck. So here's to hoping I get some time tonight so that my weekend is smooth sailing.

What's new with everyone in their budget land?

Hellooooo.....I was part of this board about a year ago & danged if I didn't just get totally lost! I've tried subscribing to this particular thread a few times & it just doesn't seem to want to work for me. And if I'm not notified.....I forget. So I'm back, probably with the same amount of debt that I had last year but I tell ya, with one in college & one in high school about to get his drivers license.....well kids sure are expensive aren't they?! LOL)

This time I'll just leave this board up & open at all times so I don't forget about it!!! Hope all is well with everyone (wish I could go back & read the last year's worth of posts but ummmm....)

No sense in beating yourselves up over the past. It can't be changed but the future can be.
Make a vow to yourself that you will do better in the future. Even just a little bit of progress is still progress.