Debt Dumpers - 2019

[Ngwira]

Two sleeps until we check into the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa for a quick Thursday to Sunday trip to WDW !!! C'mon Thursday!!!

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Two sleeps until we check into the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa for a quick Thursday to Sunday trip to WDW !!! C'mon Thursday!!!

We check into Poly on Sunday and I just cannot wait.

 

[Ngwira]

We check into Poly on Sunday and I just cannot wait.

We'll be leaving when you check in! Hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[Eureka]

Jealous of you two, @Ngwira and @Jen and Ashwin. I'm going to be in Orlando for work in early April and am not going to have any time to play .

 

[Dentam]

Nope. Our job recently switched to a stupid policy. We have 48 hours of protected time off we can use, but instead of giving it to us in a lump sum at the beginning of the year, we have to accrue it as the year goes on. It's only 3 weeks into our year, so nobody has any time yet.

Dang, that's awful! Glad she is feeling okay though and hopefully she won't need surgery!

 

[DnA2010]

My parents came this weekend to pick up our bird to watch him during our Disney trip. They were also interested in seeing the progress on the basement and to visit with DD. We gave them the tour and they were really impressed with the basement and how it looks. They think the builders are doing a really great job. Things are coming along nicely and it is exciting to know that we are getting closer and closer to being finished.

Well, we went out to lunch yesterday and while we sitting there, my dad offered to pay for the wet bar so that we would be completely finished with the basement. That includes cabinets, counter top, appliances, hardware, back splash plus install for everything. He is giving us a certain amount and said that if we have money left over, we could put it towards furniture for the theatre room. I am pretty shocked but also excited. We thought that it would be several years before we would have paid down the HELOC enough to be able to complete the wet bar. It will be so nice to have this finished. We will also be putting the same marble back splash in the kitchen and probably doing the same color tile (but maybe larger size or different pattern) on the fireplace as well, as I have always hated what was on there when we bought the house. Such a wonderful gift.

Wow that's so awesome! What a generous gift!

Ours is trucking along too, we are done painting, and DH has been working on the flooring and is prob 1/3 done? then all the final finishing (baseboards, install of bathroom toilet, sink/vanity, window sills/boxes and coverings, doors...then the moving back in of the "stuff" and organizing of the storage room..I'm determined to purge and sell before it all goes back in!

 

[DnA2010]

Two sleeps until we check into the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa for a quick Thursday to Sunday trip to WDW !!! C'mon Thursday!!!

We check into Poly on Sunday and I just cannot wait.

So jealous of you guys! I sure wish we had a WDW trip on the books, but nothing at the mo, I'd love to stay onsite one day, let alone deluxe, but that will prob never happen lol as I don't think DH can be convinced, I'm thinking maybe renting points some day

 

[DisneyMandC]

Thanks for the well wishes. We got transferred by ambulance from our local hospital to the big Children's hospital 45 mins away, but ultimately didn't need immediate surgery last night and she was handling the pain well enough on oral meds (the way she was screaming when we got there, they though she might need iv pain meds), so we got to come home around 1am.
Tomorrow we see the pediatric orthopedic surgeon to really get a good look at it and make sure we still won't need surgery and then cast it. The wrist break isn't bad, but the one near her elbow is concerning.

She's being a little champ this morning. We had to put the trike and other ride on toy in the garage because she ran out and was trying to ride the trike one handed. I can't see that ending well at all. She's been bribed to sit down with new Fingerling blind bags and "mom's drink" (aka a sip of my Pepsi).

Pretty sure we'll hit our deductable with this one and can't wait to see the bill for all of this. Kids, Sheesh. Lol. First of many future injuries I'm sure.

Glad she's doing ok. Sheesh, what a scare! Little kids are resilient though. I know I don't have kids of my own, but I know that adults definitely "feel" the pain more than the kids do a lot of the time.

Two sleeps until we check into the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa for a quick Thursday to Sunday trip to WDW !!! C'mon Thursday!!!

We check into Poly on Sunday and I just cannot wait.

Uggggh so jealous of you both! I had a really tough time stopping myself from buying super cheap Jetblue tickets to Orlando earlier this month for a quick getaway. So tempting, but I know in my heart of hearts that I actually don't want to go back to WDW until we do our family trip in September.

We're finishing out February well. Unless DH buys something at work for lunch over the next two days, our eating out is down to about $150, which is really good for us. Our most expensive meal was ordering Chinese when DH got the flu for the second time this winter. As everyone knows, hot and sour soup makes everyone feel better. We're definitely going to have more eating out next month with DH traveling to two horse shows, but I'm going to try and really avoid eating out at home as much as possible. I was able to put an additional $400 towards my student loan this month, which felt great! It was nice to be able to do that while also paying off the balance of our 6 month car insurance premium. Unless anything else comes up over the next two days, we have about $200 left in the budget which I'm going to split between our horse show fund and our Japan fund.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

then the moving back in of the "stuff" and organizing of the storage room..I'm determined to purge and sell before it all goes back in!

This is exactly my plan as well. We will be temporarily moving most of the stuff into the theatre room, going through everything to sell or purge and then organizing the storage area with only what we really want/need to keep.

 

[Ngwira]

March is a three paycheck month for me. We have paid down the solar loan from $15,998 to $13,250 in 14 months. Even though payments are only $75 a month (20 year fixed loan at 2.99 interest), we've been throwing everything extra to it to reduce the interest we pay.

Our ALLY savings account is getting $70 of interest per month which is great!

My DD 9 decided to go to "drama camp" with my oldest daughter so the $2,700 I normally pay for camp is now down to $1200 for both kids. We will have my MIL spend the last two weeks of August with them to save on costs.

We ended up getting a refund on both state and federal taxes which was unexpected. We already received our federal refund. The state won't be processed until after March 1.

We have also decided to put a hold on our kitchen remodel plans until after the solar loan is gone. Although I'd love to have a brand new kitchen, I'd love to have less debt even more.

In other news, I am down 16 pounds since January 1, 2019 and plan to keep going.

 

[StacyStrong]

16 pounds! That's great!


And also motivating me to put down this bag of chips, ugh.

 

[Ngwira]

16 pounds! That's great!


And also motivating me to put down this bag of chips, ugh.

Yes I want to lose another 40 which can be done.. I’m giving myself until July to do it losing 2 pounds a week.

 

[DisneyMandC]

In other news, I am down 16 pounds since January 1, 2019 and plan to keep going.

I'm trying to eat more salads/lower carbs during the week. I just have suuuuch a bad sweet tooth. I want to be able to eat whatever I want when I go to WDW in September though, so I've got to drop some before then lol. I would be happy with losing 10; 15 would be ideal.

 

[Ngwira]

I'm trying to eat more salads/lower carbs during the week. I just have suuuuch a bad sweet tooth. I want to be able to eat whatever I want when I go to WDW in September though, so I've got to drop some before then lol. I would be happy with losing 10; 15 would be ideal.

What’s working for me is intermittent fasting and portion control. I eat from 10am to 5pm and watch my portions. 30 minute walk/Zumba strength training 4 or 5 times a week. I also cook my lunches and dinner and rarely eat out so I know what’s going into my food.

 

[pblack]

While i'm not going to WDW I will be leaving for DL on Friday after work. So i'm also anxiously counting down the sleeps till the weekend.

 

[DisneyMandC]

What’s working for me is intermittent fasting and portion control. I eat from 10am to 5pm and watch my portions. 30 minute walk/Zumba strength training 4 or 5 times a week. I also cook my lunches and dinner and rarely eat out so I know what’s going into my food.

I think I would get arrested if I tried to fast Lol I get so hangry! That's seriously awesome that you can do it though. My DH would totally be able to do something like that.

 

[Shughart]

What’s working for me is intermittent fasting and portion control. I eat from 10am to 5pm and watch my portions. 30 minute walk/Zumba strength training 4 or 5 times a week. I also cook my lunches and dinner and rarely eat out so I know what’s going into my food.

I did IF when I did keto a couple years ago. I was at 18:6 and doing really well. A family vacation where my parents chose all the restaurants eventually broke me several days in. I really should jump back in.

 

[StacyStrong]

38 more sleeps until I check in to the Boardwalk. To say I'm jealous is an understatement!!! I'm getting so impatient.

 

[Dentam]

I'm trying to eat more salads/lower carbs during the week. I just have suuuuch a bad sweet tooth. I want to be able to eat whatever I want when I go to WDW in September though, so I've got to drop some before then lol. I would be happy with losing 10; 15 would be ideal.

This is my issue as well - kicking the sugar is hard! I have a goal of losing 50 lbs by late August for my trip to Paris. I know it can be done but the snowy days of winter sure make it hard!

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

One of my personal goals is also to loose weight. I find that I do best when I stick to a guided plan. I lost a ton of weight in college when I was on Weight Watchers and I am thinking about joining it again right after I get back from our WDW trip. I would love to be down to my goal weight by our second WDW trip in October.