Debt Dumpers - 2019

I haven't been super happy with the cleaning service that I am using, so I got a quote from Molly Maid today. I had used them in the past when I was in law school and had no time to clean and I was always happy. But I live in a much larger house now than what I rented in law school. The estimate is that a monthly cleaning will cost $45 more than what we are paying now. The current person never mops, doesn't dust light fixtures or fans, doesn't clean door handles or switch plates, doesn't do windows and doesn't wipe down cabinets or appliances. They basically vacuum and dust most rooms, then clean toilets, sinks and showers. And the current person has missed the master bath toilet area twice now. The extra $45 is probably well worth the additional work. My dream would be to have someone come every two weeks to clean, but that just isn't in the budget right now. But I think that I can swing the additional $45 so we have decided to give it a try.
Just over $10/week for all of that extra cleaning? Yessssssss. Think of the irritation you'll lose for $10/week.
 
I always feel the same way before traveling. I'd rather have the extra there just in case I need it. You never know what kind of crazy thing might come up and like you said, you could always make that payment afterwards.

It's funny and timely that this topic pops up. I have an extra $75 in my checking right now and was going to pay it on my CC to stem the blood loss (I've been spending again, also my 12yo DD is growing fast in things I cannot buy used). But my husband is several states away with his robotics kids and likes to pull from the atm when he needs money, soooooo I'm gonna leave it there JIC. I sent him with a good stash of cash (he is living off concessions while they compete) but I'd rather have it there available to him if he needs it.

I haven't been super happy with the cleaning service that I am using, so I got a quote from Molly Maid today. I had used them in the past when I was in law school and had no time to clean and I was always happy. But I live in a much larger house now than what I rented in law school. The estimate is that a monthly cleaning will cost $45 more than what we are paying now. The current person never mops, doesn't dust light fixtures or fans, doesn't clean door handles or switch plates, doesn't do windows and doesn't wipe down cabinets or appliances. They basically vacuum and dust most rooms, then clean toilets, sinks and showers. And the current person has missed the master bath toilet area twice now. The extra $45 is probably well worth the additional work. My dream would be to have someone come every two weeks to clean, but that just isn't in the budget right now. But I think that I can swing the additional $45 so we have decided to give it a try.

I think the extra $45 is much more deserved by someone who will actually earn the work rather than slacking off!
 
Here for a pretty late mid-month update, budget has been going well. I've even picked up some extra hours this month at my second job to help me save some more and help pay down my medical expenses and my car tabs. I've also been applying to new jobs for a few months, and yesterday I had a phone interview with a company nearby that went really, really well, and they want me to come in for an in-person interview on Tuesday! I've done lots of first round phone interviews, second round interviews, lots of tests and assessments, and it feels really good to finally get to come in person! This position would be in a slightly different field (I work in psychological research, and this job is in market research), but I feel really confident. The big thing for me is that I would be getting paid $20,000 more per year than what I made now, which would really be a life-changing amount of money for me at this point in my life. So fingers crossed it goes well! Time to burn a hole in my pocket and get myself a dressier outfit for the interview! :)
 


Here for a pretty late mid-month update, budget has been going well. I've even picked up some extra hours this month at my second job to help me save some more and help pay down my medical expenses and my car tabs. I've also been applying to new jobs for a few months, and yesterday I had a phone interview with a company nearby that went really, really well, and they want me to come in for an in-person interview on Tuesday! I've done lots of first round phone interviews, second round interviews, lots of tests and assessments, and it feels really good to finally get to come in person! This position would be in a slightly different field (I work in psychological research, and this job is in market research), but I feel really confident. The big thing for me is that I would be getting paid $20,000 more per year than what I made now, which would really be a life-changing amount of money for me at this point in my life. So fingers crossed it goes well! Time to burn a hole in my pocket and get myself a dressier outfit for the interview! :)

Crossing every finger and toe I have! That is such an amazing opportunity!
 
So DH said that they are adding him to a rotation to be "on call" for a week at a time. He would have to carry around a phone and laptop if we go out anywhere during the week so that he could address any database issues that pop up. There are 5 people in the rotation now, so he would be on call every 5 weeks or so. Since he isn't salaried, this means that he would get overtime pay for this. I asked him how much more he would make for doing this and he said it would an hourly rate of $3 something with 15 hours each weekday and 23 hours each weekend day, plus 2 hours on the weekend at 1.5x. And then any hours that he spends addressing problems he would get his regular pay x1.5. He would start the beginning of April. We talked about it and any extra money would go towards DH's car loan because we would like to get it paid off before another baby arrives hopefully towards the middle to end of next year.
 
I haven't been super happy with the cleaning service that I am using, so I got a quote from Molly Maid today. I had used them in the past when I was in law school and had no time to clean and I was always happy. But I live in a much larger house now than what I rented in law school. The estimate is that a monthly cleaning will cost $45 more than what we are paying now. The current person never mops, doesn't dust light fixtures or fans, doesn't clean door handles or switch plates, doesn't do windows and doesn't wipe down cabinets or appliances. They basically vacuum and dust most rooms, then clean toilets, sinks and showers. And the current person has missed the master bath toilet area twice now. The extra $45 is probably well worth the additional work. My dream would be to have someone come every two weeks to clean, but that just isn't in the budget right now. But I think that I can swing the additional $45 so we have decided to give it a try.

Having a good house cleaner is worth a little extra in your budget for the lessened stress. I got a cleaning lady about 18 months ago and it is the best money I ever spent. Yes, could put that $150/month toward debt, but honestly the amount of stress it takes off my shoulders makes it totally worth the money.
 


Having a good house cleaner is worth a little extra in your budget for the lessened stress. I got a cleaning lady about 18 months ago and it is the best money I ever spent. Yes, could put that $150/month toward debt, but honestly the amount of stress it takes off my shoulders makes it totally worth the money.

It has been really helpful for DH and myself, which is why I want to find a housekeeper that I am happy with rather than someone that is just mediocre. Mopping the floors is pretty much a must in my opinion and that is the thing that really bugs me because for what we are paying, the floors should be clean.
 
Happy Sunday everyone! It's been a spendy week for me. Wrote the check for the prom ticket ($120) and paid $290 for the mandatory "Preview" (orientation) at UF for DD. She obviously has to go but they also have a program for parents/guests that cost an additional $125. I figure that I will not get to be on campus very much when she is there given the distance and the fact that teachers don't really have much flexibility in their schedules. So I was happy to sign up since it is summer and I can be there.

THEN- the really expensive news came- DD was accepted at the University of Virginia!! We never in a million years thought she would actually get in. UVA is incredibly competitive in general and for an out of state student just about impossible (but not 100% impossible!!). We are so proud.
However we are not so proud as to go into significant debt for her college education. We sat down and discussed with her why UVA wasn't going to happen and she was fine. It really wasn't her first choice and while she can waste money at Wawa with the best of them, I think she understands that starting out in significant debt is not what she wants. In case you are wondering UVA would cost us $64,000 per year. Yeah- that's not happening. Especially when UF tuition is only $6400!! For the year!!

My husband is home this weekend (he has been on the road 41 days already this year) and that usually means we spend some money. We went out to lunch yesterday which was nice. We also bought a couch. Last year we bought large recliners for DD and myself and got rid of the couch. Turns out l hate not having a couch... I put it on the store card because they gave 15% off and 12 months zero interest. Once I get through outfitting DD for college, etc. I'll be able to pay it off in just two or three paychecks.

I hope everyone has a great week!!
 
However we are not so proud as to go into significant debt for her college education. We sat down and discussed with her why UVA wasn't going to happen and she was fine. It really wasn't her first choice and while she can waste money at Wawa with the best of them, I think she understands that starting out in significant debt is not what she wants. In case you are wondering UVA would cost us $64,000 per year. Yeah- that's not happening. Especially when UF tuition is only $6400!! For the year!!

Before she declines admission, I would call and talk with the financial aid office to see what they might be able to offer and to also make sure that you have filled out the FAFSA. Many schools with big sticker prices don't cost as much after these things are considered. It won't be as cheap as $6400 per year, but it could be much less than $64k. Then you can make a really informed decision.
 
Happy Sunday everyone! It's been a spendy week for me. Wrote the check for the prom ticket ($120) and paid $290 for the mandatory "Preview" (orientation) at UF for DD. She obviously has to go but they also have a program for parents/guests that cost an additional $125. I figure that I will not get to be on campus very much when she is there given the distance and the fact that teachers don't really have much flexibility in their schedules. So I was happy to sign up since it is summer and I can be there.

THEN- the really expensive news came- DD was accepted at the University of Virginia!! We never in a million years thought she would actually get in. UVA is incredibly competitive in general and for an out of state student just about impossible (but not 100% impossible!!). We are so proud.
However we are not so proud as to go into significant debt for her college education. We sat down and discussed with her why UVA wasn't going to happen and she was fine. It really wasn't her first choice and while she can waste money at Wawa with the best of them, I think she understands that starting out in significant debt is not what she wants. In case you are wondering UVA would cost us $64,000 per year. Yeah- that's not happening. Especially when UF tuition is only $6400!! For the year!!

My husband is home this weekend (he has been on the road 41 days already this year) and that usually means we spend some money. We went out to lunch yesterday which was nice. We also bought a couch. Last year we bought large recliners for DD and myself and got rid of the couch. Turns out l hate not having a couch... I put it on the store card because they gave 15% off and 12 months zero interest. Once I get through outfitting DD for college, etc. I'll be able to pay it off in just two or three paychecks.

I hope everyone has a great week!!
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?

That's funny about the recliners, we bought a couch set last year with recliners on the end when the old couch went to the basement. DH likes his recliners, I rather just have a plain couch.
 
Happy Sunday everyone! It's been a spendy week for me. Wrote the check for the prom ticket ($120) and paid $290 for the mandatory "Preview" (orientation) at UF for DD. She obviously has to go but they also have a program for parents/guests that cost an additional $125. I figure that I will not get to be on campus very much when she is there given the distance and the fact that teachers don't really have much flexibility in their schedules. So I was happy to sign up since it is summer and I can be there.

THEN- the really expensive news came- DD was accepted at the University of Virginia!! We never in a million years thought she would actually get in. UVA is incredibly competitive in general and for an out of state student just about impossible (but not 100% impossible!!). We are so proud.
However we are not so proud as to go into significant debt for her college education. We sat down and discussed with her why UVA wasn't going to happen and she was fine. It really wasn't her first choice and while she can waste money at Wawa with the best of them, I think she understands that starting out in significant debt is not what she wants. In case you are wondering UVA would cost us $64,000 per year. Yeah- that's not happening. Especially when UF tuition is only $6400!! For the year!!

My husband is home this weekend (he has been on the road 41 days already this year) and that usually means we spend some money. We went out to lunch yesterday which was nice. We also bought a couch. Last year we bought large recliners for DD and myself and got rid of the couch. Turns out l hate not having a couch... I put it on the store card because they gave 15% off and 12 months zero interest. Once I get through outfitting DD for college, etc. I'll be able to pay it off in just two or three paychecks.

I hope everyone has a great week!!

Happy Sunday! Congratulations on her acceptance. Even if she doesn't go, it's a big deal! Congratulations on the new furniture too. We are in need of a new mattress, and in the next couple years (we bought a cheapie sectional from big lots in 2015 when we moved as our old couch/loveseat were very stained/beat up and we wanted some seating for the kids in the basement and this cheapie sectional was definitely not made to last). Of course we've got so much debt to dump, that buying furniture seems overwhelming to me o_O where did you buy your couch from? I like looking at them online trying to figure out what I want.
 
Happy Sunday! Congratulations on her acceptance. Even if she doesn't go, it's a big deal! Congratulations on the new furniture too. We are in need of a new mattress, and in the next couple years (we bought a cheapie sectional from big lots in 2015 when we moved as our old couch/loveseat were very stained/beat up and we wanted some seating for the kids in the basement and this cheapie sectional was definitely not made to last). Of course we've got so much debt to dump, that buying furniture seems overwhelming to me o_O where did you buy your couch from? I like looking at them online trying to figure out what I want.

We bought a new mattress this weekend. They had a great deal on a Serta set at Sam's club so we went ahead and got it. We also need a new couch, but had to take on some debt when DH needed major dental work, so the couch is on hold until that is totally paid off.
 
Well, I spent the most money I've spent since I started actively trying to pay off my debt this week, and I'm kind of annoyed about it. I had two chairs in my family room that I paid a huge amount of money for ($800 each) that were slipcovered. My dog, when we first adopted her, ate the fabric off the seams of the arms so both chairs had visible holes. Since they were slip covered, I planned on having new slip covers made and the fabric and labor were equally outrageous. Well, my husband found a recliner on sale at Costco that he really wanted, they were seriously cheap-$219 each. So, I relented and bought those with the plan of selling the chairs as is since they could be recovered. The store I bought them from is well known and very trendy where I live so I figured if I could get $200 per chair, they'd sell. But, when we carried them out of the house, it became obvious that they were falling apart. SO annoying as I'd guess they were 3 years old but when we moved them screws fell out and the bottom of the chairs were hanging on by a thread. So, to the dump we went. I'll be paying those off today in full because I do not want to add any money to my debt. It'll leave me annoyingly tight but we bought a ton of groceries last week so the money I have left will be available and there isn't really anything I need to do. BTW, when I first agreed to buy them I told my husband I'd pull money from savings, but I really DON'T want to. I've done nothing but add to savings since the beginning of the year so pulling money out seems like a lose to me.
 
Before she declines admission, I would call and talk with the financial aid office to see what they might be able to offer and to also make sure that you have filled out the FAFSA. Many schools with big sticker prices don't cost as much after these things are considered. It won't be as cheap as $6400 per year, but it could be much less than $64k. Then you can make a really informed decision.

I think this is true generally (that it can he helpful to ask the FA office to reconsider), but I'll also add that in my experience, the public Va universities just do not give much assistance to out-of-state students. One of my kids really, really liked William and Mary but financially it was just off the table, because he got much more aid money from comparable private colleges.
 
Well, I spent the most money I've spent since I started actively trying to pay off my debt this week, and I'm kind of annoyed about it. I had two chairs in my family room that I paid a huge amount of money for ($800 each) that were slipcovered. My dog, when we first adopted her, ate the fabric off the seams of the arms so both chairs had visible holes. Since they were slip covered, I planned on having new slip covers made and the fabric and labor were equally outrageous. Well, my husband found a recliner on sale at Costco that he really wanted, they were seriously cheap-$219 each. So, I relented and bought those with the plan of selling the chairs as is since they could be recovered. The store I bought them from is well known and very trendy where I live so I figured if I could get $200 per chair, they'd sell. But, when we carried them out of the house, it became obvious that they were falling apart. SO annoying as I'd guess they were 3 years old but when we moved them screws fell out and the bottom of the chairs were hanging on by a thread. So, to the dump we went. I'll be paying those off today in full because I do not want to add any money to my debt. It'll leave me annoyingly tight but we bought a ton of groceries last week so the money I have left will be available and there isn't really anything I need to do. BTW, when I first agreed to buy them I told my husband I'd pull money from savings, but I really DON'T want to. I've done nothing but add to savings since the beginning of the year so pulling money out seems like a lose to me.

Sorry to hear about your experience with the expensive chairs. We are in the process of upgrading our furniture and are sort of stuck on the living room couch and chairs. The purpose of the upgrade is to invest in better furniture, but especially with chairs, there are such mixed reviews about what should be good furniture, like La-Z-Boy.
 
Sorry to hear about your experience with the expensive chairs. We are in the process of upgrading our furniture and are sort of stuck on the living room couch and chairs. The purpose of the upgrade is to invest in better furniture, but especially with chairs, there are such mixed reviews about what should be good furniture, like La-Z-Boy.
I used to live in Florida and had a huge La-Z-Boy sectional with recliners. It was amazing quality and lasted a really long time. When it finally died, I replaced it with new Laz-Z-Boy and it was way more expensive than what I'd previously paid. AND it didn't last. It's long gone. We don't have a formal living room in our home and we use the family room furniture constantly. I'll see how good the costco recliners do and at worst, if they are a mess in a few years I'm out $219 per chair instead of $800. My current couch is from HomeGoods and I really like it. Hopefully it's around for a while.
 
I used to live in Florida and had a huge La-Z-Boy sectional with recliners. It was amazing quality and lasted a really long time. When it finally died, I replaced it with new Laz-Z-Boy and it was way more expensive than what I'd previously paid. AND it didn't last. It's long gone. We don't have a formal living room in our home and we use the family room furniture constantly. I'll see how good the costco recliners do and at worst, if they are a mess in a few years I'm out $219 per chair instead of $800. My current couch is from HomeGoods and I really like it. Hopefully it's around for a while.
Exactly my situation, bought expensive La-Z-Boy couches and they are not good. Material was worn so fast by my dog's nails, didn't last, I need a couch cover now. I have to keep her off the couch and she mostly doesn't go on there anymore, too hard for her to get up on anyway. Material is really a poor quality for the price paid, and it retains odors. I owned La-Z-Boy products (a couch and recliners) before and never had this experience. I will never again buy La-Z-Boy, and their returns policy is really bad. If I'm going to replace couches, I should have just bought cheap ones. I tried to talk DH into IKEA ones at the time, but he just wanted - recliners. It's our one area that it's hard to compromise on, couches. Everything else no problem! I even said don't ever mention the word furniture to me again (kidding of course) but, the furniture issue last year and La-Z-Boy was a sore issue with me.
 
Having a good house cleaner is worth a little extra in your budget for the lessened stress. I got a cleaning lady about 18 months ago and it is the best money I ever spent. Yes, could put that $150/month toward debt, but honestly the amount of stress it takes off my shoulders makes it totally worth the money.
This is one thing I cannot get DH to agree on. He doesn't want to spend the money on a house cleaner. I hate cleaning, hate spending my weekend doing it. Sigh.
 
THEN- the really expensive news came- DD was accepted at the University of Virginia!! We never in a million years thought she would actually get in. UVA is incredibly competitive in general and for an out of state student just about impossible (but not 100% impossible!!). We are so proud.
Congrats, that is awesome! We are in Maryland and well aware of the prestige of UVa. DS did not want to apply there for reasons he couldn't articulate etc. He got to UMd in a limited enrollment program/major and is probably going to go there. We are waiting on one more decision. Luckily, UMd is instate for us, but we have not received our financial aid package from them yet. It's the only instate tuition he applied to though, so if he decides to go elsewhere, the price tag will be much higher, although he got some very impressive packages from several of the private colleges he got into. I agree with posters upthread, state schools do not generally give a lot of money, especially to out of staters.
 

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