Debt Dumpers - 2019

[tzolkin]

3rd paycheck months are awesome for debt dumping if you don't use them in your ongoing month to month budgeting. dd's job is paid bi-weekly as well and it's the first time she's ever experienced this so when i helped her do her budget i showed her how she could get by on just budgeting w/ 2 paychecks per month and then throw those extra 2 each year at her student loans which will go a long way in paying them off much earlier.

I’ll need to remind my daughter of this. DH and I both get paid once a month so I never know when the “3 paycheck” months are anymore.

 

[Shughart]

Small update for me. Got my new zero transfer card. Got our largest balance transferred over and I started the process to transfer over our next largest. We'll pay the balance for two months, then transfer the balance of our last card over and all our balances will be on that card. My husband is continuing to use his high limit card (the largest balance card) but that is budgeted as thought it's being used from our debit card, lunches and gas) and will be paid off each month). Once the balance is under 50% on the zero interest card, we will pay off the balance again on his card and move all regular spending to the zero interest card and leave that as our primary card because of the lower interest rate.

I also paid off a credit card in full yesterday. Balance was 704. Our total credit card debt is down now from $11,400 to $10,900.

All cards but my debit cards have been out of my wallet for over a week now and I'm OK with that. I want this so bad. Once the balance is at 0 I can use the money I was using trying to keep the cards under control to finish paying for our Disney Christmas 2019 trip and then an emergency fund. But you guys have me nervous about tax time!

 

[bababear_50]

My update
Keeping myself on track and honest.

So the New Year is almost here,,,,,,I overspent on Christmas but learned from it,,,,next year Christmas is preplanned and well thought out.
Kids and granddaughter will be getting 1/3 of this years budget.(trimming the excess).


I packed the template for my WILL in my suitcase and plan to fill it out on my Holiday.
I will drop it off at the lawyers office when I get back home.(See below,,,handling someone's estate after death makes you realize why having a WILL is SUPER important).

I am slowly trying to finalize my brothers estate matters,,made some headway this week.
I hope to have everything finalized by March 2019.
Funny how Probate court wants their money upfront BUT when they owe a refund it takes over a year.

Found out I will be getting a small increase in pay in Feb and also a *Remedy 115* bonus,,kind of like a Gov/Union thing.
I am going to take the increase and bonus and put it into my Credit Union V.I.P. account for emergencies.

Welcome to everyone New this Year!
Hugs
Mel

 

[bababear_50]

I was reading an article here on Debt,,Canadians are most likely going to be hit with rising interest rates in 2019.
One idea I like was:

" Have a dry January"
Many of us give up something in January. So extend that philosophy to your money by making and bringing your lunch, take public transit, and/or enjoy cozy nights at home. Even 30 days of living like this can save you a big chunk of change.

Article here:
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/money/oth...-to-get-your-debt-on-track-in-2019/ar-BBRy6Hs

One which speaks of Credit Card Debt
https://globalnews.ca/news/3984078/credit-card-debt-help-canada/

I am expecting Food prices to go way up this year.


Hugs
Mel

 

[KSR0330]

I put a good dent in my debt last year, but need to get more serious about it in 2019 and work to get it paid off!

CC#1: $18,000 (0%)
CC#2: $9,500 (0%)
Student Loans: about $4,000
Car: $6,000

Right now I'm putting paying minimum on everything except for CC#2, which I'm working to pay off first. Next will be CC#1, student loans and then the car.

Another of my 2019 goals is to post on this thread more often! My 2019 financial goal is to pay off my credit cards and the little bit on my student loans and car loan. I will then be able to pay on the quickly growing parent Plus loan that I have form my DS! The interest on that thing is really scaring me, and it's only been a few months!

My problem is spending money. I know that sounds silly, but that's it. Shopping is fun. It's an adventure. Finding just the right thing. I love it. I need to stop! Don't get me wrong, I really don't shop a lot, but more than I need to!

I love earning cc rewards and have a few that I use on my daily spending and pay off each month (then I have the 2 big ones that are on zero interest cards that I am trying to pay down). I've decided to only use the cc for groceries and gas and nothing else! Any other shopping will have to come out of my debit card. That money will then not be available to pay down my big cc debt. I think that will help me make better choices and not spend where I don't absolutely need to.

 

[MegWheels]

Hi everyone! I'm new here.

Thank you ALL for such amazing advice! Just reading through this post has given me so much insight!

My goals for 2019 are to pay off at least half of my student loans and also tackle some medical expenses I've accrued.

I also have a trip to WDW planned at the end of February! I'm SO excited!

 

[Aurora_Australis]

Finally got around to posting in here, 31st Dec already here and about to go prep food for our NYE party.

Goals for 2019 are...

1. Pay off everyday CC. Still carrying about $1250 on it, will probably pay it out of cash/emergency fund when we switch banks so that all our accounts are consolidated.
2. Pay cash for our trip to Japan in Sept/Oct. Have most of the airfare money put away and will buy them in the new year, pay for bits and pieces throughout as we book things.
3. Make good headway on our car loan once the CC snowball is available. It was a 5 year loan but I want to pay it in 3 so that we can start saving to replace my car. Going from an SUV to a second hatch now kids are older and we need less space so would like to have half the cost saved.


I just got off the phone from our new bank who have approved our refinancing. We took out an extra $7.5k but repayments are still $150 less pm than our previous loan. This is to do a back deck and gardens etc (well, to make a good start on materials and the labour we can't do ourselves) as our place was a new build and we are looking at selling in a few years so landscaping will need to be done by then but we would like the chance to enjoy it a little ourselves first.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Hi Everyone!
Finally got to some downtime to check in here; I have so much catching up to do. I've been so busy with holiday stuff and then dh and I went to WDW for 4 nts in late Nov/early Dec. We had old tickets that were about to expire, and flights were free on SW using pts and our companion pass. We rented points to stay at Saratoga Springs. It was nice to visit the World all decked out for Christmas. Dh is thoroughly "parked out" so we're taking a break from Disney for a while.
Our kids are still working at Amazon and getting into a routine. Their mandatory OT finally ended so things are returning to normal here. For a while it was 15 hrs of OT per week so they barely had time to sleep & shower before going back in.

We have been chugging along full steam ahead with saving for a car for me. This week my New Car Fund will approach $13,000. I am determined to NEVER have a car payment again. I really can't stand the thought of intentionally creating debt for us again. It just took too dang long and was a lot of effort to eliminate it. My car goal is set at $40,000 and I should get there around this time next year. I told ds18 I'd give him $4000 toward his car fund, leaving $36k for my new car.
We still have $0 debt except our mortgage. I am torn between paying off the mortgage, 3% with another 9.25 years to go, or pay extra to my retirement fund. The market has been pretty crappy lately so maybe that's a better time to buy? or maybe that will push me toward paying down the mortgage. I'd love to have that monthly payment to keep instead of paying, paying, paying.

The thing with snowballing for so long (I started here in 2013!), it's ingrained in me now. I sort of trained myself to "attack" every goal with all my might, with everything I can. Great for paying off debt but harder when it comes to saving for different goals. I have a hard time allowing myself to have more than one goal at a time. I feel like I should put everything I can to my car fund so I can be done and move onto the next thing (by then will be a truck for dh). If I try splitting it up, say half to the car and half to mortgage, I worry I will lose my momentum and start to slip & slide.

We also would like to get a bedroom set. I'm 51 and still using the stuff I bought when I was 19. lol. It's in good shape but still... We also would like a real dining room set. My friend gave us her old dining room table & chairs and it's huge but very informal and we still need a china cabinet. Before we converted our back porch into a home office, we were using our dining room as an office. Now we finally have a real dining room and want it to look nice.

Our master bath is starting to look old. We remodeled that when we first moved in; ds22 was a newborn. None of these are specifically a 2019 goal, just goals in general. Sigh, with a house it just never ends.

As for vacations in 2019, we're going to Aruba in April, an all-inclusive with our friends. We only had to pay taxes on the airfare and our Chase pts covered more than half of the resort cost. We haven't yet chosen our summer vacation weeks at work yet but so far have I have no plans.

Until next time, just keep swimming! Have a Happy Healthy New Year!!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Alright! DH and I had our year end/ year begin budget meeting today. I got a pleasant surprise. I'd been thinking all year we were putting 8% in his retirement- we were actually putting 10%. So provided he gets a COL increase in the spring we'll likely up that to 11-12%.

Now onto our hard goals- main goal this year is to pay off our sedan and trade it in for an SUV. It'll break our heart to do it but with DS getting bigger and wanting to start trying for baby 2 at the end of 2019, we're simply outgrowing sedans for now. We're going to continue doubling payments and throwing extra at it until it's paid, hopefully by summer, and trade it in.

Question: We should do that, right? Or instead of doubling payments should we make the regular payment and put the extra into savings for a down payment on the SUV, and then trade the sedan in with some money owed? This is the first time I've ever had a car worth more than scrap to trade in, so I honestly don't know what to do. We'd likely be trading in for a pre-owned SUV at similar mileage to our sedan or maybe a little less. We're only trading it in because we need an SUV- the sedan itself still runs very well and only has about 80k miles.

JMHO but I would pay off the vehicle you have now. Once your loan is paid off, the bank will send you the title to the car. When you sell a car, whether it's to a dealer or private party, you need to be able to sign the title over to the new owner which you can't do with a lien on it. We survived 2 kids in a sedan until the youngest was 6. It was a large sedan though with a huge trunk. If it's running well, I'd hang onto it until you can at least save up another down payment. Want vs. need is subjective.
Again, jmho.

 

[Sadeesmom]

I lurked most of last year trying to get a handle on myself before joining in, but it never happened, so joining in this year hoping this will help keep me accountable/motivated. I have a spending problem; I can readily admit it, but am having issues controlling it. I grew up in a household with a spending problem and grandparents that always bailed us out. As an adult (single mom), I have the same problem but no one to bail me out.

My debts:
Mortgage - $57,832.80
Car loan - $4,146.26
Credit card #1 - $9,135.50
CC #2 - $0
CC #3 - $4,200
CC # 4 - $2,508.33
Orthodontist - $135/mo

The ortho and the car will be done in October, so that should free up a little bit.

CC4 actually has the lowest interest rate, but with the next lowest balance (I did manage to pay off CC2 yesterday), that is my next goal. I have read all about both of the snowball methods and phsycologically, I think tackling the smallest balance first will be best for me, but like I said, I have a spending problem. I hate to cook, so eating out is my biggest fail. I also feel guilt (stupid but true) when I walk into a store, I can’t walk out empty handed. I really am a homebody, but end up going out and about with family more often than I should.
I don’t smoke, don’t drink, don’t have to wear the latest fashions, don’t have cable. I really can’t figure out where my money goes, but I built a spreadsheet this morning to track every penny I spend (this shouldn’t be too hard as I keep all my receipts for Fetch, Receipt Pal, Receipt Hog, Coinout, Ibotta, Trunow, and Checkout 51 anyway). Anyway....here’s to regular checkins and better results by end of 2019-Happy New Year everyone!

 

[KSR0330]

I lurked most of last year trying to get a handle on myself before joining in, but it never happened, so joining in this year hoping this will help keep me accountable/motivated. I have a spending problem; I can readily admit it, but am having issues controlling it. I grew up in a household with a spending problem and grandparents that always bailed us out. As an adult (single mom), I have the same problem but no one to bail me out.

My debts:
Mortgage - $57,832.80
Car loan - $4,146.26
Credit card #1 - $9,135.50
CC #2 - $0
CC #3 - $4,200
CC # 4 - $2,508.33
Orthodontist - $135/mo

The ortho and the car will be done in October, so that should free up a little bit.

CC4 actually has the lowest interest rate, but with the next lowest balance (I did manage to pay off CC2 yesterday), that is my next goal. I have read all about both of the snowball methods and phsycologically, I think tackling the smallest balance first will be best for me, but like I said, I have a spending problem. I hate to cook, so eating out is my biggest fail. I also feel guilt (stupid but true) when I walk into a store, I can’t walk out empty handed. I really am a homebody, but end up going out and about with family more often than I should.
I don’t smoke, don’t drink, don’t have to wear the latest fashions, don’t have cable. I really can’t figure out where my money goes, but I built a spreadsheet this morning to track every penny I spend (this shouldn’t be too hard as I keep all my receipts for Fetch, Receipt Pal, Receipt Hog, Coinout, Ibotta, Trunow, and Checkout 51 anyway). Anyway....here’s to regular checkins and better results by end of 2019-Happy New Year everyone!

Great job paying of CC #2!

We sound similar. I also grew up with a spender. It's my hobby. You said that you go out (shopping I assume) with family. Can you explain to them that you are trying to cut down on your spending and that you won't be shopping with them anymore? Maybe have them over for a meal instead (everyone bring something so you aren't paying for everything, or cooking everything!).

I also don't like to cook, but have learned to just do it anyway. It is what it is. I have to cook.

Are you still using your credit cards when you shop? If so, maybe you can switch to cash? I'm going to try only using my debit card on purchases other than food and gas (see my post above). I think that will motivate me to not spend where I don't absolutely need to.

My goal this year is to visit this thread regularly. Hopefully we can give each other support along the way!

 

[fifthdimensiondweller]

I also don't like to cook, but have learned to just do it anyway. It is what it is. I have to cook.

Something that I've found really helps motivate me to cook is to make "fun" recipes. I assume most of us are here because we like Disney, and I've recently been getting into making Walt Disney World/ Disneyland copycat recipes. I made Tonga Toast with DH the other night for at home date night, and I had some overripe bananas the other day so I tried my hand at Boma's Banana Bread. I feel like it helps me feel like I'm doing something fun or out of the ordinary and takes the monotony out of cooking.

 

[barkley]

Something that I've found really helps motivate me to cook is to make "fun" recipes. I assume most of us are here because we like Disney, and I've recently been getting into making Walt Disney World/ Disneyland copycat recipes. I made Tonga Toast with DH the other night for at home date night, and I had some overripe bananas the other day so I tried my hand at Boma's Banana Bread. I feel like it helps me feel like I'm doing something fun or out of the ordinary and takes the monotony out of cooking.

todd wilbur's top secret restaurant recipe books are fun as well (lots of his recipes are on-line) and many taste identical to what we pay way too much for eating out. we make hard rock cafe pulled pork, olive garden's zuppa toscana and hot artichoke dip most often from them-they taste the same as the restaurant's and are super easy.

p.s. try the guiness stew recipie that's in the disney cookbooks-it's great (super easy, very inexpensive).

 

[Sadeesmom]

You said that you go out (shopping I assume) with family. Can you explain to them that you are trying to cut down on your spending and that you won't be shopping with them anymore? Maybe have them over for a meal instead (everyone bring something so you aren't paying for everything, or cooking everything!).

I also don't like to cook, but have learned to just do it anyway. It is what it is. I have to cook.

I was really in a bad habit of loaning money to my family every time they asked for it, so I made the choice to move about 60 miles away from them (close enough in case of an emergency/far enough away they don’t randomly show up at the door asking for something). They all live within 5 miles of each other. As a result, I am always the one going to them instead of all of them coming to me, so it’s just weird saying “ok, we’ll come over this weekend, but we have to just hang out at your house. I would be 100% ok with that (actually prefer that!), but they never seem to think it’s good enough. I even tell them why (kind of hoping they’ll follow my example since they are even worse with money than I am), but it never seems to work out right. I am going to just have to learn to say no (personal goal for 2019).
On the cooking side, I guess if I analyze it, it’s not the cooking that bothers me as much as the cleaning up. I don’t have a dishwasher, and by the end of the work day, cooking, picking up the house, catching up with the kid, and finally sitting down to eat, I just don’t want to do the dishes too. I’m going to dig up some one pot/pan recipes and some crockpot recipes. Maybe that will help!

 

[mom2rb]

I did pretty well on last year’s financial goals. I had surgery and was out of work for 3 months, so that slowed me down. Goals for 2019

Pay off surgery- $7000 left with no interest until June ( it is adding up, so if I don’t pay it off it will be expensive.)
Pay of son’s tuition-$5000 left for Spring, payment plan until April, and he is a Senior!
Pay off $4000 in cc debt

Since the tuition and surgery have to be paid off in April and June, I should be able to get the cc paid off during the later part of the year. Last year I paid off DH’s car. That helped immensely, we have 4 cars and no payments. The boys have old cars though, so repairs can knock a hole in our budget sometimes.

 

[pblack]

@Sadeesmom this is a one pot recipe for lasagna soup. Super easy and super delicious. I don't follow the recipe to a T, so you can play with it to suit your tastes. https://carlsbadcravings.com/easy-one-pot-lasagna-soup/

Also you should go follow/lurk on the eat at home 3 thread. I don't really post anything there but i like to lurk to get meal ideas.

 

[jackers]

@Sadeesmom, Go shopping with family, but leave your wallet in the car. Still enjoy time out but doesn’t impact your finances. This might be good practice for overcoming “guilt” by leaving a store empty handed as well. Go spend a day at a mall with no means to actually buy anything. Also, keep in mind that at a lot of retail places, those employees are being paid regardless if they make a sale, so you not buying is not directly impacting them.

I would also recommend going to a cash only system until you can change spending habits. I did this years ago when I was trying to get out of debt as a single mom. It even came down to scrounging change to buy milk because I didn’t get paid for 2 days (on the rare occasion). But putting myself in that position made me budget the money I had between paychecks much better over time and to stop the random unnecessary spending. I went several years with no credit card spending this way. I use cards now for the cash back rewards, but I’m in a much better place and don’t carry balances on the cards ever.

 

[imbatman]

@imbatman I would be FURIOUS if I were you. Absolutely livid.

Omg. Make up a payment plan and then WRITE HIM OFF! I can't believe the nerve of that.

Holy cow! That is insane! I would definitely not have any further communication with that person after that. I'm so mad for you right now.

Wow that is so wrong of them. How does one come back later and say they expect payment after the fact?! A gift or an offer is just that, that's awful!

Broke the news to DH on Friday night. We both just...what do you do, other than pay it, distance yourself, and move on? If I bring up the emails that he was going to "cover it," then he will switch on the martyr attitude because he's having financial issues right now (due to poor spending habits). I'm just D.O.N.E. I'll pay it and move on.

I also paid off a credit card in full yesterday. Balance was 704.

Hi everyone! I'm new here.

I lurked most of last year trying to get a handle on myself before joining in, but it never happened, so joining in this year hoping this will help keep me accountable/motivated.

You've come to the right place!!!

 

[stindall]

Hi all, joining in! We made a budget spreadsheet for 2019 a few nights ago and I'm so excited!

To jumpstart our 2019 journey to be debt free:

• We paid off my care credit card last week which is a huge relief because that interest rate sucks!
• We paid down a good chunk of my Discover card and it should be paid off by the end of January. I'm keeping the account open but cutting up the card.
• I also have a bill from an HSG test that was not covered by insurance (despite being told it was by the insurance company!) that will be paid off by the end of Feb.
• We stuck a chunk of money into our savings so we can focus on debt for the first few months before we start saving again.

Our first goal for the year is to get rid of my husbands last student loan which is about 3k left and my husbands discover which has 4k left! Our overall debt including those is about 25k :/

We're also committing to buying nothing new unless we absolutely have to; the only exceptions are a new tv which we've already budgeted for and anything to help continue our going low waste journey. (don't worry our old tv is staying but being repurposed into my husbands arcade cabinet he built)

 

[mom2rb]

Hi all, joining in! We made a budget spreadsheet for 2019 a few nights ago and I'm so excited!

To jumpstart our 2019 journey to be debt free:

• We paid off my care credit card last week which is a huge relief because that interest rate sucks!

My surgery is on a care credit card, no interest until June. If I don’t pay it all off by then, the 25% interest from day one gets added to the balance. That is why every extra $$$ we have is going to it right now.