Debt Dumpers 2020

[PhoenixStrength]

I will update my goals now since I'll be pretty busy the rest of the week and don't want to forget!

2020 Financial Goals:

• Pay off at least $5000 of credit card debt Between saving for our WDW trip next month and an unexpected expense we have only paid an extra $250 so far but we will be increasing that dramatically starting in March
• Pay off remainder of DH's car loan (should be done in March) Will be done next week!
• Save $1500 towards emergency savings account Haven't added to this yet, but will be starting in March
• Contribute more to our retirement savings (still figuring out a realistic increase to aim for) Haven't gotten around to figuring this out yet
• Pay off remaining $3500 for November 2020 DCL cruise. Will start on this in April after our WDW trip
• Save enough to be able to add at least a few days at WDW before our November cruise. Decided to sort of forego this as we should be taking a 2 week WDW trip in Spring 2021, though we will be flying in the day before and flying out the day after the cruise, so we will go to Disney Springs each of those days. Will start saving for this in April after our WDW trip.
• Start saving for our 2021 tentatively planned vacations. We know one will be to WDW with my SIL, BIL and DNephew for his first WDW trip for his 5th birthday in May 2021, still deciding if the other will be Hawaii or somewhere else. We will start this savings after we have enough for our November cruise. Pretty sure 2nd trip will be Hawaii, but still deciding.

2020 Personal Goals:

• Eat healthier, especially stop drinking so much soda. Doing better at this, especially in the past 2 weeks.
• Exercise more. Started going to the gym again last week and will be continuing. I feel so much better when I do!
• Try more new activities with DH. Aiming for one new thing each month. Does trying new restaurants count?
• Find new activities/hobbies to help reduce my stress and enjoy my time that don't involve spending money! Exercising!

 

[pblack]

• Try more new activities with DH. Aiming for one new thing each month. Does trying new restaurants count?

Yes! I say it totally counts.

 

[imbatman]

I'm a little disheartened feeling like my debts are more severe than what others face.

@MantaRider how are things going? Small victories are still victories!

Man, last night was a rough one. We thought DH was losing his job this morning. He didn't, but it has motivated him to look for a new job following his foot surgery, which is next month.

Update for me:

2020 Goals
Financial:

1. Pay off Discover card. – Shooting for April. May at the most, depending on DH's job situation.
2. Pay off Sapphire card. – That’ll be after Discover.
3. Shift purchases to CC’s after balances are paid. – on hold until #1 & #2 are done.
4. Continue Roth contributions. – I moved this to $59/week for tax purposes.
5. Continue vacation fund. – still funding.
6. Get that snowball spreadsheet updated and started. – Still using to pay down.

Personal:

1. Maintain weight. – Now wearing the pant size that I did when we were married. Saw the dr. last week and tests have commenced.
2. Finish two manuscripts. – Halfway through both! And have a contract that'll bump them.
3. Carve out family time. – We are all busy still. But we went out to dinner at the food truck park on Friday night and it was so much fun.
4. Breathe. – Boy, last night taught me that. I didn't cry, I didn't blow my top. I went into planning mode and my budget was first and foremost.

 

[pblack]

Sending good vibes to your DH @imbatman. I hope he's able to find something better soon.

 

[imbatman]

Breathe. – Boy, last night taught me that. I didn't cry, I didn't blow my top. I went into planning mode and my budget was first and foremost.

Something cool just happened! Turns out that DH has been faithfully squirreling away funds and our emergency fund is at $2k!

Know that, I'm going into full ninja mode for debt. Let's see if I can knock this all out in 6 months or less!

 

[crazycatstacy]

I don't recall who mentioned the married filing separately for student loan repayment but I have a question. We filed our taxes married filing separate this year and I am now going to certify my income for my student loans. It is still wanting to pull in my husbands taxes too. Is that normal?

 

[pblack]

I don't recall who mentioned the married filing separately for student loan repayment but I have a question. We filed our taxes married filing separate this year and I am now going to certify my income for my student loans. It is still wanting to pull in my husbands taxes too. Is that normal?

I think it was @DisneyMandC

 

[StacyStrong]

Here is my February update on my goals:

1. Reduce restaurant spending - I am doing very well here. In January, I had ~$93 left in my restaurant budget. I currently have ~$184 left in my budget for February. Granted, this does not include the money I spent on food during my vacation - that was pulled from vacation funds. I also have more than half of my grocery budget remaining for February, but again, I was on vacation for a week.
2. Increase emergency fund by $3000 - I have already increased this by ~$2200, so it looks like I will smash this goal.
3. $100 per month toward a Christmas fund - On track - monthly recurring transfers.
4. $70 a month + credit card rewards toward Vacation fund - On track - monthly recurring transfers.
5. $40 a month toward car maintenance fund - On track - monthly recurring transfers.
6. $33 a month toward ARDC yearly fees - On track - monthly recurring transfers.

On the personal front:

1. Lose weight - 40lbs would be nice. Always a goal, never a success. Not sure. Haven't weighed myself in awhile. I was down 2-3lbs in January, but no idea where I am at now.
2. Run 650 miles - I am at 128.3 miles for the year, so I'm slightly ahead of my goal by about 20 miles. I hope to keep this up.
3. Join the library and stop buying books! Reading is great, folks, but I spend way too much on books that I can get digitally through the library! I haven't done this yet. Whoops!

Most importantly, I am still credit card debt free and came in under budget on my February WDW Princess Weekend Trip.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Something cool just happened! Turns out that DH has been faithfully squirreling away funds and our emergency fund is at $2k!

Know that, I'm going into full ninja mode for debt. Let's see if I can knock this all out in 6 months or less!

I love full ninja mode.

 

[MermaidLagoonResident]

End of Feb update!

Just got back on Tuesday night from my Princess Half Marathon Weekend trip, had a great time and did pretty well budget wise. Ended up going to WDW with $1,900 set aside in my bank account, $860 in Disney GC's ($250 from gifts, $610 from a grocery store points card), these numbers are also Canadian so the conversion knocked them down a little on me. My wishful thinking that my mom would pay for the entire resort stay came true, the CM was letting us know the remaining balance and I had suggested splitting it on our cards and then she said to just run it on her cc. So what I ended up doing so I didn't feel like a complete mooch was use my gc's for pretty much everything else we purchased. There were a few times when my mom asked if I was sure and I let her know how much I had saved up from my points card and that I was thinking about that as "bonus" money for the trip anyways. We also did most of our meals as quick services/grab and go items and we actually both had packed snack in our suitcases so we actually didn't spend that much on food. Out of pocket at WDW I purchased one meal (we mobile ordered and I couldn't find a way to add my gc on for that purchase), my mom purchased dinner at Disney Springs one night and she purchased a souvenir mug for each of us at Starbucks. On our last full day I managed to forget my last gc in the room, but still had a couple in my bag we were working on. At World of Disney that night I purchased a couple items with my gc, then passed it over to my mom, she used the remaining balance and ended up paying a little out of pocket to complete the transaction. All in all I spent just under $200 on cc during the trip (checked bag fee, 1 uber ride, mobile order meal, food at the airport on the way home, etc) and as of yesterday I fully paid my cc off, so that's all good and taken care of. I came home with one Disney gc with $120 remaining that I will tuck away for a rainy day.


2020 Financial Goals:

• Pay off cc -currently at $130, pay day is Jan 9th, this will be done then & keep it within a range that can be paid off in one pay check (under $500 is what I am currently thinking) - see above, cc is currently fully paid off, even after going on a week trip
• Pay off line of credit - currently at $9,500. Aiming to take $500/per pay check minimal towards paying this off - currently at $8,000, planning on taking $1,000 of the money I saved for my most recent WDW trip that was no used and dump it onto my line of credit, bringing the new total to $7,000 , this is on today's to do list.
• continue to pack food for work and not buy lunch out- continuing to go strong in this department
• Save money for Japan trip ( $ amount tbd, will update once number has been researched) - have not yet researched how much money to put aside for this trip yet, wanted to get thru my most recent WDW trip first. Thinking I'll take some of the money I saved and did not spend in WDW and use it to jump start my savings for this trip

2020 Personal Goals:

• 1 group fitness class per week - up until last week when I went on my trip, I was going strong with this. Had done 7 weeks in a row of 1 class a week. Had wanted to squeeze class in last week but all the last minute things just didn't allow it to happen. But I did complete the Princess Half Marathon Weekend races while I was away plus all the walking in WDW. I took part in the 5km,10km and half marathon races.
• declutter living space, aiming to take 400 items out of our space (clothing, books, dvd, etc etc). - been keeping track on another discussion thread, so far have gotten rid of 112 items. On the right track!
• eat cleaner/ cook more at home- Can't say I've done much work here… DH is still cooking most of our meals at home, I definitely have room to improve here and can help out with this more.

 

[jen7233]

End of Feb update!

Just got back on Tuesday night from my Princess Half Marathon Weekend trip, had a great time and did pretty well budget wise. Ended up going to WDW with $1,900 set aside in my bank account, $860 in Disney GC's ($250 from gifts, $610 from a grocery store points card), these numbers are also Canadian so the conversion knocked them down a little on me. My wishful thinking that my mom would pay for the entire resort stay came true, the CM was letting us know the remaining balance and I had suggested splitting it on our cards and then she said to just run it on her cc. So what I ended up doing so I didn't feel like a complete mooch was use my gc's for pretty much everything else we purchased. There were a few times when my mom asked if I was sure and I let her know how much I had saved up from my points card and that I was thinking about that as "bonus" money for the trip anyways. We also did most of our meals as quick services/grab and go items and we actually both had packed snack in our suitcases so we actually didn't spend that much on food. Out of pocket at WDW I purchased one meal (we mobile ordered and I couldn't find a way to add my gc on for that purchase), my mom purchased dinner at Disney Springs one night and she purchased a souvenir mug for each of us at Starbucks. On our last full day I managed to forget my last gc in the room, but still had a couple in my bag we were working on. At World of Disney that night I purchased a couple items with my gc, then passed it over to my mom, she used the remaining balance and ended up paying a little out of pocket to complete the transaction. All in all I spent just under $200 on cc during the trip (checked bag fee, 1 uber ride, mobile order meal, food at the airport on the way home, etc) and as of yesterday I fully paid my cc off, so that's all good and taken care of. I came home with one Disney gc with $120 remaining that I will tuck away for a rainy day.


2020 Financial Goals:

• Pay off cc -currently at $130, pay day is Jan 9th, this will be done then & keep it within a range that can be paid off in one pay check (under $500 is what I am currently thinking) - see above, cc is currently fully paid off, even after going on a week trip
• Pay off line of credit - currently at $9,500. Aiming to take $500/per pay check minimal towards paying this off - currently at $8,000, planning on taking $1,000 of the money I saved for my most recent WDW trip that was no used and dump it onto my line of credit, bringing the new total to $7,000 , this is on today's to do list.
• continue to pack food for work and not buy lunch out- continuing to go strong in this department
• Save money for Japan trip ( $ amount tbd, will update once number has been researched) - have not yet researched how much money to put aside for this trip yet, wanted to get thru my most recent WDW trip first. Thinking I'll take some of the money I saved and did not spend in WDW and use it to jump start my savings for this trip

2020 Personal Goals:

• 1 group fitness class per week - up until last week when I went on my trip, I was going strong with this. Had done 7 weeks in a row of 1 class a week. Had wanted to squeeze class in last week but all the last minute things just didn't allow it to happen. But I did complete the Princess Half Marathon Weekend races while I was away plus all the walking in WDW. I took part in the 5km,10km and half marathon races.
• declutter living space, aiming to take 400 items out of our space (clothing, books, dvd, etc etc). - been keeping track on another discussion thread, so far have gotten rid of 112 items. On the right track!
• eat cleaner/ cook more at home- Can't say I've done much work here… DH is still cooking most of our meals at home, I definitely have room to improve here and can help out with this more.

That's great it seems like the trip was pretty well kept in your budget. Did your mom run, too? That's sweet of your mom to pay, and I'd like to do the same for mine if I can. I also am trying to do one group fitness class a week more weight lifting related though or yoga, I am having medical issues though with walking with knees and feet, so it makes it not as fun to work out knowing to do so is painful and I've cut back extremely on any working out on feet, and hope this isn't going to impede on our WDW trip.

Here is my February update on my goals:

1. Reduce restaurant spending - I am doing very well here. In January, I had ~$93 left in my restaurant budget. I currently have ~$184 left in my budget for February. Granted, this does not include the money I spent on food during my vacation - that was pulled from vacation funds. I also have more than half of my grocery budget remaining for February, but again, I was on vacation for a week.
2. Increase emergency fund by $3000 - I have already increased this by ~$2200, so it looks like I will smash this goal.
3. $100 per month toward a Christmas fund - On track - monthly recurring transfers.
4. $70 a month + credit card rewards toward Vacation fund - On track - monthly recurring transfers.
5. $40 a month toward car maintenance fund - On track - monthly recurring transfers.
6. $33 a month toward ARDC yearly fees - On track - monthly recurring transfers.

On the personal front:

1. Lose weight - 40lbs would be nice. Always a goal, never a success. Not sure. Haven't weighed myself in awhile. I was down 2-3lbs in January, but no idea where I am at now.
2. Run 650 miles - I am at 128.3 miles for the year, so I'm slightly ahead of my goal by about 20 miles. I hope to keep this up.
3. Join the library and stop buying books! Reading is great, folks, but I spend way too much on books that I can get digitally through the library! I haven't done this yet. Whoops!

Most importantly, I am still credit card debt free and came in under budget on my February WDW Princess Weekend Trip.

Another princess half marathoner! This would be great to try one day, I'm hopeful! Looks like good on track on your budgeting!

 

[MermaidLagoonResident]

That's great it seems like the trip was pretty well kept in your budget. Did your mom run, too? That's sweet of your mom to pay, and I'd like to do the same for mine if I can. I also am trying to do one group fitness class a week more weight lifting related though or yoga, I am having medical issues though with walking with knees and feet, so it makes it not as fun to work out knowing to do so is painful and I've cut back extremely on any working out on feet, and hope this isn't going to impede on our WDW trip.

Another princess half marathoner! This would be great to try one day, I'm hopeful! Looks like good on track on your budgeting!

No, originally it was going to be a solo trip but then in November plans were made for her to join me. Maybe one day I'll get her to do a race with me

Yeah! I was hopeful it would work out that way but also prepared if not, we just hadn't talked about it all, because as you all know societies ideas that you should talk about money and that whole mess. I did all the planning and I know she appreciated that aspect of everything, all past trips she's been on it has been all her planning and handling everything so it was a nice break for her to get to be on a vacation and be along for the ride.

That's awesome! Those are great ways to strengthen your core, nicely done! Fingers crossed your able to manage everything on your upcoming trip and find moments to rest as you need them.

 

[DLgal]

Time to update my goals and progress. Some goals have changed.

Savings: Save $2000/month into long term savings
Current: $5000
Goal: $25,000

Payoff CC Balance transfer at 0% until 1/2021
Current: $1500
Goal: $7500

Payoff DH's Auto Loan
Current: $1875
Goal: $7500

Pay for Disneyland Annual Passes outright at renewal in August
Current: $1950
Goal: $5200

This month, didn't save as much because we had to unexpectedly buy DH a plane ticket home for spring break (that we aren't even sure he will be able to use...what with the virus in Japan and all..he may not be allowed to travel through there).

I am still in schedule for my 3 main goals, and now that the long term savings goal has a much longer timeline, I'm just putting what I can in there and not stressing about the amounts too much.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I don't recall who mentioned the married filing separately for student loan repayment but I have a question. We filed our taxes married filing separate this year and I am now going to certify my income for my student loans. It is still wanting to pull in my husbands taxes too. Is that normal?

Sorry I’m just seeing this! Fed Loan Servicing bases its calculations off your previous year‘s taxes. So I recertified my income at the beginning of February and it pulled my 2018 taxes when I did it online. I haven’t done this in a couple years, but I’m pretty sure you can still send them a copy of your recent paystub and fill out the application indicating that you file your taxes separately and they’ll recertify your income that way. I don’t think you can it online, but I’m not sure since I haven’t done that in about 4 years.

 

[pblack]

We sign all the closing documents on Saturday for our re-fi and we won't owe anything out of pocket! Looking to take what our normal mortgage payment would have been ($2100 before the re-fi) and applying it towards my student loans. Between this extra boost, the escrow check we should be getting back (~$2300), and the extra that I think we are going to be able to throw at it, i'm hopeful we'll have that ~$12000 paid off by October! Fingers crossed nothing bad happens and we're able to stay on this path! (I'd even take by December/January if we end up having to allocate some money else where.) I'd love to be able to celebrate being student loan and credit card debt free in WDW/on the cruise in November.

 

[jackers]

My February update (I didn't check in for January so all my numbers will be year to date (YTD).

2020 Financial Goals:
Pay off my car (Goal: $12,800): I’ve paid $6700 already this year (extra Jan paycheck and tax return contributing a large portion of this. Payoff plan date is June.

Max out 401K contributions – Done (essentially, based on my contributions it will be maxed out by end of year)

Begin contributing $50/paycheck to my HSA – Auto setup via payroll complete. The goal will be $1500 total by end of year (currently at $250) so I will plan a few extra non-payroll contributions throughout the year.

Contribute $2500 to DS14’s 529: $300 contributed YTD.

2020 Personal Goals:

Have a will drawn up - Not yet

Get back into running and lose enough weight to fit back into clothes that are in my closet: Down 13 lbs/1 size and am in week 4 of the Couch 2 5K plan. Long way to go though.

Read more and spend less time on stupid iPad games: I’m in a book club with some women at work, so this is the best I am doing right now. I do have an audible account and have been stocking up on books to listen to while I run.

Vacation plans – Spring Break trip to exotic Cleveland OH – but they have NFL and Rock and Roll Hall of Fames there that my husband and son will love as well as Shake Shack, so we’ll be all set. This is a pretty cheap trip for us, so I’m sure we’ll plan something for summer and/or fall too but nothing in mind or on the books yet.

 

[3threebabies]

We drive 2.5 hours to CLE just for Shake Shack One of the things we miss most about NYC, so we were ecstatic when it opened.

 

[WeatherLights]

Most of you seem to be making solid progress towards your goals. Well done! I went back to look at mine, which I posted in December, and it reminded me how overwhelmed I felt at the time. I'm adapting to my new normal, and it's a bit trite but just taking "one day at a time" really is how I'm getting by right now.

Goals update:
1) Continue current rate of retirement savings. Yes.
2) Continue current rate of HSA savings. Yes.
3) Keep emergency savings at present level (replenish it if need to use, but no plan to grow it). Still good on this front.
And money out...
4) Keep paying extra on the mortgage for final payoff in 2022 (this is when my husband was planning to retire, but not sure if that is a good idea now.). Yes
5) Buy new car (our current car--my DH and I only have the one between us-- has over 150,000 miles and we've paid approx $4000 in the last two years for repairs. Will likely use cash savings to buy a nearly new car in the next few months.) Not yet.
6) Buy a new sofa (I inherited the one we have. It's super uncomfortable and has developed a tear in one of the cushions, so finally time to get something I really like!) Not yet.

 

[Scoobie]

Update - I've been going through my food storage in Feb. Taking inventory, pitching anything expired, purchasing replacements and adding more. Have been working on this a long time, but it needed attention. Also went through equipment for preparedness and tested everything to make sure it's in working order - generator is dead (and old) and unfixable. Sooo, will be replacing that in the next few days. But, that money will come out of emergency savings since that is what it's for, and replaced with repayments every month. Still on track for retirement and cc wipeout - also still purging the house and have another load to donate to Safe Harbor. Furbaby still plugging along (she's the real mvp!) and not in any real pain yet (diagnosed with cancer in Oct.). She might just make her 17th bday on march 17th! I really didn't think she would make it this long, let alone be doing as well as she is. Truly blessed, that one. She is sounding more wheezy when sleeping, but that's about it. No real vacations planned this year (gasp, skipping DW this year to focus on debt and home - so hard!!) except occasional weekend getaways? If that. Already have the trip to Seattle March 11th paid for (another one we do every year, comic con) but nothing else. And I've been super exhausted lately so minimal exercising - between health issues and insomnia lately, plus staying busy in the house, I'm wiped. After my preparedness project winds down I'm hoping to rest more again so my exercising can get more normalized again (not like I'm a weightlifting warrior, light but steady is my wheel house!). Everyone seems to be doing pretty well so far this year - minor hiccups are to be expected but overall not too shabby! Don't let the setbacks get you down, focus on the stuff that's going well and remember: There's a great big beautiful tomorrow Shining at the end of every day......

 

[jen7233]

We sign all the closing documents on Saturday for our re-fi and we won't owe anything out of pocket! Looking to take what our normal mortgage payment would have been ($2100 before the re-fi) and applying it towards my student loans. Between this extra boost, the escrow check we should be getting back (~$2300), and the extra that I think we are going to be able to throw at it, i'm hopeful we'll have that ~$12000 paid off by October! Fingers crossed nothing bad happens and we're able to stay on this path! (I'd even take by December/January if we end up having to allocate some money else where.) I'd love to be able to celebrate being student loan and credit card debt free in WDW/on the cruise in November.

The refi sounds like a very good thing!

Update - I've been going through my food storage in Feb. Taking inventory, pitching anything expired, purchasing replacements and adding more. Have been working on this a long time, but it needed attention. Also went through equipment for preparedness and tested everything to make sure it's in working order - generator is dead (and old) and unfixable. Sooo, will be replacing that in the next few days. But, that money will come out of emergency savings since that is what it's for, and replaced with repayments every month. Still on track for retirement and cc wipeout - also still purging the house and have another load to donate to Safe Harbor. Furbaby still plugging along (she's the real mvp!) and not in any real pain yet (diagnosed with cancer in Oct.). She might just make her 17th bday on march 17th! I really didn't think she would make it this long, let alone be doing as well as she is. Truly blessed, that one. She is sounding more wheezy when sleeping, but that's about it. No real vacations planned this year (gasp, skipping DW this year to focus on debt and home - so hard!!) except occasional weekend getaways? If that. Already have the trip to Seattle March 11th paid for (another one we do every year, comic con) but nothing else. And I've been super exhausted lately so minimal exercising - between health issues and insomnia lately, plus staying busy in the house, I'm wiped. After my preparedness project winds down I'm hoping to rest more again so my exercising can get more normalized again (not like I'm a weightlifting warrior, light but steady is my wheel house!). Everyone seems to be doing pretty well so far this year - minor hiccups are to be expected but overall not too shabby! Don't let the setbacks get you down, focus on the stuff that's going well and remember: There's a great big beautiful tomorrow Shining at the end of every day......

I'm amazed at your dog, what breed or mix was she again? And I like your quote, catchy tune!