Debt Dumpers 2022

[barkley]

Thanks! I should say that doesn't include our restaurant eating, but yeah, I didn't think it was terrible though I know I can do better. We definitely splurged on a number of fancier items (ask me about my cheeses) but there were also several times where I told DH I wasn't buying beef due to the price and we were making due with chicken. I need to get better with keeping track of what we have in the freezer and stocking up when the price is decent on certain meats.

i've got a list on my freezer that details the types/cuts of meat we have on hand as well as the leftovers on hand to try to keep a handle on what we've already got. i'm a big fan of stocking up on meat when it's on sale as well (is it ever these days????). i'll buy whatever cut of beef is least expensive and cut or grind it to meat our wants. before we bought a meat grinder for our kitchen aid i routinely bought small roasts on sale and handed them back to the butchers at the chain stores and asked them to grind them up for me (got less fat content at a much lower price often).

 

[428mom]

Hello all,

I followed along on last years thread and decided I want to post this year for accountability. We became debt free in 2017 but ran up some credit card debt last year due to job loss.

Financial goals-
1. Pay off Amazon credit card
2. Pay off Chase credit card
3. Pay off our first family Disney trip by August (we're going in December)
4. Build back up our emergency fund

Personal goals-
1. Lose 20 lbs
2. Do a family acitivity once a month
3. Update our will go include DD (she's almost 6)

Let's do this group! I'm hoping to check in every Friday.

 

[amalone1013]

Long time, no real goal posts from me! I want to change that this year.

2021 Recap
2021 was fine for us. I can't say we came out with a huge amount more cash on hand, but since we paid off everything before buying our house 14mths ago we cash flowed a lot of home projects, did some traveling, and splurged on some home items. I'd do it all again though! We did put a very good chunk into 401k/HSA savings. But no really big goals so I felt like we were just aimlessly treading water a bit.

I've been doing 2022 financial analysis since Oct. DHs company got bought out, so their benefits improved a lot - 401k match went from 1% to 6%! A few weeks ago he found out he got a raise to his base salary and his commission percentage. Had to compare insurance plans again... planning for next year, etc. I'll get the new spreadsheets and ynab budget cleaned up over the next few days.

And then we'll see how things adjust this year with the little bundle of joy we have coming


2022 Goals
$2000 Maternity leave cushion - I have a pretty generous leave anyways, so it should be fully covered by the policy and pto, but just in case I'd need to take some extra pto before going out or something I want to have a cushion. I also want it for any random items or expenses that come up so we don't have to stress. Currently at $750

Add $10,000 to Barn savings - this was on our radar anyways and DHs grandpa passed last Jan, which meant he inherited a 1920s vehicle and a bunch of tools, so increased the need. Starting here but hoping we can add more than that honestly, so may be revised.

Keep to Grocery/Eating out budget - we let these get out of hand last year. We may trim them back too, DH and I plan to sit down and review. I have a ton of things in the pantry etc I should use up, but I also want to do a freezer meal stash for when the baby comes.

Budget Meetings - minimum monthly. We pretty much stopped this when we had everything paid off, bc all extra cash was going to our down payment fund at the time.

 

[jackers]

Thanks for sharing @ruadisneyfan2. I don’t think I would want to stop contributing to my 401K, but slowing down my regular savings might be an option in the near future. The balance is not quite where I would like it to be, but it’s close. Once I hit that threshold, I may halve what I have been putting into savings and put it towards the mortgage. Haven’t modeled it out, but it would surely cut some time off that 4 year plan. I also haven’t factored in any work bonuses, as they are never guaranteed, but I usually put a significant amount of those toward it as well. I’d love to make that 4 year plan a 3 year plan, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

I do like the idea of trying to limit purchases to just the absolute necessities. I need to stock up on a few things first and then will challenge myself to seeing just how low I can keep the discretionary spending each month.

 

[jackers]

Welcome to all the newcomers and Congratulations @amalone1013!

 

[lfcfan]

Hi everyone,
Just discovered this thread and I am inspired. My husband is not particularly interested in discussing goals, etc., so it is nice to find like-minded individuals here! Best of luck to all in 2022. I probably need to take a little time to fully develop and clarify
my goals, but here are some things I am thinking about for 2022.
Financial:
focus on putting son through college (class of '25), with the goal of having everything paid off within 1 year of his graduation
maintain my new job (20 hours per week) and explore potential ways to supplement this income/use skills
save for/pay off Disney trip May 2022 (delayed since summer 2020)
budget extra money more carefully (be mindful of unnecessary purchases, budget for groceries)
continue to max out retirement savings

Personal:
lose 10 pounds thru healthy diet and exercise. After watching the scale climb steadily for 10-15 years, finally was able to get some control of it last year. Lost 15 pounds. Need to refocus after holiday indulgence.
declutter. (the holidays always make me feel overwhelmed)
create a will. we have been talking about this for years but still not done.
find a hobby (or other activity) that brings meaning and joy to my life. now that I am an empty nester, I find myself suddenly with a lot more time on my hands, and a desire to do something creative, but I am not a creative person
appreciate life and small moments-have fun!

Thanks for listening!

 

[Carol_]

Coughed up another heavy check to Navient.
Down to $108k. Finally cutting into the principal.

 

[limace]

Ok, I’ll join for the first time. Last year was rough to us too-in addition to all the normal crap, both of our dads died. I think we’ve been at more of a loss than normal-and we are normally not great at organizing money. Bright side-I’m about 2 1/2 years off from retiring with a state govt pension that will replace a good chunk of my income, and DH switched to a new job with a little bit of a raise but more money in the future. On the other hand, our middle kiddo will be heading to college at the same time I retire and we aren’t super well prepared for that.

Financial:
-pay off both credit cards I have-about 10K. I’d like to head into retirement debt free.
-sell my old car-that should be a couple grand.
-get a will done! I’m a little relieved to know that we aren’t the only ones with kids who’ve procrastinated on this.
-get on the same page re $ with DH. We married in our mid-30s, I had one child already, we each owned a house, and we’ve kept our money separate. I don’t mind that but I think we need to check in about who is saving/spending what and make sure it’s balanced and we have a mutual plan.
-pay cash for our lodging etc for our Italy trip in March (if it can even happen….).

Personal
-lose 15-20 lbs-my Covid gain.
-continue walking every day before work.
-declutter front of garage to make an exercise area for kids.
-finish painting the house.

 

[pblack]

Omg congratulations @amalone1013! What wonderful news!! Also I feel like it's been awhile since we've seen you post, so welcome back!

 

[DisneyMandC]

I don't make this post to shame anyone here as it's extremely admirable that so many of you have on your goal list to make wills, but I just want to really encourage any of you with that goal to MAKE IT A PRIORITY.

I experienced multiple deaths in my family last year, including my dad, and played a role in handling the estate (to some extent) following each death because of my work as an attorney. I can't tell you the toll it takes on those left behind when your instructions are not clear and when people don't know where your assets are and what to do with them. In addition to your will, make sure you go through and check any retirement accounts, life insurance policies, etc., to see if your beneficiaries are correct. This is VITAL if you are in a situation where you are divorced, have children from a previous marriage, have recently gotten married, etc. These types of accounts do not pass through your will and the companies in charge of them will only pay out to your designated beneficiary. So if you named your second cousin once removed the beneficiary on your life insurance policy and then forgot to change it after you got married and had a couple kids... guess who's inheriting the money?

Also extremely important is telling people where important documents are, who the executor is, etc. It's all well and good if you have a will and put it in your safe deposit box for safekeeping... but it's not good if you die without telling anyone where the key to the safe deposit box is and who the executor of that will is so they can go get it out of the bank.

Just some food for thought. Like I said, not trying to shame anyone about this because it's great that so many of you are thinking about it.! Just please be sure to check everything you have in terms of beneficiaries and to get it done sooner rather than later. I didn't expect to lose my dad so early, but, unfortunately, accidents happen.

 

[lfcfan]

I don't make this post to shame anyone here as it's extremely admirable that so many of you have on your goal list to make wills, but I just want to really encourage any of you with that goal to MAKE IT A PRIORITY.

I experienced multiple deaths in my family last year, including my dad, and played a role in handling the estate (to some extent) following each death because of my work as an attorney. I can't tell you the toll it takes on those left behind when your instructions are not clear and when people don't know where your assets are and what to do with them. In addition to your will, make sure you go through and check any retirement accounts, life insurance policies, etc., to see if your beneficiaries are correct. This is VITAL if you are in a situation where you are divorced, have children from a previous marriage, have recently gotten married, etc. These types of accounts do not pass through your will and the companies in charge of them will only pay out to your designated beneficiary. So if you named your second cousin once removed the beneficiary on your life insurance policy and then forgot to change it after you got married and had a couple kids... guess who's inheriting the money?

Also extremely important is telling people where important documents are, who the executor is, etc. It's all well and good if you have a will and put it in your safe deposit box for safekeeping... but it's not good if you die without telling anyone where the key to the safe deposit box is and who the executor of that will is so they can go get it out of the bank.

Just some food for thought. Like I said, not trying to shame anyone about this because it's great that so many of you are thinking about it.! Just please be sure to check everything you have in terms of beneficiaries and to get it done sooner rather than later. I didn't expect to lose my dad so early, but, unfortunately, accidents happen.

Very sorry for your loss, and thank you for the sound advice. I am one of the folks who keeps putting it on the back burner but you are absolutely right. Will make it a priority at the start of this new year! Thanks for taking the time to lay this out.

 

[afan]

In addition to your will, make sure you go through and check any retirement accounts, life insurance policies, etc., to see if your beneficiaries are correct. This is VITAL if you are in a situation where you are divorced, have children from a previous marriage, have recently gotten married, etc. These types of accounts do not pass through your will and the companies in charge of them will only pay out to your designated beneficiary. So if you named your second cousin once removed the beneficiary on your life insurance policy and then forgot to change it after you got married and had a couple kids... guess who's inheriting the money?

Also, if you've told someone they are a beneficiary on these and you change them to someone else, please tell the original person. One so they can ask questions if needed and two so they can avoid the awkward phone call when they discover it's been changed and they can't tell you why. Especially since after the fact you can't do anything about it and depending on the relationship ask if it done when the person was in the right mind or if it was done after the dementia had taken over more.

 

[barkley]

I can't tell you the toll it takes on those left behind when your instructions are not clear and when people don't know where your assets are and what to do with them

imagine a pile of hundreds of jigsaw puzzle pieces on the floor-and you have no picture to guide you but you MUST put it together (and others, not helping you at all are complaining and at times threatening).

These types of accounts do not pass through your will and the companies in charge of them will only pay out to your designated beneficiary.

and the deceased's power attorney ends upon their death so the company won't talk to anyone (doesn't count if you are executor of their estate cuz it passes outside it) except to say 'we can't verify if it exists, just have anyone who thinks they might be a beneficiary fill out a claim form'.

Also extremely important is telling people where important documents are

also, THINK what will be important documents to the person handling it, not YOU while you are alive-your supermarket membership paperwork, pet's vaccination records, long gone autos service records should not be the priority over a certified copy of your birth cert, your pension info, life insurance info, lists of/passwords to auto billing pay sites...

it's not good if you die without telling anyone where the key to the safe deposit box is

storage units too!!! we had to pay 3 months of extra storage on what we learned was a useless overpriced storage space (a couple of boxes of junk the deceased likely meant to clear out and dump) because we couldn't find the key. dh wasn't listed on the contract so we had to default to that state's law and wait 90 days then show court papers to get the lock cut off. $$$ wasted.


we had our wills done in 2019-out of love for our one adult child who could be named executor (our other adult child is under guardianship) we've opted to name a financial institution to execute because dh and i will NEVER emotionally recover from the nightmare of dealing with our family member's estates (irreparable damage due to the 'shoot the messenger' mindset from now estranged siblings).

 

[barkley]

Also, if you've told someone they are a beneficiary on these and you change them to someone else, please tell the original person. One so they can ask questions if needed and two so they can avoid the awkward phone call when they discover it's been changed and they can't tell you why. Especially since after the fact you can't do anything about it and depending on the relationship ask if it done when the person was in the right mind or if it was done after the dementia had taken over more.

along the same lines-if you've told someone they will be executor or trustee and then decide to name someone else, don't let it be a surprise upon your death to either the former OR the new. to be in a situation where you didn't know you were named or being misled and told you are being named b/c 'the obvious family member to do it' has asked not to (when they have not).............let's just say it's VERY confusing, painful and potentially life altering.

 

[mom2rb]

We did a good job of staying out of debt in 2021 and even paid cash to remodel the bathroom, but now we have no emergency fund, and a 40 year old house that needs work.
Goals for 2022
Split between building back up savings and paying cash for home repairs.
The windows and Genarac are at 18 months no interest, the Hardeeplank and gutters will have to be cash.
One more semester until DS has his Masters and then hopefully he will have a job.
I wanted to pay down on the house but the repairs have to come first. I figure that as soon as I pay that off, I can throw everything at the mortgage.

Last year I crashed and burned at personal goals so this year I am not going to make any. I am hoping that I will be so motivated by my financial goals that next year I can focus on the personal.

 

[barkley]

Genarac

best home improvement we've ever done

paid cash to remodel the bathroom

what kind of counters did you go with?

 

[mom2rb]

best home improvement we've ever done

We ordered it in August, they are in such high demand they we don’t get it until July. The windows were installed last week, so that gives my 7 months to pay on them before we start paying on the Genarac.


what kind of counters did you go with?

Quartz for the bathrooms, we redid the tile and countertops in all three, completely redid the master. I had marble in the master before and I hated it. It never looked clean, I bought every marble cleaner on the market. I have granite in my kitchen and I love it.

 

[jen7233]

Congrats @amalone1013!

Great points on wills and beneficiaries. I remember hearing a story from the benefits side in HR on an employee in the organization that forgot to change the beneficiary from the ex-wife to the new wife.

Back to work tomorrow, not feeling it. It's going to be slightly crazy return post-holidays.

 

[barkley]

Great points on wills and beneficiaries. I remember hearing a story from the benefits side in HR on an employee in the organization that forgot to change the beneficiary from the ex-wife to the new wife.

on the flip side-if you are already retired, have a pension and your spouse passes it is important to let h/r know as well b/c you may have signed up for a reduced pension based on a survivor's continuance that could either result in (a) a higher continuing pension for your now widowed self or (b) naming a subsequent survivor. if i were to predecease my dh his pension would allow him to increase his pension or have the option of a naming a minor or disabled adult child as a survivor beneficiary.

 

[Tygerlilly]

And then we'll see how things adjust this year with the little bundle of joy we have coming

Congratulations!!!