Debt Dumpers - 2017

[DisneyMandC]

I am not a horse person so I just don't know...what exactly are you braiding? (LOL) And how long does it take? Just curious.

And yes, please everyone be safe. We are far enough away that I don't think we're even going to get rain this weekend. Fine by me, it's finally "fall" here (low 70s and the humidity is dropping). I might even turn the AC off this weekend.

I'm braiding horse manes! It's basically required that your horse's mane be braided for what I show in. Many people either can't braid well or just plain don't like doing it and pay others to braid their horses for them. It takes me between an hour to an hour and a half to braid one horse depending on the thickness and texture of the horse's mane. I actually have a number of friends that travel around to horse shows and do this for a living. One of my friends just told me two horse trainers are flying him out to a horse show next week and having him braid all their horses. I actually seriously considered doing this at one point for a living, but it's tough work and very hard on your hands (repetitive movements with serious attention to detail). I don't do it as hardcore as others since I do have another job, but those who do it for a living often stay up all night to braid horses when they aren't being ridden to have them ready for a show the next day.

Hopefully this picture shows up since I'm trying to post from my phone!

 

[DnA2010]

Leaving work early today and taking off tomorrow for my side hustle. I ended up picking up 8 horses to braid at one of my horse shows at $55 a head, so it'll be a nice little bit of extra cash to have (or to just give straight to my horse trainer, lol). I'm going to make myself some sandwiches before I go to eat for dinner tonight, since I don't usually stop working long enough to go get something to eat once I get started. My hotel has a free breakfast so I'm going to take advantage of that tomorrow. Hopefully I should only have to spend out of pocket for lunch tomorrow.

I hope anyone in the path of Irma stays safe/evacuates as needed. Forecast still isn't clear for my area. We'll definitely get some of it, but not sure yet if it will be just some wind and rain, or the full deal. We have bad luck with "I" hurricanes in our area- Isabel and Irene were our two biggest in recent history. We lost power for 12 days with Isabel. None of it will start for us until at least Monday morning, and that will just be little bits coming up from further down the coast.

I think you are under priced! $55 is cheap! It's a lot more here! Thankfully I mastered it, you can make a killing braiding at big shows if you are good

 

[Tygerlilly]

Hoping everyone in the path of the hurricane are staying safe and preparing. I have family and quite a few friends that decided to stay and bunker down, so I'll be anxiously watching the weather channel for the next couple days.

The recent outbreak has half our family worrying about our trip in a month. My BIL/SIL are already thinking on cancelling their part and eating their share of the rental house. We're waiting to see what this next development coming off Africa is going to do before we make any decisions.

Our rental manager (we rented a house offsite) will allow us to rebook a different week if a hurricane threat is likely. If it comes to that, which would be the better option? Last week of February or sometime in April?

 

[DisneyMandC]

I think you are under priced! $55 is cheap! It's a lot more here! Thankfully I mastered it, you can make a killing braiding at big shows if you are good

Thanks! Yeah I think it really depends on the circuit. $55-$65 is normal for us, sometimes prices will go up at the bigger shows. I know the people on the A hunter circuits pay a fortune for braiding though! We also rarely do tails for our shows unless it's a big one.

Hoping everyone in the path of the hurricane are staying safe and preparing. I have family and quite a few friends that decided to stay and bunker down, so I'll be anxiously watching the weather channel for the next couple days.

The recent outbreak has half our family worrying about our trip in a month. My BIL/SIL are already thinking on cancelling their part and eating their share of the rental house. We're waiting to see what this next development coming off Africa is going to do before we make any decisions.

Our rental manager (we rented a house offsite) will allow us to rebook a different week if a hurricane threat is likely. If it comes to that, which would be the better option? Last week of February or sometime in April?

I would wait and see what happens. I feel like the bulk of what we get is usually around this period of time, of course I know Sandy was an October hurricane. That being said, if you do move your trip I think either time would be good, as long as you can do your trip during a week that isn't a traditional spring break week in April. We did an april trip in 2015 and our first day was the Sunday AFTER Easter, so most of the spring breakers were clearing out as we were coming in. We had a really nice trip with beautiful weather.

 

[Eureka]

I'm braiding horse manes! It's basically required that your horse's mane be braided for what I show in. Many people either can't braid well or just plain don't like doing it and pay others to braid their horses for them. It takes me between an hour to an hour and a half to braid one horse depending on the thickness and texture of the horse's mane. I actually have a number of friends that travel around to horse shows and do this for a living. One of my friends just told me two horse trainers are flying him out to a horse show next week and having him braid all their horses. I actually seriously considered doing this at one point for a living, but it's tough work and very hard on your hands (repetitive movements with serious attention to detail). I don't do it as hardcore as others since I do have another job, but those who do it for a living often stay up all night to braid horses when they aren't being ridden to have them ready for a show the next day.

Hopefully this picture shows up since I'm trying to post from my phone!
View attachment 267974

Pretty! A world I know nothing about. I guess it's like being a hairdresser for horses. Interesting. Thanks for explaining.

 

[DnA2010]

Thanks! Yeah I think it really depends on the circuit. $55-$65 is normal for us, sometimes prices will go up at the bigger shows. I know the people on the A hunter circuits pay a fortune for braiding though! We also rarely do tails for our shows unless it's a big one..

Ah gotcha- ya the A circuit is very pricey- beyond me now

 

[fifthdimensiondweller]

If it comes to that, which would be the better option? Last week of February or sometime in April?

Last week of February the weather will be great but you might run into the very beginning of the spring break crowds. On the other hand April might run you into Easter crowds if you go the first week. I personally would vote for February but that's more a personal preference for traveling in Feb in general. I've also been in April. I was young and don't remember much about the crowds but my mom says it was a wonderful time of year to go. I don't think you could go wrong! That being said, I agree it would be best to wait a little before deciding.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Last week of February the weather will be great but you might run into the very beginning of the spring break crowds. On the other hand April might run you into Easter crowds if you go the first week. I personally would vote for February but that's more a personal preference for traveling in Feb in general. I've also been in April. I was young and don't remember much about the crowds but my mom says it was a wonderful time of year to go. I don't think you could go wrong! That being said, I agree it would be best to wait a little before deciding.

We always go the last week of February or first week of March and there are never spring break crowds yet. It is a really nice, more relaxing time to go to the parks and the weather for our last two trips has been great. Mostly in the high 70s/low 80s and little rain.

We now prefer early March because we can catch the start of the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival, a favorite of both myself and DH.

 

[dayvewc]

Our rental manager (we rented a house offsite) will allow us to rebook a different week if a hurricane threat is likely. If it comes to that, which would be the better option? Last week of February or sometime in April?

I think it would depend on when that "sometime in April" is. Easter is Sunday, April 1, so if you are looking at that week, I'd go with February. If it is later in the month, I'd suggest April as all the spring reconditioning should be finished by then, most if not all of the Spring Break crowds will be gone, and EPCOT Flower and Garden will be in full swing. Last week in February might hit early spring break crowds and still have a few things down for reconditioning (Looking at you, Splash Mountain), and F&G may not be started yet.

So kind of depends on your priorities of what to see/do. Regardless, I'd wait and see what the hurricane forecast is closer to your trip, and make the decision on the last day possible for flight/accommodation rescheduling.

 

[Eureka]

Hoping everyone in the path of the hurricane are staying safe and preparing. I have family and quite a few friends that decided to stay and bunker down, so I'll be anxiously watching the weather channel for the next couple days.

The recent outbreak has half our family worrying about our trip in a month. My BIL/SIL are already thinking on cancelling their part and eating their share of the rental house. We're waiting to see what this next development coming off Africa is going to do before we make any decisions.

Our rental manager (we rented a house offsite) will allow us to rebook a different week if a hurricane threat is likely. If it comes to that, which would be the better option? Last week of February or sometime in April?

I have gone the week leading into Easter in April and it was packed and about 90 degrees. I was in Orlando (not Disney) in mid-Feb 2016 and it was mid-70s and our time at Universal was not very busy at all. If you can do Feb., I would choose that.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

DH and I went to Home Depot yesterday to get some supplies for reseeding portions of our lawn. When we were waiting in the checkout line, the lady in front of us asked the clerk if she could get someone to help her load the heavy bags of soil into her car. DH, being the wonderfully helpful person that he is, offered right away to help her. So DH went out while I paid for our purchases. As I was leaving, the cashier handed me the receipt and said that she had added a $5 discount to our order because DH had been so nice and helpful. Totally unexpected, but definitely appreciated. DH is such a keeper.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Apple just sold me a watch I didn't know that I needed. Ugh.

 

[DnA2010]

Apple just sold me a watch I didn't know that I needed. Ugh.

Trying to sell me one too...

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Trying to sell me one too...

I don't have the money for it now, but once I have paid off that sewing cabinet, I plan to save up for the new Apple watch.

They had a big thing during their presentation that talked about using the watch to detect atrial fibrillation. My dad and I both have Afib which puts you at higher risk for a stroke. My dad had a transient ischemic attack about 2 years ago. My sister happened to be right with him when it happened, so they got him to the hospital quickly. It just makes me think that it could be such an important and possibly life saving device.

 

[DnA2010]

I don't have the money for it now, but once I have paid off that sewing cabinet, I plan to save up for the new Apple watch.

They had a big thing during their presentation that talked about using the watch to detect atrial fibrillation. My dad and I both have Afib which puts you at higher risk for a stroke. My dad had a transient ischemic attack about 2 years ago. My sister happened to be right with him when it happened, so they got him to the hospital quickly. It just makes me think that it could be such an important and possibly life saving device.

That is very cool! Perfect reason to save for. We have made some big purchases in the last little bit (expenses for cruise my mom took us on,new fridge, new mattress) so it's out for me for a while, but maybe a Christmas present from my mom/dad/DH

 

[Alexle2007]

Trying to sell me one too...

Me three. I asked for one for my birthday gift in June and DH wanted to wait until the new version was released. Now to decide on the colors

 

[JoCoSelma]

Live like no one else, so later, you can live AND give like no one else!

 

[DisneyMandC]

No tempting Apple Watches for me, but I do have a couple of expensive bills coming up that are horse related. I'm also planning to purchase a $100 gift card to Cinebistro for a very good friend who recently helped my in-laws when they were served with a warrant in debt for medical bills (that they had been paying on every single month ). My friend refused to take any payment and was very helpful, so it's the least I can do for him.

The good news is the bills can all go on my brand new Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card! I got approved Monday and am looking forward to learning more about travel hacking and credit card rewards in general. I asked them to expedite the card to me so I'm hoping it will be at my house today. DH and I will be using that for all of our purchases at least through the initial three-month spend period, but I suspect we will just continue to use it thereafter for points (or until we pick up another useful credit card). We travel a lot with the horse shows, so we should get a pretty good point valuation out of it. In the meantime I'm going to cash out my cash rewards on my current credit card to lower my bill out of pocket on that.

Out of town this weekend for another horse show. We are volunteers at this one, but we're put up in a hotel and we're fed for the weekend (with the exception of usually one dinner which we choose to eat out for). I will pay my friend to take care of my dog for the weekend, but otherwise expenses should be low.

I hope everyone here stayed safe with Irma/didn't have any Disney trips impacted by it!

 

[dayvewc]

Well, I have paid off my DVC contract.

I'm now a full OWNER in DVC, instead of just an OWER.

That's 1 bill down, too many left to go.

 

[Dentam]

I hope everyone here stayed safe with Irma/didn't have any Disney trips impacted by it!

I did a budget trip with my dad to WDW last week (Monday - Friday). We stayed at Pop (requested and got a newly renovated room) and did a different park each day (no park hopping), with MK for another half day on Friday. We also did the free DVC after hours event at the AK on Wed. night and it was awesome! It was five hours long with free food and ice cream and most rides other than FoP were walk ons. FoP was a 45 minute wait, which we were happy to do - such an incredible ride! Overall, it was the best WDW trip I've had - low crowds throughout the whole week at every park and we got out just before Irma hit. We were lucky that our original trip plans had us leaving Friday night! So glad that WDW fared well through the hurricane! We ate mostly quick service meals to save money, our only splurge was breakfast at Boma on our AK day, and that is the cheapest buffet since it doesn't have characters. Only bought one souvenir each - the Halloween bag for $5.99. We also got a $30 gift card for opting out of housekeeping at Pop, but they ended up coming each day to clean anyway, which was odd.

Also, in other news - I was just approved for two 0% interest cc's which I will transfer my remaining cc balances onto. Since I paid off the other balances with my loan, my credit score has gone way up into the excellent category. Very happy with my progress!