Debt Dumpers 2020

[barkley]

've been going through my food storage in Feb. Taking inventory, pitching anything expired, purchasing replacements and adding more

we are one in the same.

in 2018 i started tracking the annual household usage of our 'staples'-canned and dry goods, paper/cleaning products. i kept track for a year to see what the average use was so i could avail myself of some very good stock up sales they have around us or keep my eyes peeled for both costco and target sales (giftcard w/purchase offers). in fall 2019 i restocked everything, and just this week at about the 5 month point i'm finding the number crunching has held up. i'm almost identically on track for usage as i had calculated, and the savings have been great. it kills me to see canned beans 'on sale' for 4/1.25 when i stocked up for 50 cents each, canned veggies for outrageous prices ($1.50 a can for certain tomato products i grabbed up at 89 cents). now i just have to wait for the weather to warm up and for people to start up grilling-those deals on condiments can't be beat (and i just opened my last brand name bottle of mustard that i snagged for 25 cents last summer).

it's amazing the financial benefits a few hours work on a couple of weekend days organizing and counting out pantry contents can reap.

 

[nkmorgan87]

looking for advice

With tax returns this year and some savings I was planning on paying off my truck loan. I have about $7,600 remaining with a 4.76% interest rate

With the stock market taking a bit of a dive, I was thinking about buying some "stocks on sale" with the money I was going to pay off the truck with

Anyone have any advice on which makes more sense? I always feel like paying off dept is the best option, but wanted to get some opinions.

I am 28 so have plenty of time before retirement comes to take risk in stock market

 

[pblack]

looking for advice

With tax returns this year and some savings I was planning on paying off my truck loan. I have about $7,600 remaining with a 4.76% interest rate

With the stock market taking a bit of a dive, I was thinking about buying some "stocks on sale" with the money I was going to pay off the truck with

Anyone have any advice on which makes more sense? I always feel like paying off dept is the best option, but wanted to get some opinions.

I am 28 so have plenty of time before retirement comes to take risk in stock market

I know nothing about the stock market, so you can take this with a grain of salt (and tequila if you want ). Could you do a bit of both? Buy some stocks and still put a decent chunk towards your truck payment? That way you'd still be making a dent in the truck debt.

 

[MN_Andi]

Anyone have any advice on which makes more sense? I always feel like paying off dept is the best option, but wanted to get some opinions.

The way I look at it, you know you'll get a 4.76% "return" from paying off your truck, and the amount you could gain (or lose) from the stock market is unknown. I'm definitely not literate in the stock market, but I would feel cautious about that huge drop and making a decision based on that. My personal opinion would be to pay off the truck, or at the very least wait and see what happens with the stock market over the next few days/weeks.

 

[jen7233]

looking for advice

With tax returns this year and some savings I was planning on paying off my truck loan. I have about $7,600 remaining with a 4.76% interest rate

With the stock market taking a bit of a dive, I was thinking about buying some "stocks on sale" with the money I was going to pay off the truck with

Anyone have any advice on which makes more sense? I always feel like paying off dept is the best option, but wanted to get some opinions.

I am 28 so have plenty of time before retirement comes to take risk in stock market

It really depends on your whole financial picture, and your personal feelings. The basic answer that you'll likely see out on the internet is the Dave Ramsey approach, don't invest until the debt's paid off. Most likely, you've seen or heard of his baby steps doing a little digging. Invest in one sum or the dollar cost averaging school of thought are ways you can look into when researching about your future investing. Also, I'm not certain that this week's lows are the lowest. I personally wouldn't worry about catching this "sale", just look at your overall end goals and that'll tell you the path. When I was 28, I did have a home loan (no longer own it) and a .9% car loan on a Ford ZX2, and we still invested. Looking back the one good thing I'd say is we started our Roths in our 20s.

 

[piccolopat]

looking for advice

With tax returns this year and some savings I was planning on paying off my truck loan. I have about $7,600 remaining with a 4.76% interest rate

With the stock market taking a bit of a dive, I was thinking about buying some "stocks on sale" with the money I was going to pay off the truck with

Anyone have any advice on which makes more sense? I always feel like paying off dept is the best option, but wanted to get some opinions.

I am 28 so have plenty of time before retirement comes to take risk in stock market

Pay off the truck. The stock market will likely be a bit volatile until the coronavirus problem settles down.

 

[barkley]

looking for advice

With tax returns this year and some savings I was planning on paying off my truck loan. I have about $7,600 remaining with a 4.76% interest rate

With the stock market taking a bit of a dive, I was thinking about buying some "stocks on sale" with the money I was going to pay off the truck with

Anyone have any advice on which makes more sense? I always feel like paying off dept is the best option, but wanted to get some opinions.

I am 28 so have plenty of time before retirement comes to take risk in stock market

not to be a doomsday'r but..........depending on where you live and what your situation is, unless you have some 'rainy day' savings i would be setting some liquid funds aside. my reasoning for this is w/just the initial fears over what was yesterday confirmed as one, today-two/with a third awaiting testing confirmation of coronavirus through community transmission in california (initially solano county, now yolo county-including 3 monitored cases from u.c. dorm students/pending test results, and another verified in the san mateo county) people and industries are beginning to panic. right now in the u.s. there are sporadic quarantines in place. i am fearful that as more cases are diagnosed that more quarantines will occur, and schools will convert at least temporarily to on-line education. that being the case, even those who are not impacted by personal quarantine or have to take leave of jobs to supervise children who normally attend school will to some extent see their livelihoods impacted. just as with the recession, the financial impact trickles down. i was never so glad to have not paid off a vehicle loan in '08 as when our income took a sudden downturn due to the recession. we were in a much better financial state having the value of that truck in our savings account to use for living expenses and making the minimum monthly truck loan than we would ever been absent that one debt.

like i said-no trying to be doom and gloom but it hit me today while grocery shopping-people were stocking up like they do before a massive snowstorm. buying much more non perishables, weeks and weeks worth of paper goods, diapers, coffee. it was'nt normal shopping-people were on a mission, no 'window shopping' at the easter displays or the new spring clothes, and the health and beauty aisles-you couldn't find hand sanitizer to save your life while i've never before seen rubbing alcohol fly off the shelves. people are scared.

 

[Scoobie]

I'm amazed at your dog, what breed or mix was she again?

She's a scottie! She's a wee lass but has a BIG bark which she uses every time she hears a noise. Any noise.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Well, it’s been a crappy-ish weekend here. DH took my car to the airport last week for a trip and I kept his new car. On Friday night as he was driving home from the airport, he said my car started rattling and he was going to pull off at the next exit. Before he could get there, he said my engine made a “terrible knocking noise” and completely died. He coasted off the side of the road to the shoulder. It wouldn’t turn back on or anything so we had to have it towed to my mechanic who will look at it tomorrow morning. I’m not expecting it to be good though. And even if it is something fixable that’s not outrageously priced, that’s twice now in three months that this car has left us on the side of the highway, so it’s time for it to hit the road.

Unfortunately, of course, we just bought DH’s new to him car in December. While my liquid savings are decent, they’re not “buy two cars in three months in cash” good. So I don’t know what I’m going to do about that. I could put down a sizeable down payment, but I’d have to finance the rest at the very least until DH gets his bonus in May. I’m hoping my car can be fixed enough so that I can at least get a couple grand for it, but I’m not even confident of that.

 

[MN_Andi]

Monthly recap for February...

Financial Goals for 2020:

• Have student loans under $20,000 ($28,000 --> $25,152)
  • Very happy with how my progress is going for my loans. My third paycheck in January made a huge dent in this, but I'm hoping to keep pace of paying at least twice as much as my monthly payment is until I hit my goal, hopefully before my vacation.
• Save $3,000 for my vacation to Walt Disney World in late October/November ($1489.22/$3000)
  • My tax refund made up most of the increase this month, but I still plan on throwing at least $200/month into this fund. Once I pay off my car in May (so close!), I'll be using that money to finish saving up for my vacation.
  • I purchased my tickets for MNSSHP for Halloween a few days ago! Super excited!
• Keep my financial spreadsheet 100% up to date (February good.)

Looking forward to this month, I need to purchase new tabs for my car, and I also need to register for the Wine and Dine running events. I'm mostly excited for some warmer weather here in Minnesota! This weekend it has been in the high 30's/low 40's, and it feels so nice! I hope everyone has a great March

 

[pblack]

Weather in different parts of the country is so crazy to me. 30s/40s to me would be absolutely freezing. we've had unseasonably warm weather here in northern CA and pretty much all of last week it was mid to high 70s. Much more to my liking lol.

Sorry to hear about the car @DisneyMandC, hopefully it ends up being an outcome you're ok with. ☹

 

[Buzzsgramma]

looking for advice

With tax returns this year and some savings I was planning on paying off my truck loan. I have about $7,600 remaining with a 4.76% interest rate

With the stock market taking a bit of a dive, I was thinking about buying some "stocks on sale" with the money I was going to pay off the truck with

Anyone have any advice on which makes more sense? I always feel like paying off dept is the best option, but wanted to get some opinions.

I am 28 so have plenty of time before retirement comes to take risk in stock market

We are retired 12 years...I say pay off your debts...if you have some...emergency fund..!. dollar cost average into stock market with whatever you can or invest in your work places 401K if they have one....

 

[DisneyMandC]

Well, my car engine is blown. Ugh.

There is a chance that Hyundai will did my engine for free because apparently there are major recalls and problems with these engines (which I was unaware of as I’ve had none of the known indicators). It’s not a guarantee since my car has 130k miles on it, but I looked it up online and some people have reported having close to 200k miles and Hyundai still replaced the engine. Apparently they’ll give you a loaner car while they do it. So my car is getting towed to the Hyundai dealership tomorrow and they said it will be the end of this week or early next week before they get to it.

 

[jen7233]

Well, my car engine is blown. Ugh.

There is a chance that Hyundai will did my engine for free because apparently there are major recalls and problems with these engines (which I was unaware of as I’ve had none of the known indicators). It’s not a guarantee since my car has 130k miles on it, but I looked it up online and some people have reported having close to 200k miles and Hyundai still replaced the engine. Apparently they’ll give you a loaner car while they do it. So my car is getting towed to the Hyundai dealership tomorrow and they said it will be the end of this week or early next week before they get to it.

Oh my, sorry to hear that! That stinks. Here's to hoping they'll be replacing it!

 

[crazycatstacy]

I am impatiently waiting to get the results of my income based payment for student loans. Wondering what my new payment will be.

We sold our house two years ago and rented a condo. Our lease is up nor or April 1 (not sure exactly when- we moved in March 15 and I haven't looked at the lease to verify). I emailed the first part of January and said we would like to renew and the office lady said she would let the owner know and get back to me. Paid February rent and she still hadn't heard anything. Paid rent for March on Friday and she wasn't in the office. I emailed her and said I dropped the rent off and wondered if she had heard anything or if we need to start packing. Our only rental experience was when I rented a house for years and never really had any contact with the landlord so I'm not familiar with renewing leases! I hope they figure it out soon rather they want to continue it or not as I really don't want to move and hope to buy this unit in the next year. My husband thinks no news is good news and if they didn't plan on renewing the lease we would have heard about it. I mostly agree with that, but the neurotic side of me is going crazy.

It's supposed to be almost 70 this weekend so I am hoping to get outside and enjoy it!

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I haven't posted in what feels like forever. Things haven't been great over here.

We have canceled our April cruise to Italy, France, and Spain due to Covid-19. It just doesn't feel prudent to go while pregnant and given a potential risk of quarantine. Royal Caribbean is giving us a 25% cash refund, plus a 75% future cruise credit minus a $300 cancellation fee. I feel that is pretty fair given we were already past the final payment date and could have lost up to 75% of our money based on their cancellation policy. Airline and hotel in Barcelona would not offer any kind of refund or credit, so I have submitted an insurance claim through my Chase Sapphire Reserve card. I had my OB write me a letter stating that I couldn't travel due to "secondary risk for pregnancy-related complications" which is a fancy way of saying that getting coronavirus would be bad without actually mentioning coronavirus because the insurance doesn't actually cover epidemic related losses. We will see how this all works out, but I'm not necessarily super hopeful that we will recoup that $2200 in costs.

And then on Sunday, I went to take a shower and there was no hot water, so I went down to the basement and saw that it was flooded in the mechanical room and had spread under the wall into the theatre room as well. I cleaned up the water as best as I could and called an emergency plumber. He came within 45 minutes and stopped the leaking for the most part. The drywall has completely dried now and he carpet is mostly dry, so I think there won't be any long term damage to the basement. He came yesterday to replace some pipes that looked corroded, but that didn't stop the leaking. Seems that the tank of our water heater cracked, so it must be replaced. He is coming back today. All total it is going to cost us $2500, which we will take from our emergency fund. I just want hot water so I can take a shower.

 

[barkley]

I am impatiently waiting to get the results of my income based payment for student loans. Wondering what my new payment will be.

We sold our house two years ago and rented a condo. Our lease is up nor or April 1 (not sure exactly when- we moved in March 15 and I haven't looked at the lease to verify). I emailed the first part of January and said we would like to renew and the office lady said she would let the owner know and get back to me. Paid February rent and she still hadn't heard anything. Paid rent for March on Friday and she wasn't in the office. I emailed her and said I dropped the rent off and wondered if she had heard anything or if we need to start packing. Our only rental experience was when I rented a house for years and never really had any contact with the landlord so I'm not familiar with renewing leases! I hope they figure it out soon rather they want to continue it or not as I really don't want to move and hope to buy this unit in the next year. My husband thinks no news is good news and if they didn't plan on renewing the lease we would have heard about it. I mostly agree with that, but the neurotic side of me is going crazy.

It's supposed to be almost 70 this weekend so I am hoping to get outside and enjoy it!

you might want to check out what your rights are with the rental. in some states your rights vary greatly depending on if you are within a lease period or the lease has ended and it's become a month to month tenancy. i know with my dd's lease if she does'nt get a new one signed then the landlord is under no obligation to give notice to move out b/c the end of the lease period is the move out date (no right to revert to month to month), with a rental we lived in the state law said landlord had to give written notice of non intent to extend a new lease or it auto converted to month to month at the end w/all the lease provisions out the window and all the month to month tenant rights replacing them.

btw-fingers crossed for you on buying in the near future, i was just posting on another thread about my surprise at seeing how low fixed rate loans are going for what with the current stock market craziness.

 

[jen7233]

I haven't posted in what feels like forever. Things haven't been great over here.

We have canceled our April cruise to Italy, France, and Spain due to Covid-19. It just doesn't feel prudent to go while pregnant and given a potential risk of quarantine. Royal Caribbean is giving us a 25% cash refund, plus a 75% future cruise credit minus a $300 cancellation fee. I feel that is pretty fair given we were already past the final payment date and could have lost up to 75% of our money based on their cancellation policy. Airline and hotel in Barcelona would not offer any kind of refund or credit, so I have submitted an insurance claim through my Chase Sapphire Reserve card. I had my OB write me a letter stating that I couldn't travel due to "secondary risk for pregnancy-related complications" which is a fancy way of saying that getting coronavirus would be bad without actually mentioning coronavirus because the insurance doesn't actually cover epidemic related losses. We will see how this all works out, but I'm not necessarily super hopeful that we will recoup that $2200 in costs.

And then on Sunday, I went to take a shower and there was no hot water, so I went down to the basement and saw that it was flooded in the mechanical room and had spread under the wall into the theatre room as well. I cleaned up the water as best as I could and called an emergency plumber. He came within 45 minutes and stopped the leaking for the most part. The drywall has completely dried now and he carpet is mostly dry, so I think there won't be any long term damage to the basement. He came yesterday to replace some pipes that looked corroded, but that didn't stop the leaking. Seems that the tank of our water heater cracked, so it must be replaced. He is coming back today. All total it is going to cost us $2500, which we will take from our emergency fund. I just want hot water so I can take a shower.

I wouldn't travel over there either with your concerns. Seems like RC did a pretty fair consideration with the refund and 75% credit. Bummer on the water heater and cost to replace!

I am impatiently waiting to get the results of my income based payment for student loans. Wondering what my new payment will be.

We sold our house two years ago and rented a condo. Our lease is up nor or April 1 (not sure exactly when- we moved in March 15 and I haven't looked at the lease to verify). I emailed the first part of January and said we would like to renew and the office lady said she would let the owner know and get back to me. Paid February rent and she still hadn't heard anything. Paid rent for March on Friday and she wasn't in the office. I emailed her and said I dropped the rent off and wondered if she had heard anything or if we need to start packing. Our only rental experience was when I rented a house for years and never really had any contact with the landlord so I'm not familiar with renewing leases! I hope they figure it out soon rather they want to continue it or not as I really don't want to move and hope to buy this unit in the next year. My husband thinks no news is good news and if they didn't plan on renewing the lease we would have heard about it. I mostly agree with that, but the neurotic side of me is going crazy.

It's supposed to be almost 70 this weekend so I am hoping to get outside and enjoy it!

Our lease is up in July, my DH wanted to move out but after looking around it's actually hard to do, I want to stay put another year even though I don't like the home, I can deal with it, much easier than moving out and the hassle of trying to find a home in our school boundary at the same or cheaper price. I took a peek and check daily, it is hard to find and have to move quickly if interested right now. I don't want to pay any more than we are now, and we are in a single family home. They move quickly in my area and get multiple offers if in a good price range and schools, particularly in the spring/summer moving season.

 

[3threebabies]

you might want to check out what your rights are with the rental. in some states your rights vary greatly depending on if you are within a lease period or the lease has ended and it's become a month to month tenancy. i know with my dd's lease if she does'nt get a new one signed then the landlord is under no obligation to give notice to move out b/c the end of the lease period is the move out date (no right to revert to month to month), with a rental we lived in the state law said landlord had to give written notice of non intent to extend a new lease or it auto converted to month to month at the end w/all the lease provisions out the window and all the month to month tenant rights replacing them.

btw-fingers crossed for you on buying in the near future, i was just posting on another thread about my surprise at seeing how low fixed rate loans are going for what with the current stock market craziness.

@crazycatstacy To expand, some states also have stronger tenant protection for families with minor children or other dependents—if that applies to you. So definitely check your state’s tenancy laws. I would look up your lease and read every line.

We are in a corporate rental with new ownership/management company as of Jan. 1. They are required to fulfill our existing lease to the letter. I do not know what changes will be made as our current lease is fairly boilerplate. I know it gives a time period for the lease renewal (or not) to be provided to us, and we have to give 63 days (such a weird number—63) notice to them if we accept new lease. Month to month afterward is only if they can accommodate and at a higher rate as a percentage of base rent.

 

[3threebabies]

I haven't posted in what feels like forever. Things haven't been great over here.

We have canceled our April cruise to Italy, France, and Spain due to Covid-19. It just doesn't feel prudent to go while pregnant and given a potential risk of quarantine. Royal Caribbean is giving us a 25% cash refund, plus a 75% future cruise credit minus a $300 cancellation fee. I feel that is pretty fair given we were already past the final payment date and could have lost up to 75% of our money based on their cancellation policy. Airline and hotel in Barcelona would not offer any kind of refund or credit, so I have submitted an insurance claim through my Chase Sapphire Reserve card. I had my OB write me a letter stating that I couldn't travel due to "secondary risk for pregnancy-related complications" which is a fancy way of saying that getting coronavirus would be bad without actually mentioning coronavirus because the insurance doesn't actually cover epidemic related losses. We will see how this all works out, but I'm not necessarily super hopeful that we will recoup that $2200 in costs.

And then on Sunday, I went to take a shower and there was no hot water, so I went down to the basement and saw that it was flooded in the mechanical room and had spread under the wall into the theatre room as well. I cleaned up the water as best as I could and called an emergency plumber. He came within 45 minutes and stopped the leaking for the most part. The drywall has completely dried now and he carpet is mostly dry, so I think there won't be any long term damage to the basement. He came yesterday to replace some pipes that looked corroded, but that didn't stop the leaking. Seems that the tank of our water heater cracked, so it must be replaced. He is coming back today. All total it is going to cost us $2500, which we will take from our emergency fund. I just want hot water so I can take a shower.

So sorry for crappy few weeks. I must say my heart lurched at beginning of your post. I am glad issues have only been monetary and that pregnancy and dd are doing well.