Debt Dumpers 2023

[Gr8t Fan]

This last week went off the rails.

The family member that was in the hospital passed away, and I had to travel for the wake and funeral. Now my father is in the same hospital with heart attack. They say it's minor, but I won't believe it until I see it. So I'll be travelling again later today........

So sorry for your loss. Hope your father is feeling better soon. Safe travels!

 

[princesscinderella]

This last week went off the rails.

The family member that was in the hospital passed away, and I had to travel for the wake and funeral. Now my father is in the same hospital with heart attack. They say it's minor, but I won't believe it until I see it. So I'll be travelling again later today.

Financially:
1. Keep the credit cards empty - DONE! Still using them and paying them off before they start earning interest.
-One of my yearly major bills came in this week, so the card will take a hit soon.
2. Figure out a way to put some sort of extra on the mortgage, even if it's the $100 minimum - DONE!
3. Get some things I NEED to have (rims/tires for the car, items that need replacing at home, etc)
-Nothing this week. I spent money travelling, and am going to have to do it again.
4. Get a savings plan going for the big stuff that comes due in one lump sum payment (insurance, property tax)
-No progress this week. I need to pay a fair bit for some #3 stuff, and need to determine how much that'll cost me before throwing money into savings. I also have several thousands of dollars of bills due in the next 2 months, and that's not even factoring in things like Christmas.

General stuff:
1. Make a will - DONE!
2. Continue to clear out the crap. I need to go through my clothes and that sort of thing. I got a pile done in 2022, but it really wasn't enough.
-3 items gone this week. I learned some things didn't fit me while looking for funeral clothes.
-The "sell things online" plan got pushed off until things stabilize. I can't commit to meeting someone for a sale when I don't know where I'll be.
3. Look for a new job. The reason nothing has been getting done is because I'm burned out from my existing job and I'm being severely underpaid for the work I do.
-Checked the email notifications and jobs when I got the chance, but this has been largely put off due to the massive cluster that is my life
-Was talking to a family member in a similar job, who said they might be looking for people soon and will watch for something for me AND refer me when something is available. It could be 6-12 months, we'll see.
-Was talking to another contact who said they also may be hiring early next year, and told me to make sure my linkedin is up to date
4. Get my passport.-DONE!
5. Knock some half-finished projects off the list. Everything from making a scarf to some jewelry. Lots of stuff has been started, but not finished. Enough already!
-I dug up a pattern for something I'd promised to make someone, but didn't have a chance to start it
6. Get into better shape. I'd like to say 'lose weight', but I'd be happy to be able to run up my own steps without getting winded. The weight loss may or may not come, but it's not as important.
-2 workouts. I had a plan until everything came crashing down
7. Spend more time with loved ones. I don't see friends/family much. I guess I really need to do #3 in order to facilitate this one.
-Technically I saw a bunch of family (some I hadn't seen in years!) but visiting really wasn't the intention. Despite the circumstances, it was really nice to see them.
8. Organize my stuff!
Also nope

My job is not making things easier, but my boss has been really good about things. He lost his mother recently, so he understands.

So sorry to hear of your loss and now your father

 

[Tygerlilly]

Sorry for your loss and now the problems with your dad.

 

[Tygerlilly]

Well, Monday night my mom rolled her vehicle. She spent some time in the ER, but only has a bunch of bruises and cuts. The car is completely totaled. She got a rental for 4 weeks and the adjuster came out and they're giving her just shy of $23k for it. We literally just paid it off last month, and I think we paid right around that, so at least we're not out too much to replace it. She won't be able to finance anything since it was repossessed a couple months ago, so whatever she buys we will need to do it in cash. Just have to find time to go get one.

 

[goofytinkerbell]

Well, Monday night my mom rolled her vehicle. She spent some time in the ER, but only has a bunch of bruises and cuts. The car is completely totaled. She got a rental for 4 weeks and the adjuster came out and they're giving her just shy of $23k for it. We literally just paid it off last month, and I think we paid right around that, so at least we're not out too much to replace it. She won't be able to finance anything since it was repossessed a couple months ago, so whatever she buys we will need to do it in cash. Just have to find time to go get one.

Sorry it happened, but so lucky she's okay! Still doesn't make it less of a hassle to deal with though

 

[goofytinkerbell]

Thanks for the well-wishes. They're keeping Dad in the hospital for another night, but he had 4 more stints put in and a ballooned artery, so we're really just lucky he's still with us. If all goes well, we'll spend most of tomorrow to go pick him up and take him home. They had to ship him off to another city because the local hospital isn't equipped to deal with anything.

 

[Tygerlilly]

Thanks for the well-wishes. They're keeping Dad in the hospital for another night, but he had 4 more stints put in and a ballooned artery, so we're really just lucky he's still with us. If all goes well, we'll spend most of tomorrow to go pick him up and take him home. They had to ship him off to another city because the local hospital isn't equipped to deal with anything.

I don't want to worry you, but keep a close eye on him once he's home. My dad had the same procedure and a week later had another massive heart attack. He wasn't paying close enough to the symptoms to have maybe prevented it. Unfortunately he didn't survive that one. It's apparently pretty common that once the stints get put in sometimes the heart is too used to working too hard that it overcompensates.

Sending extra love your way.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I haven't checked in in a long time but thought I'd come to share the absolute insanity that is student loans right now lol. I'm on PSLF and all of those loans got transferred to Mohela. Ho. Ly. S#!$show. They have made such an absolute mess of it. I submitted paperwork to get on the new SAVE plan a month ago because my payment was going to drop $125. They still haven't processed my paperwork, put me on forbearance when I didn't ask to be, and then randomly updated my account to say I owe $3200 a month I'm not even upset about it because it's just so laughable. Then they changed my payment to $135/month... then $1700/month. They have absolutely no idea what they're doing. I finally managed to get them on the phone this morning after a brisk 45 minute wait and the rep tried to tell me I had been sent a bill for October. I asked her to show me where it was in my account and she couldn't find it. Then she tried to tell me this month wouldn't count towards my PSLF because I was in forbearance. I checked the box to not be put into forbearance!! If it wasn't for the PSLF reddit forum, I'd think I'd gone absolutely crazy. Fortunately, they're doing this stuff to everybody. Incredibly shady stuff too like backdating bills to meet the federal law deadline for charging you. They've sent me multiple messages through my account that they've backdated by a week. It's insane.

 

[ariel1025]

Jumping in!

Debt goal: Pay off all debt. Current focus - credit card #1 w/ $413.47 balance

Misc goal: Stick to our food budget and stop going out to eat so darn much! Currently have $87.62 left in our grocery budget and $100 left in our restaurant budget. Will reset on 9/14.

Credit card #1 paid in full as of 1.5 weeks ago!!

Next up, working on credit card #2 w/ $587.17 balance.

Doing better with not going out to eat but still have plenty of room for improvement…

 

[ariel1025]

Jumping in!

Debt goal: Pay off all debt. Current focus - credit card #1 w/ $413.47 balance

Misc goal: Stick to our food budget and stop going out to eat so darn much! Currently have $87.62 left in our grocery budget and $100 left in our restaurant budget. Will reset on 9/14.

Credit card #1 paid in full as of 1.5 weeks ago!!

Next up, working on credit card #2 w/ $587.17 balance.

Doing better with not going out to eat but still have plenty of room for improvement…

 

[barkley]

I haven't checked in in a long time but thought I'd come to share the absolute insanity that is student loans right now lol. I'm on PSLF and all of those loans got transferred to Mohela. Ho. Ly. S#!$show. They have made such an absolute mess of it. I submitted paperwork to get on the new SAVE plan a month ago because my payment was going to drop $125. They still haven't processed my paperwork, put me on forbearance when I didn't ask to be, and then randomly updated my account to say I owe $3200 a month I'm not even upset about it because it's just so laughable. Then they changed my payment to $135/month... then $1700/month. They have absolutely no idea what they're doing. I finally managed to get them on the phone this morning after a brisk 45 minute wait and the rep tried to tell me I had been sent a bill for October. I asked her to show me where it was in my account and she couldn't find it. Then she tried to tell me this month wouldn't count towards my PSLF because I was in forbearance. I checked the box to not be put into forbearance!! If it wasn't for the PSLF reddit forum, I'd think I'd gone absolutely crazy. Fortunately, they're doing this stuff to everybody. Incredibly shady stuff too like backdating bills to meet the federal law deadline for charging you. They've sent me multiple messages through my account that they've backdated by a week. It's insane.

it's crazy.

my oldest has always used my email address for all this stuff so it would be a one point of communication for day 1 in college. over the pause i got all the letters, then all the letters saying 'your company has changed from x to y, from y to z...' and asking for bank account info 'if it needs to be changed'. i never changed anything b/c companies kept changing. finaly get ready for the first pull, look at account info and it looks fine, get a letter saying the payment processed but i don't see a pull from the account yet their site keeps saying it's been paid......a week later they notify us that they had a problem with the account. i did a quick pay from my checking which thankfully went through. now we are hoping the account pull works for november.

i've read horror stories of people being on hold for hours on end and being told it's a known issue and is being addressed. why the heck did'nt they do a practice $1 pull in the months leading up to detect these issues???? it is maddening.

 

[DisneyMandC]

it's crazy.

my oldest has always used my email address for all this stuff so it would be a one point of communication for day 1 in college. over the pause i got all the letters, then all the letters saying 'your company has changed from x to y, from y to z...' and asking for bank account info 'if it needs to be changed'. i never changed anything b/c companies kept changing. finaly get ready for the first pull, look at account info and it looks fine, get a letter saying the payment processed but i don't see a pull from the account yet their site keeps saying it's been paid......a week later they notify us that they had a problem with the account. i did a quick pay from my checking which thankfully went through. now we are hoping the account pull works for november.

i've read horror stories of people being on hold for hours on end and being told it's a known issue and is being addressed. why the heck did'nt they do a practice $1 pull in the months leading up to detect these issues???? it is maddening.

Yup. They are so corrupt it's unreal. I say "brisk 45 minute wait" this morning because my coworker was on the phone with them for 5 hours the other day. And, of course, I called Tuesday and requested a callback and never got it either. Have also sent numerous messages through their website. But if you send a message and then later call, they'll send you a message back that just says "we see you called and assume your issue was handled then" and then won't respond anymore.

 

[disney-inspired]

I haven't checked in in a long time but thought I'd come to share the absolute insanity that is student loans right now lol. I'm on PSLF and all of those loans got transferred to Mohela. Ho. Ly. S#!$show. They have made such an absolute mess of it. I submitted paperwork to get on the new SAVE plan a month ago because my payment was going to drop $125. They still haven't processed my paperwork, put me on forbearance when I didn't ask to be, and then randomly updated my account to say I owe $3200 a month I'm not even upset about it because it's just so laughable. Then they changed my payment to $135/month... then $1700/month. They have absolutely no idea what they're doing. I finally managed to get them on the phone this morning after a brisk 45 minute wait and the rep tried to tell me I had been sent a bill for October. I asked her to show me where it was in my account and she couldn't find it. Then she tried to tell me this month wouldn't count towards my PSLF because I was in forbearance. I checked the box to not be put into forbearance!! If it wasn't for the PSLF reddit forum, I'd think I'd gone absolutely crazy. Fortunately, they're doing this stuff to everybody. Incredibly shady stuff too like backdating bills to meet the federal law deadline for charging you. They've sent me multiple messages through my account that they've backdated by a week. It's insane.

it's crazy.

my oldest has always used my email address for all this stuff so it would be a one point of communication for day 1 in college. over the pause i got all the letters, then all the letters saying 'your company has changed from x to y, from y to z...' and asking for bank account info 'if it needs to be changed'. i never changed anything b/c companies kept changing. finaly get ready for the first pull, look at account info and it looks fine, get a letter saying the payment processed but i don't see a pull from the account yet their site keeps saying it's been paid......a week later they notify us that they had a problem with the account. i did a quick pay from my checking which thankfully went through. now we are hoping the account pull works for november.

i've read horror stories of people being on hold for hours on end and being told it's a known issue and is being addressed. why the heck did'nt they do a practice $1 pull in the months leading up to detect these issues???? it is maddening.

I'm so glad I don't have Mohela. I've been reading the stories on Reddit. Aidvantage is okay so far and thankfully SAVE went through and I don't owe anything this month. I'm still checking in case they made a mistake.

 

[goofytinkerbell]

I don't want to worry you, but keep a close eye on him once he's home. My dad had the same procedure and a week later had another massive heart attack. He wasn't paying close enough to the symptoms to have maybe prevented it. Unfortunately he didn't survive that one. It's apparently pretty common that once the stints get put in sometimes the heart is too used to working too hard that it overcompensates.

Sending extra love your way.

Thanks, that's good info to have! He had a heart attack around the same time last year, and had stints put in then. He wound up back in the hospital the day after he was released. So far he's been okay, but he was tired for a couple days. We kept waking him up when we thought he'd been sleeping too long Poor guy just wanted a nap. Mom said he perked up after a couple days (I live away) and she's all over it

 

[goofytinkerbell]

I'm afraid to say things are looking up...

My Dad's home now, and I went for a visit, so we got to hang out some. Too much time in the hospital before he got to actually go home, but it is what it is. More than FIVE hours waiting on a doctor to come by and say he could go home! That's after we were told that he'd be allowed to go home "soon", and were just waiting for the "okay".

Financially:
1. Keep the credit cards empty - DONE! Still using them and paying them off before they start earning interest.
-One of my yearly major bills came in this week, so the card will take a hit soon. I've been putting off paying it, hoping to get most of the money together, but the extra costs of travel recently has made that impossible.
2. Figure out a way to put some sort of extra on the mortgage, even if it's the $100 minimum - DONE!
3. Get some things I NEED to have (rims/tires for the car, items that need replacing at home, etc)
-I bought a small item (around $20) that needs to replace an outdoor broken item. Considering waiting until after Halloween to install it.
4. Get a savings plan going for the big stuff that comes due in one lump sum payment (insurance, property tax)
-No progress this week. I need to pay a fair bit for some #3 stuff, and need to determine how much that'll cost me before throwing money into savings. I also have several thousands of dollars of bills due in the next 2 months, and that's not even factoring in things like Christmas.

General stuff:
1. Make a will - DONE!
2. Continue to clear out the crap. I need to go through my clothes and that sort of thing. I got a pile done in 2022, but it really wasn't enough.
-6 items gone this week.
-I posted the first round of things, so I'm hoping to unload some of that. No bites yet though.
3. Look for a new job. The reason nothing has been getting done is because I'm burned out from my existing job and I'm being severely underpaid for the work I do.
-Checked the email notifications and jobs when I got the chance, but this has been largely put off due to the massive cluster that is my life
4. Get my passport.-DONE!
5. Knock some half-finished projects off the list. Everything from making a scarf to some jewelry. Lots of stuff has been started, but not finished. Enough already!
-Started a small crochet project I'd promised to someone, but I don't think I have enough of that type of yarn for that. She may have changed her mind anyway.
6. Get into better shape. I'd like to say 'lose weight', but I'd be happy to be able to run up my own steps without getting winded. The weight loss may or may not come, but it's not as important.
-1 workouts and 1 short walk. It's something, and right now I'm considering anything a 'win'
7. Spend more time with loved ones. I don't see friends/family much. I guess I really need to do #3 in order to facilitate this one.
-Went to see Dad in the hospital, but we also spent Thanksgiving with family. Despite all the bad things that have been happening, we still have a lot to be thankful for.
8. Organize my stuff!
Sorted through a small pile of geocaching supplies, and sorted some things for posting for sale.

Work has been beyond demanding, but it's on the bottom of my "to care about" list right now. With everything that's been happening I've just been floating along just dealing with things as they become a problem, so this weekend I'm hoping to make a to do list on paper (nothing work related) so I can get back on track.

 

[WingandPrayer]

Just wanted to chime in to say that I really like the energy of this thread (and disboards in general re:finances)--I pop in to read advice about finances and I appreciate the encouragement everyone's giving.

We've just moved into a new (to us) house and we're going through boxes we packed 2 years ago of old (even then) clothes and realize we'll never fit into some of those things and that they need to be donated/sold... any proceeds to help chip away at new house costs.

 

[bababear_50]

I'm back............................. After long time away I am back. Once a Debt Dumper ,,always a debt dumper...
I retired last year and I'm struggling with a few things.

How to go from getting paid every two weeks to once a month?
I've been thinking of taking the monthly amount and splitting it in half?

I've been taking some supply jobs and that is helping but it's still taking some getting used to.

How do I pair down those Christmas gifts,,, like reduce the amount spent on each person.?

I've dipped into my savings more than usual this past year also. (It feels weird not to be adding to my savings).

I think I am officially at an R.R. stage =Regret Retirement.

Hugs Mel

 

[afan]

How to go from getting paid every two weeks to once a month?
I've been thinking of taking the monthly amount and splitting it in half

Try going from weekly as a temp to monthly as a permanent employee. We got paid the last day of the month so I would pay everything that was due that hadn't been paid then and then pay the rest as soon as the bill came. At that point I was bad with managing my money so that's the only help I can be. Budget what you can but I did find it far easier this way than splitting it up.

I would look at what you have after your bills are taken care of, the money you have for food, fun, etc and that's what I would split up so you have a weekly budget if that's how you need to do it.

Super glad where I'm at now pays weekly, it's so much easier to just pay stuff every week.

 

[WingandPrayer]

How to go from getting paid every two weeks to once a month?
I've been thinking of taking the monthly amount and splitting it in half?

Our family's pay schedule is once a month (and it's not a "neat" day like the 1st or the 15th) and so what we do is basically pay as many of the bills as possible on the day after the deposit hits. We've scheduled withdrawals for things like the car payment, etc to be timed with that deposit.

Our expenses have gone up recently (we just bought a house and a vehicle) and so we're having to be even more careful than before about budgeting, which means that I think we'll even be paying utility bills immediately after the deposit, rather than waiting for their due date to be automatically deducted.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

I'm back............................. After long time away I am back. Once a Debt Dumper ,,always a debt dumper...
I retired last year and I'm struggling with a few things.

How to go from getting paid every two weeks to once a month?
I've been thinking of taking the monthly amount and splitting it in half?

I've been taking some supply jobs and that is helping but it's still taking some getting used to.

How do I pair down those Christmas gifts,,, like reduce the amount spent on each person.?

I've dipped into my savings more than usual this past year also. (It feels weird not to be adding to my savings).

I think I am officially at an R.R. stage =Regret Retirement.

Hugs Mel

I would try to make a one time withdrawal from savings for the first month so that bills are paid a month ahead, and then go from there, so you don't feel like you're always behind and needing to withdraw from savings all the time.

As far as Christmas gifts, I would let everyone know well in advance that you're adjusting to retirement and gifts will be less expensive. It may come as a welcome announcement to some. I was so relieved when we made our focus more about spending time together at Christmas enjoying each other's company and a meal together, rather than on gifts. Now that our kids are older they say it's an amazing gift that we've given them to NOT have to focus on gifts while their friends are stressing out about what to get for their parents for Christmas.

Hoping you can settle into retirement comfortably soon - you've worked hard for so long to get here.