Debt Dumpers 2024

[ruadisneyfan2]

congrats! it's always nice to not have a nice vacation tarnished by regrets due to overspending.

it was great when my kids hit that age as well, in fact around that age we hit a point where we told them they had a flat amount budgeted for souvineers that they could use or be refunded upon our return home. VERY interesting on how much more selective and self restricting they were when they viewed that money as their own-fewer souvineers came home but we knew we would be doing a fairly quick trip to gamestop

Yes yes yes! And more yes!

Once we gave them a flat amount, it all changed.
Are you sure you want an $8 lollipop?
At the exit of Buzz Lightyear (or Pirates, the 2 that were most difficult to get them out) in the gift shop they say, “Really??!! Thirty five dollars for this little thing? No way!”
The look on their faces is priceless.

 

[Nettlelondon]

We took my nephew when he was 8, along with his parents. It was a two week trip from the UK so a major undertaking. Before we went we discussed with him about souvenirs & we had a bit of a plan. He had some money he could spend each day as he wanted (mainly used for ice creams/candy in the first couple of days - then he twigged that if I timed his request for an ice cream right we would all have one, in which case it would come out of central funds rather than his, and he could save the money for another day) and some he could spend after parental discussion which was intended for bigger things.

One thing he had seen during the planning stages was the light sabers and he really wanted one. He planned his fantasy version and his "value for money" one. What he didn't know was that his dad had also seen them and had designed his own fantasy version. When they got there and started looking at them they built the fanstasy ones, and dad bought both. Cue one very, very happy nephew.

This was just after nephew had done the Jedi Academy thing where they would fight the baddies - and, as he had done 4 years of Ai Kido by then the cast member had to step in during his fight to stop him accidentally winning! They clearly weren't expecting his skills. It was very funny to watch.

He was actually quiet sensible and ended up using a lot of the money for a personalised NFL top somewhere (I can't remember where) - he opted for one that was quite large for him at the time but, because he grew quite slowly, this ended up still fitting when he was about 14 so he got plenty of wear out of it and not many of his friends had anything similar.

His prudent nature has continued - he somehow managed to spend a month on a round the world trip at 18 and had an amazing time on a pretty small budget. One of his companions did all the bookings as he was looking for a job as a travel agent and used it as part of the application process - he spent ages researching the best route to maximise the value and found some great hotels and villas. My nephew doesn't necessarily know stuff himself, but he knows how to make friends with people that do! A useful skill.

 

[Sheree]

We took my nephew when he was 8, along with his parents. It was a two week trip from the UK so a major undertaking. Before we went we discussed with him about souvenirs & we had a bit of a plan. He had some money he could spend each day as he wanted (mainly used for ice creams/candy in the first couple of days - then he twigged that if I timed his request for an ice cream right we would all have one, in which case it would come out of central funds rather than his, and he could save the money for another day) and some he could spend after parental discussion which was intended for bigger things.

One thing he had seen during the planning stages was the light sabers and he really wanted one. He planned his fantasy version and his "value for money" one. What he didn't know was that his dad had also seen them and had designed his own fantasy version. When they got there and started looking at them they built the fanstasy ones, and dad bought both. Cue one very, very happy nephew.

This was just after nephew had done the Jedi Academy thing where they would fight the baddies - and, as he had done 4 years of Ai Kido by then the cast member had to step in during his fight to stop him accidentally winning! They clearly weren't expecting his skills. It was very funny to watch.

He was actually quiet sensible and ended up using a lot of the money for a personalised NFL top somewhere (I can't remember where) - he opted for one that was quite large for him at the time but, because he grew quite slowly, this ended up still fitting when he was about 14 so he got plenty of wear out of it and not many of his friends had anything similar.

His prudent nature has continued - he somehow managed to spend a month on a round the world trip at 18 and had an amazing time on a pretty small budget. One of his companions did all the bookings as he was looking for a job as a travel agent and used it as part of the application process - he spent ages researching the best route to maximise the value and found some great hotels and villas. My nephew doesn't necessarily know stuff himself, but he knows how to make friends with people that do! A useful skill.

way back when they had disney dollars, we would give our son, starting at age 3 $25 in ones to spend as he wished. if he wanted something we'd show how many it took at what was left. As he got older, he'd do the math. to this day, he just turned 30, he will say that that really helped him. he's great at budgeting, frugal, not cheap and has taught many friends the art of budgeting.

 

[Nettlelondon]

My nephew decided university was not a good use of his time or money at this stage and opted to get a job at 18. He is working in a local estate agent (realtor) dealing with property rentals. He is really learning a LOT about money & budgeting. And is frequently amazed at the unrealistic expectations of people who come in looking for somewhere.

No, if your take home pay is £2,000 / month you are not going to be able to rent somewhere for £1,500 / month - you need to have money for food, light & heat, clothes, other bills ... And he is developing the skills to be able to politely explain this to people too!

His girlfriend did go to university and he visits her regularly in central London, about 20 miles from home. He times his journeys to avoid paying the congestion charge (£15/day between certain times) and has tracked down all the cheapest car parks in the area to keep his costs as low as possible. We used to work in the area and thought we knew the best places but he has taught us a few new ones.

 

[Bellex917]

It's been quiet around here! How is everyone doing??

 

[Tygerlilly]

We've been so busy with kids stuff I haven't had time to think. Lol. But I am proud I've been making food at home instead of picking something up after practices.

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

I noticed it's been really quiet too.

It's been quiet around here! How is everyone doing??

 

[dpswift]

We've been so busy with kids stuff I haven't had time to think. Lol. But I am proud I've been making food at home instead of picking something up after practices.

Great work. I have been fighting the urge to go out as well.

 

[dpswift]

I noticed it's been really quiet too.

All the threads have been quiet. I think I remember in the past they were not as active in the nicer weather

 

[disney-inspired]

It's been quiet around here! How is everyone doing??

Currently in Texas, doing recon in case we decide to move out here. We had two days of cold and rainy (which I wasn't expecting) but looks like temps are on the rise. Which is good because 90% of my bottoms are shorts LOL.

We're in an airbnb and while it's technically bigger than our house, it feels smaller b/c of the terrible layout.

 

[pblack]

I haven't had much to update since my DH's 1st pay day of the month fell right after my last update. I did finally up my contributions to my extra savings accounts (pet/car/home/etc). We've had some lovely weather in my part of CA and I had big plans of finishing up one of our backyard projects this weekend, but the weather said "hold my beer". We're going from 82 degrees today, to 70 degrees tomorrow, to 58 degrees and rain on Saturday. Talk about whiplash. But the long range forecast anticipates low to mid 70s next weekend so fingers crossed we can cross this project off next weekend. We're also coming into the time frame where I have something planned every weekend until we go on vacation.

Hope everyone is doing well!

 

[piglet1979]

Not a whole going on here. I did up by 401K to 17% (work also matches up to 5%). Usually we up it every time we get a raise but we forgot to do it in September. We always take a percentage of the raise and put in our 401K.

 

[AJollyHoliday]

All is well here! Was busy with all the runDisney marathon weekend registration. I registered with a charity, Team DetermiNation, who we ran with for the princess race in February so I didn't have to stress out Tuesday for registration.

DH just got his bonus which promptly went into an account we are building up to help with our tuition payments. April is usually our month off from payments for school so we are building up as much as we can and then spreading that our over the 10 payments we have so our monthly payment out of our checking is less. In other words, we plan to save close to $15,000, spread that out over 10 months, that means we already have $1500 towards our monthly bill and can cash flow the rest. It really helps ease the squeeze.

In other news, DD broke her nose warming up for her first game of her field hockey tournament. We didn't know it was broken, but suspected it. She played all 5 games and had a blast. We went to the ENT urgent care when we got home from the tournament. It was still too swollen to tell so we had to go back yesterday. We found out it is broken and we opted for surgery. They said we didn't have to do it, but if it caused problems later in life, it would be a much more involved procedure. Poor kid!

 

[CinderEmma94]

Not a ton going on over here! I registered for the 10k during Marathon Weekend. I also booked a last minute Disney Cruise on the Wish to celebrate my middle baby turning 5. There are many things about living in Florida that aren't for me, but it is nice to be able to book last minute and take advantage of discounts. This is why we have birthday and travel sinking funds - it is nice to be able to book something like this without feeling guilty that we could have used the money elsewhere since it was already earmarked for an occasion like this. After this cruise I will be gold!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

All is well here! Was busy with all the runDisney marathon weekend registration. I registered with a charity, Team DetermiNation, who we ran with for the princess race in February so I didn't have to stress out Tuesday for registration.

DH just got his bonus which promptly went into an account we are building up to help with our tuition payments. April is usually our month off from payments for school so we are building up as much as we can and then spreading that our over the 10 payments we have so our monthly payment out of our checking is less. In other words, we plan to save close to $15,000, spread that out over 10 months, that means we already have $1500 towards our monthly bill and can cash flow the rest. It really helps ease the squeeze.

In other news, DD broke her nose warming up for her first game of her field hockey tournament. We didn't know it was broken, but suspected it. She played all 5 games and had a blast. We went to the ENT urgent care when we got home from the tournament. It was still too swollen to tell so we had to go back yesterday. We found out it is broken and we opted for surgery. They said we didn't have to do it, but if it caused problems later in life, it would be a much more involved procedure. Poor kid!

Wishing your dd a speedy and full recovery.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

All is quiet here. I offered my niece one more Disney cruise before her ds turns 18 in February. (After that, he can't enter the teen club which he really enjoys.) She is crazy about Halloween so I picked the cheapest 7 nt Halloween cruise on the Fantasy. I'm so thankful for all she does for taking care of my dad and I know it's a strain on her family.

Dh wants to do a British Isles cruise next year for our 30th anniversary. As much as I love DCL, they stopped including Belfast on their BI cruises. We never made it to Northern Ireland on our honeymoon in Ireland, so I'd really like to get there if we go again. There's a Titanic museum there I'd like to visit. I'd also like to visit the Giant's Causeway, recognizable by Led Zeppelin fans on the Houses of the Holy album and its otherwordly vibe. As kids, we all this was sooo cool. Maybe I'm showing my age again.

Celebrity and Princess offer similar itineraries that include Belfast but they're 11-12 nights long, include 6-7 port stops, and sail from interesting cities such as Amsterdam that are worthy of a tour pre-cruise. Between RT flights and excursions, it could get pretty expensive. We could afford it but that doesn't mean we should. The older I get, the more I feel like just having more savings makes me feel better. How much do we need to spend to celebrate our anniversary?
Would we someday regret not going?

Looking down the road a bit, we'll probably be wanting to remodel our kitchen in another 5 years or so. I'll need to start budgeting for that soon. Ds23 was only 2 we did it last time. It will probably be easier next time without a 2 year old wanting to run through a dirty gutted out room but back then my dad helped. He worked in construction all his life and later, before retiring, specialized in designing kitchens. Between him and dh working together, it only took about a month. I'm not sure dh would want to take that on himself. In 5 years, he'd be 71.
eeek!! Maybe we shouldn't wait that long...

 

[Nettlelondon]

All is quiet here. I offered my niece one more Disney cruise before her ds turns 18 in February. (After that, he can't enter the teen club which he really enjoys.) She is crazy about Halloween so I picked the cheapest 7 nt Halloween cruise on the Fantasy. I'm so thankful for all she does for taking care of my dad and I know it's a strain on her family.

Dh wants to do a British Isles cruise next year for our 30th anniversary. As much as I love DCL, they stopped including Belfast on their BI cruises. We never made it to Northern Ireland on our honeymoon in Ireland, so I'd really like to get there if we go again. There's a Titanic museum there I'd like to visit. I'd also like to visit the Giant's Causeway, recognizable by Led Zeppelin fans on the Houses of the Holy album and its otherwordly vibe. As kids, we all this was sooo cool. Maybe I'm showing my age again.

Celebrity and Princess offer similar itineraries that include Belfast but they're 11-12 nights long, include 6-7 port stops, and sail from interesting cities such as Amsterdam that are worthy of a tour pre-cruise. Between RT flights and excursions, it could get pretty expensive. We could afford it but that doesn't mean we should. The older I get, the more I feel like just having more savings makes me feel better. How much do we need to spend to celebrate our anniversary?
Would we someday regret not going?

Looking down the road a bit, we'll probably be wanting to remodel our kitchen in another 5 years or so. I'll need to start budgeting for that soon. Ds23 was only 2 we did it last time. It will probably be easier next time without a 2 year old wanting to run through a dirty gutted out room but back then my dad helped. He worked in construction all his life and later, before retiring, specialized in designing kitchens. Between him and dh working together, it only took about a month. I'm not sure dh would want to take that on himself. In 5 years, he'd be 71.
eeek!! Maybe we shouldn't wait that long...

I am emerging from a year of breast cancer treatment so my view is somewhat impacted by that, but if you can find any way to go on the trip do. Obviously don't leave yourself broke but life is short and we don't know what is ahead of us.

As soon as my treatment finishes my passport is going to be red hot from use!

I have never been more grateful for being in the UK. The NHS has covered everything, chemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy and now immunotherapy. I have had 3 PET scans, several MRI and CT scans and who knows what else at absolutely zero out of pocket (apart from a few car park charges when I couldn't be bothered to fight the bureaucracy and get it free because of my diagnosis).

And don't believe all you see about the UK health service being on its knees - I saw my GP (primary care doctor) and within 2 weeks had been diagnosed and was starting a barrage of tests to confirm the exact nature of the cancer and the most appropriate course of treatment. I have seen some of the ways the US media (and here too) presents the NHS and it always amazes me.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I am emerging from a year of breast cancer treatment so my view is somewhat impacted by that, but if you can find any way to go on the trip do. Obviously don't leave yourself broke but life is short and we don't know what is ahead of us.

As soon as my treatment finishes my passport is going to be red hot from use!

I have never been more grateful for being in the UK. The NHS has covered everything, chemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy and now immunotherapy. I have had 3 PET scans, several MRI and CT scans and who knows what else at absolutely zero out of pocket (apart from a few car park charges when I couldn't be bothered to fight the bureaucracy and get it free because of my diagnosis).

And don't believe all you see about the UK health service being on its knees - I saw my GP (primary care doctor) and within 2 weeks had been diagnosed and was starting a barrage of tests to confirm the exact nature of the cancer and the most appropriate course of treatment. I have seen some of the ways the US media (and here too) presents the NHS and it always amazes me.

I agree, the media twists everything, about UK and US too. I’m glad you’re doing well. That is an incredibly rough road you’ve been down.
I work in breast imaging and prior to that in the same hospital but in the general radiology dept which includes our trauma center and various intensive care units. I’ve seen things that haunt me still, 30+ years later. Every day I am reminded that life is short and there is no promise of tomorrow.
Still, we are not lacking in the area of vacations. I keep a log of every trip we’ve taken since our first in 1992. IIRC the last entry was well over the 70th.

Everything in moderation.

 

[Nettlelondon]

I agree, the media twists everything, about UK and US too. I’m glad you’re doing well. That is an incredibly rough road you’ve been down.
I work in breast imaging and prior to that in the same hospital but in the general radiology dept which includes our trauma center and various intensive care units. I’ve seen things that haunt me still, 30+ years later. Every day I am reminded that life is short and there is no promise of tomorrow.
Still, we are not lacking in the area of vacations. I keep a log of every trip we’ve taken since our first in 1992. IIRC the last entry was well over the 70th.

Everything in moderation.

Logging every trip - that is dedication! I have been building a "book now" list, a "book asap" list and a "will do but needs a bit more planning" list over the last year and am making progress with the first two.

We have a general election coming up that is likely to see some major changes to the government and one of the areas they are likely to mess around with is pensions, so we are in the throes of getting everything lined up for DH to press the button and move in to semi-retirement as soon as the election is called (the parliament runs for a maximum of 5 years but an election can be called any time before that, Rishi Sunak has said it will be this year but he is holding off, possibly in the hope that the poll numbers will move in his direction but that seems very unlikely). Don't want to go too early as there are some areas of the current legislation that have yet to be made clear, even though they came into effect on 6th April - the tax authorities don't yet know what it actually means as the law behind it was very rushed and the wording is currently open to interpretation!

 

[newski_mom]

I agree, the media twists everything, about UK and US too. I’m glad you’re doing well. That is an incredibly rough road you’ve been down.
I work in breast imaging and prior to that in the same hospital but in the general radiology dept which includes our trauma center and various intensive care units. I’ve seen things that haunt me still, 30+ years later. Every day I am reminded that life is short and there is no promise of tomorrow.
Still, we are not lacking in the area of vacations. I keep a log of every trip we’ve taken since our first in 1992. IIRC the last entry was well over the 70th.

Everything in moderation.

I wish I'd started a log earlier - I do have a list that I've tried to piece together after the fact and I keep a good list now. I thought I'd always remember, but the years get foggy!