Debt Dumpers 2024

[ruadisneyfan2]

I'm attempting a no-spend for January. I'm currently in full purge mode because there's a lot of stuff in my house and it overwhelms me most days. Mostly clothing, but also just random junk with no real purpose?
I've noticed that moving into our home we have a lot of dead space since it's over twice as big as our rental was. And while it's good, it also feels cold and empty and not warm and homey feeling. I know it sort of contradicts the whole purge, but I want to find pieces from thrift stores and yard sales to furnish it. Mainly some wall art and decor. But since I'm thrifting and not just popping down to Target, I can be far more intentional when choosing items. Sometimes I feel like I walk into Target and just get "influenced" into everything. I'm giving myself $60 a month in my envelope for my finds, with excess rolling over. Outside of that planned expense, I want to keep spending to groceries, personal care items, and any expenses relating to the new side hustle (like buying a million pounds of rice and then containers to store it once dyed).

Give it time; it will all come together.
My grandmother, who lived to 99 (and I was 49) would often tell me how long it took them just to be able to buy a home and even longer to furnish it. (My dad was in HS and they all lived with her widowed mom until then.) There were no credit cards then and no such phrase as "spending money" so people had no other choice but to be patient and wait until you could afford it all. She would tell me how we (my gen) see what our parents have, and want all of that right away, not realizing it took the parents 30 years of working to reach that point.
I was a little miffed at first but she was right.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Just in case you don't know, you don't technically need passports to cruise. You can use a combination of ID/birth certificates (you'd need to check what's all needed for the kiddos) or you can also do a passport card that's specifically for cruising and a lot cheaper. With that being said, if you have the money to get passports I would because you would need one if you were to need to fly back from another country. But just wanted to throw this info out there in case you don't wanna get a passport and not end up liking cruising.

Just to clarify, this only applies to closed loop cruises. This is when your ship returns back to the same port you sail from. Any repositioning/one-way cruises require a passport and also if you ever have to fly home in an emergency. That is highly unlikely, but not impossible.
We staggered ours so we wouldn't have to pay out for 4 at once.

 

[huggybuff]

I'm going to update this weekly this year even if the progress is slow

I put most of my emergency fund into a HYSA so I'd have a harder time accessing it to stave off dreaded impulse purchases. I didn't touch my savings this week.

Week 1

2024 Financial Goals

1. Payoff 5/7 credit cards using the snowball method and closing 3 after they are paid off. I'm keeping the Discover and Ally credit card out of those 5. If I can get to the 6th and 7th cards, then great, but I'm trying to be realistic here. The first card up is my Discover with a balance of about $600. I paid $200 towards the card today along with the minimum payments to the others. I get paid bi-weekly so I'll aim for another $200 on 1/19.

2. Make an extra car payment of $200 going to the principal only each month. I did this last week. (1/12)

3. Increase my monthly payments to my husband for household expenses by $800 a month beginning in May and open a joint checking account where we will each contribute monthly. We figured giving me until May to sock some extra cash into my checking would be a good idea since my personal loan is now paid off and that was sucking $1000 off the top of my paycheck once a month. Snoozed until May.

4. Set aside $285 per month from January-June to cover the cost of our hotel for our anniversary trip in July to Monterey. $285 into my HYSA (1/6)

5. Begin paying for our 2025 spring break cruise to Mexico in March. Payments will be $400 a month from March-December. Also set aside $50 per month during that time period to cover our upgrade package. Snoozed until March.

6. Continue using the YNAB app and website to track my money daily. I'm still tracking my money the old fashioned way with a register but I really like the budgeting aspect of YNAB and am getting more and more used to it. I'm having a hard time utilizing the credit card features but other than that I'm liking the app very much. Now my main issue is overspending the budget. Shocker. I was $300 something in the red in December. Not in real money, just the budget...which needs to be consulted before I purchase something in the future. (1/52)


2024 Personal Goals

1. Finish deep cleaning and organizing my kitchen. My husband is basically the Swedish Chef so he makes quite a mess when he cooks. I appreciate the fact that he does all of the cooking but it's a lot to keep on top of TBH. I need to do a better job and put in more effort. I will track this weekly. This week was rough. Our 2 month old dishwasher died and we have a new one on order but the soonest they can install is next Thursday. I was doing a good job prior to that of keeping up with the daily mess but I'm so disappointed that we're without a dishwasher for another week. (1/52)

2. Once I feel like my kitchen is back under control I'll transition to organizing my clothes that are in boxes in our bedroom. I will tackle this at least one of the days of my weekend. Snoozed.

3. Reorganize and deep clean my bathroom. I have too much on the countertop and need to make use of the cabinets in a more organized manner. Snoozed.

4. By July I'd like to be at the point I can begin to tackle my boxes that are still unpacked in the garage. I had a storage unit for years and now they're just sitting untouched since we moved into the house 3 years ago. Snoozed.

5. In August I'd like to make my stepson's room into a workout room. He's a senior in high school this year and he'll be starting college next fall. He's only staying over 1 or 2 nights a week at most at this point since he lives with his mom so I don't feel I'll be booting him out or anything. I am at my highest weight ever and I honestly don't even know what that is since I'm scared to get on the scale. I can have all of the DVDs and online workouts in the world but they do no good if you don't use them. I think having a space set aside will really help me out. Snoozed, although I did go over the plan with my husband last weekend and he's on board 100%. He wants to start figuring out a solid plan in July.

6. Get my passport at some point this year to be ready for the cruise in 2025. This probably won't happen for at least a few months.

7. I came up with a new goal. Get back to baking on a weekly basis. This will begin when my kitchen is 'done'. JK, I know a kitchen is never truly caught up on. Snoozed until I cross #1 off of my list.

 

[MerissaAndMomLoveDis]

Reflecting on 2023 and looking forward to 2024

2023 ended with a successful completion to my biggest goal for the past four years—my daughter graduated college with NO student loan debt/I was able to cash flow it all. I don’t recommend having nothing saved and having to cash flow it all, but we made it!!! In 2024, I am turning my focus to preparing for retirement. I want to throw as much money as possible this year to pay off my two houses, affectionately known around here as the City House (where I have lived for the past 20 years and raised my daughter), and the Country House (which was my Grandmother’s home in my hometown and is going to be where I live in retirement), as well as completing some renovations that I have mostly already cash flowed but I just need to finish up the work in my spare time. The Country House does not have a mortgage, but rather a personal loan tied to a CD. I just renewed the loan and the interest rate went from 2.9 to 8.1 , so I am throwing everything extra at that first. Another thing that ties in to getting the home loans down is that I travelled A LOT between Dec 2022 and Dec 2023, so I am going to try (try, I say) to cut back travel in 2024 to push more money to the home loans. My job is insanely stressful, and I usually work 16 to 24 hours over during the pay periods (which is a gift to my employer that we get no credit or compensation for), so I have always reasoned that I “deserved” my travels. Also, even when I take off, I usually have worked so much during the pay period that I don’t need all the vacation hours, so I frequently am pushing up against the “use the vacation hours or loose them”. So I am challenging myself in 2024 to just do one vacation and 4-5 long weekend type travels, and take off some days off here and there and STAY HOME and work on my Reno projects and decluttering projects. I’m going to try!!!

Here are my 2024 goals:

(1) ) Earn employer’s $300 yearly wellness bonus

(2) Max out HSA contribution. Withdrawals set.

(3) Pay 2024 property taxes in January 2024 and 2025 property taxes in December 2024.

(3) One big vacation.

(4) 4-5 long weekend type travels. Challenging myself to watch my expenses on these. Already planned prior to 1/1/24: (1) February — 3 day weekend to visit daughter in California and watch my Stanford Cardinal Women’s Basketball team play two home games. All the airfare was on miles, no hotel needed this trip, and ticket prices are not a lot. Will probably splurge on one meal taking my daughter and friend to Din Tai Fung, but the rest of food costs will be negligible. (2) March— long weekend Portland Regional NCAA Women’s Basketball Regional Tournament—tickets paid for. Flights were on miles. Hotel still needs to be paid for at checkin. I think the hotel I chose allows me to use public transportation/light rail from airport to hotel—need to double check—and it is walking distance to the Moda Center where the tournament will be played.

(5) Keep a tally here of long weekends where I took off a day and worked on house projects.

(6) 12 Declutter projects: 1/12 complete. January—Tupperware decluttered and cut in half at both houses.

(7) Finish organizing all passwords and important documents into one place, so that if I die, my daughter has a very easy roadmap to my affairs. This is the 3rd year this made the list of goals. Hoping to complete this year.

(8) Three workouts per week. Weeks completed goal: 0/52

(9) Country House project goals:
(a) Porch project—power wash and re-stain porch, paint some miscellaneous places under the eaves where boards were replaced when new roof was put on, replace lighting, continue fighting the yellowjackets that like to take up residence in the lights and ceiling fans on the porch.
(b) Paint small bath
(c) Reorganize 3 closets.

(10) City house project goals:
(a) Finish home office remodel.
(b) Finish Front yard project—replace grass—will wait til Spring.
(c) Finish plank flooring install.

(11) Throw all extra money at Country House loan.

Happy Debt Dumping 2024!!!

 

[MamaBelleRN]

Just a quick Sunday check in before heading into the week! DH and spent quite a bit of time reviewing our 2023 finances and it certainly lit an even greater fire under my booty to make 2024 our year of financial health. We played around with Debt Payoff Planner and amped up our goal to have all CC/loan debt paid off this November. It would require some serious (but doable) commitment to picking up extra hours at work. I’m a PT nurse in peri-op (pre-op, post-op and PACU) working 48h in a two week period. If I can work 60 extra hours/month (which would put me around 40h/week), we can make this happen. The hours at work are plentiful and while I only work once every ninth weekend, I can offer to take some weekend shifts from other nurses to help meet this goal. I worked an extra 18h last week and have another extra shift tomorrow, so already on track for our January goal. Looking forward to chatting here some more as we all work towards dumping this debt!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

@MamaBelleRN
That is awesome!

I love seeing that, when people get super stoked to knock it all out. Is this Debt Payoff Planner a website? Or calculations at home?
When I was first starting, there was a site called debtMD or something like that where you enter all your debts and interest rates and check off whether you're using debt snowball or avalanche. (I can't remember what the avalanche method is.) It was awesome because it would show you when you would be debt free. It was so motivating!!
I know I'm a dork but I would get so excited on payday to be able to pay bills, just to see the balance go a little lower. Then once one would get to $0, take a screenshot and send to dh.

It is such a great feeling when that weight is lifted and your paycheck can finally stop going to debt and start watching savings build.

I hope your supervisor appreciates it too.

 

[sk!mom]

Ouch on the loan. I know you want to follow DR but this is one instance I would definitely not follow that and get rid of that asap. You lose so much in the long run doing it last. Maybe knock that out super quick and then go back and go in order of balance.

I am a proponent of debt free living but actually do not care much for Dave Ramsey for a variety of reasons.

I completely agree with the quoted. In this position, we would eliminate all eating out including those cheap breakfast until that loan is paid off and an emergency fund of at least 2-3 thousand is established. You need the emergency fund to ward off whatever happened that had you taking on that interest rate because you needed $800 that badly.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I am just getting over having covid. Tomorrow I am scheduled to return to work but the thought of running around, crazy busy in an N-95 mask is really making me want to add one more day. On Tuesday, I'm scheduled to work in a different area, that is busy but not so crazy busy. At least you get a bathroom break and I can have a few minutes every now and then to rest a minute. I'm still not 100% back to feeling like myself.

 

[bababear_50]

I am just getting over having covid. Tomorrow I am scheduled to return to work but the thought of running around, crazy busy in an N-95 mask is really making me want to add one more day. On Tuesday, I'm scheduled to work in a different area, that is busy but not so crazy busy. At least you get a bathroom break and I can have a few minutes every now and then to rest a minute. I'm still not 100% back to feeling like myself.

So you are going to do what I did a few weeks ago and call in a *Me First Day*.
Seriously hon I remembered when my mom told me that *Life will go on without you *
And it did. I really needed that time off and am glad I took it.
Be kind to yourself!
Hugs Mel

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

Was just dealing with this right before Christmas. Came back from Disney and tested positive for Covid the next day. Wound up being down for about 9 days. Once I tested negative, I had to go back to work. But I really took it easy. Stayed up stairs so I wasn't huffing and puffing everytime I'd go downstairs to our warehouse, etc. Just tried to take it really easy. So make sure to take it easy once you start back to work.

I am just getting over having covid. Tomorrow I am scheduled to return to work but the thought of running around, crazy busy in an N-95 mask is really making me want to add one more day. On Tuesday, I'm scheduled to work in a different area, that is busy but not so crazy busy. At least you get a bathroom break and I can have a few minutes every now and then to rest a minute. I'm still not 100% back to feeling like myself.

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

I just wanted to shoot a little update before the weekend comes to an end.

We decided to pay off the loan with the Christmas money we were given, some of the money I made from selling baseball cards the last couple of weeks and put it with some of my paycheck and get that stupid thing paid off.

However, we saw a couple of oil spots under my wife's car when we came back from New Year's out of town, so I took it in Friday. We just had it in the shop in early December because of an oil leak. Now they found another. So we're going to have to put it back in the shop again. We got a quote of $4k. After talking to my wife, we decided to take it to another place and get a 2nd quote. Also, we want to ask around at church (we just started there last February) and see if anyone owns a place that can fix it for cheaper. The place we took it want to charge $200 per hour, and they think it'll take 16 hours.

Once that happened, we decided we needed to put whatever money we could toward the oil leak and put off paying our big loan until another time. However, the car place said the oil leak wasn't bad, and the oil level wasn't low. So it might be something we can go with another month or 2 and just keep an eye on the levels. That way we can indeed pay off that loan.

But we did pay on a couple of credit cards. Were supposed to pay a minimum payment of $25 on each, but we paid $40 on each. I know it's not much more, but it helped us pay on time (to help our credit score) and pay down some more.

We did go to the grocery store, so hopefully we don't have to eat out much. I tried to find something I could do for breakfast every morning, but I didn't see anything that I thought would work (I typically just grab something on the way to work). I don't like to eat too early, so don't like eating breakfast at home. Plus, I don't have time to make breakfast in the mornings. Thought about oatmeal packets, and I did do that a couple of times last week with hot chocolate. But that old fast. So not sure what I'll do going forward on that.

That's a small recap to the week/weekend. We've planned dinners at home this week and also got enough to cook to be able to take leftovers since we don't like sandwiches (there's not a toaster at work to be able to make a sandwich). So we're hoping not to spend any money this week.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

So you are going to do what I did a few weeks ago and call in a *Me First Day*.
Seriously hon I remembered when my mom told me that *Life will go on without you *
And it did. I really needed that time off and am glad I took it.
Be kind to yourself!
Hugs Mel

Yes, I already did!
We call out by text and since I was scheduled to be the earliest one to start, I didn't want to dump this on them at 5am, making them scramble for coverage.
Any time I get a virus, it eventually turns into a sinus infection, which is happening again. So I contact my ENT tomorrow.

Was just dealing with this right before Christmas. Came back from Disney and tested positive for Covid the next day. Wound up being down for about 9 days. Once I tested negative, I had to go back to work. But I really took it easy. Stayed up stairs so I wasn't huffing and puffing everytime I'd go downstairs to our warehouse, etc. Just tried to take it really easy. So make sure to take it easy once you start back to work.

Some areas we really can't take it easy. We have a full patient schedule and the less I do, the more my coworkers have to do. The area I'd be in tomorrow, there is only 2 of us so that really is a strain on the other person. At least my Tues-Fri location is a larger group so if I'm not 100% there's more people to spread it out over, if that makes sense.

We are given time off for covid, complements of the hospital, but only for the first 5 days after symptoms begin, which for me was Jan 1. Then we have to wear an N-95 mask until day 10. (The day symptoms start=day 0.) We are allowed to take more time of course if we're still not feeling well but then it comes out of our ETO bank which I don't have a lot to spare. I have a week off in late January so that my niece can have a break from caring for my dad and a week in March for our own vacation. Gone are the days of just taking an occasional day off for me just to catch up around the house. I could do that, but then we'd have to forgo vacations which I really enjoy.

I might look into using FMLA for the times I take care of my Dad after this month. The time off is already set up.
This is just not reasonable to keep saying I don't have time to get sick.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I just wanted to shoot a little update before the weekend comes to an end.

We decided to pay off the loan with the Christmas money we were given, some of the money I made from selling baseball cards the last couple of weeks and put it with some of my paycheck and get that stupid thing paid off.

However, we saw a couple of oil spots under my wife's car when we came back from New Year's out of town, so I took it in Friday. We just had it in the shop in early December because of an oil leak. Now they found another. So we're going to have to put it back in the shop again. We got a quote of $4k. After talking to my wife, we decided to take it to another place and get a 2nd quote. Also, we want to ask around at church (we just started there last February) and see if anyone owns a place that can fix it for cheaper. The place we took it want to charge $200 per hour, and they think it'll take 16 hours.

Once that happened, we decided we needed to put whatever money we could toward the oil leak and put off paying our big loan until another time. However, the car place said the oil leak wasn't bad, and the oil level wasn't low. So it might be something we can go with another month or 2 and just keep an eye on the levels. That way we can indeed pay off that loan.

But we did pay on a couple of credit cards. Were supposed to pay a minimum payment of $25 on each, but we paid $40 on each. I know it's not much more, but it helped us pay on time (to help our credit score) and pay down some more.

We did go to the grocery store, so hopefully we don't have to eat out much. I tried to find something I could do for breakfast every morning, but I didn't see anything that I thought would work (I typically just grab something on the way to work). I don't like to eat too early, so don't like eating breakfast at home. Plus, I don't have time to make breakfast in the mornings. Thought about oatmeal packets, and I did do that a couple of times last week with hot chocolate. But that old fast. So not sure what I'll do going forward on that.

That's a small recap to the week/weekend. We've planned dinners at home this week and also got enough to cook to be able to take leftovers since we don't like sandwiches (there's not a toaster at work to be able to make a sandwich). So we're hoping not to spend any money this week.

My husband makes eggs after dinner for his breakfast the next day. We have glass meal prep containers so they're easy to microwave. Sometimes he makes an omlette, sometimes a bacon, egg & cheese on an English muffin and just heats it up at work. He very easily gets bored with repeating the same things.
Are you allowed to bring a toaster to work? I bought a coffeemaker for our lounge and they are ok with that but we're not allowed to have a toaster or toaster oven.

 

[bababear_50]

I am absolutely the got to buy a coffee on the way to work person ,,, which usually leads to buying some sort of food.
So some ways I stop myself or at least lower the purchases are to

1#Sunday bake up a batch egg muffins
https://www.wellplated.com/healthy-breakfast-egg-muffins/

2#Wednesday night bake up some banana muffins or cheddar cheese biscuits.

3# Keep a box of this stuff at work
https://www.tastyrewards.com/en-ca/brands/quaker/products-categories/harvest-crunch-cereal
,,, throw some over a small yogurt.

Also I try not using my debit or credit card at the drive thru,,,, I buy gift cards and when they are gone they are gone.

It doesn't help all my impulse buys but helps.

Hugs Mel

 

[piglet1979]

We did go to the grocery store, so hopefully we don't have to eat out much. I tried to find something I could do for breakfast every morning, but I didn't see anything that I thought would work (I typically just grab something on the way to work). I don't like to eat too early, so don't like eating breakfast at home. Plus, I don't have time to make breakfast in the mornings. Thought about oatmeal packets, and I did do that a couple of times last week with hot chocolate. But that old fast. So not sure what I'll do going forward on that.

When I was going in the office more (I only work one day in the office now), we would make a breakfast casserole. I don't like to eat early either and also never give myself time to eat at home this this always helped me.

It is 12 eggs scrambled with some milk, salt and pepper. Then we would some type of meat. I liked chorizo but you can use cooked bacon, any kind of sausage or even ground meat. Then we would add some veggies (spinach, peppers, onion and such). You can really add what every you want. You add all of that into a 9x12 baking dish. You can add cheese to the top as well if you want then you cook it in the oven until the eggs are cooked. Once it cooled we would split it out into different containers and put in the fridge. It made it easy int he morning to just grab and go. I would eat once I got to work. You just pop it into the microwave to heat up.

 

[barkley]

When I was going in the office more (I only work one day in the office now), we would make a breakfast casserole. I don't like to eat early either and also never give myself time to eat at home this this always helped me.

It is 12 eggs scrambled with some milk, salt and pepper. Then we would some type of meat. I liked chorizo but you can use cooked bacon, any kind of sausage or even ground meat. Then we would add some veggies (spinach, peppers, onion and such). You can really add what every you want. You add all of that into a 9x12 baking dish. You can add cheese to the top as well if you want then you cook it in the oven until the eggs are cooked. Once it cooled we would split it out into different containers and put in the fridge. It made it easy int he morning to just grab and go. I would eat once I got to work. You just pop it into the microwave to heat up.

sounds delicious! if a person wants more of a handheld item breakfast pizza is easy to premake and reheat as well. get a premade pizza crust, top with country gravy, scrampled eggs and whatever breakfast meat you like (bacon bits are easiest cuz no prep work), add some veggies if you like, top with cheese and bake. reheats just like regular pizza.

honestly, if someone is into just those breakfast burrittos or english muffin type sandwiches it is much less expensive to buy a package of the premade microwavable type at a grocery store vs. any drive through.

 

[Tygerlilly]

I make a big baked egg thing on a sheet pan every week. Add different veggies to it and pop it in the oven to bake. Then I cook up some kind of breakfast meat (ham or breakfast sausage patties are a favorite lately). I get a pack of English muffins and a pack of tortillas. Once the eggs are done, I take a cup and cut out circles of the egg and put that, ham/sausage, a slice of cheese on the English muffins. The leftover egg and meat get chopped up together and then put in the tortilla with cheese and salsa and wrapped up. It usually makes 6 sammiches and 3 or 4 burritos. I toss most in the freezer and when I'm ready to eat, they go into fridge the morning before I want to eat them. I reheat in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time and then let it cool a little as I drive before eating.
To make it even more cost conscious, I usually find the muffins on discount in the "day old" section of the store.

 

[pblack]

It's been awhile since i've given an update on my dad and I thought I should share. I truly appreciate everyone who has sent good wishes/prayers! A lot has happened over the last month (more than I truly want to go into), but i'm happy to report that my dad is being moved to a rehab facility today! He's talking again, they're working on his strength/mobility (this has taken the biggest hit I think), his memory still needs to improve but honestly i'm pretty impressed with where he's at so far. His muscle memory is great even though he doesn't realize he remembers things, if that makes sense. He asked for us to bring him his cell phone yesterday and I figured he wouldn't remember the password to it, but I handed him his phone and he input his password with no problems and when I commented he was like "I just turned it on." So he didn't even realize he put it in. He also remembered his house phone number and my cell phone number and I don't think he consciously realized that. I'm not sure how long he'll need to be in rehab, but i'm hopeful that once he's ready to leave he'll be almost like his old self again. I'm sure in time even the memory stuff will get better. Just wanted to share a happy update!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

These are all great ideas!

I talked to dh, the chef.
He says he makes breakfast burritos too.
Takes Italian sausage links, pulls the skin off it and smooshes it flat and cooks on the electric griddle. Sometimes he'll buy some inexpensive ham steaks and dice them up to use instead of sausage. Roll up a tortilla and put in plastic wrap. Throw in a slice or 2 of cheese along with the cooked egg.
He also likes a simple bagel with cream cheese but had to cut back on them when his triglycerides were getting high.
@WDW_fan_in_TX Whatever ingredients you enjoyed in the breakfast sandwiches you were buying pre-made, can be done at home, with the things you like to eat.

The only reason oatmeal works for me is that
1. I don't like eggs, peppers, or onions. That means a LOT of things dh makes for himself are not appealing to me.
2. It takes zero of my moring routine at home to prepare. Everything I need is in my work bag the night before.
3. I don't easily tire of foods that I like. I guess I'm just used to a limited palate.
4. Two packets=200 calories and 6 grams of fiber so it's relatively healthy.
5. Over a 1 year period, the fiber has lowered my cholesterol so that I no longer need a statin which is a huge plus for me. They made me feel so awful, I vowed to do anything to not need them.
6. I can buy a box of 48 packets on Amazon's Subscribe & Save for $8.70 and this gets me 24 breakfasts. That's $0.36 each breakfast. YMMV.

I know I'm unusual and don't expect it to work for everyone but it might work for once or twice a week for others. Before I had kids, I used to pack a bowl of cereal but now I'm always afraid I might forget to grab the milk in the morning. Back then I found that cereal that doesn't float in milk is much more filling & keeps me full for longer, compared to cereal that floats. (more air in it) So I would always choose Frosted Mini Wheats or Life vs. Cheerios or Rice Krispies.
Just another inexpensive option for those who like cereal. They key is to keep trying until you find what works for you.


Dh is less than 1 year til being full retirement age. He says his younger coworkers who cry that they're broke all the time buy lunch, buy breakfast, smoke, drink and gamble, all expensive habits (do the math) and wonder why they're broke.

Yes, it takes more work to make homemade breakfast but how bad do you want to get out of debt? How tired are you of working with nothing left to save?

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Oh sheesh, he's all wound up and on a roll now.
He says how they all buy crazy expensive sneakers, the latest "release", every couple months too.

They make fun of him for being thrifty and wearing dorky sneakers. He is ok with that.