Debt Dumpers 2024

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

I have a list of what dates everything is due, what days we get paid, etc. So I'm able to allocate everything. Just didn't have enough to allocate this week. But I did pay 1 of the 2 cards today (it's due tomorrow). So just 1 late payment hopefully. And I'll be able to take care of that next payday.

As far as the loan, I didn't get a chance to call them today. I will do that at some point in the near future. And yes, I'd like to access better rates (the APR on my car is 26% for example). But right now, we're just trying to stay afloat.

I know you said that creating a budget wasn't going to be possible at the moment, but creating a diary of what is due when might be a start, at least then you would be able to work out how to allocate any funds you have available and spot pinch points and prioritise making payments to avoid late fees etc. That is a little step in the direction of getting straighter that shouldn't alarm your wife too much.

You aren't going to be able to access better interest rates etc until you get your credit score under control and that isn't going to happen until you have no late payments, defaults or other similar issues.

And definitely make sure you are on top of the "legal loan shark" loan - you don't want to give them any excuse to apply a fee, it feels like they are very good at writing contracts that benefit them HUGELY! In the UK there was a huge backlash against similar companies a few years ago and a number went under when they were prosecuted under unfair contract terms legislation and other similar abuse of power type rules. The unexpected consequence has been a growth in illegal money lenders as some people have found it harder to access legitimate credit. This has led to national awareness campaigns around what a loan shark is and how to report them to the police.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I have a list of what dates everything is due, what days we get paid, etc. So I'm able to allocate everything. Just didn't have enough to allocate this week. But I did pay 1 of the 2 cards today (it's due tomorrow). So just 1 late payment hopefully. And I'll be able to take care of that next payday.

As far as the loan, I didn't get a chance to call them today. I will do that at some point in the near future. And yes, I'd like to access better rates (the APR on my car is 26% for example). But right now, we're just trying to stay afloat.

Was the paycheck a regular amount? If so, then the bill that couldn't be covered should get plugged into a different paycheck. It will be hard to get better rates if late payments are still showing up on your credit report. Have you looked at your credit report lately? That might be a good idea.

 

[piglet1979]

Thank you everyone. I think we will move forward with the trip and just make sure it is refundable. You all made very good points that we weren't thinking of.

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

Yes, it was the regular ole $1,100 I get every 2 weeks, lol. Sad, sad paycheck to be honest. But it was becuase we had some other stuff unexpectedly come up that wasn't on our list. Anyway, it'll get paid. Surely 1 payment a few days late won't hurt. I haven't looked at my report in probably 3 weeks. Last time, it wasn't too great. It was like 497 or something. So got a little work to do there.

Was the paycheck a regular amount? If so, then the bill that couldn't be covered should get plugged into a different paycheck. It will be hard to get better rates if late payments are still showing up on your credit report. Have you looked at your credit report lately? That might be a good idea.

 

[huggybuff]

I've had coworkers say they don't feel anything different on months that have a 3rd paycheck. This is how I can easily tell that they don't follow a budget. If they did, all their monthly bills would have been plugged into the other paychecks and they'd see that the 3rd paycheck is ALL SNOWBALL. Whatever your snowball goal is, that 3rd week is like a turbo boost to get you to your goal sooner.

This was me until now. Now I'm super excited for my third check next month

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

This was me until now. Now I'm super excited for my third check next month

Me too! For the first time in my life I have no debt AND no specific savings goals such as a trip, Christmas, remodeling project, etc. So I bumped up my retirement savings rate from 6% to 18%. My snowball part of my take home pay will be a lot less but however much it is, that will beef up our EF. If it's feels ok I might go up to 20%. This won't affect my employer match; I'm already getting max from them.

Dh wants to do a big trip in late 2025 for our 30th anniversary so I will probably start saving for that at the end of summer. I won't go back to 6% but probably 12% while I save for that. I won't go below 10%. I guess I'll have to see what my next paycheck looks like. I'm curious how much this will lower our taxable income for 2024.
I've never been in this position before but it feels great.
I considered starting to save for the big trip now but I won't need that much time and I'm looking forward to focusing on retirement and hammering down on that for a good 7 months.

Just keep swimming Peeps! If I can do it, anyone can.

 

[Tygerlilly]

I'm facing some anxiety over not working. We're doing okay on just hubby's income, but we don't have a ton extra after bills are paid. I'm just not sure what to do job wise that wouldn't put us right back into the same situation as before where we'd never get a day off together. After 8 years of doing the split shifts, it was really hurting my mental health, our relationship, and the whole family and I don't want to go down that road again.

If his sister ever sells their dad's house we'll be a lot better off, it's just frustrating. Plus back to dealing with my mom not taking care of things at hers again. I have the feeling I'm in for a long next couple months of dealing with stuff at my moms and her two storage units. It's time to purge.

 

[Nettlelondon]

I'm facing some anxiety over not working. We're doing okay on just hubby's income, but we don't have a ton extra after bills are paid. I'm just not sure what to do job wise that wouldn't put us right back into the same situation as before where we'd never get a day off together. After 8 years of doing the split shifts, it was really hurting my mental health, our relationship, and the whole family and I don't want to go down that road again.

If his sister ever sells their dad's house we'll be a lot better off, it's just frustrating. Plus back to dealing with my mom not taking care of things at hers again. I have the feeling I'm in for a long next couple months of dealing with stuff at my moms and her two storage units. It's time to purge.

I accidentally stopped working several years ago - I say accidentally in that I had resigned from a job but had a 6 month exit period due to the nature of the role. Before I could start looking for a new job my father was diagnosed with a terminal lung disease so we decided we would adjust our behaviours so that we managed on DHs income (he works for himself so had some flexibility in being able to up his working hours if we needed) to allow me to spend time with my parents, take them to hospital visits and so on. He died 9 months later, so there was then a few months sorting everything out and helping mum settle in to her new life.

Then I was diagnosed with a health issue that required fairly extensive surgery and months of recovery.

My husband had a hobby that involved him running the governing body of a very small sport in the UK and somehow I spent a year working almost full time doing all the competition organising, travel planning and goodness knows what else.

And then Covid hit so there was no way I was going to be able to find work in my field during that so spent most of the time working as a volunteer in the vaccination programme.

At that point one of my husband's clients needed someone with my skills for a short term transition from one payroll system to a new one, and then running pay for several months whilst the recruited and trained someone so I had a short burst of work. I was beginning to think about returning to the workforce when I was diagnosed with breast cancer - and so haven't even thought about working for the last year.

The point of this saga? I understand what you mean by feeling worried about the idea of not generating an income to cover possible gaps and the "extras". However, from a mental health / couples health point of view I have not regretted the decision for a minute. And we don't have children - being able to be there to support little people must be so helpful.

I know it is hard having to deal with elderly parents but imagine trying to do that whilst working?

If there is any way you can keep making it work - from an all round life experience point of view - I would really, really try to make it work. Your sensory packs sound like a great idea, and I am sure you will eventually find a route to market that works well for you - it might just be trial and error. (I am now hoping I have the right person and haven't confused you with someone else).

Good luck with the purging. And don't forget - we always find ways to self sabotage and generate anxiety for things! Just take a breath and remind yourself you are just trying to do your best overall, and some areas will be more of less important at different points in life.

 

[huggybuff]

Me too! For the first time in my life I have no debt AND no specific savings goals such as a trip, Christmas, remodeling project, etc. So I bumped up my retirement savings rate from 6% to 18%. My snowball part of my take home pay will be a lot less but however much it is, that will beef up our EF. If it's feels ok I might go up to 20%. This won't affect my employer match; I'm already getting max from them.

Dh wants to do a big trip in late 2025 for our 30th anniversary so I will probably start saving for that at the end of summer. I won't go back to 6% but probably 12% while I save for that. I won't go below 10%. I guess I'll have to see what my next paycheck looks like. I'm curious how much this will lower our taxable income for 2024.
I've never been in this position before but it feels great.
I considered starting to save for the big trip now but I won't need that much time and I'm looking forward to focusing on retirement and hammering down on that for a good 7 months.

Just keep swimming Peeps! If I can do it, anyone can.

You are certainly an inspiration I'm looking forward to the day when we're putting all of our extra funds each month towards the mortgage, let alone having it paid off.

 

[Tygerlilly]

I accidentally stopped working several years ago - I say accidentally in that I had resigned from a job but had a 6 month exit period due to the nature of the role. Before I could start looking for a new job my father was diagnosed with a terminal lung disease so we decided we would adjust our behaviours so that we managed on DHs income (he works for himself so had some flexibility in being able to up his working hours if we needed) to allow me to spend time with my parents, take them to hospital visits and so on. He died 9 months later, so there was then a few months sorting everything out and helping mum settle in to her new life.

Then I was diagnosed with a health issue that required fairly extensive surgery and months of recovery.

My husband had a hobby that involved him running the governing body of a very small sport in the UK and somehow I spent a year working almost full time doing all the competition organising, travel planning and goodness knows what else.

And then Covid hit so there was no way I was going to be able to find work in my field during that so spent most of the time working as a volunteer in the vaccination programme.

At that point one of my husband's clients needed someone with my skills for a short term transition from one payroll system to a new one, and then running pay for several months whilst the recruited and trained someone so I had a short burst of work. I was beginning to think about returning to the workforce when I was diagnosed with breast cancer - and so haven't even thought about working for the last year.

The point of this saga? I understand what you mean by feeling worried about the idea of not generating an income to cover possible gaps and the "extras". However, from a mental health / couples health point of view I have not regretted the decision for a minute. And we don't have children - being able to be there to support little people must be so helpful.

I know it is hard having to deal with elderly parents but imagine trying to do that whilst working?

If there is any way you can keep making it work - from an all round life experience point of view - I would really, really try to make it work. Your sensory packs sound like a great idea, and I am sure you will eventually find a route to market that works well for you - it might just be trial and error. (I am now hoping I have the right person and haven't confused you with someone else).

Good luck with the purging. And don't forget - we always find ways to self sabotage and generate anxiety for things! Just take a breath and remind yourself you are just trying to do your best overall, and some areas will be more of less important at different points in life.

Thank you for that. I know a lot of it is just general anxiety of the unknown, but I still can't help feeling it a little.
And you were right about the kits. That was me! I've sold a few and have started doing some other things to make them a little more unique. I'm partnering with a local indoor kids play place at the end of the month for their sensory Saturday. And I applied for the 3 day summer festival the town does. Everyone who has worked it says they always make a killing. It was kind of expensive to join, but hopefully I get accepted and it will be worth it.

 

[Nettlelondon]

Thank you for that. I know a lot of it is just general anxiety of the unknown, but I still can't help feeling it a little.
And you were right about the kits. That was me! I've sold a few and have started doing some other things to make them a little more unique. I'm partnering with a local indoor kids play place at the end of the month for their sensory Saturday. And I applied for the 3 day summer festival the town does. Everyone who has worked it says they always make a killing. It was kind of expensive to join, but hopefully I get accepted and it will be worth it.

I had a table at an event selling some bits I had made - I didn't do particularly well but did sell some items. I was feeling a little disappointed until I got talking to a couple of others who were much more experienced and they had done even worse than I had. One person, in 3 hours sold nothing at all. And no obvious reason why. Finding multiple routes to market is always good and the Sensory Saturday sounds positive, sounds like the right sort of people should be there.

 

[piglet1979]

Me too! For the first time in my life I have no debt AND no specific savings goals such as a trip, Christmas, remodeling project, etc. So I bumped up my retirement savings rate from 6% to 18%. My snowball part of my take home pay will be a lot less but however much it is, that will beef up our EF. If it's feels ok I might go up to 20%. This won't affect my employer match; I'm already getting max from them.

This is great. DH and I put a portion of out raises each year in our 401k

I'm facing some anxiety over not working. We're doing okay on just hubby's income, but we don't have a ton extra after bills are paid. I'm just not sure what to do job wise that wouldn't put us right back into the same situation as before where we'd never get a day off together. After 8 years of doing the split shifts, it was really hurting my mental health, our relationship, and the whole family and I don't want to go down that road again.

If his sister ever sells their dad's house we'll be a lot better off, it's just frustrating. Plus back to dealing with my mom not taking care of things at hers again. I have the feeling I'm in for a long next couple months of dealing with stuff at my moms and her two storage units. It's time to purge.

Remember also that this is time with your kids that you can't get back. I was not able to be a stay at home mom. We just didn't make enough. I really wish I could have. Thankfully I have a job that is flexible and I was still able to be at parties at schools and all of their activities and chaperone field trips.

If you want to get a job to help give you a bit of a cushion, check into being a substitute teacher. I am not sure how this works in other states but in Ohio you do not need to have a teaching degree to be a substitute. When you sign up for it, a school would call in the morning, (maybe head of time if it was planned) and you can either accept it of decline. It gives a little bit of freedom and you can choose to only work a day a week if you wanted.

 

[slightly_obsessed]

...
Besides all the sad stories I see working in a hospital, we recently had a coworker lose her dh to a sudden heart attack. He just turned 40 last spring. Their daughter is 7. She is suddenly now a single mom with a mortgage.

This is one of the reasons I put so much towards traveling. 5 years ago, my husband had some serious health issues that he probably should not have survived. He's had 5 major surgeries since then and there's no guarantee he'll make it to next year let alone retirement (his issue isn't terminal but the solution does cause the need for surgery again about a year later so it's a vicious cycle). On top of that, my mom died at 62 and my MIL at 58. So we take the vacations whenever we can so we have that time together without work while we are healthy.

We also just like adventures and I want my son to be exposed to as much of the world as we can.

We are down to just our mortgage and saving for retirement/college, so our trips are getting a bit longer and further away than they used to be. And I have gotten much better about saving before the vacation not paying one off. But I say as long as it isn't putting a financial strain, vacations are always worth it!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

You are certainly an inspiration I'm looking forward to the day when we're putting all of our extra funds each month towards the mortgage, let alone having it paid off.

It's been a looooong road here for me since I first joined in April 2013.
As they say, the journey of 1000 miles begins with one step.

 

[Bellex917]

It's been a looooong road here for me since I first joined in April 2013.
As they say, the journey of 1000 miles begins with one step.

I'm sometimes hard on myself- why are we not in a better spot when we have pretty good salaries, etc. We've DEF made mistakes (we ate out WAY too much for the majority of our time together and I always say we ate our future), but I'm 39, my husband is 43, and we will be ok. We have an E fund, we have a lot in retirement, and minimal debt (down to about 12k, which will be gone in 2024 one way or another). I have so many goals, but I keep telling myself one step at a time, one choice at a time. I can't undo the bad choices we made along the way, unfortunately, but I've def learned.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I'm sometimes hard on myself- why are we not in a better spot when we have pretty good salaries, etc. We've DEF made mistakes (we ate out WAY too much for the majority of our time together and I always say we ate our future), but I'm 39, my husband is 43, and we will be ok. We have an E fund, we have a lot in retirement, and minimal debt (down to about 12k, which will be gone in 2024 one way or another). I have so many goals, but I keep telling myself one step at a time, one choice at a time. I can't undo the bad choices we made along the way, unfortunately, but I've def learned.

Exactly. We can't change the past, only our future. The important part is to learn from our mistakes instead of repeating them. Along that line, I didn't want our children to fall into the same trap of feeling that consumer debt is "normal" to have. They are both savers and fully believe in paying off their cc every month. For that I'm relieved.

 

[disney-inspired]

Currently at WDW and sticking to my allotted food budget .

 

[piglet1979]

We booked the cruise. What was supposed to be a cheap vacation, we ended up splurging some. We got a balcony room (this will be a first for us) and also bought passes for the adult only area (this was not cheap). But we are not really planning on doing any excursions so we will use this area a lot. Next up will be to figure out how we are getting there and back. I think we will fly but driving isn't fully off the table yet.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We booked the cruise. What was supposed to be a cheap vacation, we ended up splurging some. We got a balcony room (this will be a first for us) and also bought passes for the adult only area (this was not cheap). But we are not really planning on doing any excursions so we will use this area a lot. Next up will be to figure out how we are getting there and back. I think we will fly but driving isn't fully off the table yet.

Just curious, what cruise line charges to use an adult area?

 

[pblack]

I know Carnival charges an up charge for their Havana area which is ages 12+. Not all ships have a Havana area though and it's nicer on some ships than others. But I don't believe you can buy passes to it, you actually have to book a Havana area stateroom. (Which is what we have booked for both our cruises this year.)

On the new excel ships Mardi Gras and I believe Celebration they also have what is called Loft 19, which is an adults only area that is exclusive to those booked in an Excel Suite. But I do believe you can buy passes to utilize Loft 19 if you are not staying in an Excel Suite and the passes are definitely pricey.

Not saying this is what Piglet booked, but just throwing out some info.