Debt Dumpers 2024

[barkley]

This is very interesting. She has been having migraines now for awhile too. We couldn't get into the neurologist until May. This will be something I will bring up when we go.

We did get back some of the tests and she doesn't have celiacs, a thyroid issue or something else (the test is testing something about a tumor). So all good so far. Still waiting on a few tests.

def. mention it. it never would have come up except the doctor who did the scoping was talking to us after the procedure to tell us nothing had been detected. he asked again about the symptoms and offhandedly asked 'no history of migraines right?'. um yeah-he's had them since he was little but they had gotten better since he aged up (we had been told kids could age out of them). doctor gave us a scrip to try with a follow up with his regular doctor-within days it was a massive difference.

best wishes to resolution!

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

Just a curious poll/question. What do families of 2 usually spend at the store? I did a budget for the very fist time this month, and I budgeted $500 for groceries for the month. That's $125/week. Of course, now we're eating at home a lot more. Up until a year or 2 ago, we were eating out 2, sometimes 3, meals a day. Now I've budgeted for 1 lunch out, one dinner and then Sunday after church. So 3 meals out. That leaves 12 meals, if my math ir right, at home. So curious if $500. I know every family is different, and every family's habits are different. But just curious what others spend.

 

[CoP Luv]

Just a curious poll/question. What do families of 2 usually spend at the store? I did a budget for the very fist time this month, and I budgeted $500 for groceries for the month. That's $125/week. Of course, now we're eating at home a lot more. Up until a year or 2 ago, we were eating out 2, sometimes 3, meals a day. Now I've budgeted for 1 lunch out, one dinner and then Sunday after church. So 3 meals out. That leaves 12 meals, if my math ir right, at home. So curious if $500. I know every family is different, and every family's habits are different. But just curious what others spend.

I can't speak to families of two but as a family of 5, we spend $700 per month. However, our food waste is near minimal so we aren't throwing things out every few days. Where do you grocery shop? I used to think Aldi was weird too, but now I can get some pretty great food for a fraction of our normal grocery store. I do shop at our grocery store and stock up on things when they are on sale...it makes them even cheaper than Walmart! I think the best way to get your grocery bill down is being ok with food lasting longer than a few days in your fridge.

I didn't quote your post on cheese shredding, but we buy two larger bricks of cheese from Costco each month. I shred when I need to use it, which is almost daily, as well. However, last weekend, I shredded a bunch for the week and it's just fine. I keep it airtight in a glass container. I don't like bagged cheese though with the extra cellulose preservative. To me, that does not make cheese taste better or add freshness, but that's just me.

Food prep, budgeting, losing weight...it all takes work.

 

[pblack]

I have some updates to my financial goals already. Thought i'd post them as a not quite mid-March update.

2024 Financial Goals:

• Add at least $2000 to my main emergency savings on top of my auto contributions - nothing added yet other than my auto contributions
• Increase my contributions to my other savings goals by at least $25/each pay period - I've decided to up my contributions for my husband's second paycheck of the month (which is when we tend to have the most "extra" money). For now, I think i'm going to leave my auto contributions alone for the end of the month/beginning of the month paychecks (his and mine). Especially while i'm still having to help supplement my dad's income.
• Look into a living will/trust (We have friends that keep telling us to do this and with everything going on in my life at the moment, I feel like I should actually look into this more.) - We got the preliminary paperwork submitted and a zoom conference scheduled for next month. I think once the zoom conference happens then the lawyer will put all the paperwork together and we'll figure out a time for my dad to get everything signed. This is gonna be a pricey one for me, but luckily my brother is willing to split the cost with me. I asked my friend what the typical price is and he said roughly $3200 (so $1600 each), but he was going to ask his boss (the one that's doing it) if they'd give us a friends and family discount. Not counting on it and if it happens not sure what the discount will be. But on the high end i'm looking at roughly $1600 that I will end up pulling out my emergency savings (unless my brother decides to be a butt and not want to cover the cost). While I don't necessarily want to touch my emergency savings, I would also rather get this done sooner rather than later so i'm ok with it.

One out of pocket cost I wasn't necessarily expecting just yet was new glasses for my dad. I offered to pay for them awhile back because he really needed to go in and get a new prescription and new glasses, but his insurance doesn't cover this. My mom finally called to make the appointment for him and I just went ahead and paid the total now instead of doing a deposit. Luckily it was only $220 which I didn't think was too terrible. But I don't wear glasses so I could be wrong and maybe that's expensive lol. Either way he'll be getting new glasses as soon as they come in. My dad's homeowners insurance also went up an astronomical amount and because of that his mortgage payment went up by $500/mo. (They are in a fire danger zone and CA is becoming really strict on what they'll actually cover and the coverage is ridiculously expensive.) This bigger issue with this is my dad's on a fixed income (social security/disability) and he does not have the extra $500/mo to spend, so i'm not sure what he's planning on doing exactly. So i'm anticipating I may need to help cover some other costs for him as well.

Can I opt out of being an adult now?

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

Thank you for this. So maybe I'm a little high on my monthly budget. I will track it this month since it's our first and adjust. So it might come down in the future.

We do throw lots and lots of stuff out as it's past date (meats, lunch meats, bread, milk/dairy, etc). I buy a new 1/2 gallon of milk pretty much every week, although we throw out probably half of it every week. Plus, we don't really eat leftovers outside of tacos, spaghetti, stuff like that. Remember we don't cook chicken at the house and don't cook seafood. I sauteed some shrimp last night while DW was at choir. She walked in and was like yuck what stinks? I told her I cooked shrimp, and she said great, the house will smell like this for a week.

We shop at Walmart. I'm going to start checking their website and see if/when food goes on sale. I've given Aldi a try, it was a no-go. Same thing with Winco Foods (a local chain). No-go on that one as well. Might try Kroger, but I don't think you can buy some of the stuff we buy (makeup, laundry detergent) and some of the stuff we buy routinely are higher at Kroger than the Great Value brand at Walmart.

I can't speak to families of two but as a family of 5, we spend $700 per month. However, our food waste is near minimal so we aren't throwing things out every few days. Where do you grocery shop? I used to think Aldi was weird too, but now I can get some pretty great food for a fraction of our normal grocery store. I do shop at our grocery store and stock up on things when they are on sale...it makes them even cheaper than Walmart! I think the best way to get your grocery bill down is being ok with food lasting longer than a few days in your fridge.

 

[barkley]

heads up target shoppers-they are doing the $15 free gift card with $50 minimum household goods offer again. i just used my $15 gift card from the last time they did the sale to get $70.74 down to $55.74 but realy $40.74 b/c i earned another $15 gift card to use next time.

 

[Tygerlilly]

I also just shred an entire block once I get it and store it in a ziploc bag. It never lasts long enough to go bad around here. I got one of the fancy shredders like this since I knew I'd be shredding my own often. It was under $20. I also use it to shred veggies for salads super quick.

We are a family of 5, but previous to our new goal of $150/month grocery budget I'll be tackling next month, I'd say we spent around $600ish a month. But I also shop at Aldi a lot and would hit meat sales and stock up on staples when they went on sale.

 

[DisneyHardin]

There's also a Kroger about 10-12 minutes away. I might give that a try, even though that's kind of far to be traveling with cold items.

Your perishables are not going to go bad in a 10-12 minute drive. I am only a couple minutes from Kroger, but will often do other errands on my way home and my groceries might be in the car 30 minutes before I get home.

Just a curious poll/question. What do families of 2 usually spend at the store? I did a budget for the very fist time this month, and I budgeted $500 for groceries for the month.

We are a family of 2 - I spend about $400/month at the grocery - that includes food/health and beauty/cleaning supplies. I do go to Costco about every other month or so and stock up on other things there. I shop exclusively at Kroger. I watch the sale ads carefully and stock up when things are a good deal. The frequently put chicken breasts on sale for $1.99/lb, so I will buy a bunch and freeze them. They will put the 3 lb packs of hamburger on sale for $2.99/lb quite a bit - I will divide them into 1 lb chunks and freeze them. Shredded cheese is often on sale for $1.79/bag - again, I buy a bunch and freeze them. We also aren't big milk drinkers, but I like to have it on hand for the occasional bowl of cereal or if a recipe needs it - I buy the Organic milk. It's $3.99/half gallon (as compared with $1.49 for a regular half gallon), but the expiration date is generally about 6 weeks out. I actually use up the whole thing instead of dumping it.

 

[barkley]

Your perishables are not going to go bad in a 10-12 minute drive. I am only a couple minutes from Kroger, but will often do other errands on my way home and my groceries might be in the car 30 minutes before I get home.

the closest store to me is a 30 minute drive one way-with the exception of condensation forming on the outside of a container of ice cream on a hot summer day everything is fine.

 

[DisneyHardin]

the closest store to me is a 30 minute drive one way-with the exception of condensation forming on the outside of a container of ice cream on a hot summer day everything is fine.

That's what I've experienced too. My parents always want me to come visit on Saturdays, so I will often to to the grocery and then go to their house and then I can use the excuse "I've got groceries in the car" to keep from staying for hours and hours

 

[Tygerlilly]

We live almost an hour one way from Sam's, so obviously we're bringing cold stuff home. In the summer I try and remember to bring a cooler, but most of the time it's just fine in the back of the van, maybe just a little sweaty.

 

[DJFan88]

We live almost an hour one way from Sam's, so obviously we're bringing cold stuff home. In the summer I try and remember to bring a cooler, but most of the time it's just fine in the back of the van, maybe just a little sweaty.

Cooler bag with ice packs always travels things are just fine ,cheeses, dairy in there a bit as i often hit a few places at once to maximize travel, saving meat store for last

 

[AJollyHoliday]

It takes awhile for cold items to go bad. Cheese especially! We took cheese tasting classes years ago and you should actually let some cheese come to room temperature to eat. When it comes to hard cheeses like a cheddar, if there is mold on the outside, you can just cut that hunk off and eat the rest.

I am a HUGE FAN of Aldi! We eat GF and organic when we can and the prices for those items just can't be beat! Their meat is a great deal too and often follows standards set by the EU (seafood in particular) which are better than US standards. I will admit, my first few times to Aldi, I wasn't convinced, but I challenged myself to shop there with my typical list and the savings were incredible! What we can't get at Aldi, we drive across the street to Trader Joe's (same parent company) and get the rest. We also use Sam's club for other items, but when I work out some of the prices, they are comparable. I would never shop at Price Chopper and the CEO of PC is on the board of trustees at the college where I work. Their prices are outrageous most of the time.

 

[Tygerlilly]

I wish we had a Trader Joe's closer. Our closest one is an hour away and there's only one in the city and it's always so packed it's miserable to try and shop. But I love it so much.

 

[huggybuff]

You're all making me so curious about Aldi stores. We don't have any in our area. Sad!

Week 10

2024 Financial Goals

1. Pay off my credit cards and car loan in 2 years by using the debt avalanche. I got a little overzealous paying off my first credit card. I probably should've waited until the next pay period because I had to dip into the emergency savings for the first time in a long time. (My bank savings account not the HYSA.)

2. 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. I will pay my husband $300 extra in April and begin paying him the full extra amount beginning in May.

3. Set aside $285 per month from January-June to cover the cost of our hotel for our anniversary trip in July to Monterey. $285 more into my HYSA (3/6)

4. Begin paying for our 2025 spring break cruise to Mexico in March. Payments will be $450 a month from March-December. (1/10)

5. 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 still struggling with reconciling. This week was way off. What is going on here? (10/52)


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. I did pretty well this time. I had energy to do extra about half of the days this week. (5/52)

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. Suddenly not snoozed! Still waiting for my BODi bike...

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.

I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

 

[goofytinkerbell]

This is all since the last time I posted., and the totals are with my updates included.

Financials:
1. Put an extra $2000 on my mortgage. $650/$2000
+$300

2. Put $2000 in savings to help pay for yearly bills (comes out in November). $665/$2000
+$280
Socking it away for the immediate bills that are just about to hit me. I did have an unexpected vet bill, which I will also have to pay for when it hits the credit card.

I also earned an extra $5 since the last update, which immediately went to the above.

Other:
1. Clean out 500 items of junk. 123/500
+11
2. Make an "in case of death" folder (containing will, important info). 1/1 DONE
Done!
3. Get 60 minutes of exercise per week. 9/52
Haven't done it this week, but it's on the list
4. Read at least 1 non fiction book related to professional development. 0/1
No progress
5. Do 12 hours of skills development (example, take a course). 6.5/12
Working on an online course. +4hrs
6. Find a new job! (carryover from previous year). 0/1
-Checked job sites, applied for 7 jobs. My current job environment is getting more toxic every day, and I'm not sure what to do about that. I've tried to make it better, but that only seems to anger people and then they take it out on me.
7. Finish some of the partially done craft projects I have (carryover from previous year). 1/2
-Nothing since last update
8. Organize my "stuff". 3/10
-Nothing since last update
9. Do at least 1 home improvement project. 1/1 DONE

On the personal side, it has been a rough couple weeks. My father was in for major surgery (thankfully, he's okay) and one of my cats was ill. Last night she passed away, and I'm absolutely heartbroken. I had her for 17 years. She was a rescue, meaning she was older than that. It's hard to want to do anything when you're this upset.

 

[huggybuff]

I'm absolutely heartbroken. I had her for 17 years. She was a rescue, meaning she was older than that. It's hard to want to do anything when you're this upset.

I'm so sorry for your loss. I lost 2 of my elderly rescue cats in the last few years. It's hard when they've been a part of your life for so long. I hope the illness was short.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

@goofytinkerbell So sorry to read about your cat's passing.

 

[goofytinkerbell]

I'm so sorry for your loss. I lost 2 of my elderly rescue cats in the last few years. It's hard when they've been a part of your life for so long. I hope the illness was short.

Thankfully it was quite quick, and I was with her when she passed. In the last 6 months or so we've lost 4 pets in our family group and it never gets easier. I'm going to wallow in self pity for the weekend before I pick myself up again.

 

[huggybuff]

Thankfully it was quite quick, and I was with her when she passed. In the last 6 months or so we've lost 4 pets in our family group and it never gets easier. I'm going to wallow in self pity for the weekend before I pick myself up again.

4! That's awful. Wallow away in that case.