Debt Dumpers - 2018

[ruadisneyfan2]

Just checking in to say hi and hope you're all done battling Murphy for a while. Not much new here; currently our snowball is building up a fund to pay the $1700 final payment for our new garage door. I'm almost there and the statement cycle hasn't ended yet. Next goal is to put all of our snowball into my retirement account til the end of 2018 to lessen our taxable income. After that it's back to saving up for a new car.

Dh has been working a side job a lot and offered to pay for the DVC rental for our stay in late Nov. Ds18 wants to join us and asked if we could do Universal too. Yay!
So our flights will be free and/or using SW points & companion pass, and our stay at the Hard Rock Hotel is free with Chase UR points. We'll have enough UR points after this billing cycle to book the Hyatt inside MCO for our late night arrival. It's awesomely convenient, esp for late arrivals and even more appreciated when the flight is delayed. This was the case last Thursday before our 3-nt quickie Disney cruise over Labor Day weekend.
Our flight was a few hrs delayed due to mechanical problems and switching out of airplanes & crew. We arrived at 1 am instead in 10 pm. During our cruise, we received an email from SWA offering us travel vouchers of $100 each for our inconvenience. We'll add this to the $200 pp vouchers we got in June when our flight home from FLL was around 6 hrs delayed. Instead of getting home at 10pm, we got home at 4 am.
Dh is already concocting ideas on how to spend them.

We watched Finding Nemo while on the ship and I thought of all of you during the Just Keep Swimming scene.

Hang in there everyone!! Never give up!

 

[Tygerlilly]

DF's mom was facebook messaging him yesterday. They had plans to come down and visit next month, but his step dad fell off a ladder a month ago and just had a much more complex surgery to fix everything than they thought. They just don't have the money to travel and we don't think he'd be up for a 13 hour drive anyway. Anyway, we were planning a 2 night trip to sea world San Antonio for mine and P's birthday, but instead, he's going to try and get an additional 2 days off and we're going to head north instead. Lodging will be free (yay for his brother and sister in law), food will be mostly taken care of, and gas is only about $100. Kennel will run us about $250. We may splurge on a trip up to New Buffalo and eat at their super awesome buffet, get a room for the night, and play $100 each at the casino. I need to see how the girls do overnight with grandma since she will have them when we honeymoon. Overall, should be about $700 total. I'm going to try and pick up an extra shift a week to cover expenses.

I also had planned to run in a couple races in October, but decided to not sign up and save the vacation days, registration fees, and time off for that trip instead.

 

[Eureka]

Just got our car insurance bill for the first month with DS on it that is not prorated. $487. Somehow that "4" makes me feel like it's a lot less than $500, even though who am I kidding? Lol.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

Just got our car insurance bill for the first month with DS on it that is not prorated. $487. Somehow that "4" makes me feel like it's a lot less than $500, even though who am I kidding? Lol.

A month?!??! Wow!

 

[imbatman]

Dh has been working a side job a lot and offered to pay for the DVC rental for our stay in late Nov. Ds18 wants to join us and asked if we could do Universal too. Yay!

That sounds like fun!!! My kids have started the countdown for our trip. And I think, "I could be out of debt by now, had we not gone." But I also know this time is fleeting. I'd rather have the memories and stay on my snowball.

but instead, he's going to try and get an additional 2 days off and we're going to head north instead.

That is a wonderful compromise.

Somehow that "4" makes me feel like it's a lot less than $500, even though who am I kidding? Lol.

Hey, it counts! That's an extra $156 a year!

 

[Eureka]

A month?!??! Wow!

Yup. 3 drivers, including 17 year old, and three cars with full coverage, ugh.

 

[jen7233]

Just checking in to say hi and hope you're all done battling Murphy for a while. Not much new here; currently our snowball is building up a fund to pay the $1700 final payment for our new garage door. I'm almost there and the statement cycle hasn't ended yet. Next goal is to put all of our snowball into my retirement account til the end of 2018 to lessen our taxable income. After that it's back to saving up for a new car.

Dh has been working a side job a lot and offered to pay for the DVC rental for our stay in late Nov. Ds18 wants to join us and asked if we could do Universal too. Yay!
So our flights will be free and/or using SW points & companion pass, and our stay at the Hard Rock Hotel is free with Chase UR points. We'll have enough UR points after this billing cycle to book the Hyatt inside MCO for our late night arrival. It's awesomely convenient, esp for late arrivals and even more appreciated when the flight is delayed. This was the case last Thursday before our 3-nt quickie Disney cruise over Labor Day weekend.
Our flight was a few hrs delayed due to mechanical problems and switching out of airplanes & crew. We arrived at 1 am instead in 10 pm. During our cruise, we received an email from SWA offering us travel vouchers of $100 each for our inconvenience. We'll add this to the $200 pp vouchers we got in June when our flight home from FLL was around 6 hrs delayed. Instead of getting home at 10pm, we got home at 4 am.
Dh is already concocting ideas on how to spend them.

We watched Finding Nemo while on the ship and I thought of all of you during the Just Keep Swimming scene.

Hang in there everyone!! Never give up!

How was that cruise!? Still on my bucket list, the Disney Cruise. Glad SW gave you vouchers!

Seems like some folks on here are doing great with using UR points for travel and hotels. This is my fail category, and I want that companion pass but I’m not going to make it, I just don’t have much to put on the card before December 31 to get it!

 

[imbatman]

Peeps. I have a completely "unfashionable" question. It's hugely unpopular. Like, I'm expecting hate and discontent and "How could you even ask that?!" raining down on my head. But I have to ask.

For those of you who have kids in college or had kids in college, did you fully pay for their tuition? Did you have rules about it (keeping a certain GPA)? And the most wicked question of all: did your kids ask or expect you to pay?

I'm honestly curious. I have kids headed that way. I paid my own way, grants and scholarships helping. My parents helped for books sometimes, but it was squarely on my shoulders, so I felt the pain if I did poorly in a class. I never expected them to take out a loan for my college, but it seems like that is the "norm" now.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

Yup. 3 drivers, including 17 year old, and three cars with full coverage, ugh.

I wish there was a DISlike button here. OMG! We had an 18 year old on our GEICO policy a few years ago, but all of our cars were/are old (and only one had full coverage) so our premiums didn't go up very much.

 

[DLgal]

Peeps. I have a completely "unfashionable" question. It's hugely unpopular. Like, I'm expecting hate and discontent and "How could you even ask that?!" raining down on my head. But I have to ask.

For those of you who have kids in college or had kids in college, did you fully pay for their tuition? Did you have rules about it (keeping a certain GPA)? And the most wicked question of all: did your kids ask or expect you to pay?

I'm honestly curious. I have kids headed that way. I paid my own way, grants and scholarships helping. My parents helped for books sometimes, but it was squarely on my shoulders, so I felt the pain if I did poorly in a class. I never expected them to take out a loan for my college, but it seems like that is the "norm" now.

Well, my kids won't be college bound, but before we knew that was our reality, we set up 529 accounts for them. As soon as they had social security numbers, we set them up with a $100/month auto deposit into each account. Our plan was (and still is), that is all the help they will get from us, the rest would be up to them. Both my husband and I financed our college educations using loans and my husband did ROTC the last three years to get the military to pay for his college. My husband's parents gave him exactly $0 towards college. They were pretty poor and even then, and with great grades, my husband had a $15000 loan for just his freshman year. My grandfather gave us each like $10k when we were teenagers, for college. I used that for the first year, the rest was loans. My parents did pay for my housing the last three years (off campus shared apartment). I did not receive any merit based aid, regardless of high SAT scores and a 4.5 GPA. I went to a public state university. I was offered some scholarships to private schools, but not full rides and those would have cost more overall.

My kids are 12 and 14 and have 529 balances around $33k each. They will likely go to trade school or some sort of certification program after high school. By then, they will have more than enough for that. Whatever is left over we will cash out, take the penalty, and invest the money in a mutual fund.

In general, I do not believe that parents are responsible for paying for higher education. That's on the kid if they want to do it, but we could easily afford the $200/month contribution, so we did that much to give them a leg up.

 

[Eureka]

Peeps. I have a completely "unfashionable" question. It's hugely unpopular. Like, I'm expecting hate and discontent and "How could you even ask that?!" raining down on my head. But I have to ask.

For those of you who have kids in college or had kids in college, did you fully pay for their tuition? Did you have rules about it (keeping a certain GPA)? And the most wicked question of all: did your kids ask or expect you to pay?

I'm honestly curious. I have kids headed that way. I paid my own way, grants and scholarships helping. My parents helped for books sometimes, but it was squarely on my shoulders, so I felt the pain if I did poorly in a class. I never expected them to take out a loan for my college, but it seems like that is the "norm" now.

When I went back to work full time five years ago we started 529s and plan to help as much as we can. That said, they will likely need to take out loans for some. They are both very good students and will likely get scholarship money and as of now, I don’t foresee there being any issue with grade being low enough that we would decide to not pay. We have told the kids our plan/thoughts so I am not sure how to answer about their expectations. I’m not sure they thought much about it before we all talked about it. I have a sibling who has made their oldest kid pay for most of their college and I have seen some of those struggles and don’t want my kids to have to do the same. Like having to drop classes and take extra semesters and work a ton of hours at the same time.

 

[jen7233]

Peeps. I have a completely "unfashionable" question. It's hugely unpopular. Like, I'm expecting hate and discontent and "How could you even ask that?!" raining down on my head. But I have to ask.

For those of you who have kids in college or had kids in college, did you fully pay for their tuition? Did you have rules about it (keeping a certain GPA)? And the most wicked question of all: did your kids ask or expect you to pay?

I'm honestly curious. I have kids headed that way. I paid my own way, grants and scholarships helping. My parents helped for books sometimes, but it was squarely on my shoulders, so I felt the pain if I did poorly in a class. I never expected them to take out a loan for my college, but it seems like that is the "norm" now.

I paid for DDs trade school, one year $8500. She asked me to co-sign the loan. I didn’t want to do that and said I’d pay it monthly, it was rough because I was also helping with the car. We had an agreement that she’d pay the car, and that didn’t happen but I kept up the school payment and helping with car due to the grandbaby and hoping the best for his future. I no longer help with car and insurance though. We replaced the junker with another car paid for so no payments need to be made, and then I gave three months insurance payment, and said now officially, that has to be it. Yes, to much a degree I feel she was fortunate. Her dad (ex) did not offer one dime to assist so, I did foot the bill.

With my younger kids, we have saved $17k each so far and we are still saving in the ESA monthly, and they’ll also get a partial GI bill 15 months each, so they will have college money when the time comes to pay a large portion of their undergrad. If they go on to grad school or another post grad type school more power to them but I figure they’ll be paying for that. My parents didn’t help, the Army paid for my college bachelor’s and master’s so technically I didn’t have an out of pocket cost.

 

[DLgal]

I have a sibling who has made their oldest kid pay for most of their college and I have seen some of those struggles and don’t want my kids to have to do the same. Like having to drop classes and take extra semesters and work a ton of hours at the same time.

This was me. I worked almost full time my last three years of college, has to drop some classes, failed a couple, and needed to do 2 summer sessions and I still didn't graduate "on time." I walked in the ceremony in May but didn't finish until September of that year. It was tough, but it was what I had to do. I honestly think it taught me a lot about time management, priorities, and consequences. It also gave me a lot of great job skills that I used later in life. I wouldn't change a thing. I strongly believe that struggling is a very valuable life lesson/experience and that people come out better for it long term.

 

[imbatman]

They will likely go to trade school or some sort of certification program after high school.

I hope you weren't offended by my forgetfulness of trade schools. I am a huge proponent of them and believe our youngest will head that route. It's tragic that trade schools aren't touted at highly as colleges (at least in our state).

Thank you for your honest answers. To those of you who used the GI service bills, thank you for your service. My oldest is actually eyeballing that route. She's been plugging away at her AA while in high school (charter school) and will only have 16 units after graduation to obtain it.

Also, thank you for not removing my head for asking. It's a sensitive topic. Each of us have our own convictions. DH and I are trying to be as helpful as we can towards their goals, but without throwing ourselves under a bus.

 

[imbatman]

I strongly believe that struggling is a very valuable life lesson/experience and that people come out better for it long term.

100% agree.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Peeps. I have a completely "unfashionable" question. It's hugely unpopular. Like, I'm expecting hate and discontent and "How could you even ask that?!" raining down on my head. But I have to ask.

For those of you who have kids in college or had kids in college, did you fully pay for their tuition? Did you have rules about it (keeping a certain GPA)? And the most wicked question of all: did your kids ask or expect you to pay?

I'm honestly curious. I have kids headed that way. I paid my own way, grants and scholarships helping. My parents helped for books sometimes, but it was squarely on my shoulders, so I felt the pain if I did poorly in a class. I never expected them to take out a loan for my college, but it seems like that is the "norm" now.

I don't think you should expect hatred for asking that question! It's very reasonable.

I'm very fortunate that my parents paid in full for my college. I had some small scholarships, but we didn't even bother filing FAFSA my senior year of high school because my parents were getting divorced and sold their business. As a result, it looked like they made a ton of money, when in fact that money went to paying taxes and the business' debts. While I don't think it is necessity that parents pay for college for their kids, I do think that if parents have the ability to put money towards it then they should, especially with the current state of student loan debt. I understand that not everyone can, and it was definitely tight on my parents paying for me, but if I had children and had the ability to pay for them then I certainly would be. That being said, if my kid was bringing home bad grades or generally just partying their faces off, we'd be having a serious chat about paying the bills. My parents knew I was a Type A lunatic who wanted to go to law school, so they knew I wouldn't be bringing home bad grades.

I think I always "expected" my parents to pay for college because it was always first and foremost that I would be the first person in my family to go to college. So it wasn't like I felt "entitled" to have them pay, I just always knew they were going to because they were the ones always pushing me towards it. Now as for law school, I knew that was off the table completely and would be on me to take care of.

Anyways, I guess what I'm trying to say is if you can help your kids avoid the student loan interest rates of 7.9% that I currently have on grad school loans, I think it's a really nice thing to do.

 

[DLgal]

I hope you weren't offended by my forgetfulness of trade schools. I am a huge proponent of them and believe our youngest will head that route. It's tragic that trade schools aren't touted at highly as colleges (at least in our state).

Thank you for your honest answers. To those of you who used the GI service bills, thank you for your service. My oldest is actually eyeballing that route. She's been plugging away at her AA while in high school (charter school) and will only have 16 units after graduation to obtain it.

Also, thank you for not removing my head for asking. It's a sensitive topic. Each of us have our own convictions. DH and I are trying to be as helpful as we can towards their goals, but without throwing ourselves under a bus.

I was not offended at all! I am actually relieved that 4 year college is off the table. I honestly think for the most part, it's a scam. I mean, unless you are on a specific path towards a job that requires a specific education, that is. I have a degree in English and don't want to be a teacher. What's left? LOL. I've been a SAHM for 14 years and at this point, my degree is completely useless. I'm glad it didn't cost THAT much money and I paid off my student loans years and years ago so I'm not reminded of it.

One child wants to be an electrician or pastry chef and the other wants to drive construction vehicles or a school bus. Easy peasy.

 

[dina444444]

Peeps. I have a completely "unfashionable" question. It's hugely unpopular. Like, I'm expecting hate and discontent and "How could you even ask that?!" raining down on my head. But I have to ask.

For those of you who have kids in college or had kids in college, did you fully pay for their tuition? Did you have rules about it (keeping a certain GPA)? And the most wicked question of all: did your kids ask or expect you to pay?

I'm honestly curious. I have kids headed that way. I paid my own way, grants and scholarships helping. My parents helped for books sometimes, but it was squarely on my shoulders, so I felt the pain if I did poorly in a class. I never expected them to take out a loan for my college, but it seems like that is the "norm" now.

Not a parent but it would be the expectations that you set. Make sure your kids know now/early enough what your expectations would be and don’t wait until they are already applying to schools to have that conversation.

 

[imbatman]

I don't think you should expect hatred for asking that question! It's very reasonable.

You'd be surprised at the amount of slack for even assuming that parents shouldn't pay for it. That's why I asked it here on the Debt board. I like it here and they tend to give budget-minded answers.

One child wants to be an electrician or pastry chef ...

Ha! Sounds like my youngest, depending on the day.

 

[AmyAnne]

Peeps. I have a completely "unfashionable" question. It's hugely unpopular. Like, I'm expecting hate and discontent and "How could you even ask that?!" raining down on my head. But I have to ask.

For those of you who have kids in college or had kids in college, did you fully pay for their tuition? Did you have rules about it (keeping a certain GPA)? And the most wicked question of all: did your kids ask or expect you to pay?

I'm honestly curious. I have kids headed that way. I paid my own way, grants and scholarships helping. My parents helped for books sometimes, but it was squarely on my shoulders, so I felt the pain if I did poorly in a class. I never expected them to take out a loan for my college, but it seems like that is the "norm" now.

My kids knew from very early on that we would help them pay for college as much as we could. Education is super important to DH and me -- both of us have jobs we love because of being able to get advanced degrees, and we want that for our kids. That said, we did not pay for everything. All four of them received some kind of merit aid. All of them decided against schools that would have required them to take out loans. And all of them had savings of some sort that had been accumulating from when they were born -- gifts from relatives, and a few small inheritances.

I don't think there is necessarily any right or wrong to how much any particular family can or will pay for a kid's college. If I was worried about any of my kids needing motivation ("skin in the game") then things might have been different, but they are all very academically motivated so that was not an issue for us.