Debt Dumpers - 2018

[MerissaAndMomLoveDis]

So I went back to work today, a miserable failure. First I had to stop at Employee Health to be cleared to return. This is routine when anyone is out more than 3 days. Well, they wouldn't clear me. I saw the nurse practitioner and while she stepped out of the room for a bit, the heat came on and it was such a little room and no way to escape this heat in my face. After a bit I started feeling weak & dizzy and put some cold, wet paper towels on my forehead and laid down on the exam table. So that doesn't look good when you're trying to convince someone you're ready to go work in a hospital. I was sitting in a chair when she left and returns to find me half passed out and sweating all over. They eventually sent me home and wanted to talk to my doctor and would call me back.
Well, the awful part with this chronic fatigue is when the fatigue hits really bad like that, and I have to lay down, it also creates this kind of brain fog where I don't really comprehend. It makes me want to tell everyone to put our conversations in writing because I will forget in 1 min what was said. So after I went home took a 2 hr nap and later when employee health called, I still had the fatigue bad and I really can't recall where our conversation left off. I know she's off tomorrow. and that she spoke with my doctor but honestly I can't remember if I'm supposed to come in tomorrow or wait and get another doctor's note or what.
I'm no genius but I did get As in Radiation Physics and got a 93 on my boards. I know there's something between my ears. Now I feel like a complete moron. I took notes and don't even understand what I wrote
She gave me a fax number and sent me an email just so that I'd have her email address but I have no idea what it's for.
Ugh. Such a scary feeling. I'm really losing it.

I spoke with our rep in HR about whether we really lose our jobs after 12 weeks of FMLA. He said it's subjective, that if I came back 2 weeks later, that's not even enough time to fill my position. If I came back 6 months later, they'd have to fill it. So I have a little more time and that's a huge relief.
He also said sometimes people have to come back with restrictions such as frequent breaks or working less than a full day. What a wonderful idea!
If I can maybe just work 8-12 and gradually build up to a full day I think my chances of success would be much better. Maybe every few weeks, add another hour. Today, I was exhausted just doing my normal getting-ready routine, commuting and walking around campus, and going home at 9:30.
I texted my boss with the idea and asked if that's possible and she said to call her tomorrow morning. (It was after 5 by then and I know she wants to get home to her own family.)
I used to get up at 5:30am and get home at 5:30pm. I can only hope some day I can get back to that.

I'm really sorry to hear that your day did not go as you wanted. I was hoping for a better outcome for you. I went through something similar when I got mono really bad less than six months after starting a new job, so the sick time was used up fast, I could not yet use accumulated vacation time and was not eligible for FMLA. I was used to working twelve hour days, but all of the sudden after working for two hours, I wanted to crawl under the desk and pass out. It did work for me to gradually work back up an hour at a time if your job is willing to work with you. Is there a place where you could take a timed nap during the day? I would sleep during my allotted lunch time and that helped. I am so sorry. I know this is tough. Sending you hugs.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Omg--that sounds so excruciating. :-( I am so sorry you are facing all this.

I think I missed the original story of your illness, but I am wondering if you have had your thyroid worked up? The exhaustion and brain fog sounds like hypo, while the over-heating sounds like hyper. There are some thyroid conditions that go back and forth between the two extremes. But maybe this is par for the course for chronic fatigue and doesn't include thyroid troubles at all. I hope that things can improve soon for you!

Thanks!
It started with fatigue and an off the chart titer for past exposure to Epstein Barr virus so they said it's probably mono but to see a rheumatologist. Between the rheum and my primary, they did gallons of bloodwork to check everything from HIV to leukemia and thyroid too. It was slowly getting better then I got the flu from dh which then ended in sinus infection. So that is similar to how some little kids get ear infections after a cold, I get sinus infections. Sometimes it just happens with no cold, when my allergies are bad.
I think it could also be hot flashes too. Who knows.

Unrelated, my life insurance is dirt cheap through my employer but just in case I can't work, while I was out I quick signed up for my own separate policy which was finalized Monday. I think it might be harder to get or more expensive if you're unemployed or disabled permanently. I think they can check your credit score too so while mine is still really high I thought I better act quickly. While we were at it, we got dh another policy since he will be 60 very soon, prices go up again, his current policy expires the end of 2019 and he is still very healthy.
Why wait and regret it?

 

[Dentam]

So I went back to work today, a miserable failure. First I had to stop at Employee Health to be cleared to return. This is routine when anyone is out more than 3 days. Well, they wouldn't clear me. I saw the nurse practitioner and while she stepped out of the room for a bit, the heat came on and it was such a little room and no way to escape this heat in my face. After a bit I started feeling weak & dizzy and put some cold, wet paper towels on my forehead and laid down on the exam table. So that doesn't look good when you're trying to convince someone you're ready to go work in a hospital. I was sitting in a chair when she left and returns to find me half passed out and sweating all over. They eventually sent me home and wanted to talk to my doctor and would call me back.
Well, the awful part with this chronic fatigue is when the fatigue hits really bad like that, and I have to lay down, it also creates this kind of brain fog where I don't really comprehend. It makes me want to tell everyone to put our conversations in writing because I will forget in 1 min what was said. So after I went home took a 2 hr nap and later when employee health called, I still had the fatigue bad and I really can't recall where our conversation left off. I know she's off tomorrow. and that she spoke with my doctor but honestly I can't remember if I'm supposed to come in tomorrow or wait and get another doctor's note or what.
I'm no genius but I did get As in Radiation Physics and got a 93 on my boards. I know there's something between my ears. Now I feel like a complete moron. I took notes and don't even understand what I wrote
She gave me a fax number and sent me an email just so that I'd have her email address but I have no idea what it's for.
Ugh. Such a scary feeling. I'm really losing it.

I spoke with our rep in HR about whether we really lose our jobs after 12 weeks of FMLA. He said it's subjective, that if I came back 2 weeks later, that's not even enough time to fill my position. If I came back 6 months later, they'd have to fill it. So I have a little more time and that's a huge relief.
He also said sometimes people have to come back with restrictions such as frequent breaks or working less than a full day. What a wonderful idea!
If I can maybe just work 8-12 and gradually build up to a full day I think my chances of success would be much better. Maybe every few weeks, add another hour. Today, I was exhausted just doing my normal getting-ready routine, commuting and walking around campus, and going home at 9:30.
I texted my boss with the idea and asked if that's possible and she said to call her tomorrow morning. (It was after 5 by then and I know she wants to get home to her own family.)
I used to get up at 5:30am and get home at 5:30pm. I can only hope some day I can get back to that.

I'm so sorry that you are going through this in addition to the stresses about your job. That's just awful. I hope they will allow you to come back for shorter days and slowly build up time if you can.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I'm so sorry that you are going through this in addition to the stresses about your job. That's just awful. I hope they will allow you to come back for shorter days and slowly build up time if you can.

Thanks

 

[Alexle2007]

http://www.safetyserve.com/ax/?id=94


Make sure your state will honor it before signing up.
http://www.safetyserve.com/Finesour...nfo.asp?ugid=694MNF9H&sid=&rid=659450&ct=DDC9

Thanks! Looks like you need to be at least 50 in MD to qualify so I'll have to talk DH into doing it since I still have a few years before I hit that milestone.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Our car ins renews every 6 months and this course paid for itself in 1 policy. The discount continues for 3 years so it was $20 well spent.

 

[mco65]

Jan 1. $36,957.81
Feb 1. $36,483.02
Mar 1. $35,988.95

A trip to the Daytona 500 race spoiled Feb debt reduction a tad... hoping for close to 1k reduction each month..
wish me luck in March!

 

[DisneyMandC]

@ruadisneyfan2 I am so sorry! That's just miserable. Please take care of yourself. I know that can sometimes feel like such a contradiction when you're trying to make sure that you keep your job so you CAN take care of yourself, but you really don't have anything if you don't have your health!

Thanks for the link on the defensive driving course. I checked mine since I use Geico as well, but you have to be 55 in my state in order to be eligible. So I'm a little shy of that... lol.

I received my state and federal tax refunds this week! DH still has to file his. We have no immediate plans for his tax refund. We still have two student loans sitting at $5600 each that we would like to pay down, but I honestly don't know if I just want to throw all the money at that or not. We've already decided to double DH's payment on his loan since we've paid off the personal loan. I think I may just put the refund in our savings for the moment and let it collect some interest and then decide. DH will get a bonus in May as well, but we won't know how much that will be until April. Maybe depending on what that is, we'll put the refund or bonus towards his student loan.

In the meantime, we've been coming up with a couple travel plans for the year in the wake of our Miami trip that wasn't meant to be. DH told me the other night that he thought we should take a Disney vacation this summer. It was really hard to veto that one, but with the mega blowout giant family Disney vacation we're going to take next year, I know it wouldn't be wise to do another Disney trip this year. Instead we came up with a couple other ideas. We are thinking of taking a road trip to Niagara Falls/Buffalo in late July for my birthday, and maybe hop over to Toronto for a day trip if I can get my passport together. We are also going to go to Universal for two days in November for DH's birthday. We haven't been to Universal in ten years and are both big Harry Potter fans, so we're excited for that trip. Since DH still said he'd like to do some Disney, I think we might tack on a day at Hollywood Studios to check out the new Toy Story Land.

 

[jen7233]

@ruadisney That is a tough situation, I hope your health gets better

Well, all, we still haven't filed taxes yet. I have the huge credit card bill I need to work on this month so that is on my mind to start working on and hopefully can pay off as planned by end of the month. I have to shift money from our money market, and use our taxes when they come in. We ran the tax numbers and expect a return, but still need to actually file. Again as I've said before, my DH is the one who actually files so waiting on him to finish up what he needs for taxes. I'm also counting on using my dividends from a mutual fund that comes this month towards this credit card bill, so I'm hoping what my numbers I've worked out on paper actually work out in reality and I can get this out of the way.

 

[imbatman]

Just turned on my Disney music because I'm about to open my spreadsheet that I haven't looked at in...five days. It'll be okay. It'll be okay...

Deposited our tax refund, which ends up being a wash with the cost of filing both state and federal. Am finally happy with the tax withholding adjustments I made and am hoping for a bigger return next year to fund a vacation. Happy that this month is an extra paycheck. I'll pay off CC1 in full on the 30th. It's almost harder to wait to pay it off, knowing that it'll happen.

Anyone else as surprised as I am that it's already March?!

 

[Tygerlilly]

Well, today we added $13k to our debt. Finally got our new to us car! We got a 2013 kia sorrento. It fits all of us and our stuff and should last us quite a while. Hoping once we start knocking out some smaller payments that we can kick this out in half the time (it's only a 2.5 year loan, but it sure would be nice to get rid of it in a little over a year).

Got my taxes in and well, they're pretty much gone. Between the down payment on the new car, our trip to Indiana, and paying ahead on a few bills, it's all spent. We went way over budget in Indiana, but I'm 100% okay with that as we gave my (future) step son and his girlfriend $800 to help with rent and groceries since she lost her job the week before christmas and has had a hard time finding a new one. When I found out they have been essentially living off ramen for the past 2 months, I was pretty unhappy. I applaud them for trying to do it on their own, but that's not even close to healthy.
Oh well, family problems will always come before debt dumping here.

 

[bethwc101]

Just made a $1000 payment on my Discover and closed out my AmEx.
$20,000 loan
$1,200 medical
$350 apartment fees
$7,000 car.
$and approx. $13,000 in credit cards -$1780 = $11,218.
Seems small, but I keep telling myself that every little bit counts.

 

[fifthdimensiondweller]

Such a scary feeling.

I can empathize with this, I'm so sorry for all you're going through. I had shingles in 2015 just before presenting my senior thesis in college. I was in so much pain and lost so much sleep (and honestly I think I probably had other illnesses too) that I routinely lost my memory of conversations for even a few months after the sores had gone. One day while I was in the middle of shingles I went to check in with my thesis advisor regarding my illness, and got lost in the building I'd been in every day for classes for years! I kept forgetting why I was there and if I was supposed to be in class. I'll never forget that feeling! I really hope you're better soon!

 

[LMA712014]

Hey all! I’m relatively new to DIS but this thread is all rainbows and butterflies to my anal tendencies so here I am! Haha.

‘It’s the time of year we do a lot of moolah reevaluating and as we move into year two of my husbands new venture owning a commercial construction company we like to set big goals!

Our main goal is debt elimination (per the norm). I struggle badly with wishing and wanting to just be able to immediately pay everything off and I have to remind myself that a lot of 26 year olds are not financially sound in the ways we are (and I’m oh so thankful for where we’re at!)

Our big goals!

1) Pay off credit card debt. We don’t actively use credit cards (I have some leftover credit card debt that I’ve been gradually paying down) but I’d love to have them all paid to $0 so we can pay them off monthly and reap the rewards. We have $10k approximately left to go, with $3k being paid next month from return money (the balance of our Disney trip from Feb ‘18). That’ll bring it down to $7k roughly to pick away at this year.
2) The great vehicle dilemma. We’re expecting baby number 3 in June - which is thrilling, but it means I need to sell my Trailblazer since it won’t accomodate 3 car seats. SO! Current proposal is to take over one of my husbands company pick ups to avoid adding a car payment and selling the Trailblazer for all profit.
3) Pay the Side by Side for the year. Our family ‘toy’ from last year, aka our birthday/Christmas etc. gift to each other is around $2700 for the year. Paying that out of our return as well so we won’t have to think about that one until 2019.
4) That leaves the balance of my student loans (around $9k), our mortgage, and basic bills for expenses. We may not make any major dents in these in 2018 beyond the ‘norm’ - but progress is progress!
5) RV purchase - a little contradictory to saving in a sense, but we’ve been toying with the idea of purchasing an older RV for travel! We visit my dad and step mom (5ish hours south) fairly regularly and loved Fort Wilderness last month - add in all the east coast travel possibilities and how amazing it would be for traveling with little people and I’m hoping this becomes a reality this year! I’ve justified that evenly if Disney were a yearly/bi yearly thing what we’d save at the Fort in dining/rooms etc would be adequate savings to pay for itself (not counting any other trips in addition).

 

[ChisJo]

I had to dip into credit this week, and it put us $1500 behind again. I am sick to my stomach. We were doing so well. We had some unexpected expenses come up and with hubby just clearing enough to make it in February, any extra expenses was needing to come from somewhere. I had a grand vision of being out of debt in Summer, but that seems fleeting now. I am incredibly disappointed today in ourselves.

Ruadisneyfan2 - Sorry to read that things didn't go as planned. I hope it all works out for you.

 

[imbatman]

I had to dip into credit this week, and it put us $1500 behind again. I am sick to my stomach. We were doing so well. We had some unexpected expenses come up and with hubby just clearing enough to make it in February, any extra expenses was needing to come from somewhere. I had a grand vision of being out of debt in Summer, but that seems fleeting now. I am incredibly disappointed today in ourselves.

These things happen. If I've learned anything on this board, that is it. You'll get through it!

 

[bababear_50]

Thanks!
It started with fatigue and an off the chart titer for past exposure to Epstein Barr virus so they said it's probably mono but to see a rheumatologist. Between the rheum and my primary, they did gallons of bloodwork to check everything from HIV to leukemia and thyroid too. It was slowly getting better then I got the flu from dh which then ended in sinus infection. So that is similar to how some little kids get ear infections after a cold, I get sinus infections. Sometimes it just happens with no cold, when my allergies are bad.
I think it could also be hot flashes too. Who knows.

Unrelated, my life insurance is dirt cheap through my employer but just in case I can't work, while I was out I quick signed up for my own separate policy which was finalized Monday. I think it might be harder to get or more expensive if you're unemployed or disabled permanently. I think they can check your credit score too so while mine is still really high I thought I better act quickly. While we were at it, we got dh another policy since he will be 60 very soon, prices go up again, his current policy expires the end of 2019 and he is still very healthy.
Why wait and regret it?

Hi Hon
I am sorry today was so crazy for you.Hugs
In Sept I was on RTW=Return To Work
Basically my doctor filled out a form stating all the things I couldn't do and the amount of hours and accomodations I needed.
Now that I am part time I have to get my doctor to remove those accomodations if I choose to pick up any afternoon supply work in the future.
I am going to do this,more because if I transfer to another school I don't want the accommodations on my file at a new school,,and I don't need the accomodations anymore.
I have one accomodation that is permanent --it involves extreme temperature exposure (hot and cold) for my skin condition/disease.
Thank goodness they installed air conditioning this past fall.
Picking up the extra insurance is a great idea.
Just wanted to tell you that things will work out and you will get through this.
Hugs
Mel

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

We made it through February, though there was some sacrifice. Since we overspent in January, we had a very trim grocery budget for Feb. but we made it work. There was lots of looking through the freezer and pantry and getting a bit more creative. We also didn't go over on our eating out fund, which was a nice improvement from last month. And we didn't end up with much in the way of unexpected expenses like in January, which helped.

Our FSA keeps dipping downward though. DH has had a terrible cough that won't go away. He went last Friday to the doctor's and they said he has bronchitis. He got an inhaler and it cost $45! He has been using it, but it doesn't seem to have made a huge difference. DD also has a lingering cough and congestion that won't seem to go away. There has basically been constant illness in our house for almost 2 months. I am really looking forward to some warmer weather and hopefully better health.

Some good things about February include our emergency fund getting up to $10,000. This feels like a big milestone. We have now been putting money in for over a year and it has really paid off. Also, our "age of money" in YNAB is at 110 days. And DD's physical therapy appointment went really well this week. In just a week she has made huge improvements. She is now rolling over on her own (with some prompting from toy bribes), she is grabbing her toes, she even propped herself up in a sitting position for a few seconds. Her muscle tightness seems somewhat better. We have been doing the assigned exercises with her and it seems to be paying off. So the PT said she wanted to see her in two weeks and then probably again in one month to check in and make sure everything was still progressing well. I feel so grateful to have access to such wonderful professional care.

And also such good insurance. The medical statement came for DD's 5 day hospital stay in January. It was $17,016.44! But we paid $0.

Things are looking good for March. It is a triple paycheck month for DH. We plan to use the paycheck to just schedule ahead in our budget. And now that we have both gotten our paychecks adjusted for the new tax changes, we seem to have gotten an extra $240 each month. We are putting $50 towards Temple dues. We doubled DD's 529 contributions to $200 per month. And I used the rest to bump up our fuel/parking budget since this has seemed to be a bit short for the last few months.

 

[belle032]

Sorry to go off topic but wanting to ask! Do you tip a hairdresser that does hair in her home?

I’m trying a new place tomorrow and while she converted a space into a beautiful salon, she’s still the owner and it’s still in her house. I feel like I should tip no matter what for the service, but I’ve never been clear on what proper etiquette is so thought I’d ask!

 

[krysenchips]

Sorry to go off topic but wanting to ask! Do you tip a hairdresser that does hair in her home?

I’m trying a new place tomorrow and while she converted a space into a beautiful salon, she’s still the owner and it’s still in her house. I feel like I should tip no matter what for the service, but I’ve never been clear on what proper etiquette is so thought I’d ask!

I would tip. She is providing you a service. The location doesn't really matter in that regard.