Debt Dumpers - 2018

[Jen and Ashwin]

Don't they automatically get backed up to the Cloud? If you have an Apple account you should be able to retrieve them.

They might, if it is set up and there is enough space. iCloud keeps telling me that I don't have enough space and wants me to pay for more, which I won't do.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

They might, if it is set up and there is enough space. iCloud keeps telling me that I don't have enough space and wants me to pay for more, which I won't do.

I pay it. It's only $0.99 per month. I probably should get rid of more junk but I never feel like doing it.

 

[BrerRabbit66]

I'm not sure they were backed up but I will definitely check into it. DH says he will take it to the Apple Store and see if its just the battery or if they can recover them.

 

[Dentam]

Going to see another duplex tomorrow afternoon. It's above what I wanted to pay but I am learning that unless it's in a high crime area or if it's a dump, it's going to cost more than what I originally hoped. It's also been on the market over two weeks and the landlord seems open to negotiating on the price.

I've made adjustments to my budget so that I should be able to continue dumping debt at about the same rate with the higher rent. I've also been asked to teach a few workshops at work which I will be paid extra for so that's nice. Goal now is to just get into a new place and get rid of this debt as soon as possible. I'm more motivated than ever to be rid of it!

 

[DLgal]

Going to see another duplex tomorrow afternoon. It's above what I wanted to pay but I am learning that unless it's in a high crime area or if it's a dump, it's going to cost more than what I originally hoped. It's also been on the market over two weeks and the landlord seems open to negotiating on the price.

I've made adjustments to my budget so that I should be able to continue dumping debt at about the same rate with the higher rent. I've also been asked to teach a few workshops at work which I will be paid extra for so that's nice. Goal now is to just get into a new place and get rid of this debt as soon as possible. I'm more motivated than ever to be rid of it!

Offer to sign a multi year lease if you can. You can often negotiate the rent down drastically by doing that. Our current rental was listed $250 above what we wanted to pay. We got the landlord to knock off $250 by signing a 3 year lease.

 

[Dentam]

Offer to sign a multi year lease if you can. You can often negotiate the rent down drastically by doing that. Our current rental was listed $250 above what we wanted to pay. We got the landlord to knock off $250 by signing a 3 year lease.

Thanks, I will try that. But with the way Denver's rents have been increasing each year, I wonder if most landlords prefer one year leases so they can raise the price substantially the following year. Although according to the experts, our rental market should be steadying with all of the new apartment complexes around the city now. We shall see.

 

[DLgal]

Thanks, I will try that. But with the way Denver's rents have been increasing each year, I wonder if most landlords prefer one year leases so they can raise the price substantially the following year. Although according to the experts, our rental market should be steadying with all of the new apartment complexes around the city now. We shall see.

Our city has a very rapid appreciation in housing values and rental rates increase on average 5-10% per year. The going rent for a home similar to the one we rent is about $500 over what we are paying. Our landlord prefers continuity of tenants to frequent turnover. Turning over a rental is costly for landlords. They have to do cleaning and repairs, advertise the property, usually lose about 1-2 months rent during the process, etc. Our lease will be up this summer and my landlord agreed to another 3 year lease and will only be raising our rent $50/month, locked in for those 3 years.

Good luck!

 

[Dentam]

Our city has a very rapid appreciation in housing values and rental rates increase on average 5-10% per year. The going rent for a home similar to the one we rent is about $500 over what we are paying. Our landlord prefers continuity of tenants to frequent turnover. Turning over a rental is costly for landlords. They have to do cleaning and repairs, advertise the property, usually lose about 1-2 months rent during the process, etc. Our lease will be up this summer and my landlord agreed to another 3 year lease and will only be raising our rent $50/month, locked in for those 3 years.

Good luck!

Things don't take that long to rent here, so I don't think most landlords lose 1-2 months of rent with a turnover. A duplex in my neighborhood was rented out five days after being posted for $600 more a month than what I've been paying, and it's smaller. The place I'm looking at today wants $300 more a month than what they rented it out for just a year ago according to zillow. Seems like Denver landlords haven't gotten the memo that rents are supposed to be stabilizing here. I won't be paying what the landlord is asking for this place, but she seemed open to negotiating. Wish my current landlord thought the way yours does. Been here over 4.5 years and helped with repairs, yard maintenance, etc.

 

[Tygerlilly]

In random conversation with someone yesterday, they mentioned next year you wouldn't be able to claim the child tax credit. Is this true? I'm not very good at this tax thing and if that is the case, I need to figure out how to adjust my withholdings.

 

[BrerRabbit66]

In random conversation with someone yesterday, they mentioned next year you wouldn't be able to claim the child tax credit. Is this true? I'm not very good at this tax thing and if that is the case, I need to figure out how to adjust my withholdings.

Child Tax Credit is $2,000 per child under the age of 17 for tax year 2018. They raised the credit amount and increased the AGI income threshold so more people qualify for the credit now. Phaseout starts at 200k for Single filers and 400k for joint filers. Tax law in affect until 2025. Child Tax Credit is used to reduce Tax Liability...so if you have one child and your tax liability is more than 2k then liability will be reduced by that amount. If tax liability is less than 2k, the tax is zeroed out and up to 1,400 remaining child tax credit is refundable as "additional child tax credit".

So, if your child turns 17 even on the last day of the year then child tax credit goes poof.

 

[DLgal]

Things don't take that long to rent here, so I don't think most landlords lose 1-2 months of rent with a turnover. A duplex in my neighborhood was rented out five days after being posted for $600 more a month than what I've been paying, and it's smaller. The place I'm looking at today wants $300 more a month than what they rented it out for just a year ago according to zillow. Seems like Denver landlords haven't gotten the memo that rents are supposed to be stabilizing here. I won't be paying what the landlord is asking for this place, but she seemed open to negotiating. Wish my current landlord thought the way yours does. Been here over 4.5 years and helped with repairs, yard maintenance, etc.

Listing date doesn't indicate when the previous tenant moved out or stopped paying rent. Most landlords won't list a property until it is ready to be occupied.

 

[Tygerlilly]

Child Tax Credit is $2,000 per child under the age of 17 for tax year 2018. They raised the credit amount and increased the AGI income threshold so more people qualify for the credit now. Phaseout starts at 200k for Single filers and 400k for joint filers. Tax law in affect until 2025. Child Tax Credit is used to reduce Tax Liability...so if you have one child and your tax liability is more than 2k then liability will be reduced by that amount. If tax liability is less than 2k, the tax is zeroed out and up to 1,400 remaining child tax credit is refundable as "additional child tax credit".

So, if your child turns 17 even on the last day of the year then child tax credit goes poof.

Awesome! My girls are 1 and 2.5, so I get to take that advantage for a long time still. I wonder what they were trying to refer to then.

 

[BrerRabbit66]

Awesome! My girls are 1 and 2.5, so I get to take that advantage for a long time still. I wonder what they were trying to refer to then.

Maybe they were referring to the loss of claiming personal exemptions as 2017 is the last year for claiming a $4,050 personal exemption for each person on the return. With four people in your household, this was a $16,200 deduction from income for you this year. Going forward, that has been discontinued. This is the change that I have found hurting a lot of my clients; but, when the kids are eligible for the increase child tax credit it hasn't been too much of an impact for 2018 projections.

 

[Dentam]

Listing date doesn't indicate when the previous tenant moved out or stopped paying rent. Most landlords won't list a property until it is ready to be occupied.

The tenant is still living there and won't be out until mid-April. It was listed 16 days ago. I have found the opposite. Landlords list here before the current tenants move out and list the availability date as up to a month or more down the road. Anyway, I will ask about a longer lease. Did that at my current place before I signed the lease as did my new upstairs neighbor and my landlord didn't want to. So, I guess it depends on the landlord and probably the market. I think many want the option to raise rents when the market is like it is here.

Ended up not being able to see the place after meeting there this afternoon. Tenant wasn't home after the owner had confirmed the time with her just an hour earlier. So, trying again after work tomorrow. Sounds like the current tenant has been a real pill to deal with.

 

[imbatman]

So, if your child turns 17 even on the last day of the year then child tax credit goes poof.

Learned this the hard way this year.

Opinion question for you BB peeps: I can retire in 15 years and I won't be Medicare age, but will have a couple of pensions that allow early retirement. With legislative pushing through for multi-tiered pension, I think I should still keep putting $40 per paycheck into a 401(k), in case my pension fund gets hosed. 15 years seems far away, but to refer to the quote above, it seems like I just brought home the munchkin who will be 18 this year.

So, with the snowball I have now, I will be CC debt free in August of next year with no extra payments. The car is Dec of 2019. House is in 2021.

Question: Should I keep throwing the $40 into the 401(k) for now? In the long run, it seems best. But that's $2080 towards debt.

And we adjusted the sale of the trailer next month to cover my conference and the rest goes into an emergency cash fund.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Learned this the hard way this year.

Opinion question for you BB peeps: I can retire in 15 years and I won't be Medicare age, but will have a couple of pensions that allow early retirement. With legislative pushing through for multi-tiered pension, I think I should still keep putting $40 per paycheck into a 401(k), in case my pension fund gets hosed. 15 years seems far away, but to refer to the quote above, it seems like I just brought home the munchkin who will be 18 this year.

So, with the snowball I have now, I will be CC debt free in August of next year with no extra payments. The car is Dec of 2019. House is in 2021.

Question: Should I keep throwing the $40 into the 401(k) for now? In the long run, it seems best. But that's $2080 towards debt.

And we adjusted the sale of the trailer next month to cover my conference and the rest goes into an emergency cash fund.

If you aren't losing out on any kind of employer match, then I think it would be alright to put the $40 per month towards your snowball and then pick the 401(k) back up after the CC debt is paid off. I wouldn't keep funneling that money into the car or house though.

ETA: The reason for using it towards CC debt is that CC debt is usually very high interest. Car and home loans are usually much lower.

 

[pblack]

Got confirmation that my start date for my new position will be next Monday the 2nd! With this new position comes a 5% raise. July 1 we also will be getting another raise (I want to say it's 3%) since the teacher's union is getting a raise. (I work for the County/School District.) I was also informed that since my raise is not more than 10% I won't lose my anniversary or longevity date (I don't think this kicks in until I hit 10 years) which is good news for me. My anniversary date is August 1st, so when August rolls around i'll move to the next step on the pay scale. So basically within the next 6 months i'll get roughly a 13% raise from where i'm at now.

 

[Tygerlilly]

Has anyone heard of or used the Even app? I guess walmart is partnering with it and they're offering a month free of the premium membership for Wal-Mart employees. Just looking for some insight or reviews on it.

 

[bababear_50]

Thanks, I will try that. But with the way Denver's rents have been increasing each year, I wonder if most landlords prefer one year leases so they can raise the price substantially the following year. Although according to the experts, our rental market should be steadying with all of the new apartment complexes around the city now. We shall see.

Dentam
Thinking about you and hoping things go well.
Hugs Mel

 

[Eureka]

I pay it. It's only $0.99 per month. I probably should get rid of more junk but I never feel like doing it.

Among the four of us, we have a lot of devices and pay the $2.99/mo for even more space. I don’t remember how much though.

I don’t remember if I mentioned we decided to not take a big trip this summer. The kids (15 and 17) do summer swimming and also want to work, and said other than going to visit their grandmother, don’t want to go away. Now that I am typing this, I think I did mention it because I said we had bought some tickets in cash. Well, today we bought some *very* pricey tickets and had to put them on the credit card....but we’re going to see Hamilton at the Kennedy Center this summer! Dh put himself on the email alert list at 7:30 this morning and got the alert at 2pm that it was his turn. We spent an insane amount on them but are kind of justifying to ourselves that this is in lieu of a vacation. Yeah, I know, rationalization. But yay! And the kids were psyched.