Debt Dumpers - 2018

[Tygerlilly]

My baby turns 1 on the 5th! I can't believe it's almost April either.

I'm working on a fairly strict budget as well for next couple months. Really going to buckle down and try and get rid of one loan before vacation in May, which will give me an extra $100 in the monthly budget.
My higher car payments will drop off in June (the first 6 were higher as we spread out my "down payment"), so assuming we're still all good bills wise, I'd like to apply the extra $160 a month from that to my fiances car loan and try and knock that out sooner than October, which will give me an extra $380 a month to throw at our other loans for the rest of the year or I can start putting a chunk of that money into our wedding account at the hotel we're booked at.

 

[Dentam]

I will have a stricter budget in April as well. I've actually been on one since my car broke down in February, and have a new pattern of lower spending established now. I also plan to cut my internet and netflix out once I move, which will save me $75/month. With these changes, I should be able to continue dept dumping at the same rate as before this awesome year of 2018 began.

 

[dayvewc]

Can't believe that April starts on Sunday! Thinking of you debt dumpers as I am scheduling out the next few weeks. Keep on going!

Since Sunday is both April 1 and Easter, has anyone else contemplated just telling the kiddo's that the eggs have been hidden?

 

[Tygerlilly]

Since Sunday is both April 1 and Easter, has anyone else contemplated just telling the kiddo's that the eggs have been hidden?

If my kids were older, I would totally do that.

 

[jackers]

@dayvewc , that is hilarious. I start my new job on Monday and I have had multiple people ask me if I'm really just pranking/fooling them and am going to stay in my current job after all. Not a chance.

March Update: Year to date progress towards 2018 goals:

Car Loan: $5,300 towards a $14,000 goal (updated goal)

Savings: $2,400 towards a $5,000 goal

Mortgage Overpay: $1,600 towards a $4,000 goal

DS12 College Fund: $1,500 towards a $5,000 goal

Personal goal: 17 pounds lost (35 total goal). March was a slow month, but in the end I'm down 2 lbs from the previous month, so I guess I have to consider that a win. I am down 2 sizes though and gaining access to a "new" wardrobe in my closet, which is pretty awesome and helps with staying on the financial track.

I've made some strong progress on a few of my goals in the first 3 months, but it will start to slow down now. April will be a bit of an adjustment for me as my new lower salary will kick in. I have done some estimates and not really concerned - I know I can still meet all of my goals - but I'll feel better when I finally see the numbers and know exactly what I'm working with.

Happy Easter everyone!

 

[christineinvegas]

I just want to jump in on this board and say how proud I am of all of you! I have been lurking around for awhile and finally decided to join up. You all inspire me!

We are debt free and on Dave Ramsey step 4-6. We started doing a hard core budget this past summer and it has been kinda fun setting the spending allowance, trying to stay under that amount, and watching all the "found" money appear to go towards our goals. For the first time in years, we are consistently able to put money into savings. It's pretty awesome!

We currently just cash flowed a security door for our front doors ($2600) and are now saving towards fake grass for the backyard. I figure we should have the money by mid-May and then our focus turns towards paying off the house - which I'm really excited about.

It's pretty amazing what can happen when you make a plan. So I want to encourage you all to keep at it.

 

[Aurora_Australis]

Finishing the month of March with

Emergency fund $200 (up from $0 after having to lend the whole lot to the ILs in a hurry)

Travel CC (priority, highest interest) was -$2274.19 now -$2134.19, paid off $140, not much but all we had spare at the end of the month. More than the minimum payment+interest at least.

Everyday CC trying super hard go get off the credit card float but at least it is paid off $0

I would *really* like to have that travel card cleared before we go on our US trip on the 25th but with all the expenses of moving, I just don't see that happening. We'll drop down to one wage and DH will have to pick up supply teaching, he was on a 3 day a week contract here. That will hurt the hip pocket but our living expenses will be lower so hopefully not by too much. Worst comes to worst, we can chip away at it and should be getting a bigger chunk back at tax time in July, seeing as he will have reduced work this coming quarter.

 

[bababear_50]

Just Sharing,,,,,,,,,,
The small point contract for AKV came through two days ago and I decided to go for it.
I am paying cash for it and have adjusted my bi weekly earning to have enough in the *Vacation Fund* to pay the dues each year.
Now it's time to STOP spending and get back into the save mode.
But at least for today I am going to dream about my next stay with the animals at AKV.

Happy Easter Everyone!
Hugs Mel

 

[DLgal]

So, yesterday was indeed a "good" Friday! DH FINALLY got his promotion and pinned on his new rank. Woo hoo!

Hopefully, his paycheck on April 15 will reflect both his new pay rate AND all the back pay for the past 7 months that he is owed. Now, taxes are going to take a big chunk away, but we should net about $6000 after all is said and done.

I had been mentally counting this money as "savings" towards our long term savings goal of $60k. So, that puts us at 10% of our goal.

HOWEVER, I'm sure you can all relate with this...now that it's actually going to be in the paycheck, I am considering other ways to allocate it.

I could use it to completely wipe out the remainder of one of our balance transfer 0% balances. Right now, one of them is $6000 and the other is $4500. The $6k one has an expiration date of 10/1, the other 2/1. I have a payment plan right now paying $1050/month total which will result in a payoff of both balances on time, using the snowball method. If I pay off the $6k one now, I will throw as much into the other one as possible to get rid of it in a couple of months.

We have a WDW trip booked for July that we have decided will be a huge splurge because it will likely be the last family vacation until 2020 or 2021 for a number of reasons. We have already booked and paid for airfare and two nights of our 11 night stay (split stay, so two deposits were required) Right now, we still have to buy our tickets and pay off our room only reservation. We are going in July. This money could take care of both so we can head into the trip in "paid" status.

My part time work from home job starts next Saturday, and I expect to net about $4000-4500, depending on how long the job runs.

DH's new pay going forward will be approximately $1000/month more than it is now. So, that "raise" is automatically going to savings. My eventual goal is to save $2500/month, so wiping out our balance transfers a.s.a.p. will allow us to begin putting that money into savings instead and earn some interest.

So, WWYD? Put the money into savings and carry on with the payment/savings plan? Pay off the $6k balance transfer? Pay off the WDW vacation?

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

So, yesterday was indeed a "good" Friday! DH FINALLY got his promotion and pinned on his new rank. Woo hoo!

Hopefully, his paycheck on April 15 will reflect both his new pay rate AND all the back pay for the past 7 months that he is owed. Now, taxes are going to take a big chunk away, but we should net about $6000 after all is said and done.

I had been mentally counting this money as "savings" towards our long term savings goal of $60k. So, that puts us at 10% of our goal.

HOWEVER, I'm sure you can all relate with this...now that it's actually going to be in the paycheck, I am considering other ways to allocate it.

I could use it to completely wipe out the remainder of one of our balance transfer 0% balances. Right now, one of them is $6000 and the other is $4500. The $6k one has an expiration date of 10/1, the other 2/1. I have a payment plan right now paying $1050/month total which will result in a payoff of both balances on time, using the snowball method. If I pay off the $6k one now, I will throw as much into the other one as possible to get rid of it in a couple of months.

We have a WDW trip booked for July that we have decided will be a huge splurge because it will likely be the last family vacation until 2020 or 2021 for a number of reasons. We have already booked and paid for airfare and two nights of our 11 night stay (split stay, so two deposits were required) Right now, we still have to buy our tickets and pay off our room only reservation. We are going in July. This money could take care of both so we can head into the trip in "paid" status.

My part time work from home job starts next Saturday, and I expect to net about $4000-4500, depending on how long the job runs.

DH's new pay going forward will be approximately $1000/month more than it is now. So, that "raise" is automatically going to savings. My eventual goal is to save $2500/month, so wiping out our balance transfers a.s.a.p. will allow us to begin putting that money into savings instead and earn some interest.

So, WWYD? Put the money into savings and carry on with the payment/savings plan? Pay off the $6k balance transfer? Pay off the WDW vacation?

If you're torn, why not compromise and split it? Half toward your vacation and half toward paying off a bill.
I have done it, but I try not to calculate 'how much per month it takes to pay off a 0% BT' and stick with that. So many things can come up that would prevent me from being able to get all the payments in on time. Take my situation for instance. I had no idea I'd be sick out of work for 3 months and then a few more months part time. Even 2 months into it, I was still in disbelief. Now, my paychecks are crap. Enough to pay big bills but my snowball has totally melted.
Things like this aren't the end of the world but can derail us so it can't hurt to leave a little wiggle room. If there's extra $ in the snowball and it gets paid off 3 months early, so be it. That min payment would really help pay down the next one even faster.

 

[christineinvegas]

So, yesterday was indeed a "good" Friday! DH FINALLY got his promotion and pinned on his new rank. Woo hoo!

Hopefully, his paycheck on April 15 will reflect both his new pay rate AND all the back pay for the past 7 months that he is owed. Now, taxes are going to take a big chunk away, but we should net about $6000 after all is said and done.

I had been mentally counting this money as "savings" towards our long term savings goal of $60k. So, that puts us at 10% of our goal.

HOWEVER, I'm sure you can all relate with this...now that it's actually going to be in the paycheck, I am considering other ways to allocate it.

I could use it to completely wipe out the remainder of one of our balance transfer 0% balances. Right now, one of them is $6000 and the other is $4500. The $6k one has an expiration date of 10/1, the other 2/1. I have a payment plan right now paying $1050/month total which will result in a payoff of both balances on time, using the snowball method. If I pay off the $6k one now, I will throw as much into the other one as possible to get rid of it in a couple of months.

We have a WDW trip booked for July that we have decided will be a huge splurge because it will likely be the last family vacation until 2020 or 2021 for a number of reasons. We have already booked and paid for airfare and two nights of our 11 night stay (split stay, so two deposits were required) Right now, we still have to buy our tickets and pay off our room only reservation. We are going in July. This money could take care of both so we can head into the trip in "paid" status.

My part time work from home job starts next Saturday, and I expect to net about $4000-4500, depending on how long the job runs.

DH's new pay going forward will be approximately $1000/month more than it is now. So, that "raise" is automatically going to savings. My eventual goal is to save $2500/month, so wiping out our balance transfers a.s.a.p. will allow us to begin putting that money into savings instead and earn some interest.

So, WWYD? Put the money into savings and carry on with the payment/savings plan? Pay off the $6k balance transfer? Pay off the WDW vacation?

Typically I would say cc first, but being that you have that vacation coming up, I agree with @ruadisneyfan2 and say maybe half and half.

Yay for a raise!

 

[Aurora_Australis]

I'd mentally tell myself that I'd put the extra money back into my snowball down the track (if I did half vacation, half pay off a card) but life would happen and I never would, I'd fritter away money on useless crap. IF I paid off a card with the entire amount, I'd know I'd still need to save for vacation and I'd be much better about keeping my spending on track.

(Now just gotta apply that logic to my own life )

 

[DLgal]

I'd mentally tell myself that I'd put the extra money back into my snowball down the track (if I did half vacation, half pay off a card) but life would happen and I never would, I'd fritter away money on useless crap. IF I paid off a card with the entire amount, I'd know I'd still need to save for vacation and I'd be much better about keeping my spending on track.

(Now just gotta apply that logic to my own life )

This tends to be me too. If I pay off the credit card,we will still totally be able to pay off the vacation by the time it comes around. Really, we will be able to pay off the credit cards when the 0% offers expire, that's no problem. Nothing will happen to DHs paycheck (that's the beauty of a military job...unless he dies, that paycheck will keep on coming every 2 weeks).

I just have a hard time mentally with seeing money in a savings account when I have a balance on a credit card or loan.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I just have a hard time mentally with seeing money in a savings account when I have a balance on a credit card or loan.

I know what you mean. This is why I stopped saving a down payment for a car and plunked it on our home equity loan.
If paying for the vacation would not be difficult, pay off the cc. It does feel great to log in and see $0 balance on anything!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

(Now just gotta apply that logic to my own life )

Lol! It is much easier to be objective and practical when discussing other people’s money management.

If I could always apply proper logic to my own life, I wouldn’t have taken ANY vacations while paying off debt.

 

[Aurora_Australis]

Lol! It is much easier to be objective and practical when discussing other people’s money management.

If I could always apply proper logic to my own life, I wouldn’t have taken ANY vacations while paying off debt.

You gotta live though! We have a window before DD2 starts school next year that is good for extra travel. She's special needs and we don't want to take her out anywhere near as much as we've taken DD1 who is ahead of grade level in most things and will catch up school stuff pretty quickly. We've had the income to manage our commitments and still make good grounds with debt.

Our trip to Japan next year will happen while we're paying off our car loan still but cards are nearly all done so that will get our snowball next.

 

[DLgal]

I know what you mean. This is why I stopped saving a down payment for a car and plunked it on our home equity loan.
If paying for the vacation would not be difficult, pay off the cc. It does feel great to log in and see $0 balance on anything!

That would be nice to see.

We will see how much we actually get and decide from there. Unfortunately, part of getting promoted in the military means hosting a wet down, which basically means "drinks on us" at a bar all night for whoever my husband invites and shows up. That is happening next Friday. Who knows...he might spend a huge chunk of this back pay in one night. He has a LOT of people who want to go...

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

That would be nice to see.

We will see how much we actually get and decide from there. Unfortunately, part of getting promoted in the military means hosting a wet down, which basically means "drinks on us" at a bar all night for whoever my husband invites and shows up. That is happening next Friday. Who knows...he might spend a huge chunk of this back pay in one night. He has a LOT of people who want to go...

That actually sounds like a nice tradition. I guess except for the one paying. Lol.
Im sure everyone gets a turn though and a good excuse to let off some steam.
What branch is he in? Ds21 wants to join the Navy.

 

[DLgal]

That actually sounds like a nice tradition. I guess except for the one paying. Lol.
Im sure everyone gets a turn though and a good excuse to let off some steam.
What branch is he in? Ds21 wants to join the Navy.

Marine Corps. But the Navy does wet downs as well. The Marine Corps falls under Dept of the Navy, so many traditions are shared.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Thanks. Is this only for officers?
Dh is curious.