Debt Dumpers - 2018

[DisneyMandC]

We're home from our Disney/Universal trip! We had a really nice time and stayed at Coronado Springs for this first time. The hotel was absolutely beautiful, even with construction going on. Honestly, I thought the room was nicer than our room at AKL three years ago. MVMCP was fun, though we both agreed that the Christmas Wishes show really paled in comparison to Happily Ever After. Jingle Bell, Jingle Bam at HS the next day was way better, and we both liked that a lot. HS was fairly crowded with Toy Story Land, but we still got to ride everything. ToT and RnRC kept alternating going down throughout the day, but we managed to get everything done. We also did the Frozen Sing a Long, which was super cute.

We went to Universal over the weekend. Well, really I should say that we went to WWOHP... lol. I could care less about anything else in that park besides Harry Potter! I am a Harry Potter super fan, so those sections of the park truly were magical. We rode Escape from Gringotts three times and Forbidden Journey twice. We did both spring for wands, which was the most expensive part of our trip. Totally worth it though, as we enjoyed using them and now know that we will definitely be back once they have finished the expansion to that part of the park. As for the rest of Universal... we rode The Hulk, Rock It roller coaster, and Fast and Furious. We also did the Shrek show. We just didn't care for the rest of the park. In the future, I'll do 1 day PTP Universal tickets as that will be sufficient to see everything we want to see.

I'm now home and, unfortunately, back in the full swing of work. The election last week wreaked havoc on our office so it's going to be interesting around here for a while. I didn't come in to an e-mail that I'd been fired, as some of my colleagues received last week, so I guess there's that...

 

[Tygerlilly]

We're home from our Disney/Universal trip! We had a really nice time and stayed at Coronado Springs for this first time. The hotel was absolutely beautiful, even with construction going on. Honestly, I thought the room was nicer than our room at AKL three years ago. MVMCP was fun, though we both agreed that the Christmas Wishes show really paled in comparison to Happily Ever After. Jingle Bell, Jingle Bam at HS the next day was way better, and we both liked that a lot. HS was fairly crowded with Toy Story Land, but we still got to ride everything. ToT and RnRC kept alternating going down throughout the day, but we managed to get everything done. We also did the Frozen Sing a Long, which was super cute.

We went to Universal over the weekend. Well, really I should say that we went to WWOHP... lol. I could care less about anything else in that park besides Harry Potter! I am a Harry Potter super fan, so those sections of the park truly were magical. We rode Escape from Gringotts three times and Forbidden Journey twice. We did both spring for wands, which was the most expensive part of our trip. Totally worth it though, as we enjoyed using them and now know that we will definitely be back once they have finished the expansion to that part of the park. As for the rest of Universal... we rode The Hulk, Rock It roller coaster, and Fast and Furious. We also did the Shrek show. We just didn't care for the rest of the park. In the future, I'll do 1 day PTP Universal tickets as that will be sufficient to see everything we want to see.

I'm now home and, unfortunately, back in the full swing of work. The election last week wreaked havoc on our office so it's going to be interesting around here for a while. I didn't come in to an e-mail that I'd been fired, as some of my colleagues received last week, so I guess there's that...

I can't wait to see all the Harry Potter stuff at universal! I'm such a huge fan and so is my 3 year old. Since we changed up our honeymoon plans in favor of keeping it cheaper and then moving instead, I've been loosely planning a giant 2 week Florida extravaganza for fall 2020, so hopefully some of that expansion will be done by then.

And an email they got fired?! Like they weren't even given the courtesy of a face to face firing? Wow.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I can't wait to see all the Harry Potter stuff at universal! I'm such a huge fan and so is my 3 year old. Since we changed up our honeymoon plans in favor of keeping it cheaper and then moving instead, I've been loosely planning a giant 2 week Florida extravaganza for fall 2020, so hopefully some of that expansion will be done by then.

And an email they got fired?! Like they weren't even given the courtesy of a face to face firing? Wow.

I think some of it will be done next year, so you should definitely get to see it if you're going in 2020! That's probably when we will try to go again, if we can swing it with Tokyo that year too.

And yes, e-mail. It was a wild day and a lot of tears shed. I truly love everyone I work with, so hopefully that's the last of it.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Booked our DVC reservation for Oct. 2019 yesterday! Pretty excited to have vacation plans made through March 2020 now. Though I will try to change our reservation from Poly to GF at the 7 month mark, but even if that doesn't work out, I have a room all set for DD's 2nd birthday.

We leave for Disneyland on Sunday. I have a $550 gift to cover food and a few souvenirs for our 3 days in the parks. This should be way more than we need. It just has all of my Swagbucks earnings over the past several months combined on a single card. Shuttle to and from airport and hotel was covered by Chase points. Park tickets were also covered with Chase points. Flights covered with Southwest points. And hotel covered with SPG points. So we just have to pay out of pocket for parking at the hotel in Chicago for 3 nights.

We meet with the builders on Thursday evening to go over the next steps for the project. I have no idea how they will propose to structure the payments, but I assume that there will be some money up front at the start. Also not sure what the proposed time line will be, so looking forward to making everything a bit more concrete.

We got the trailer moved from the seller's house to our storage facility space on Sunday. I am glad that everything is now done with it, short of paying off the loan. And getting a car that can actually tow it, but as I said before, that is going to have to wait a little bit more. I did sell a sewing machine yesterday, so I was able to make an extra $110 principle payment on the loan. Our goal is to put any extra money towards the loan to get it paid off asap and then switch to DH's auto loan. Once those are both taken care of, we can look into a new (or used) car for me that will also have the towing capacity we need for the trailer.

 

[Tygerlilly]

Just made the final payment on DF's truck!!! This was our first major pay off and I'm so proud of us and so happy to see our progress slowly make a difference!
I also realized now that I'm a month ahead on one loan payment AND it's $100 less than I thought, so I should be knocking that out with our first check in December. Hoping to finish out the year with 2 payments down and start the new year with a renewed sense of debt dumping!

 

[Dentam]

Just made the final payment on DF's truck!!! This was our first major pay off and I'm so proud of us and so happy to see our progress slowly make a difference!
I also realized now that I'm a month ahead on one loan payment AND it's $100 less than I thought, so I should be knocking that out with our first check in December. Hoping to finish out the year with 2 payments down and start the new year with a renewed sense of debt dumping!

That's awesome - congratulations and great job!!

 

[Tygerlilly]

Paid off 2 past due medical bills that were in collections with our HSA account today! I didn't know we had as much in there as we did, so I used half to pay off 2 of them, which should have a positive impact on my credit score next month. Getting closer to removing all those collections accounts (I have 3 left: $425, $4,000, and $325).

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Paid off 2 past due medical bills that were in collections with our HSA account today! I didn't know we had as much in there as we did, so I used half to pay off 2 of them, which should have a positive impact on my credit score next month. Getting closer to removing all those collections accounts (I have 3 left: $425, $4,000, and $325).

You are just rocking the debt dumping heading into 2019. I am very inspired!

 

[Tygerlilly]

You are just rocking the debt dumping heading into 2019. I am very inspired!

Thanks. Since we set firm plans to move after the wedding, I've been keeping a lot more strict with budgets and hardcore trying to finish out 2018 strong to lead into a successful 2019. You all have motivated me so much over the last year!

 

[jen7233]

Just made the final payment on DF's truck!!!

that's great!

 

[DnA2010]

Booked our DVC reservation for Oct. 2019 yesterday! Pretty excited to have vacation plans made through March 2020 now. Though I will try to change our reservation from Poly to GF at the 7 month mark, but even if that doesn't work out, I have a room all set for DD's 2nd birthday.

We leave for Disneyland on Sunday. I have a $550 gift to cover food and a few souvenirs for our 3 days in the parks. This should be way more than we need. It just has all of my Swagbucks earnings over the past several months combined on a single card. Shuttle to and from airport and hotel was covered by Chase points. Park tickets were also covered with Chase points. Flights covered with Southwest points. And hotel covered with SPG points. So we just have to pay out of pocket for parking at the hotel in Chicago for 3 nights.

We meet with the builders on Thursday evening to go over the next steps for the project. I have no idea how they will propose to structure the payments, but I assume that there will be some money up front at the start. Also not sure what the proposed time line will be, so looking forward to making everything a bit more concrete.

We got the trailer moved from the seller's house to our storage facility space on Sunday. I am glad that everything is now done with it, short of paying off the loan. And getting a car that can actually tow it, but as I said before, that is going to have to wait a little bit more. I did sell a sewing machine yesterday, so I was able to make an extra $110 principle payment on the loan. Our goal is to put any extra money towards the loan to get it paid off asap and then switch to DH's auto loan. Once those are both taken care of, we can look into a new (or used) car for me that will also have the towing capacity we need for the trailer.

Have a wonderful time! We were there just for a day last month post cruise (although did 5 days there in May )I bet your DD will love the daytime parade! Our two littles (mine and my sisters) loved it.

MaxPass and rider swap work awesome together btw

 

[imbatman]

We are looking at going back into debt, for a good reason--family. Things I'd rather not post about, but DH and I agreed that stretching out our current budget far outweighs the situation a family member is in. I'm a believer in God, so I'm praying that the situation shows itself clearly, how we should proceed. So many things I've learned on this board made the decision easy, knowing that we can cover the expense and still make our current payments. DH has come alongside after the colossal mess that he created. He completely trusts the budget I've made and stays inside the lines. So, maybe I'll be in more debt come January 1st, but at least I know how to navigate.

The oddly bright side? I get to make a new snowball. And I like that because it shows the payments and when things will be paid off.

 

[jen7233]

We are looking at going back into debt, for a good reason--family. Things I'd rather not post about, but DH and I agreed that stretching out our current budget far outweighs the situation a family member is in. I'm a believer in God, so I'm praying that the situation shows itself clearly, how we should proceed. So many things I've learned on this board made the decision easy, knowing that we can cover the expense and still make our current payments.

Yes, the key is in moving around things in the budget. There's some things I really want to do regarding family, but I'm unable to at the moment not money related but more location related.

We're home from our Disney/Universal trip! We had a really nice time and stayed at Coronado Springs for this first time. The hotel was absolutely beautiful, even with construction going on. Honestly, I thought the room was nicer than our room at AKL three years ago.

I've heard Coronado mentioned on some of the Disney podcast I've listened to and it sounds nice, and a place I'd like to try! I've been back and forth on AKL, I also want to try it but somehow never have. So, Universal is doing an expansion to be done in 2020? I will have to *maybe* add that in as a place to go in summer 2020! I've been to Universal in CA, but never in Orlando. However, 2020 may be a non-Orlando year, too far to tell yet.

I don't know what the future holds for us that year, certainly something as we may be moving then and not sure the health of my mother by then. She's been struggling with dementia related issues which I see worsening it seems with each few months, and now I'm starting to see more physical restraints with her on my last visit like not seeing well, harder time walking. I'm a few hours drive away, I have a sibling with her but I feel it's going to come to a point of it's not enough and hate to think about the need for assisted living at some point. But it may have to be considered if nursing care isn't going to work or her condition worsens which from all I read it will with dementia and given her age in the 80s the physical will be a concern. I'm sort of hoping we'll be settled somewhere less expensive and I can move her closer.

 

[CoP Luv]

I belong to a Royal Caribbean Moms at Sea facebook group and they all recommended that we book on Harmony of the Seas based on DD's age at the time of sailing. This ship has the Splashaway Bay, a carousel, ice skating, Aqua theatre shows, etc. Unfortunately, she will be just a little too young to be able to use the Kid's Club instead of the nursery, so we probably won't use that much. We are thinking that I might be pregnant during the trip, so this will be our last big trip with DD before another baby arrives. DH is really excited.

I will have to check the FB group out. We are going on the Symphony of the Seas with young children and TBH, the idea of them being on the open seas makes me lose sleep at night. There is going to be lots of hand holding and lots of rules!

 

[fifthdimensiondweller]

Argh today hurt a bit!

Christmas and 1st birthday photos for little one- $80.
Oil change for car- not sure yet since DH isn't home
Target run for Road trip things to travel for thanksgiving- $55
Christmas card photos ordered- $48
Paid and tipped Petsitter for thanksgiving- $157
Frosty cards to attach to hot cocoa mixes I'm making for all of my cousins- $22

Happy it's all done though. Trying to remind myself to BREATHE because my holiday shopping and expenses are so, so close to being DONE.

 

[Tygerlilly]

Scored a few Christmas toys for the girls at Walgreens during their buy 2 at $6.99/get 2 free sale. I've looked everywhere for toddler seek and find books and they had them included in the sale, so I got a few. I also hit up an amazing 70% off already reduced clearance prices (which were 50-70% off already) and got 6 pairs of shoes, a few outfits for summer, and some left over Halloween stuff for the grand total of $16. So other than the girls big present (a play kitchen), their christmas shopping is done.

I still have the 4 family members we drew for family secret Santa ($25 each), DF is getting a new coffee maker ($50), my parents, and our big joint gift to get. So I have about $500 left to spend before we're done, but at least none of it is financed and all paid in cash.

I completely forgot we get our work bonus on this next check, so I'm hoping it's enough to cover the tv and still have enough to pay off that one loan two months early.

 

[pblack]

I'm off this week for the holiday and don't really have any updates on debt dumping (or a debt standstill as it is right now). But I am almost done with christmas shopping, only a few small gifts to get. Just wanted to wish my disboards "family" (because it does seem like we're our own little family on here ) a very Happy Thanksgiving and a successful black Friday shopping day if you partake!

 

[Tygerlilly]

I had zero intention of doing it, but I wondered into Children's Place and spent $20 on a bunch of clearance shirts and got $20 in free money back! Gonna take another $20 or $40 (if I have enough extra) in on pay day and get some more and stock up on stuff for next fall and then I'll have $40-60 to spend in January.

I ultimately decided against black Friday shopping for the first time in probably 12 years. There's nothing we need that I can't wait for a different sale to come along. We also decided to ditch the giant tree and just do a small 4ft table top tree that I can put up and out of the way since last year they about pulled it over 5 different times and ornaments were constantly all over the house. I love Christmas, love decorating, but I'm so relieved to not have to do much this year.

Also knocked out all my prep work for tomorrow, so all I have left is to throw the turkey and ham in the oven, potatoes in the crock pot, and devil some eggs.

 

[crazycatstacy]

We made it through the wedding and had a fabulous time! My daughter and her husband are here until Saturday and we have stayed on budget during that time as well. We are excited to black Friday shop and have it all budgeted for so no bill at the end of it! Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

 

[Dentam]

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving tomorrow!