Debt Dumpers - 2018

[MamaBelleRN]

Kind of long (but I think pretty cool) story. I have been feeling pretty anxious about our long-term finances. After thinking about things we can do and adjustments we could make, I started thinking about other job options. When @Jen and Ashwin mentioned the amazing benefits at her University, I decided to check out staff nurse positions at our local University. Full time staff nurses qualify for all benefits- full medical benefits at retirement, a 10% match when you contribute 5% of your income, and they pay 50% of college tuition for your children after you have had five years of employment.

I looked at their website last night and didn’t see any openings posted. I decided to just call directly to ask if there were any current or soon to open positions available The nurse who answered the phone said there were no full time positions available, but there might be something PRN. She took my name and cell phone number and said I may or may not get a call.

Several hours later, I get a call. Y’ALL it was my former manager from my current department at the hospital. Her job was eliminated when I was on maternity leave last year and she is now the director of Health Services at the University. She said she has been getting pretty anxious because she has a full time nurse going on leave at the end of March and no PRN nurses to cover her. As PRN, I would not qualify for benefits, but I would have first bid on any future openings. A full time job may not happen right away, but almost certainly within a few years. I have an interview next Thursday at 9:30am.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I filed our taxes yesterday. Between state and federal, we will be getting back $900.

Kind of long (but I think pretty cool) story. I have been feeling pretty anxious about our long-term finances. After thinking about things we can do and adjustments we could make, I started thinking about other job options. When @Jen and Ashwin mentioned the amazing benefits at her University, I decided to check out staff nurse positions at our local University. Full time staff nurses qualify for all benefits- full medical benefits at retirement, a 10% match when you contribute 5% of your income, and they pay 50% of college tuition for your children after you have had five years of employment.

I looked at their website last night and didn’t see any openings posted. I decided to just call directly to ask if there were any current or soon to open positions available The nurse who answered the phone said there were no full time positions available, but there might be something PRN. She took my name and cell phone number and said I may or may not get a call.

Several hours later, I get a call. Y’ALL it was my former manager from my current department at the hospital. Her job was eliminated when I was on maternity leave last year and she is now the director of Health Services at the University. She said she has been getting pretty anxious because she has a full time nurse going on leave at the end of March and no PRN nurses to cover her. As PRN, I would not qualify for benefits, but I would have first bid on any future openings. A full time job may not happen right away, but almost certainly within a few years. I have an interview next Thursday at 9:30am.

That is awesome. Good luck with the interview. And 50% of college tuition for your kids is a pretty amazing benefit. Our University does not offer any kind of tuition benefit for employee's children. But I work at a huge university that is pretty pricey for a public institution, so it would probably cost too much to give that kind of a benefit.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Kind of long (but I think pretty cool) story. I have been feeling pretty anxious about our long-term finances. After thinking about things we can do and adjustments we could make, I started thinking about other job options. When @Jen and Ashwin mentioned the amazing benefits at her University, I decided to check out staff nurse positions at our local University. Full time staff nurses qualify for all benefits- full medical benefits at retirement, a 10% match when you contribute 5% of your income, and they pay 50% of college tuition for your children after you have had five years of employment.

I looked at their website last night and didn’t see any openings posted. I decided to just call directly to ask if there were any current or soon to open positions available The nurse who answered the phone said there were no full time positions available, but there might be something PRN. She took my name and cell phone number and said I may or may not get a call.

Several hours later, I get a call. Y’ALL it was my former manager from my current department at the hospital. Her job was eliminated when I was on maternity leave last year and she is now the director of Health Services at the University. She said she has been getting pretty anxious because she has a full time nurse going on leave at the end of March and no PRN nurses to cover her. As PRN, I would not qualify for benefits, but I would have first bid on any future openings. A full time job may not happen right away, but almost certainly within a few years. I have an interview next Thursday at 9:30am.

That is awesome!! Good luck with your interview!!

I filed our taxes yesterday. Between state and federal, we will be getting back $900.

I think I'll probably file mine early next week. I've been waiting for my new credit card to come in because I found out I can pay off my personal loan with a credit card for a 1% processing fee. I don't mind spending the extra $18 when it'll put me a long way towards meeting the mandatory spend for this new travel card. I'll then use my tax refund to pay the card off in full.

Not sure when DH will file his. We are still missing a 1099 for him, and I suspect we won't be getting it anytime soon. It should be for about $2000, and it also took us about two months to actually get the check from this organization last year after they tried to tell us they didn't have our information to send us the money, which was a lie. We have no immediate need for his tax refund, but would like to put it towards his student loan.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

That is awesome!! Good luck with your interview!!



I think I'll probably file mine early next week. I've been waiting for my new credit card to come in because I found out I can pay off my personal loan with a credit card for a 1% processing fee. I don't mind spending the extra $18 when it'll put me a long way towards meeting the mandatory spend for this new travel card. I'll then use my tax refund to pay the card off in full.

Not sure when DH will file his. We are still missing a 1099 for him, and I suspect we won't be getting it anytime soon. It should be for about $2000, and it also took us about two months to actually get the check from this organization last year after they tried to tell us they didn't have our information to send us the money, which was a lie. We have no immediate need for his tax refund, but would like to put it towards his student loan.

Didn't even realize that I posted that about my tax return. I think I started a post earlier and got side tracked. I think I was going to say more about how we will be all caught up with finances now, given the extreme overspending that happened in December and January. I really wish I could have taken that money and put it towards our DVC fund.

Though there might be an opportunity to make some extra money for the DVC fund. My friend that I went to Disney with owns a quilt shop and sewing machine dealership. She has about 40 machines that were used as class machines at sewing retreats that she is trying to remove from inventory. She isn't allowed to post them up on eBay, but I can. We have worked out a deal to post some machines on my eBay account. If they sell, we will split the profits from each sale (a few hundred dollars) and she will even take care of shipping the items out. I am hoping that we can sell all 40 machines and then the DVC fund would be close to goal! This would also really help my friend because she would be able to take the money to pay off a loan and stop paying some ridiculous interest rates.

 

[MamaBelleRN]

I filed our taxes yesterday. Between state and federal, we will be getting back $900.


That is awesome. Good luck with the interview. And 50% of college tuition for your kids is a pretty amazing benefit. Our University does not offer any kind of tuition benefit for employee's children. But I work at a huge university that is pretty pricey for a public institution, so it would probably cost too much to give that kind of a benefit.

Yes, it is the main benefit I was drawn to as I have several friends who work for the University. I just read the benefits package more closely and it’s better than I thought. It’s 50% of the University’s tuition applied to the other school’s tuition. It’s a very pricey private University, so theoretically you could have no college tuition costs. The University’s tuition is just under $50k this year, so they pay close to $25k towards your children’s college tuition for four years. I am just PRAYING a full time position opens within the next three years and they don’t change this benefit before that time! This is an incredible benefit that I could never make up for at the hospital considering I have five kids.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Kind of long (but I think pretty cool) story. I have been feeling pretty anxious about our long-term finances. After thinking about things we can do and adjustments we could make, I started thinking about other job options. When @Jen and Ashwin mentioned the amazing benefits at her University, I decided to check out staff nurse positions at our local University. Full time staff nurses qualify for all benefits- full medical benefits at retirement, a 10% match when you contribute 5% of your income, and they pay 50% of college tuition for your children after you have had five years of employment.

I looked at their website last night and didn’t see any openings posted. I decided to just call directly to ask if there were any current or soon to open positions available The nurse who answered the phone said there were no full time positions available, but there might be something PRN. She took my name and cell phone number and said I may or may not get a call.

Several hours later, I get a call. Y’ALL it was my former manager from my current department at the hospital. Her job was eliminated when I was on maternity leave last year and she is now the director of Health Services at the University. She said she has been getting pretty anxious because she has a full time nurse going on leave at the end of March and no PRN nurses to cover her. As PRN, I would not qualify for benefits, but I would have first bid on any future openings. A full time job may not happen right away, but almost certainly within a few years. I have an interview next Thursday at 9:30am.

That's awesome! Nursing is such a smoking hot career right now with so many aging baby boomers. My sister works at a teaching hospital (not as a nurse) and left for a few months until my niece decided to go to the university. My sister was able to get her position back with full seniority. My niece only had to pay for the 1st semester and the rest was free except books. She graduated in 2008. They have since discontinued that benefit so if your kids are not even in HS yet I wouldn't count on that 100%. I've worked at a university hospital for 27 years and they have cut out soooo many great benefits like that. Now I think they don't even cover an employee's higher education, let alone dependents. Cut. We used to get a uniform allowance. Cut. We used to get longevity bonuses every 5 years. Cut.
Now they just say "Be thankful you have a job, now quit complaining and get to work. I have a hundred resumes on my desk from people who would love to have your job."

 

[imbatman]

joining the forum if this is ok. i have good pension, but would like to focus on other savings and getting more out of my hard earned cash.

Welcome to the boards! There are lots of walks of life in here, those of us crawling out of credit card debt, some paying off loans, and others looking at investing in the future. For the most part, we all play nicely in the sandbox.

I'm feeling convicted today. I found out late last night that a friend of ours is in financial dire straights; they have no debt but his boss is late with salary and they couldn't make the rent payment. I'm trying to figure out a way of helping out without it seeming obvious or condescending. I'm going over on Sunday to help her start a garden (we live where we have two growing seasons!) and I'm going to bring over some extra irrigation lines and extra seeds. That is a long term thing, though. Any suggestions for a quick "gift?"

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Welcome to the boards! There are lots of walks of life in here, those of us crawling out of credit card debt, some paying off loans, and others looking at investing in the future. For the most part, we all play nicely in the sandbox.

I'm feeling convicted today. I found out late last night that a friend of ours is in financial dire straights; they have no debt but his boss is late with salary and they couldn't make the rent payment. I'm trying to figure out a way of helping out without it seeming obvious or condescending. I'm going over on Sunday to help her start a garden (we live where we have two growing seasons!) and I'm going to bring over some extra irrigation lines and extra seeds. That is a long term thing, though. Any suggestions for a quick "gift?"

First thing that came to mind was a gift card to a local grocery store. When you're really hurting with little income, gotta stick to basics. This is something you can easily decide on which amount is good for you. (unlike something such as offering to pay their electric bill)

 

[mickeydotcom]

I'm going to join the debt dumping. Man, it is hard to sacrifice summer vacation, but I know it will be worth it in the long run! I literaly finished my Master's degree today, so I will get a bump in pay as soon as the final transcript is sent to me! We have a car to pay off, summer to save for (I'm a teacher and do not get paid in the summer) and college tuition to save up for. I just got back our state taxes and put it in summer savings. I'll do that with our federal too. It is an anomaly for us to get anything back in taxes. I guess the college tuition helps.

We have implemented super austerity spending in our home for the next 3 months so we can meet our goals. It is not easy with 3 teenagers! Thank goodness they have jobs and can pay for their entertainment, extras, and gas. We just keep plugging away until we get to where we need to be.

The final FUN goal is a super fun trip to Disney to celebrate high school graduations in the summer of 2019. I'm guessing I'll need about 8k to get that done. I plan on using all 'found' money (credit card rewards, any rebates, refunds etc...) and throwing it into the vacation account. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!

 

[Tygerlilly]

First thing that came to mind was a gift card to a local grocery store. When you're really hurting with little income, gotta stick to basics. This is something you can easily decide on which amount is good for you. (unlike something such as offering to pay their electric bill)

I definitely agree to this. A gift card to a grocery store would be so helpful. Then, any cash they have can be used for the bills and they don't need to worry about having food.

 

[wdwfan51]

I'm feeling convicted today. I found out late last night that a friend of ours is in financial dire straights; they have no debt but his boss is late with salary and they couldn't make the rent payment. I'm trying to figure out a way of helping out without it seeming obvious or condescending. I'm going over on Sunday to help her start a garden (we live where we have two growing seasons!) and I'm going to bring over some extra irrigation lines and extra seeds. That is a long term thing, though. Any suggestions for a quick "gift?"[/QUOTE]

 

[wdwfan51]

Meant to say gift card for groceries is a great idea. It is nice to see people looking out for others.

 

[jen7233]

I'm going to join the debt dumping. Man, it is hard to sacrifice summer vacation, but I know it will be worth it in the long run! I literaly finished my Master's degree today, so I will get a bump in pay as soon as the final transcript is sent to me! We have a car to pay off, summer to save for (I'm a teacher and do not get paid in the summer) and college tuition to save up for. I just got back our state taxes and put it in summer savings. I'll do that with our federal too. It is an anomaly for us to get anything back in taxes. I guess the college tuition helps.

We have implemented super austerity spending in our home for the next 3 months so we can meet our goals. It is not easy with 3 teenagers! Thank goodness they have jobs and can pay for their entertainment, extras, and gas. We just keep plugging away until we get to where we need to be.

The final FUN goal is a super fun trip to Disney to celebrate high school graduations in the summer of 2019. I'm guessing I'll need about 8k to get that done. I plan on using all 'found' money (credit card rewards, any rebates, refunds etc...) and throwing it into the vacation account. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can

Welcome!

 

[MamaBelleRN]

joining the forum if this is ok. i have good pension, but would like to focus on other savings and getting more out of my hard earned cash.

That's awesome! Nursing is such a smoking hot career right now with so many aging baby boomers. My sister works at a teaching hospital (not as a nurse) and left for a few months until my niece decided to go to the university. My sister was able to get her position back with full seniority. My niece only had to pay for the 1st semester and the rest was free except books. She graduated in 2008. They have since discontinued that benefit so if your kids are not even in HS yet I wouldn't count on that 100%. I've worked at a university hospital for 27 years and they have cut out soooo many great benefits like that. Now I think they don't even cover an employee's higher education, let alone dependents. Cut. We used to get a uniform allowance. Cut. We used to get longevity bonuses every 5 years. Cut.
Now they just say "Be thankful you have a job, now quit complaining and get to work. I have a hundred resumes on my desk from people who would love to have your job."

Nursing has been a fantastic career for me so far even though I’ve only been at it four and a half years. I have been amazed at how readily jobs are available. I have been able to change my hours, shifts, and positions around multiple times to best suit our family. It’s not a six-figure career, but it’s certainly stable!

I am a tad worried the college benefit may eventually disappear. It’s a job at the Wellness Center of the University and they are not associated with any hospitals or medical centers. They have quite a large endowment, so it would be ridiculous if they said they didn’t have the money, but crazier things have happened! Nonetheless, the retirement benefits are AMAZING and at a minimum, more income means I’m one step closer to our family trip to WDW

Welcome to the boards! There are lots of walks of life in here, those of us crawling out of credit card debt, some paying off loans, and others looking at investing in the future. For the most part, we all play nicely in the sandbox.

I'm feeling convicted today. I found out late last night that a friend of ours is in financial dire straights; they have no debt but his boss is late with salary and they couldn't make the rent payment. I'm trying to figure out a way of helping out without it seeming obvious or condescending. I'm going over on Sunday to help her start a garden (we live where we have two growing seasons!) and I'm going to bring over some extra irrigation lines and extra seeds. That is a long term thing, though. Any suggestions for a quick "gift?"

We were hit hard during the financial recession in 2008/2009. I feel like we are just now FINALLY starting to rise out of those ashes. To this day I still don’t know who did it, but we regularly received cash (anywhere from $300-$500) in our mailbox during my DH’s unemployment. This was the single biggest help because it could go towards our greatest need. If you are the only one aware of the situation, it may be impossible to do this anonymously. But, it was such a huge help during our most difficult time.

I'm going to join the debt dumping. Man, it is hard to sacrifice summer vacation, but I know it will be worth it in the long run! I literaly finished my Master's degree today, so I will get a bump in pay as soon as the final transcript is sent to me! We have a car to pay off, summer to save for (I'm a teacher and do not get paid in the summer) and college tuition to save up for. I just got back our state taxes and put it in summer savings. I'll do that with our federal too. It is an anomaly for us to get anything back in taxes. I guess the college tuition helps.

We have implemented super austerity spending in our home for the next 3 months so we can meet our goals. It is not easy with 3 teenagers! Thank goodness they have jobs and can pay for their entertainment, extras, and gas. We just keep plugging away until we get to where we need to be.

The final FUN goal is a super fun trip to Disney to celebrate high school graduations in the summer of 2019. I'm guessing I'll need about 8k to get that done. I plan on using all 'found' money (credit card rewards, any rebates, refunds etc...) and throwing it into the vacation account. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!

It is a bummer to miss out on summer vacation fun, but it will worth the short term sacrifice. My big, fun goal is a trip
to WDW as well! We have five kiddos, so we need somewhere between $5k- $8k to make it happen. With some CC debt we need to pay ASAP and a furnace replacement looming, I’m not sure we’ll get there this year, but a girl can dream

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I'm going to join the debt dumping. Man, it is hard to sacrifice summer vacation, but I know it will be worth it in the long run! I literaly finished my Master's degree today, so I will get a bump in pay as soon as the final transcript is sent to me! We have a car to pay off, summer to save for (I'm a teacher and do not get paid in the summer) and college tuition to save up for. I just got back our state taxes and put it in summer savings. I'll do that with our federal too. It is an anomaly for us to get anything back in taxes. I guess the college tuition helps.

We have implemented super austerity spending in our home for the next 3 months so we can meet our goals. It is not easy with 3 teenagers! Thank goodness they have jobs and can pay for their entertainment, extras, and gas. We just keep plugging away until we get to where we need to be.

The final FUN goal is a super fun trip to Disney to celebrate high school graduations in the summer of 2019. I'm guessing I'll need about 8k to get that done. I plan on using all 'found' money (credit card rewards, any rebates, refunds etc...) and throwing it into the vacation account. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!

Congrats on your degree! That's awesome! Going to school is tough but when you work and/or have a family too, it's extra challenging.
Teachers in our town have the option to spread their paychecks over a full year. I think they all should. How hard could it be for them to divide an annual salary by 26 paychecks?
Anyway welcome to the group!

 

[imbatman]

How hard could it be for them to divide an annual salary by 26 paychecks?

A bit harder than you'd think, unless the district wants to pay a payroll service or a payroll clerk. Also, that person would need to be available to contact for any payroll errors or changes (W4, insurance deductions). My BIL is a teacher and they've always taken the year, divided it by 12, and set aside what they need to cover the 3 summer months out of his 9 paychecks.

I couldn't figure out a way to give to the family anonymously, so the DH and I chose to go to the local butcher (yes, their prices are good, if not better, than the stores) and buy them a 50 lb. package of mixed beef and chicken. We delivered it to them last night.

We received texts later, after we were home, and the family was wondering how to make the next meal. My heart feels better and I know that money, why it could've paid down debt, was better spent. They have 3 small boys and this was far more important than our poor spending habits.

 

[Eureka]

Wow so jealous of all these 10% match companies!

I remember @Jen and Ashwin saying they worked at a college, and I work at a non-profit. Those kinds of places are typically very generous with benefits, especially when the salaries are typically not what they would be in the corporate sector.

 

[Eureka]

Welcome to the boards! There are lots of walks of life in here, those of us crawling out of credit card debt, some paying off loans, and others looking at investing in the future. For the most part, we all play nicely in the sandbox.

I'm feeling convicted today. I found out late last night that a friend of ours is in financial dire straights; they have no debt but his boss is late with salary and they couldn't make the rent payment. I'm trying to figure out a way of helping out without it seeming obvious or condescending. I'm going over on Sunday to help her start a garden (we live where we have two growing seasons!) and I'm going to bring over some extra irrigation lines and extra seeds. That is a long term thing, though. Any suggestions for a quick "gift?"

What about bringing subs for lunch or dinner? One less meal for her to have to think about.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I remember @Jen and Ashwin saying they worked at a college, and I work at a non-profit. Those kinds of places are typically very generous with benefits, especially when the salaries are typically not what they would be in the corporate sector.

I definitely made a conscious choice to work at the University even though my salary could be much higher if I worked at a law firm. I really didn't want to hate my life by working 80 hours a week.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I definitely made a conscious choice to work at the University even though my salary could be much higher if I worked at a law firm. I really didn't want to hate my life by working 80 hours a week.

Life is short and money isn't everything. Dh's job was a pay cut in exchange for better benefits, more vacation time, being closer to home, having all the same holidays off that our kids did at school (Whereas my hospital only gives 6/yr, dh gets 13.)
He walks in the door same time every night, with no travel. Overall it was more conducive to family life.
No regrets. After 25 years of service he can retire with health insurance for life for both of us. That may change by the time he retires but we're hoping it doesn't.