Debt Dumpers 2023

[goofytinkerbell]

We have had to see our doctor several times the last few months - I picked up covid on the Disney fantasy and my DH is having back issues. Each time, I was able to be seen same day or the next day. I also went to the cvs minute clinic. They make same day appointments around here and are staffed by nurse practitioners.

I'm in Canada, I don't think we have CVS here, but maybe in other provinces. Here there are "after hours clinics", which are sometimes open in the evening, one or two nights per week. In my case there are two, both more than a half hour drive away (opposite directions), neither are open this time of year. The other option would have been to sit in the emergency room, but it's not really an emergency. If this round of meds doesn't clear things up, telecare might make me an appointment with an actual doctor somewhere.

I guess I should be grateful we have anything at this point. the system is broken.

 

[goofytinkerbell]

Still tired/beat/somewhat sick, so I didn't get much done that required getting off my behind.

It's been a rough week. I've been exhausted, my parents had to put their dog down, their neighbors house burned down (he's okay) and there's been about 15 "little things" that have happened that have all added up. I'm choosing to believe we're just getting all of the bad stuff over with at once.

Financially:
1. Keep the credit cards empty - DONE! Still using them and paying them off before they start earning interest.
2. Figure out a way to put some sort of extra on the mortgage, even if it's the $100 minimum - DONE!
3. Get some things I NEED to have (rims/tires for the car, items that need replacing at home, etc)
-Bought 1 item off the list
-My vacuum died last night, so I'm going to have to go shopping.
4. Get a savings plan going for the big stuff that comes due in one lump sum payment (insurance, property tax)
-Nothing, all the money went to the credit card

I've been paying for life insurance with an investment account attached for nearly 10 years now. There wasn't a TON of money in there, but there was a bit, and I can't keep up with the extra monthly payment. I cashed that in and the money just hit my account, so next week (hopefully) I'm going to work on doing some house repairs. I cleared the credit card already, so I don't have to worry about interest. If i can do it, I'm going to try and take that regular payment and make extra mortgage payments with it. It's probably not the smartest or most efficient way to use my money, but I'm worried about renewal time. I do have enough life insurance through my job to cover final expenses, but nothing extra.

General stuff:
1. Make a will - DONE!
2. Continue to clear out the crap. I need to go through my clothes and that sort of thing. I got a pile done in 2022, but it really wasn't enough.
-7 items gone
3. Look for a new job. The reason nothing has been getting done is because I'm burned out from my existing job and I'm being severely underpaid for the work I do.
-Checked the email notifications and jobs sites every other day.
-Spend 6 hours on an online course to improve my skills. There wasn't so much brain fog this week, but I wasn't going to be getting up and around.
4. Get my passport.-DONE!
5. Knock some half-finished projects off the list. Everything from making a scarf to some jewelry. Lots of stuff has been started, but not finished. Enough already!
-Nothing
6. Get into better shape. I'd like to say 'lose weight', but I'd be happy to be able to run up my own steps without getting winded. The weight loss may or may not come, but it's not as important.
-Not a chance this week
7. Spend more time with loved ones. I don't see friends/family much. I guess I really need to do #3 in order to facilitate this one.
-Nope. I was contagious for about half the week, so I avoided everyone. I was even given a note to work remotely this week.
8. Organize my stuff!
-Nothing this week

 

[bababear_50]

goofytinkerbell​

Hi Hon
I have been thinking about your post Re: Canadian Medical Care.
I am so so sorry that this is happening to us here, I'm in GTA area .. Greater Toronto Area).
I never thought I'd see our Health care deteriorate to the level it has and fear it is only going to get worst.
Many in my family are in the medical profession directly related to patient care and they are all leaving.
Four times this year we have been forced to pay for Tele Health Care and I fear for those that can not afford it.
Walk In clinics here are closing every day and Family Physicians offices are now saying if you go to a walk in clinic you will lose your service with them ,,,,this is crazy.
The Ontario government needs to be treating this as a Crisis because that's what it is.
I guess I need to start budgeting for Health Care visits now.
Bless your heart Hon ,,you had a rough time of it lately.
Best wishes to you and your family.

Hugs Mel

 

[goofytinkerbell]

goofytinkerbell​

Hi Hon
I have been thinking about your post Re: Canadian Medical Care.
I am so so sorry that this is happening to us here, I'm in GTA area .. Greater Toronto Area).
I never thought I'd see our Health care deteriorate to the level it has and fear it is only going to get worst.
Many in my family are in the medical profession directly related to patient care and they are all leaving.
Four times this year we have been forced to pay for Tele Health Care and I fear for those that can not afford it.
Walk In clinics here are closing every day and Family Physicians offices are now saying if you go to a walk in clinic you will lose your service with them ,,,,this is crazy.
The Ontario government needs to be treating this as a Crisis because that's what it is.
I guess I need to start budgeting for Health Care visits now.
Bless your heart Hon ,,you had a rough time of it lately.
Best wishes to you and your family.

Hugs Mel

It sounds like it's worse there than in the Atlantic area.

Yes, it's still bad. I've been dropped from my doctor simply because she has too many patients. I've been lucky though, and am normally very healthy. I go years between visits to the doctor. That's probably not a great idea (no preventative medicine, checkups, etc), but I also don't want to contribute to an overburdened system if I don't need to. Unfortunately, this time I wound up sick and just can't seem to shake it.

The one good thing here is that they stopped charging for telecare in order to lessen pressure on emergency rooms.

All I can tell people is to take care of yourselves as best you can, so that maybe we can lessen the need for medical services

 

[pigletto]

goofytinkerbell​

Hi Hon
I have been thinking about your post Re: Canadian Medical Care.
I am so so sorry that this is happening to us here, I'm in GTA area .. Greater Toronto Area).
I never thought I'd see our Health care deteriorate to the level it has and fear it is only going to get worst.
Many in my family are in the medical profession directly related to patient care and they are all leaving.
Four times this year we have been forced to pay for Tele Health Care and I fear for those that can not afford it.
Walk In clinics here are closing every day and Family Physicians offices are now saying if you go to a walk in clinic you will lose your service with them ,,,,this is crazy.
The Ontario government needs to be treating this as a Crisis because that's what it is.
I guess I need to start budgeting for Health Care visits now.
Bless your heart Hon ,,you had a rough time of it lately.
Best wishes to you and your family.

Hugs Mel

It’s even more infuriating when you realize that it’s been purposely neglected, mismanaged, and stripped down so that we will accept a private health care system. My whole family is in healthcare too and it’s criminal what is happening. With the amount of taxes we pay we should be demanding to know why things have been allowed to deteriorate like this.

 

[Tygerlilly]

Just got home from our trip to Iowa for my FIL's memorial service. We spent way less there than I planned, so we splurged a little extra in Kansas City on our way home. We did Legoland and Sea Life, bought new lego sets, and I hit Ikea for a bunch of stuff for the playroom. I spent less than I thought I would there, so yay me!

It was a good weekend though. Nice to see family, even if not the best circumstances. And our little family outing in KC was just what we needed.

Next up is Indiana and Vegas in September, which I have fully funded already.

 

[goofytinkerbell]

It’s even more infuriating when you realize that it’s been purposely neglected, mismanaged, and stripped down so that we will accept a private health care system. My whole family is in healthcare too and it’s criminal what is happening. With the amount of taxes we pay we should be demanding to know why things have been allowed to deteriorate like this.

It makes me incredibly angry, but the people who are actually working in healthcare (for the most part, there are bad employees in EVERY industry) are working extremely hard and doing what they can with the limited resources they have available. It's not just healthcare either, but that's a service we NEED.

Our money is being wasted all over the place while most of us are struggling just to survive. My little city used to be so great, but now infrastructure is deteriorating, there are homeless people everywhere and we can't get access to healthcare. It makes me sad.

Part of why I've been trying to post updates in this thread every week is to hold myself accountable so I don't let myself slip through the cracks and wind up in the same position as many of the homeless I see around.

 

[pigletto]

It makes me incredibly angry, but the people who are actually working in healthcare (for the most part, there are bad employees in EVERY industry) are working extremely hard and doing what they can with the limited resources they have available. It's not just healthcare either, but that's a service we NEED.

Our money is being wasted all over the place while most of us are struggling just to survive. My little city used to be so great, but now infrastructure is deteriorating, there are homeless people everywhere and we can't get access to healthcare. It makes me sad.

Part of why I've been trying to post updates in this thread every week is to hold myself accountable so I don't let myself slip through the cracks and wind up in the same position as many of the homeless I see around.

Absolutely.. I know several nurses who left because they just couldn’t take it anymore. My little town is looking the same these days and it’s heartbreaking. I’m really sorry things are so tough where you are too

 

[goofytinkerbell]

Off the medication and back to the office, but I'm still not entirely back to normal. But nothing was "on fire" this week, so that's a bonus.

Financially:
1. Keep the credit cards empty - DONE! Still using them and paying them off before they start earning interest.
2. Figure out a way to put some sort of extra on the mortgage, even if it's the $100 minimum - DONE!
3. Get some things I NEED to have (rims/tires for the car, items that need replacing at home, etc)
-Didn't get a chance to go shopping this week, but I did order a Christmas gift.
4. Get a savings plan going for the big stuff that comes due in one lump sum payment (insurance, property tax)
-Moved enough money into another account that should cover most of my car/house insurance this fall, but we'll see. I really need to pay for some repairs (safety issues) and then I'll see what's left to work with. I want to figure out spending for birthdays and Christmas, things I can't avoid spending money on, and then budget to see what I can do.

General stuff:
1. Make a will - DONE!
2. Continue to clear out the crap. I need to go through my clothes and that sort of thing. I got a pile done in 2022, but it really wasn't enough.
-3 items gone
3. Look for a new job. The reason nothing has been getting done is because I'm burned out from my existing job and I'm being severely underpaid for the work I do.
-Checked the email notifications and jobs sites almost every day. I applied for 2 jobs, but already got a rejection letter back from one. It's nice to see a place that actually lets you know, so you're not left wondering if they even got the application. That one was a bit disappointing, since it looked interesting.
4. Get my passport.-DONE!
5. Knock some half-finished projects off the list. Everything from making a scarf to some jewelry. Lots of stuff has been started, but not finished. Enough already!
-Nothing
6. Get into better shape. I'd like to say 'lose weight', but I'd be happy to be able to run up my own steps without getting winded. The weight loss may or may not come, but it's not as important.
-This still wasn't happening.
7. Spend more time with loved ones. I don't see friends/family much. I guess I really need to do #3 in order to facilitate this one.
-Since I was no longer contagious, I visited with my family for the weekend, and one day I saw most of the extended family.
8. Organize my stuff!
-Nothing this week

 

[pblack]

Officially started Christmas shopping today. I went to Kohl's to pick up some candles for myself and I ended up grabbing some candles for my mom as well as part of her Christmas gift. No idea what else i'm getting her, but it's a start.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I haven't actually bought anything for Christmas but while spending time with my dad this week, (I'm off work to give my niece time off) and seeing him struggle to get up from his kitchen chair, I noticed he could really use a chair that has arms on it. That would give him a solid handle close to his body to hold onto and push up from, instead of trying to lean on the kitchen table and grabbing the edge.
So I started to shop for a swivel chair with arms, but without wheels. I found one and of course he'd rather suffer than spend money on himself. (Although he did let me order him several new shirts, socks & undies this week so I'll cut him a break here.)
He suggested I buy the chair for him for Christmas. He is usually hard to shop for anyway so this is one thing I can put on my Christmas list and I know he'll use it.

Right now my snowball is going toward our Christmas Fund. That should be ready by Labor Day weekend.
Dh has been working on remodeling the bathroom. It's coming along nicely. We can use the new shower and toilet but the vanity has no countertop yet. They came today to template and will install it next week.
It will be so nice to have our own bathroom again instead of sharing with our kids. I budgeted $20k for this and we should be done with around $9-10k leftover.

Dh finally got a new truck this week. I was hoping to add to the truck fund after saving for Christmas but we found a new Silverado this week with all the features he likes that was discounted over $7k off the sticker price. He couldn't pass it up. We spent another $500 on the old truck with a mechanic nearby to get the engine light off so we could trade it in. They gave us $9600 trade in allowance for it. We were shocked. We hope to never need it, but we did cave in and get the extended warranty. So with that and taxes, we do have a very small car loan, around $12k. I plan to put whatever is leftover from the bathroom remodelling fund onto the truck loan to get rid of that debt quickly.

Today's weather was just gorgeous. Very warm but low humidity. I wanted to go to the beach so bad. I don't want to wish the summer away but I am so looking forward to our October cruise. We leave in around 6.5 weeks.

Have a great weekend everyone! Just keep swimming!

 

[pblack]

I don't want to wish the summer away but I am so looking forward to our October cruise.

I feel you! I'm also looking forward to our October cruise and I think we have about 6 weeks left till we leave also.

 

[barkley]

It will be so nice to have our own bathroom again instead of sharing with our kids. I budgeted $20k for this and we should be done with around $9-10k leftover.

that is spectacular!!! bathrooms are spendy to re-do, i could'nt believe how much the shower hardware and doors ran us . of course we could have gone with some less expensive stuff but our backs are loving both the body sprays and the frameless door (so much easier to keep clean).

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

that is spectacular!!! bathrooms are spendy to re-do, i could'nt believe how much the shower hardware and doors ran us . of course we could have gone with some less expensive stuff but our backs are loving both the body sprays and the frameless door (so much easier to keep clean).

Seriously, I would have paid double for this frameless door. The old one with tracks were so gross.
We don't have body sprays though. I guess I never tried them and I don't miss what I never had.
Dh is seriously starting to lose his mind from all the pressure he has put on himself to get this done asap. Some things he insists on doing to save money and for foolish pride to say he did it himself are just adding more work for him.
When I suggested in the beginning that we have a tile guy just do the shower, which was a LOT of work with adding a corner seat and shelf and a niche, he was like, "Don't you have faith in me that I can do it? I did the last 2 bathrooms in this house." I am thinking just to save time and the fact that age 65 is not the same as when you're 40. People who do tile every day as their FT job can just pop it in in one day then grout the next day instead of being tortured in the heat for 6 days with a wet saw, going outside to make every tile cut.
He was starting to insist on the cheaper way of getting the granite countertop where you just tell them 49" with center sink and you pick it up yourself and install yourself for like $600. Great idea if you have a crew but for one guy alone this is backbreaking. For $900, they come and template and install. I also like that if there's any errors, then it's THEIR problem to fix, not ours. It didn't take much to convince him that the extra $300 is worth it for his stress and time.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I feel you! I'm also looking forward to our October cruise and I think we have about 6 weeks left till we leave also.

 

[Tygerlilly]

I'm so insanely close to saying eff it and quitting my job. I hate it. Mentally I'm done. I want to be with my kids, I want to have a day off with my husband that isn't scheduled in advance where we normally have to *do* something that day, I want to not be exhausted every day.

I got all the stuff for my new little side gig. I'm going to start making inventory this week to get into some craft shows locally and a few online showcases. I won't need to make a ton, but it'll be our fun money.

 

[jen7233]

I'm so insanely close to saying eff it and quitting my job. I hate it. Mentally I'm done. I want to be with my kids, I want to have a day off with my husband that isn't scheduled in advance where we normally have to *do* something that day, I want to not be exhausted every day.

I got all the stuff for my new little side gig. I'm going to start making inventory this week to get into some craft shows locally and a few online showcases. I won't need to make a ton, but it'll be our fun money.

I can understand what you mean. For me I think it’s getting older myself, I’d like more time during the week to do things or get personal things done. I feel overwhelmed though with costs like housing, increasing prices, our insurance went up alot, etc. Then there’s work, any time off means piled up work. It doesn’t go away to start fresh it just stays there pending whatever needs to be waited on, and more work assignments keep on coming daily. It can feel overwhelming.
Maybe see how the side job works for a bit so you can gauge income potential from it. It sounds like a fun side income potential.

 

[pblack]

Saw an Instagram video today about how for some people their starter home has become their forever home because they're locked in at 3% for 30 years and man did I feel that in my soul. I think we're locked in at like 3.25%, never intended our home to be our forever home, and I originally wanted to sell and find our "forever" home within 5 years. We hit 5 years in our home this year and there's no way we can afford to sell and buy something else right now with the interest rates and housing prices what they are.

I'm sooo close to paying off our highlander loan (~$1400 left) that I think when I make my next payment at the end of the month I'm gonna borrow from my savings to finish it off entirely. I really want it gone before our vacation and this way I can funnel that payment to help pay for our vacation. It would mean I don't pay myself back right away, but I'm not too concerned about it. Depending on how much extra I can throw on top of my normal payment I'll only be "borrowing" $500-800.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend so far!

ETA: I'm trying to talk myself out of buying disneyland MKs. I really want to go to Disneyland labor day weekend (even though we have tickets to a concert, I'd probably just sell them). I'm really needing a dose of disney magic in my life. We are going to the parks in December, but that's just sooo far away still. We'll see what happens, but I figured most of you can understand my struggle on this.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I can understand what you mean. For me I think it’s getting older myself, I’d like more time during the week to do things or get personal things done.

This. I've been working like a dog for 40 years. I'd like some more "me" time. Time to take better care of myself and exercise. Time to visit our families more often. Realistically, not working at all would mean finances would be super tight and that simply adds a different type of stress that I don't wan either. I think working part time would be ideal. That is my goal for when I turn 60 which is a few years away. Getting all of these big house projects out of the way now will make me feel a little more comfortable with throttling back.
I am lucky in the sense that work doesn't pile up for me when I'm gone. I'm just a cog in the wheel and we're all mostly interchangable. Our patients get taken care of whether no one is off or if 2 techs are on vacation plus 2 call out sick. Eventually the day ends.

Sometimes I wonder if I should just go back to having a cleaning service instead of cutting my paycheck in half. That would free up a lot of my time and pressure that I put on myself. I had this after our 2nd child was born until he turned 10.

 

[DisneyHardin]

Saw an Instagram video today about how for some people their starter home has become their forever home because they're locked in at 3% for 30 years and man did I feel that in my soul. I think we're locked in at like 3.25%, never intended our home to be our forever home, and I originally wanted to sell and find our "forever" home within 5 years. We hit 5 years in our home this year and there's no way we can afford to sell and buy something else right now with the interest rates and housing prices what they are

I know what you mean. My DH really wants us to move out of the city to a more rural area. We've been talking about it off and on for a while. We refinanced the house we are in during the pandemic at 2.75% for 15 years - We have 12ish years left on it now. I just can't imagine that we will leave this house while interest rates are high - so I guess we will be staying here. Our house is a great house, but we are just in a very busy suburb that has grown exponentially in the 14 years we've been here and it's just so busy everywhere all the time.