Debt Dumpers 2024

[Tygerlilly]

The older I get, the more I feel like just having more savings makes me feel better. How much do we need to spend to celebrate our anniversary?
Would we someday regret not going?

Take the trip. My dad passed at 64 and while he had a bunch of money in retirement and savings, he never got to go on all the trips he was planning on. I hate he never got to go to some of the places he wanted to because he was waiting for retirement to enjoy it and he didn't even make it that far.

The trip will always be worth it.

 

[PrincessNelly]

Jumping In! I've actually been doing really well with my goals so far. But my fiancé recently lost his job and is now training for his CDL. So I need to clamp down more since we're down to one income for now.

Financial Goals
-Pay off my credit cards: $1,687
-Increase my contributions to my 401k
-Save 20-25% of my paychecks
-Pay off my Car this year (2 years early)
-Pay off our DVC Loan
-Get one month ahead on all bills
-Pay off our Sept DCL Cruise

Personal Goals
-Bring lunch to work (my coworkers and I have a bad habit ordering out and it adds up!)
-Prep dinner meals in advance & eat less fast food (most days I'm exhausted after work and this leads to impulse ordering instead of cooking)
-Increase my credit score by atleast 80 points
-Get passports
-Quit being a Travel Agent & Find a new 2nd stream of income

I've become obsessed with savings and paying off debts. The thought of being debt free sounds amazing. And when I lay out the numbers, it's doable! I do have student loans but I'm in no rush to pay them off, so my focus is everything else.
I really want to find a 2nd job/source of income, that I can do from home. Being a TA was way too much work for the money. I'm finishing out trips belonging to my last 4 clients before I'm officially ending it. But overall I feel good!

Not much of an update but some progress.

Financial Goals
The CDL training is taking forever!! Hubby's unemployment benefits are done but thankfully he was able to get a job at Home Depot for now. He takes his test for the CDL next week! So that's exciting!

Unfortunately, its put us behind on getting one month ahead on everything. Right now I'm about 2 weeks ahead. Once we pay off the cruise, we should be easily able to get one month ahead. We have paid down 55% of the cruise. We have the money to pay the balance but are leaving it in our HYSA for as long as possible. Plus holding out for some good Disney gift card deals!

Still slowly but surely on track to pay down the car & DVC Loan early too!


Personal Goals
I've been doing okay with bringing in lunch to work! I did have a not so great week last week - ordered 3 times because I forgot my lunch. But I made sure to order cheaper options, so I stayed under $40 total

Still terrible at meal prepping/planning dinner. I really hate having to decide what to eat everyday!!! Its exhausting!

Increased my credit score by 35 points in the last month!

I booked two more trips for friends... so quitting the travel agency thing hasn't quite worked out yet either LOL

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I wish I'd started a log earlier - I do have a list that I've tried to piece together after the fact and I keep a good list now. I thought I'd always remember, but the years get foggy!

I didn’t start it until probably our 10th trip. Back then I had them all memorized and as time went on I realized I would eventually forget small details. So I put it all down in a Word document.

Every now and then I like to stroll down memory lane and read it all. That’s when I realize how long I’ve been with dh. I hardly remember life before him.

 

[AJollyHoliday]

I am emerging from a year of breast cancer treatment so my view is somewhat impacted by that, but if you can find any way to go on the trip do. Obviously don't leave yourself broke but life is short and we don't know what is ahead of us.

As soon as my treatment finishes my passport is going to be red hot from use!

I have never been more grateful for being in the UK. The NHS has covered everything, chemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy and now immunotherapy. I have had 3 PET scans, several MRI and CT scans and who knows what else at absolutely zero out of pocket (apart from a few car park charges when I couldn't be bothered to fight the bureaucracy and get it free because of my diagnosis).

And don't believe all you see about the UK health service being on its knees - I saw my GP (primary care doctor) and within 2 weeks had been diagnosed and was starting a barrage of tests to confirm the exact nature of the cancer and the most appropriate course of treatment. I have seen some of the ways the US media (and here too) presents the NHS and it always amazes me.

As a breast cancer survivor myself, I am so happy for you. I had great health insurance and like you, did not pay a single cent for my chemo, radiation, scans, surgery, or immunotherapy. I would get the bill and see what it cost and each round of chemo was over $20k, I had 6 rounds. When I had colon cancer I had 12 rounds of chemo at about $20k each. I can understand how people go into medical debt, but that is something no one should have to worry about when going through one of the worst health events.

I agree about taking the trip! My dad passed away at 66 before he could retire and take some of the trips he wanted. He had colon cancer when he was 60 and at that point made a decision to live his life more for himself and my mom. They bought their dream sail boat the year before he died and while they were able to only enjoy it for a year, they had no regrets. I have great memories of sailing on that boat with him.

Our financial planner told us that at a point in our retirement we will have a hard time spending our money. I said let me just try .

 

[huggybuff]

Payday Friday! Kind of a boring one tbh Nothing is getting paid off or anything else really exciting.

Week 15

2024 Financial Goals

1. Pay off my credit cards and car loan in 2 years by using the debt avalanche. I'm just paying the minimums that are due for this coming pay period that will end on 4/25. The pay period after that I will attack the Q Card again.

2. Increase my monthly payments to my husband for household expenses by $800 a month beginning in May and open a joint checking account where we will each contribute monthly. We figured giving me until May to sock some extra cash into my checking would be a good idea since my personal loan is now paid off and that was sucking $1000 off the top of my paycheck once a month. I Zelled hubby the slightly increased amount today for household expenses since we haven't opened the joint checking account yet.

3. Set aside $285 per month from January-June to cover the cost of our hotel for our anniversary trip in July to Monterey. $285 more into my HYSA (4/6)

4. Begin paying for our 2025 spring break cruise to Mexico in March. Payments will be $450 a month from March-December. (1/10) Now waiting for my 4/26 check to pay this.

5. Continue using the YNAB app and website to track my money daily. I'm still tracking my money the old fashioned way with a register but I really like the budgeting aspect of YNAB and am getting more and more used to it. Funny how YNAB gives me fewer notifications when I'm not spending as much money. (14/52)


2024 Personal Goals

1. Finish deep cleaning and organizing my kitchen. My husband is basically the Swedish Chef so he makes quite a mess when he cooks. I appreciate the fact that he does all of the cooking but it's a lot to keep on top of TBH. I need to do a better job and put in more effort. I will track this weekly. I still have to reorganize my baking cabinet. (6/52)

2. Once I feel like my kitchen is back under control I'll transition to organizing my clothes that are in boxes in our bedroom. I will tackle this at least one of the days of my weekend. This will begin on Monday...err, the coming Monday, 4/15. Sure, that's what I meant.

3. Reorganize and deep clean my bathroom. I have too much on the countertop and need to make use of the cabinets in a more organized manner. Snoozed.

4. By July I'd like to be at the point I can begin to tackle my boxes that are still unpacked in the garage. I had a storage unit for years and now they're just sitting untouched since we moved into the house 3 years ago. Snoozed.

5. In August I'd like to make my stepson's room into a workout room. He's a senior in high school this year and he'll be starting college next fall. He's only staying over 1 or 2 nights a week at most at this point since he lives with his mom so I don't feel I'll be booting him out or anything. I am at my highest weight ever and I honestly don't even know what that is since I'm scared to get on the scale. I can have all of the DVDs and online workouts in the world but they do no good if you don't use them. I think having a space set aside will really help me out. I finally did my 20 min assessment ride yesterday after work. I glistened quite a bit! It was hard but the most frustrating part was clipping in and especially out of the pedals with my bike shoes. I was stuck for 20 min after my ride trying to get out of one of the pedals. I was ready to just pull my foot out the shoe!

6. Get my passport at some point this year to be ready for the cruise in 2025. This probably won't happen for at least a few months.

7. I came up with a new goal. Get back to baking on a weekly basis. This will begin when my kitchen is 'done'. JK, I know a kitchen is never truly caught up on. Snoozed until I cross #1 off of my list.

Enjoy your weekends everyone!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Take the trip. My dad passed at 64 and while he had a bunch of money in retirement and savings, he never got to go on all the trips he was planning on. I hate he never got to go to some of the places he wanted to because he was waiting for retirement to enjoy it and he didn't even make it that far.

The trip will always be worth it.

I was so fortunate that my grandmother lived to the age of 99.5. I was almost 50 when she passed away. She became a widow at 62 and would always tell me to do things while we can and don’t wait for retirement. My grandfather died at 66 of a massive heart attack (while dancing, which he loved). They had so many things planned for “someday when we’re retired” that they never got to do. He had only 6 months of retirement.
This has justified many vacations over the years.

I’d also like to be able to help our kids though.
Ds23 will likely have enough down payment to buy a house by next year. He’s been browsing and wants to be ready if/when he finds something doable that he can jump on it.
I would love to be able to help him with replacing something it urgently needs.
He is stressed at how tiny his bedroom is but knows if he moves out, the cost of rent will mean he is saving a LOT less toward a house.
I’m guessing this is a dilemma for many young people his age.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

As a breast cancer survivor myself, I am so happy for you. I had great health insurance and like you, did not pay a single cent for my chemo, radiation, scans, surgery, or immunotherapy. I would get the bill and see what it cost and each round of chemo was over $20k, I had 6 rounds. When I had colon cancer I had 12 rounds of chemo at about $20k each. I can understand how people go into medical debt, but that is something no one should have to worry about when going through one of the worst health events.

I agree about taking the trip! My dad passed away at 66 before he could retire and take some of the trips he wanted. He had colon cancer when he was 60 and at that point made a decision to live his life more for himself and my mom. They bought their dream sail boat the year before he died and while they were able to only enjoy it for a year, they had no regrets. I have great memories of sailing on that boat with him.

Our financial planner told us that at a point in our retirement we will have a hard time spending our money. I said let me just try .

My dad had boats all of his life. It was his passion until his big boat was totaled in Hurricane Sandy. He was 70 then. We used to tease him that he probably kisses it good night.
My kids have so many memories of fishing with him.

 

[barkley]

The older I get, the more I feel like just having more savings makes me feel better.

i totaly get this. granted, my thoughts on it are impacted by having a disabled adult child that i want to ensure is provided for after we've passed but just putting that aside-i get tremendous peace of mind and comfort knowing that if an unexpected expense pops up it's not going to be a stressor for dh and i to cover it. if something comes up that we want to do, that there's money in savings that i won't feel stressed pulling from and immediatly be calculating on how to replenish.

 

[Bellex917]

i totaly get this. granted, my thoughts on it are impacted by having a disabled adult child that i want to ensure is provided for after we've passed but just putting that aside-i get tremendous peace of mind and comfort knowing that if an unexpected expense pops up it's not going to be a stressor for dh and i to cover it. if something comes up that we want to do, that there's money in savings that i won't feel stressed pulling from and immediatly be calculating on how to replenish.

This is what I'm striving for!! I know it'll take time to build up that amount of savings, but it is why I am so determined to get rid of the last little debt we have and move on to stockpiling cash!

 

[dpswift]

Take the trip. My dad passed at 64 and while he had a bunch of money in retirement and savings, he never got to go on all the trips he was planning on. I hate he never got to go to some of the places he wanted to because he was waiting for retirement to enjoy it and he didn't even make it that far.

The trip will always be worth it.

Exactly. My parents lived in the when your father retires we will… attitude. My mother died a few years before he retired. The trips she wanted to take very frugal. They never got to do any of them.

 

[dpswift]

i totaly get this. granted, my thoughts on it are impacted by having a disabled adult child that i want to ensure is provided for after we've passed but just putting that aside-i get tremendous peace of mind and comfort knowing that if an unexpected expense pops up it's not going to be a stressor for dh and i to cover it. if something comes up that we want to do, that there's money in savings that i won't feel stressed pulling from and immediatly be calculating on how to replenish.

I have both a friend and my daughters in laws are in that position. I don’t think that they have it thought out as well as you.
My friend plans on leaving everything to her disabled child which has alienated her older children. They finally got her disability pay, but have nothing saved for retirement.

My daughter already knows that her brother in law will have to move in with them at some point. They have some money put aside for him, but they don’t expect him to do anything around the house at all. My daughter and son in law want him to be able to do simple tasks for himself. If he doesn’t like dinner his father grabs him takeout.

We don’t have a disabled child however I wish we had a little more put aside in a day to day savings account.

 

[Sheree]

I have both a friend and my daughters in laws are in that position. I don’t think that they have it thought out as well as you.
My friend plans on leaving everything to her disabled child which has alienated her older children. They finally got her disability pay, but have nothing saved for retirement.

My daughter already knows that her brother in law will have to move in with them at some point. They have some money put aside for him, but they don’t expect him to do anything around the house at all. My daughter and son in law want him to be able to do simple tasks for himself. If he doesn’t like dinner his father grabs him takeout.

We don’t have a disabled child however I wish we had a little more put aside in a day to day savings account.

if the disabled child is getting SSI, then if they leave everything to him, he loses it. Cannot have more than 2k in assets. if he gets Medicaid, same
it should go in a SNT trust (if he's under 65) or an Able account if the state permits.

I have a disabled SIL, in a group home, my dh is guardian and I work with Medicaid.

 

[dpswift]

if the disabled child is getting SSI, then if they leave everything to him, he loses it. Cannot have more than 2k in assets. if he gets Medicaid, same
it should go in a SNT trust (if he's under 65) or an Able account if the state permits.

I have a disabled SIL, in a group home, my dh is guardian and I work with Medicaid.

I agree. Our boss and I are trying to get her to talk to a lawyer. At the time that she meantion leaving everything to her she wasn’t getting disability. We don’t think she is charging the rent correctly. Unfortunately my friend is extremely stubborn and needs to be baby stepped. They have a pension but nothing in a 401k

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

if the disabled child is getting SSI, then if they leave everything to him, he loses it. Cannot have more than 2k in assets. if he gets Medicaid, same
it should go in a SNT trust (if he's under 65) or an Able account if the state permits.

I have a disabled SIL, in a group home, my dh is guardian and I work with Medicaid.

This is why people in these situations should get advice from an attorney as to how to plan for the inevitable.

 

[barkley]

if the disabled child is getting SSI, then if they leave everything to him, he loses it. Cannot have more than 2k in assets. if he gets Medicaid, same
it should go in a SNT trust (if he's under 65) or an Able account if the state permits.

I have a disabled SIL, in a group home, my dh is guardian and I work with Medicaid.

i worked in medicaid and the good and tragic/bad of estate plans i saw in cases made for some interesting discussions when we were estate planning. we used a fantastic elder law attorney but we also had a trusts administrator reviewing drafts so there was allot of back and forth between the 3 of us looking at it from different perspectives and saying 'it could be interpreted this way', 'this leaves too much wiggle room' before we came up with a final plan that we know will still periodically have to be looked at b/c regulations for medicaid and other supportive services programs are always prone to revision.

p.s. kudos to you on working in medicaid-i worked or supervised all but one program dshs administered at the time and medicaid was BY FAR the most complex. kudos to your dh on being a guardian as well-dealing with the paperwork it entails in our state was one of the factors in making sure our estate is set up to make the process as streamlined and clear as possible for whomever takes this task on when we pass.

I agree. Our boss and I are trying to get her to talk to a lawyer. At the time that she meantion leaving everything to her she wasn’t getting disability. We don’t think she is charging the rent correctly. Unfortunately my friend is extremely stubborn and needs to be baby stepped. They have a pension but nothing in a 401k

if there are pensions involved the parties need to find out what the rules are with the individual plans that might benefit their disabled adult child. some pensions allow for disabled adult children to receive survivor benefits upon the death of the person receiving the pension but very specific paperwork has to be filed ahead of time and be on file with whomever administers the pension.

This is why people in these situations should get advice from an attorney as to how to plan for the inevitable.

a good ELDER LAW attorney is KEY. i saw some horrificly tragic situations where an irrevocable trust was done by attorneys who did not have the expertese in disability services and it created total ineligibility for all the programs a disabled individual was entirely reliant on.

 

[bababear_50]

As a person involved with supporting families caring for People with various disabilities I will say I saw almost 6 out of 10 times siblings when faced with the joys/challenges their parents had will not follow through on being the primary support .

We often recommend that the parents have at least 3 alternate options.
Having everything clearly document by Lawyers is the best but if the participants have a change of life (marriage ,,divorce ,death ,financial loss , illness , birth of children etc. ), things can go topsy turvy in an instant.

One of my goals this year is to revise my WILL.
I just had it done a few years ago but realize it needs updating.

I know my brother just redid his WILL so that his 4th daughter will retain the house for a period of 1 1/2 years until she is resettled due to M.S.
After 1 1/2 years the house will be sold and the value will be split among his 6 kids.
All 6 kids have a copy of his WILL and are aware of his wishes.

Hugs Mel

 

[jen7233]

I am checking in after a little hiatus after some challenging times on a personal level. I also was or still am at a point where I'm not budgeting so I didn't think I had anything to contribute. I'm also beginning a recovery of a sort of making years of financial co-dependent mistakes I hope I'm finally on the other side of, so if there is any discussion on the emotional side of money I've had experience with that. I've also been sorting out where I go from here with a mentally disabled sibling that's placed in long-term care.

One of my updated goals in the next year is to change my will and stick firm to my decisions. On the one positive money thing I've done is finally make it to 15% savings a year towards retirement.

 

[bababear_50]

I am checking in after a little hiatus after some challenging times on a personal level. I also was or still am at a point where I'm not budgeting so I didn't think I had anything to contribute. I'm also beginning a recovery of a sort of making years of financial co-dependent mistakes I hope I'm finally on the other side of, so if there is any discussion on the emotional side of money I've had experience with that. I've also been sorting out where I go from here with a mentally disabled sibling that's placed in long-term care.

One of my updated goals in the next year is to change my will and stick firm to my decisions. On the one positive money thing I've done is finally make it to 15% savings a year towards retirement.

Jen
You have been missed!!!!!
You are such a kind lady ,,sorry I never said that before.

Now 15% a year towards retirement is Awesome Hon!!

Welcome back.
Hugs Mel

 

[barkley]

As a person involved with supporting families caring for People with various disabilities I will say I saw almost 6 out of 10 times siblings when faced with the joys/challenges their parents had will not follow through on being the primary support .

We often recommend that the parents have at least 3 alternate options.
Having everything clearly document by Lawyers is the best but if the participants have a change of life (marriage ,,divorce ,death ,financial loss , illness , birth of children etc. ), things can go topsy turvy in an instant.

One of my goals this year is to revise my WILL.
I just had it done a few years ago but realize it needs updating.

I know my brother just redid his WILL so that his 4th daughter will retain the house for a period of 1 1/2 years until she is resettled due to M.S.
After 1 1/2 years the house will be sold and the value will be split among his 6 kids.
All 6 kids have a copy of his WILL and are aware of his wishes.

Hugs Mel

we set our estate planning up to be professionaly administered-the will, the trusts...everything. i suspect professional guardianship will be in the future for our youngest-it's not something i think our oldest is suited to handle and we will have no other surviving family. even if we did, it is such a complicated, time consuming and life altering committment i would'nt want anyone to experience it. idealy our youngest will be in some form of supported housing when we pass but if not we've made arrangements to have a period of time before our home would be sold to allow for a non immediate transition.

even if we did not have a disabled child we would never consider having one of our children settle our estate. both dh and i had to deal with this for our moms. in both cases there was fairly decent preplanning, documents and all/everyone had advance pretty clear-cut idea of distribution... but i don't think anyone truly knows the depths of hatred and vile acts that can be enacted upon you when people are blinded by greed.

 

[Sheree]

i worked in medicaid and the good and tragic/bad of estate plans i saw in cases made for some interesting discussions when we were estate planning. we used a fantastic elder law attorney but we also had a trusts administrator reviewing drafts so there was allot of back and forth between the 3 of us looking at it from different perspectives and saying 'it could be interpreted this way', 'this leaves too much wiggle room' before we came up with a final plan that we know will still periodically have to be looked at b/c regulations for medicaid and other supportive services programs are always prone to revision.

p.s. kudos to you on working in medicaid-i worked or supervised all but one program dshs administered at the time and medicaid was BY FAR the most complex. kudos to your dh on being a guardian as well-dealing with the paperwork it entails in our state was one of the factors in making sure our estate is set up to make the process as streamlined and clear as possible for whomever takes this task on when we pass.



if there are pensions involved the parties need to find out what the rules are with the individual plans that might benefit their disabled adult child. some pensions allow for disabled adult children to receive survivor benefits upon the death of the person receiving the pension but very specific paperwork has to be filed ahead of time and be on file with whomever administers the pension.



a good ELDER LAW attorney is KEY. i saw some horrificly tragic situations where an irrevocable trust was done by attorneys who did not have the expertese in disability services and it created total ineligibility for all the programs a disabled individual was entirely reliant on.

Thank you. I work for social services and spent 10 years working with NH, MLTSS and workability. You are correct, just because an attorney did something doesn't make it right. Now I supervise a Familycare Med section which is a totally different frustrating animal!

Fortunately my SIL is in a great group home, my MIL specifically says in her will that she gets nothing.. We'e done an irrevocable prepaid burial for her (doesn't count as resource) and we were given money that we know is to be used for her benefit. Of course this took til my inlaws were in their 80's to convince them to do! My MIL is now almost 95.

I'm also on the board of a non profit that builds and manages 100% accessible housing and I've seen the good, bad and ugly when things aren't properly planned for.