Debt Dumpers - 2016

[sara mom]

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We both have fitbits and have them synced to the shop your way rewards for Kmart/Sears. We each get $5 a week in points that must be used that week or you lose them. We have been using it to stock up on hygiene products so that saves us money. I will use them in February to buy candy/treats for my 5 year old nephew who lives out of state.

Did you do that through your fitbit app or Shop Your Way website? I could 'make money' by moving more?! I'm in!

 

[LisaSunshine]

This is something I need to remember. So easy to say what's $5 when you blow it at a store. Do that enough times...

Bits and pieces of extra $ will add up eventually if you do it enough.

I do this all the time. From now on, whenever I resist that extra $5 or $10 at the store, I'm going to put that amount into savings or another account to be used for paying our debt. Hopefully getting a positive visual of how that adds up will help me resist temptation more often.

 

[gracie1]

I would like to join. We went through some hard times racking up a good amount of debt in the process. Then moved cross country for a job that did not provide relocation expenses in order to make more money, only to find out that they required a mandatory $400 a month retirement contribution, and insurance cost $300 a month more than our previous insurance (Yes, we should have looked into this before accepting the job. Lesson learned) bringing us to bringing home less money and living in a place with a higher cost of living.

In 2016 I intend to:

- Pre-pay our entire trip to Disney in February. My husband promised to take our girls before we hit our financial struggle.
- Pay off $2,000 on a cc that has 20% interest.
- Pay off $1,200 on a cc with no interest before interest kicks in in November 2016.
- Pay as much as possible after that on the rest of my cc debt.

Ouch! I've never heard of a job having a mandatory contribution amount to retirement. I could see how that would've been overlooked!! As for health insurance - I think that increase has hit everyone. I feel bad for families that have to get the family plans. Sorry to hear that the job you took to get ahead has set you back.

 

[gracie1]

Another thing I have learned in the past 2 years is that I no longer feel embarassed to simply say, "No thanks. I can't afford that." I used to have a hard time saying no and disappointing people. Family, friends, coworkers. Everything from manicures to dinner out for Valentine's Day. No need to discuss debt in the conversation but just say no.
If it's not something I'm dying for, I just decline.

This is so true! Used to I would just whip out the cc and go with everyone! Now I just say no and sit home if I have too!

 

[gracie1]

Welcome to all the newbies joining this thread!! It's great to see how many people have joined to dump debt!! Looks like everyone has got their budgets planned out for 2016! Here's to getting our debt paid off and hopefully not too many visits from our friend Murphy!

 

[gracie1]

oh man it's time for 2016 already how did that happen

My last student loan has about a $1K balance left, and even though it is the lowest interest rate of any of my debts my first goal for 2016 is to knock that one out so I can get the quick win. Then focus on the credit cards after that.

That is great! I would do the same thing - it's a great feeling and gives you more motivation when you get that first debt paid off!

 

[ariel1025]

That is great! I would do the same thing - it's a great feeling and gives you more motivation when you get that first debt paid off!

Agreed! The first several times we tried to buckle down and dump debt we went with the highest interest rates first theory. These were also some of our largest balances. Needless, to say by not seeing any real progress we quit several times. In mid 2014 we jumped back on and started with lowest balance first, even though it was also one of the smallest interest rates. We've been moving (mostly!) forward ever since. It's still so, so, so hard to stick with it and we've lost sight here and there, but seeing the balances dwindle quicker definitely is the best motivator (for us).

 

[Colleen27]

We both have fitbits and have them synced to the shop your way rewards for Kmart/Sears. We each get $5 a week in points that must be used that week or you lose them.

I've never heard of this before. Tell me more! How do you sign p, what do you need to do to get the points, etc...

Just my $0.02, I would start with the collections. The longer something is in collection, the worse it will reflect on your credit report - I think. It might be the case that you get the big "ding" for it going into collections and the length of time doesn't matter, but I don't think so.

And collections can so easily get away from you once they start getting sold from one agency to another. DH had one credit card account from his late teens that we've paid off (settled in full) three times - the first time before we met in '99, the second time when we were cleaning up our credit to buy a house in '03, and the third time when they sought an order to attach our bank accounts in 2014. Each time the collection agency that currently had the debt had no record of the settlement with the previous agency, the previous agency was no longer in business/bought out and couldn't be reached, and like idiots neither of us held on to the payoff paperwork long enough. Fortunately it was a relatively small debt (~ $700) but still a shock and general pain in the *** to have it come back like that. Moral of the story... If at all possible, deal with past due accounts before they reach the point of being sold to a third party, and if you are stuck dealing with a collection agency keep your paperwork FOREVER! In hindsight there was all sorts of shady/illegal maneuvering at play - the account was years past our state's limit on collectability, the agency made no attempt to ascertain our current address even though it had been legally changed years before and is a matter of public record, the paperwork was all sent to a previous address so they were able to get a default judgment before we received any notice at all, etc. but when you get a notice from your bank that a collection agency is going to take money you need to pay for food and utilities, you settle rather than fight.

 

[LinderInWonderland]

Hi All- I am terrible at budgeting, so fly by the seat of my pants every month. I use my debit card for almost everything which makes it too easy to spend (for me), that is part of the problem. I have tried, and have made some progress but for the most part I fail in this area. I lack discipline, it is easier to put my head in the sand because it is difficult and challenging for me. I tried to sell my house last year but apparently I live in the only neighborhood in the whole country that went backwards in value in 2015. I am contemplating renting it for a couple of years and moving into a smaller rental unit until I can sell it. If everything worked out (and I didn't end up with bad tenants) that would reduce my housing by 50%. I definitely need to get a better handle on what goes out and where, every month to help me determine the best immediate path forward. I saw reference to YNAB in a couple of previous posts, what is that? Are there any online resources that you can recommend for budgeting strategies? TIA!

I am one of the folks who mentioned YNAB! It has been the best $54 dollars I ever spent and it only took me 2 months to have more than that in my buffer account - and that's with Christmas having come and gone!

It's essentially an electronic 'envelope method'. You set up all your budget line items, then when you get income, you assign it to the appropriate line item. They have several free classes you can sign up for online that teach you about the four rules, with the chance that you could win a free copy of YNAB! (I didn't, but I was sold anyway.)

Pre-YNAB, I knew what our net take home pay was, what our bills were and when I had to pay them. DH would just spend money on what he assumed we needed without paying any mind to keeping it within a budget and I would have to scramble to make sure something wouldn't get missed. No matter how many ways I laid out the budget for him, he just didn't pay close attention and could always wheedle me into paying for something later.

Once I figured out he was a visual learner, I knew this software was going to work for us. In addition to the desktop version, we each have the apps on our phone. When one of us spends money, we enter it into the app and it automatically updates the available balance on both phones and the desktop. We even put ourselves on there as line items to give ourselves an allowance. Our debt and saving goals are covered and we are (sllllooowly) building up a buffer so we can pay this month's expenses with last month's income. Sometimes I used to hold my breath before payday that nothing would bounce. Now, we always have a cushion - and we will go without on other line items so this one can keep building.

 

[4Mickeys]

As my dad would say "I did things backwards" and had my kids first then went back to school with three kids 5yrs and under,,,boy what a crazy life it was for two years, but well worth it as I ended up being the sole provider in the family. Remember to always be proud of yourself for being a strong, caring and contributing mom! One thing I did when mine started to hit their teens was to put them in charge of shopping lists and cooking. Oh yah the kitchen was a mess but today the skills they learned have served them well.
Good thoughts and hugs being sent your way

haha guess we have that backwards thing in common! Thanks for the reminder to be kinder to myself - I do tend to be hard on myself at times especially at this time of year. I keep planning for the kids to do more cooking but then I just end up doing it - and yes they definitely need some skill building in that area (especially DS15 lol). Thanks for the thoughts and hugs they are much needed and appreciated

 

[gracie1]

I've never heard of this before. Tell me more! How do you sign p, what do you need to do to get the points, etc...



And collections can so easily get away from you once they start getting sold from one agency to another. DH had one credit card account from his late teens that we've paid off (settled in full) three times - the first time before we met in '99, the second time when we were cleaning up our credit to buy a house in '03, and the third time when they sought an order to attach our bank accounts in 2014. Each time the collection agency that currently had the debt had no record of the settlement with the previous agency, the previous agency was no longer in business/bought out and couldn't be reached, and like idiots neither of us held on to the payoff paperwork long enough. Fortunately it was a relatively small debt (~ $700) but still a shock and general pain in the *** to have it come back like that. Moral of the story... If at all possible, deal with past due accounts before they reach the point of being sold to a third party, and if you are stuck dealing with a collection agency keep your paperwork FOREVER! In hindsight there was all sorts of shady/illegal maneuvering at play - the account was years past our state's limit on collectability, the agency made no attempt to ascertain our current address even though it had been legally changed years before and is a matter of public record, the paperwork was all sent to a previous address so they were able to get a default judgment before we received any notice at all, etc. but when you get a notice from your bank that a collection agency is going to take money you need to pay for food and utilities, you settle rather than fight.

Wow! I had no idea that could happen once something went into collections!! Glad you posted this experience and knowledge on here for everyone!

 

[dayvewc]

I've never heard of this before. Tell me more! How do you sign p, what do you need to do to get the points, etc...



And collections can so easily get away from you once they start getting sold from one agency to another. DH had one credit card account from his late teens that we've paid off (settled in full) three times - the first time before we met in '99, the second time when we were cleaning up our credit to buy a house in '03, and the third time when they sought an order to attach our bank accounts in 2014. Each time the collection agency that currently had the debt had no record of the settlement with the previous agency, the previous agency was no longer in business/bought out and couldn't be reached, and like idiots neither of us held on to the payoff paperwork long enough. Fortunately it was a relatively small debt (~ $700) but still a shock and general pain in the *** to have it come back like that. Moral of the story... If at all possible, deal with past due accounts before they reach the point of being sold to a third party, and if you are stuck dealing with a collection agency keep your paperwork FOREVER! In hindsight there was all sorts of shady/illegal maneuvering at play - the account was years past our state's limit on collectability, the agency made no attempt to ascertain our current address even though it had been legally changed years before and is a matter of public record, the paperwork was all sent to a previous address so they were able to get a default judgment before we received any notice at all, etc. but when you get a notice from your bank that a collection agency is going to take money you need to pay for food and utilities, you settle rather than fight.

Wow! I had no idea that could happen once something went into collections!! Glad you posted this experience and knowledge on here for everyone!

Yeah, several years ago I got contacted about a bill that I paid off in the mid-90's. They tried to say that it had not been completely paid off, and had slowly accrued interest and penalties for non/late payment for 12 years to the tune of wanting me to pay about $1000 on an initial $0.25 remaining balance. I informed them that it had already been paid off back in the day, and that I was absolutely willing to furnish the paperwork showing that the amount due had been paid at that time, just as soon as they sent me a check for the $100 research fee that I was charging them for failure to maintain accurate records. I never heard from them again.

 

[LinderInWonderland]

Wow! I had no idea that could happen once something went into collections!! Glad you posted this experience and knowledge on here for everyone!

Yeah, several years ago I got contacted about a bill that I paid off in the mid-90's. They tried to say that it had not been completely paid off, and had slowly accrued interest and penalties for non/late payment for 12 years to the tune of wanting me to pay about $1000 on an initial $0.25 remaining balance. I informed them that it had already been paid off back in the day, and that I was absolutely willing to furnish the paperwork showing that the amount due had been paid at that time, just as soon as they sent me a check for the $100 research fee that I was charging them for failure to maintain accurate records. I never heard from them again.

Same thing happened to us, but it was from an old cell phone bill, when AT&T switched to Cingular (and back again). We'd paid off the AT&T bill, then six months later got a collection for the exact same amount from Cingular. I wrote them a letter, outlining what I suspected they were trying to do and providing a copy of my paid bill. I also told them it was on them to prove that it was a different bill and all communications regarding that disputed debt must be in writing. I never heard from them again, but I keep an eye out for it on my credit report.

 

[Alice Sr.]

Hi Hon <Welcome!!!
I think half the battle is realizing that you need a budget,,so congratulations on your first step.
I also contemplated downsizing last year but when I looked at the costs to do this it just seemed better to
stay where I am for now.
One step that has been hampering my success was not really knowing all of my debts and monthly expenses. This past weekend I dragged all my paper work out and now have a fixed monthly amount that needs to be directed to bills and debt.
I am a 10 month employee (school) so I have to try and configure this budgeting into 10 months.
It surprised me how little I have left over, due to a loan and a credit card.

I also spend using my debit cards,and I realized three debit cards for me is tooooooo much so it is time to get real and get rid of two of them. I am going to have to look at banking fees as I am paying way too much
each month.
I can't comment on YNAB but I know many here use it and will hopefully jump in with some suggestions.
Keep swimming Hon things can turn around.
Hugs Mel

Thank you so much! Hopefully I will get things organized this weekend.

 

[Colleen27]

Yeah, several years ago I got contacted about a bill that I paid off in the mid-90's. They tried to say that it had not been completely paid off, and had slowly accrued interest and penalties for non/late payment for 12 years to the tune of wanting me to pay about $1000 on an initial $0.25 remaining balance. I informed them that it had already been paid off back in the day, and that I was absolutely willing to furnish the paperwork showing that the amount due had been paid at that time, just as soon as they sent me a check for the $100 research fee that I was charging them for failure to maintain accurate records. I never heard from them again.

Unfortunately, we didn't receive any notices early enough to do so... They sent everything to a years-old address and we didn't find out about it until our bank notified us of the garnishment order. At that point, the response I got from the collection agency was "It is too late to challenge it, we have the court order and will execute it if the debt isn't paid according to our terms". And from the courts I got a similar answer, that the notices "should" have gone to our current address but short of hiring a lawyer and suing the collection agency to recover anything they collected via improper practices there was no recourse available to us once the default judgment had been entered. I have no doubt that sending the paperwork to that old address was deliberate; we own this home jointly and a simple Google or white pages search of our very uncommon name gives the correct information, but if they'd done that we'd have had the opportunity to contest the validity of the debt so it was to their advantage to claim ignorance and use the last known address they had on us (from our 2003 last contact with the previous credit agency).

 

[Alice Sr.]

YNAB is You Need a Budget, a budgeting software. I just downloaded the software and started it, so I can't speak a lot to it right now, but a lot of people swear by it! I haven't done everything in terms of getting my "buffer" and whatnot, but am enjoying putting in my expenses so I can at least see where my money is going. My biggest problem was that DH and I are fortunate to have good incomes, but had no idea where our money was going. I'm definitely planning to take the classes they offer, but I think they're out for the holidays right now so there aren't any being offered. I haven't checked today though.

Christmas update: DH's parents gave us $500 for Christmas, which was very unexpected! We just asked for money or gift cards, but I was expecting more like $100. So that's going straight on my credit card. I get paid on Thursday so DH and I will be paying off our credit cards that day, and then the mortgage comes out Friday!

Thank you for the info, and glad to know you don't find it a pain to work with especially since you haven't had time to get familiar with it yet.

 

[Alice Sr.]

I am one of the folks who mentioned YNAB! It has been the best $54 dollars I ever spent and it only took me 2 months to have more than that in my buffer account - and that's with Christmas having come and gone!

It's essentially an electronic 'envelope method'. You set up all your budget line items, then when you get income, you assign it to the appropriate line item. They have several free classes you can sign up for online that teach you about the four rules, with the chance that you could win a free copy of YNAB! (I didn't, but I was sold anyway.)

Pre-YNAB, I knew what our net take home pay was, what our bills were and when I had to pay them. DH would just spend money on what he assumed we needed without paying any mind to keeping it within a budget and I would have to scramble to make sure something wouldn't get missed. No matter how many ways I laid out the budget for him, he just didn't pay close attention and could always wheedle me into paying for something later.

Once I figured out he was a visual learner, I knew this software was going to work for us. In addition to the desktop version, we each have the apps on our phone. When one of us spends money, we enter it into the app and it automatically updates the available balance on both phones and the desktop. We even put ourselves on there as line items to give ourselves an allowance. Our debt and saving goals are covered and we are (sllllooowly) building up a buffer so we can pay this month's expenses with last month's income. Sometimes I used to hold my breath before payday that nothing would bounce. Now, we always have a cushion - and we will go without on other line items so this one can keep building.

This sounds like a great program. The fact that it comes with an app will be very helpful to me. I am on a computer 10 hours a day at work, I hate logging on at home. Not paying close enough attention is one of my issues. Thanks for the insight, I will definitely be heading over to the website.

 

[bcwife76]

Wow we're on page 7 already! Lots of different circumstances and lots of information on here already!

 

[gracie1]

Wow we're on page 7 already! Lots of different circumstances and lots of information on here already!

I know! Every time I come back another page has happened! Lol. Glad to see so many of us - old and new on here!!!

 

[sueh]

I am going to join in on this. I quite a bit that I need to dump. I am hoping that 2016 will be my year ( I won't be debt free) but hopefully closer to being debt free! I am excited to see everyone's progress.