Debt Dumpers - 2017

[Ngwira]

I went to the Rusty Scupper for a work dinner and wasn't a huge fan. Service was really slow and food was just ok, but maybe that was because we were a large group (25 people, I think)?

Thanks for the feedback, Jen. There is Phillips seafood house which is a chain. We'll figure something out .

 

[Ngwira]

Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party tickets purchased!!! Boy, Disney gets ALL of my money. With tax it was $310.00 for 3 Disney adults and 1 Disney child. Up $10pp from last year...smh..

I hope it's worth it!!!

 

[WaywardMemphian]

I recently paid off our house 15 years early. We soon switched to bi monthly shortly after we bought the house and used our tax returns a principal payments.

We are under 45 years old and are shocked at our possibilities and freedom now. We worked our way through college without loans and while it took 6 and 7 years to do, to come out of it without school debt more than made up for it. To top it off, our house is currently worth twice as much as we paid for it thanks the booming economy here in Northwest Arkansas. We are now updating out home on a pay as you go basis but using fantastic sign up bonus reward cards. We started off with each of us getting the Chase Sapphire Reserve when it was 100,000. We each had Freedoms for some time before this. We then went after Southwest Card Bonuses and she got a Marriot. She now has the companion pass and after some big bonus hotel stays next month, I will have one too.

I just received an offer from United for 70,000 points. A one stop flight to Barcelona from one of the airports I use is currently going for only 30,000 points each way.

 

[Alexle2007]

Yeah, weather is looking a bit gloomy. We were hoping to walk around the inner harbor and even do one of the swan boats!
Any seafood restaurant recommendations? I hear good things about the Rusty Scupper.

Since you'll have a car, I would head over to Caton to Bo Brooks. If you wanted to stay in the Harbor area, I would choose McCormick & Schmick's over Rusty Scupper or Phillip's.

 

[Judique]

Since you'll have a car, I would head over to Caton to Bo Brooks. If you wanted to stay in the Harbor area, I would choose McCormick & Schmick's over Rusty Scupper or Phillip's.

If you decide on M&S Costco has gift cards - $100 for $79.

 

[Ngwira]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys.

 

[Ava]

Hi debt dumpers! I have no idea how long it's been since I've posted on this thread, but I'm pleased to report that I paid off the last of our old credit card debt this month! We are now debt free & my goal is to keep it that way. We have a Disney trip booked for the end of August but the room (DVC rental) and tickets are all paid for, and I used Chase UR points to book our flights so those are covered too. I just need to save up the rest of the money to cover our food & incidentals; I have $460 in Disney GC's from when I was gift card churning (so sad that mostly died out, lol) so I figure another $1,000ish should cover us. I'll buy more GC's at Target with my REDcard so I'll at least get 5% off.

Beyond that, my goal is to build up our emergency fund. Next month is the last time I will have to pay $615/month for my youngest's preschool so I plan to redirect most of that amount into the emergency fund each month. Chugging along...

 

[bababear_50]

Edited: I think I figured it out
30 % so $75,000.00
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tpcs/rrsp-reer/wthdrwls/rts-eng.html

Hi Fellow Debt dumpers
I need some help figuring out what some taxes are going to need to be paid to the government.
I am in Ontario Canada,(not sure if that makes a difference).
$245,000.00 RRSP cashed out,,,how much tax do i owe the government?
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Hugs Mel

 

[bcwife76]

Signed my girls up for their summer camps today. We just do rec centre camps since they are more 'economical' plus as a stay at home mom I can't really justify having them in tons of activities when they could be home with me and I could be doing activities with them Basically they are more like my sanity saver camps!

My eldest is doing three different week long camps (9-3 Monday to Friday) while my youngest doesn't really want to do much so she's doing a week long soccer camp which is mornings only (9:15-11:15 Monday to Friday). But it breaks up the summer a bit. Total was just shy of $475 but they give you the option of paying 50% now and the rest on the first day of each camp (with no interest) so that made it a bit easier.

And now our fridge has started making weird noises since we've been back from Vegas. We recently pulled it out and cleaned behind it (about 3 weeks ago?) so it's probably not that. I should take everything out, give all the shelves a good cleaning and see if we can pin point the noise.

 

[Dentam]

Congratulations, @Ava - debt free, that's awesome!

 

[bcwife76]

So I had requested an itemized bill from the MGM Grand when we returned home because we did mobile check out so I never saw the actual bill, was just shown the amount due. I looked at the bill, saw nothing wrong, put it aside. It's been sitting on my desk all this week. Last night I told dh "I'm going to throw out the MGM Grand bill, do you want to look at it before I do?" Good thing he did - he saw that we were charged TWICE for late check out! Ugh, how did I miss that? So I emailed their accounting department right away (this was at like 10pm last night) and the automated response told me I'd hear back in 2-3 business days. If I don't hear back by Tuesday I'll find a direct phone number and call. I want my $40USD+tax refunded thankyouverymuch!

Also last night we downgraded our cabin on our May 2018 cruise from an ocean view to a deluxe inside. Same sqft just no window and $150 cheaper. We've done this route before (opposite direction) so we know what the scenery looks like and when we go under the Golden Gate bridge we had planned on being up on deck anyway. Plus the price of this cruise has not gone up one cent since we booked it 3 months ago so I'm planning to reshop it on our Alaskan cruise - potentially saving another $410US plus getting $100OBC (it's a 5 night cruise)

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Awesome to hear so many success stories!!

 

[johnaalexis]

Joining!! Currently budgeting to pay off something while saving for a house and hopefully planning a Disney for next spring when I graduate college!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Joining!! Currently budgeting to pay off something while saving for a house and hopefully planning a Disney for next spring when I graduate college!

 

[DnA2010]

I recently paid off our house 15 years early. We soon switched to bi monthly shortly after we bought the house and used our tax returns a principal payments.

We are under 45 years old and are shocked at our possibilities and freedom now. We worked our way through college without loans and while it took 6 and 7 years to do, to come out of it without school debt more than made up for it. To top it off, our house is currently worth twice as much as we paid for it thanks the booming economy here in Northwest Arkansas. We are now updating out home on a pay as you go basis but using fantastic sign up bonus reward cards. We started off with each of us getting the Chase Sapphire Reserve when it was 100,000. We each had Freedoms for some time before this. We then went after Southwest Card Bonuses and she got a Marriot. She now has the companion pass and after some big bonus hotel stays next month, I will have one too.

I just received an offer from United for 70,000 points. A one stop flight to Barcelona from one of the airports I use is currently going for only 30,000 points each way.

That's fantastic! I'm 35 and our plan when our mortgage comes up for renewal next year is to get the term to 15 more years, rather than the 18 ish it would be, so I will be around 50ish when we are done- the housing market is insane here and we unfortunately didn't get in really before it took off but such is life. That's awesome about your house value you going up, sure wish I had bought properties when I looked into it when I was in my early 20s, the market just went on fire after that- I think this house originally sold for half of what we paid and properties that are a bit older less than that.

 

[DnA2010]

Signed my girls up for their summer camps today. We just do rec centre camps since they are more 'economical' plus as a stay at home mom I can't really justify having them in tons of activities when they could be home with me and I could be doing activities with them Basically they are more like my sanity saver camps!

My eldest is doing three different week long camps (9-3 Monday to Friday) while my youngest doesn't really want to do much so she's doing a week long soccer camp which is mornings only (9:15-11:15 Monday to Friday). But it breaks up the summer a bit. Total was just shy of $475 but they give you the option of paying 50% now and the rest on the first day of each camp (with no interest) so that made it a bit easier.

And now our fridge has started making weird noises since we've been back from Vegas. We recently pulled it out and cleaned behind it (about 3 weeks ago?) so it's probably not that. I should take everything out, give all the shelves a good cleaning and see if we can pin point the noise.

$475 for 4 camps? sounds like a great deal to me! Something in the lower mainland that is actually affordable! I have cousins down there who I'm sure will forever rent as the housing market is just ridiculous if are just a normal family with normal jobs.

Where is your fridge from? Will they take it back if necessary?

 

[DnA2010]

Well 8 months into my maternity leave and we are still doing well- our savings have gone down in the last couple of months but I had projected that, as spring is really expensive- 1 car insurance $1200, DH's motorcycle insurance $600?, house insurance $800, spring vet visit for the horses $500?, horse trailer insurance $170 and then ski hill passes in June...I did know about these so they are in the budget, but after staying fairly stable, all of a sudden the account is drop dropping!

Meeting with my boss to discuss my return to work- my plan is to go back in July (my year is up Sept 9th) part time (well on my full salary as I will use vacation I have banked) and my DH will take the last 9-10 weeks of the leave- financially, me being off is a big hit for us as I'm the higher earner. Once I'm back, my DH will work less so rather than paying daycare, my DH's earning will just take a hit- he is a paramedic but long and short of it, although he has 13 years in, he is only part time, casual (although works full time hours) as the only way to get an actual 4 on 4 off schedule is to move, which we won't do. Anyways, he will work a bit on my days off (I work M-Thurs 10 hour days)

The other big expense is we are going to buy some WDW passes while they are still on sale for the future, so with the exchange, that will be a BIG spend!

 

[bcwife76]

$475 for 4 camps? sounds like a great deal to me! Something in the lower mainland that is actually affordable! I have cousins down there who I'm sure will forever rent as the housing market is just ridiculous if are just a normal family with normal jobs.

Where is your fridge from? Will they take it back if necessary?

No I agree, the camps are a good price. It was just a shock all at once lol

No idea where the fridge is from, assuming it came with the house when it was built in 2009 (we are the second owners, bought the house in 2012). It's a Fridgidaire brand like all the appliances in my kitchen and they all STINK ugh. We've already fixed one issue with the fridge a year after we bought the house and my husband fixed an issue with the dishwasher about 18 months ago. The stove is fine but yeah.....I won't be replacing any of them with more Fridgidaire appliances. Even the washer dryer were the same make - those were the first thing we replaced, they were a joke - they were tiny!

 

[Eureka]

We are having a spendy few weeks. The old minivan needed work that was essential to it running..the hood would not open, so we needed the latch repaired. If you remember, we've done a lot to it and still drive it locally and are hoping it will be ok for DS16 to use when he gets his license. So that was $700 including an oil change and some flushes that we figured we might as well do at the same time. Then we needed a few faucet for the kids' bathroom sink because the old one is leaking and can't be fixed, and DH isn't able to do it so we need to call a plumber. When we were picking out the faucet he saw a new vanity/sink he likes but we are holding off on buying it.

Then, we got info about Ds's SkillsUSA trip. It's not for another five weeks but we need to plan. The county pays for everything except food, but he's there a full week and only two meals are included, so they said send a minimum of $200. We'll send him with more just in case. Probably a mix of cash and a prepaid visa for safety reasons. He also needed another set of black pants and white shirt so I got those this week, and because he is almost 6' tall but a toothpick, it's hard to find pants that fit him and I can't get just the cheapest ones. Also his swim jammers for swim team are too tight, so ordered practice suits and will have to order a team suit when I sign them up (which will be another $200 in the next couple of weeks). Luckily, DS14 can use the hand me down jammers every time his brother goes into a new size. I tell you, these kids need to stop growing.

We also want to get a new grill for the summer, our old one broke last year. And of course with it being Mother's Day, we went out for brunch at a nice place in VA that we like. Still have CC debt but we'll be paying off the card that has interest this week. Then we'll chip away at the interest free one for awhile and will plan to be done with it before the interest kicks in in Feb. I know it will all be fine but I hate when so many things pile up at once.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Hope everyone had a nice Mother's Day weekend! DH and I hung around the house during the day Saturday and went out with my mom and brother and his wife for dinner Saturday night. We went to Carabba's, which was nice because my brother had given us a $50 gift card their for Christmas! We gave him the gift card back to put towards the bill for our dinners and my mom's.

We also went to Busch Gardens Williamsburg yesterday with my mom. We had bought half priced Groupon tickets when they were on sale a couple months ago, so it was nice to not be out $80/person for the trip. It turns out Mother's Day is a great day to go. We walked on everything with no more than a 10 minute wait with the exception of their new roller coaster. DH and I split a meal for lunch and waited until we got home to eat dinner, even though that wasn't until 8:30.

We finally got out personal property taxes, which went out late this year for some reason. Not my favorite thing to pay, as we came in 6 cents under $400. Oh well, such is life. We did get DH's bonus with his paycheck last week so I moved $1000 to savings.