Debt Dumpers 2024

[barkley]

I'm so sorry you're going through all this.
Can you take your daughter to a neurologist? Sometimes they can get imaging approval when a GP can't.

i'll second this-when my son was young and started having migraines we got him in with a pediatric neurologist who was able to get an mri approved in record time with our insurance company. we experienced the same thing when one of our kids needed an mri for an orthopedic issue-md hit all kinds of walls with getting approval but once in with a pediatric orthopedist the approval was almost immediate.

 

[ariel1025]

Jumping back on board.

At one point, just a few years ago, we had all of our debts paid off except for the house. Unfortunately, we are back on the debt train - almost as bad as it was before. Mostly because my husband unexpectedly had to have brain surgery this past September for a (non-cancerous) brain tumor. Between neverending medical bills (we hit our insurance max last year and have already hit it again this year) and him being out of work for 5.5 months getting ~30% of his normal pay on LTD - our savings is long gone and the credit cards are all at scary levels. Then to add salt to the wound, I had to get a crown, my oldest daughter had to get orthodontic work (it was vital and could not be postponed) and my youngest daughter had to have an unexpected surgery in April. How's that saying go - when it rains, it pours?

In full disclosure, we also made some less-than-smart spending decisions for a bit before the series of unfortunate medical events. We also relied on food delivery way too often during my husband's recovery, which is still happening and the biggest habit we need to break.

Anyway. The goals.

Financial:

* Catch up on all (non-medical) past due bills - 0/9
* Pay off husband's medical bills - 9/26
* Pay off daughter's medical bills - 2/3
* Pay off my dental bill - 0/1
* Pay off daughter's orthodontic bill - 0/1
* Request medical "gift card" from employer
* Readjust budget for our new situation - I should have done this far earlier but kept ignoring it because I didn't want to accept our new reality
* Find a free budgeting app I like - currently use YNAB but is coming up for renewal in June and want to cut that cost
* Restart emergency fund - $0/$1,000 to start...
* Update budget daily so there aren't any surprises with the numbers that sneak up on me
* Update debt numbers monthly - even little changes keep me motivated
* Max out husband's Roth -$??/$7,000 - I know many will say to hold this while paying off debt but we are not exceptionally young and also don't want to lose his employer match
* Look at where we are # wise with Roth contributions
* Become more educated on investing/retirement - online class or book recommendations?
* Pay off oldest's DC trip - this is a school honors trip he earned for next spring that we do not want to take away from him
* "Find" an extra $100/wk average for the rest of the year (selling stuff, extra work hours etc.) - $0/$3,400
* Get back in the debt snowball habit - CC 3 $0/$922.64 - 2/22 debts paid off (not including above medical bills/past due items - the two paid off were done prior to the surgery)


Non-Financial:

* Purge all rooms/closets/spaces - 0/24
* Post maximum number of items for summer (online) consignment sale - 0/200
* Put in maximum number of items for fall (in person) consignment sale - 0/200
* Estate planning
* ICOD binder
* Read 52 books - 4/52
* 8,000 steps/day average rest of year - 0/1,864,000
* Average 2 hours/wk exercise rest of year - 0/466
* Complete a C25K program - have started more times than I want to admit and never finished - 0/27
* Help oldest daughter set-up her Etsy shop
* Potty train youngest daughter
* Completely decorate 1 room in our house - we've lived here 3 years and not a single space is decorated
* Watch new to me movies - 0/24
* Cook meals with oldest daughter - 1/52
* Try making new recipes - 6/104
* Use up 2023 meat before using any more of the 2024 meat - we are very blessed that my FIL is a rancher and gifts us 1/2 (sometimes more) a beef every year for Christmas. I need to make note of what cuts we don't particularly love or don't use up fast enough to adjust for this year's butcher request - 0/30
* 30-day pantry challenge - this will be really difficult to get my husband on board for - 0/30
* Start shopping in-store instead of delivery - will save on tips, subscription fees, and be able to check out clearance options
* Take family photos
* Back up all digital photos in one spot - 0/???
* Make photo albums for each year and vacation - 0/???
* Go back to daily planner usage - it helps me feel so much less scatter brained and I get more done having it in writing
* Make the most of our CO trip - already paid for prior to surgery - we originally were doing this (my husband's preferred vacation style) and a WDW/Disney Cruise (my preferred vacation style). We cancelled the Disney trip but kept CO. We rented a cabin and will pick up groceries and just spend the week playing board games, roasting s'mores, playing outside...being a family without outside distractions.

Ok, so that was a lot to unpack and scary to hit submit on. I know it will be impossible to get it all completed in a year. Or even 2 or 3...but accountability will help me stay focused. Let's do this!!

 

[ariel1025]

DD's headache already came back and there is not much we can do but to go back to the ER if it gets bad enough and try to convince them to do the MRI. We also found out that my cousin is having brain surgery for the exact thing DD's doctor wants the MRI for. My cousin has Chiari Malformation type 1 and looking it up DD has almost every symptom. I am so worried that she will need brain surgery. DD also has a clotting disorder (her platelets are slow to clot) so this is making my worrying even more.

Friday was a bad day for my hip and PT seems to not be helping. The PT doctor said it sounds like an arthritic hip. I am too young for that but it could be caused my the accident I was in about 10 years ago where my hip muscle pulled away from my hip. I hop your hip gets better.

I'm so sorry your DD is going through this. I apologize if this is out of line, but my husband very recently was going through migraine issues that also presented several other issues. In the end, it was actually the Opthalmologist who was able to get him an immediate MRI via the ER. His GP wasn't able to get him in for an MRI for 6ish weeks. One day about a week later he woke up with weird vision issues (it was very blurry and he was seeing grey squiggly lines) his GP recommended an Opthalmologist appointment. He got in same day, she didn't like what she saw and was able to get him an MRI immediately. Just thought I would throw the information out there as a possible option to getting scans sooner?

Sending you all the positive vibes that your DD starts to feel better!!

 

[newski_mom]

Jumping back on board.

At one point, just a few years ago, we had all of our debts paid off except for the house. Unfortunately, we are back on the debt train - almost as bad as it was before. Mostly because my husband unexpectedly had to have brain surgery this past September for a (non-cancerous) brain tumor. Between neverending medical bills (we hit our insurance max last year and have already hit it again this year) and him being out of work for 5.5 months getting ~30% of his normal pay on LTD - our savings is long gone and the credit cards are all at scary levels. Then to add salt to the wound, I had to get a crown, my oldest daughter had to get orthodontic work (it was vital and could not be postponed) and my youngest daughter had to have an unexpected surgery in April. How's that saying go - when it rains, it pours?

In full disclosure, we also made some less-than-smart spending decisions for a bit before the series of unfortunate medical events. We also relied on food delivery way too often during my husband's recovery, which is still happening and the biggest habit we need to break.

Anyway. The goals.

Financial:

* Catch up on all (non-medical) past due bills - 0/9
* Pay off husband's medical bills - 9/26
* Pay off daughter's medical bills - 2/3
* Pay off my dental bill - 0/1
* Pay off daughter's orthodontic bill - 0/1
* Request medical "gift card" from employer
* Readjust budget for our new situation - I should have done this far earlier but kept ignoring it because I didn't want to accept our new reality
* Find a free budgeting app I like - currently use YNAB but is coming up for renewal in June and want to cut that cost
* Restart emergency fund - $0/$1,000 to start...
* Update budget daily so there aren't any surprises with the numbers that sneak up on me
* Update debt numbers monthly - even little changes keep me motivated
* Max out husband's Roth -$??/$7,000 - I know many will say to hold this while paying off debt but we are not exceptionally young and also don't want to lose his employer match
* Look at where we are # wise with Roth contributions
* Become more educated on investing/retirement - online class or book recommendations?
* Pay off oldest's DC trip - this is a school honors trip he earned for next spring that we do not want to take away from him
* "Find" an extra $100/wk average for the rest of the year (selling stuff, extra work hours etc.) - $0/$3,400
* Get back in the debt snowball habit - CC 3 $0/$922.64 - 2/22 debts paid off (not including above medical bills/past due items - the two paid off were done prior to the surgery)


Non-Financial:

* Purge all rooms/closets/spaces - 0/24
* Post maximum number of items for summer (online) consignment sale - 0/200
* Put in maximum number of items for fall (in person) consignment sale - 0/200
* Estate planning
* ICOD binder
* Read 52 books - 4/52
* 8,000 steps/day average rest of year - 0/1,864,000
* Average 2 hours/wk exercise rest of year - 0/466
* Complete a C25K program - have started more times than I want to admit and never finished - 0/27
* Help oldest daughter set-up her Etsy shop
* Potty train youngest daughter
* Completely decorate 1 room in our house - we've lived here 3 years and not a single space is decorated
* Watch new to me movies - 0/24
* Cook meals with oldest daughter - 1/52
* Try making new recipes - 6/104
* Use up 2023 meat before using any more of the 2024 meat - we are very blessed that my FIL is a rancher and gifts us 1/2 (sometimes more) a beef every year for Christmas. I need to make note of what cuts we don't particularly love or don't use up fast enough to adjust for this year's butcher request - 0/30
* 30-day pantry challenge - this will be really difficult to get my husband on board for - 0/30
* Start shopping in-store instead of delivery - will save on tips, subscription fees, and be able to check out clearance options
* Take family photos
* Back up all digital photos in one spot - 0/???
* Make photo albums for each year and vacation - 0/???
* Go back to daily planner usage - it helps me feel so much less scatter brained and I get more done having it in writing
* Make the most of our CO trip - already paid for prior to surgery - we originally were doing this (my husband's preferred vacation style) and a WDW/Disney Cruise (my preferred vacation style). We cancelled the Disney trip but kept CO. We rented a cabin and will pick up groceries and just spend the week playing board games, roasting s'mores, playing outside...being a family without outside distractions.

Ok, so that was a lot to unpack and scary to hit submit on. I know it will be impossible to get it all completed in a year. Or even 2 or 3...but accountability will help me stay focused. Let's do this!!

Sorry to see all you've been going through - you have a great start in your list though! I think just getting it all written down is a huge relief because you know exactly what you're working toward!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Sorry to see all you've been going through - you have a great start in your list though! I think just getting it all written down is a huge relief because you know exactly what you're working toward!

So true. For me, just to be able to have a clear list keeps so many thoughts from taking over my brain. Then it's possible to rearrange them in order of priority.

 

[dpswift]

Jumping back on board.

At one point, just a few years ago, we had all of our debts paid off except for the house. Unfortunately, we are back on the debt train - almost as bad as it was before. Mostly because my husband unexpectedly had to have brain surgery this past September for a (non-cancerous) brain tumor. Between neverending medical bills (we hit our insurance max last year and have already hit it again this year) and him being out of work for 5.5 months getting ~30% of his normal pay on LTD - our savings is long gone and the credit cards are all at scary levels. Then to add salt to the wound, I had to get a crown, my oldest daughter had to get orthodontic work (it was vital and could not be postponed) and my youngest daughter had to have an unexpected surgery in April. How's that saying go - when it rains, it pours?

In full disclosure, we also made some less-than-smart spending decisions for a bit before the series of unfortunate medical events. We also relied on food delivery way too often during my husband's recovery, which is still happening and the biggest habit we need to break.

Anyway. The goals.

Financial:

* Catch up on all (non-medical) past due bills - 0/9
* Pay off husband's medical bills - 9/26
* Pay off daughter's medical bills - 2/3
* Pay off my dental bill - 0/1
* Pay off daughter's orthodontic bill - 0/1
* Request medical "gift card" from employer
* Readjust budget for our new situation - I should have done this far earlier but kept ignoring it because I didn't want to accept our new reality
* Find a free budgeting app I like - currently use YNAB but is coming up for renewal in June and want to cut that cost
* Restart emergency fund - $0/$1,000 to start...
* Update budget daily so there aren't any surprises with the numbers that sneak up on me
* Update debt numbers monthly - even little changes keep me motivated
* Max out husband's Roth -$??/$7,000 - I know many will say to hold this while paying off debt but we are not exceptionally young and also don't want to lose his employer match
* Look at where we are # wise with Roth contributions
* Become more educated on investing/retirement - online class or book recommendations?
* Pay off oldest's DC trip - this is a school honors trip he earned for next spring that we do not want to take away from him
* "Find" an extra $100/wk average for the rest of the year (selling stuff, extra work hours etc.) - $0/$3,400
* Get back in the debt snowball habit - CC 3 $0/$922.64 - 2/22 debts paid off (not including above medical bills/past due items - the two paid off were done prior to the surgery)


Non-Financial:

* Purge all rooms/closets/spaces - 0/24
* Post maximum number of items for summer (online) consignment sale - 0/200
* Put in maximum number of items for fall (in person) consignment sale - 0/200
* Estate planning
* ICOD binder
* Read 52 books - 4/52
* 8,000 steps/day average rest of year - 0/1,864,000
* Average 2 hours/wk exercise rest of year - 0/466
* Complete a C25K program - have started more times than I want to admit and never finished - 0/27
* Help oldest daughter set-up her Etsy shop
* Potty train youngest daughter
* Completely decorate 1 room in our house - we've lived here 3 years and not a single space is decorated
* Watch new to me movies - 0/24
* Cook meals with oldest daughter - 1/52
* Try making new recipes - 6/104
* Use up 2023 meat before using any more of the 2024 meat - we are very blessed that my FIL is a rancher and gifts us 1/2 (sometimes more) a beef every year for Christmas. I need to make note of what cuts we don't particularly love or don't use up fast enough to adjust for this year's butcher request - 0/30
* 30-day pantry challenge - this will be really difficult to get my husband on board for - 0/30
* Start shopping in-store instead of delivery - will save on tips, subscription fees, and be able to check out clearance options
* Take family photos
* Back up all digital photos in one spot - 0/???
* Make photo albums for each year and vacation - 0/???
* Go back to daily planner usage - it helps me feel so much less scatter brained and I get more done having it in writing
* Make the most of our CO trip - already paid for prior to surgery - we originally were doing this (my husband's preferred vacation style) and a WDW/Disney Cruise (my preferred vacation style). We cancelled the Disney trip but kept CO. We rented a cabin and will pick up groceries and just spend the week playing board games, roasting s'mores, playing outside...being a family without outside distractions.

Ok, so that was a lot to unpack and scary to hit submit on. I know it will be impossible to get it all completed in a year. Or even 2 or 3...but accountability will help me stay focused. Let's do this!!

Sorry that you are going through so much. It seems as though you have a good thought out plan. Especially with your husband’s health scare I would definitely work on beefing up your retirement fund. Yes debt repayment is important but you need to think of your future as well. This is one part of Dave Ramsey that I don’t agree with.

Also agree about your son’s trip. That is something he will remember for the rest of his life.

I have never gotten into Doordashing food. But one thing that helps me keep from going out to dinner is preplanning and even pre making a few meals. It is harder for me to justify going out when I have a meal all set to go.

 

[barkley]

Jumping back on board.

At one point, just a few years ago, we had all of our debts paid off except for the house. Unfortunately, we are back on the debt train - almost as bad as it was before. Mostly because my husband unexpectedly had to have brain surgery this past September for a (non-cancerous) brain tumor. Between neverending medical bills (we hit our insurance max last year and have already hit it again this year) and him being out of work for 5.5 months getting ~30% of his normal pay on LTD - our savings is long gone and the credit cards are all at scary levels. Then to add salt to the wound, I had to get a crown, my oldest daughter had to get orthodontic work (it was vital and could not be postponed) and my youngest daughter had to have an unexpected surgery in April. How's that saying go - when it rains, it pours?

In full disclosure, we also made some less-than-smart spending decisions for a bit before the series of unfortunate medical events. We also relied on food delivery way too often during my husband's recovery, which is still happening and the biggest habit we need to break.

i'm sorry for what you are dealing with BUT keep in mind that you would have been in far worse circumstances if you had not previously paid off that old debt. it woulld have been weighing on you during very trying times. yes, you've accrued new debt but at least it's not on top of the old stuff. it may take a bit of time but you will get out from under this as well.

just as an aside, if you have any kids in college or who will be such that you have to do a fafsa in the next year-make sure to realy dig into their definitions of 'countable income' b/c there are some forms of disability based that are NOT (even if they are taxable). if you have a kid in college now contact their financial aid office and advise them of the circumstances b/c they frequently have funds to help out with tuition and fees set aside for these situations.

on the medical bills-have you checked to see if any of the providers have medical assistance programs? several of our big provider groups and hospitals have them and it's amazing how high family income can be yet still qualify. as an example-for a family of 3 the minimum amount of assistance provided is a 70% write off of all costs (this goes for hospital related/co-pays for doctors/labs....) if the household income is as high as $103,280 per year. it's worth looking into.

I have never gotten into Doordashing food. But one thing that helps me keep from going out to dinner is preplanning and even pre making a few meals. It is harder for me to justify going out when I have a meal all set to go.

i agree with this. i double make certain items that freeze and reheat well. i'm also trying to use up stuff in our pantry BUT i'm taking advantage of seasonal sales to back fill-last week it was cinco de mayo sales on tortillas, shredded cheese and such. our stores have taken to posting on line 2 weeks of ads at a time so now i'm eyeballing the upcoming deals on memorial day sales.

 

[piglet1979]

I'm so sorry you're going through all this.
Can you take your daughter to a neurologist? Sometimes they can get imaging approval when a GP can't. This happened when I had a herniated disk and insurance completely agreed to it only after ortho ordered it.
Hopefully it's something with a much simpler cure for her. Also I hope you're feeling better soon.

i'll second this-when my son was young and started having migraines we got him in with a pediatric neurologist who was able to get an mri approved in record time with our insurance company. we experienced the same thing when one of our kids needed an mri for an orthopedic issue-md hit all kinds of walls with getting approval but once in with a pediatric orthopedist the approval was almost immediate.

I'm so sorry your DD is going through this. I apologize if this is out of line, but my husband very recently was going through migraine issues that also presented several other issues. In the end, it was actually the Opthalmologist who was able to get him an immediate MRI via the ER. His GP wasn't able to get him in for an MRI for 6ish weeks. One day about a week later he woke up with weird vision issues (it was very blurry and he was seeing grey squiggly lines) his GP recommended an Opthalmologist appointment. He got in same day, she didn't like what she saw and was able to get him an MRI immediately. Just thought I would throw the information out there as a possible option to getting scans sooner?

Sending you all the positive vibes that your DD starts to feel better!!

Thank you everyone. We are seeing a Neurologist. We got referred last October but took until a week and a half ago to get in. It was very frustrating. The MRI did get approved pretty quickly and on Friday I was able to move it up to this Thursday. The are specifically looking for Chiari Malformation Type 1. This is where the brain dips too far down into your neck. This causes bad headaches, vision issues, numbness and tingling in the arms and legs and several of things as well. She has almost all the of symptoms. I also just found out that my cousin is having brain surgery this month for this.

How's that saying go - when it rains, it pours?

I am so sorry. I understand. We are in this right now as well. It is just so much stress. I hope things start to turn around for you.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

To all of you going through major health problems.

 

[CinderEmma94]

We are home from our cross-country trip for my grandmother's 80th birthday! It was such a good trip and the kids did great, even on the long travel days. This was our first time flying with all 3 kids and though it was a bit of a challenge overall it went really well. We paid for this trip with my husband's bonus that he received a couple of months ago and we managed to stay within budget and had almost $1,000 left over to put toward our big (kid free) trip to England, Ireland and Scotland for our anniversary next year.

 

[ariel1025]

Sorry to see all you've been going through - you have a great start in your list though! I think just getting it all written down is a huge relief because you know exactly what you're working toward!

So true. For me, just to be able to have a clear list keeps so many thoughts from taking over my brain. Then it's possible to rearrange them in order of priority.

Thank you! I agree - a list is so helpful for me. It's like my brain can shut down a little bit just knowing that I can refer back to the list at any time to ensure I don't forget something.

Sorry that you are going through so much. It seems as though you have a good thought out plan. Especially with your husband’s health scare I would definitely work on beefing up your retirement fund. Yes debt repayment is important but you need to think of your future as well. This is one part of Dave Ramsey that I don’t agree with.

Also agree about your son’s trip. That is something he will remember for the rest of his life.

I have never gotten into Doordashing food. But one thing that helps me keep from going out to dinner is preplanning and even pre making a few meals. It is harder for me to justify going out when I have a meal all set to go.

Thank you! The last time we were in debt we took pieces of DR and then added in our own beliefs and systems to make it work for us. We are doing the same thing this time. I know DR would be screaming his head off about the DC trip, for instance, but for us, it makes sense to make it happen so we will. Whereas, as much as it pained me to cancel our Disney cruise we firmly believed it was the right choice for right now. Disney trips will always be available. An Honors trip that has to be earned and only happens in that grade will not.

I am making it my top goal to be more focused on food from home. Spent this morning going through and creating an inventory of our indoor freezer. Our pantry will be next and then our deep freeze in the garage. Will make a meal plan from there.

i'm sorry for what you are dealing with BUT keep in mind that you would have been in far worse circumstances if you had not previously paid off that old debt. it woulld have been weighing on you during very trying times. yes, you've accrued new debt but at least it's not on top of the old stuff. it may take a bit of time but you will get out from under this as well.

just as an aside, if you have any kids in college or who will be such that you have to do a fafsa in the next year-make sure to realy dig into their definitions of 'countable income' b/c there are some forms of disability based that are NOT (even if they are taxable). if you have a kid in college now contact their financial aid office and advise them of the circumstances b/c they frequently have funds to help out with tuition and fees set aside for these situations.

on the medical bills-have you checked to see if any of the providers have medical assistance programs? several of our big provider groups and hospitals have them and it's amazing how high family income can be yet still qualify. as an example-for a family of 3 the minimum amount of assistance provided is a 70% write off of all costs (this goes for hospital related/co-pays for doctors/labs....) if the household income is as high as $103,280 per year. it's worth looking into.


i agree with this. i double make certain items that freeze and reheat well. i'm also trying to use up stuff in our pantry BUT i'm taking advantage of seasonal sales to back fill-last week it was cinco de mayo sales on tortillas, shredded cheese and such. our stores have taken to posting on line 2 weeks of ads at a time so now i'm eyeballing the upcoming deals on memorial day sales.

Thank you so much for your kind words and advice

Luckily, we are a few years off from our oldest going to college. I am thankful for this in more ways than one now.

I did not know about the medical assistance programs - I have started making some phone calls!

I definitely need to bring back the habit of checking store ads and shop based on those!

Thank you everyone. We are seeing a Neurologist. We got referred last October but took until a week and a half ago to get in. It was very frustrating. The MRI did get approved pretty quickly and on Friday I was able to move it up to this Thursday. The are specifically looking for Chiari Malformation Type 1. This is where the brain dips too far down into your neck. This causes bad headaches, vision issues, numbness and tingling in the arms and legs and several of things as well. She has almost all the of symptoms. I also just found out that my cousin is having brain surgery this month for this.

I am so sorry. I understand. We are in this right now as well. It is just so much stress. I hope things start to turn around for you.

Sending you so many hugs and positive vibes!!

 

[ariel1025]

We are home from our cross-country trip for my grandmother's 80th birthday! It was such a good trip and the kids did great, even on the long travel days. This was our first time flying with all 3 kids and though it was a bit of a challenge overall it went really well. We paid for this trip with my husband's bonus that he received a couple of months ago and we managed to stay within budget and had almost $1,000 left over to put toward our big (kid free) trip to England, Ireland and Scotland for our anniversary next year.

Yay for staying in budget - double yay for having money left over! That anniversary trip sounds absolutely dreamy!

 

[barkley]

Thank you everyone. We are seeing a Neurologist. We got referred last October but took until a week and a half ago to get in. It was very frustrating. The MRI did get approved pretty quickly and on Friday I was able to move it up to this Thursday. The are specifically looking for Chiari Malformation Type 1. This is where the brain dips too far down into your neck. This causes bad headaches, vision issues, numbness and tingling in the arms and legs and several of things as well. She has almost all the of symptoms. I also just found out that my cousin is having brain surgery this month for this.

I am so sorry. I understand. We are in this right now as well. It is just so much stress. I hope things start to turn around for you.

here's to thursday you getting the answers you seek and a treatment plan that knocks these migraines out! positive thoughts for your cousin as well on a speedy recovery from a life improving surgery

 

[CinderEmma94]

Yay for staying in budget - double yay for having money left over! That anniversary trip sounds absolutely dreamy!

Thank you!! We are in the early planning stages but wanted to go big for our 10th. I have only been to Europe once (my mom and I went to England, Ireland and France for my high school graduation) but my husband has never been.