Debt Archives - Page 45 of 46 - Making Sense Of Cents

Some Frugal (and expensive) Date Ideas

Last Updated: November 18, 2014 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 35 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Today is Friday! I’m finally feeling better. Having the stomach flu is the worst and I hated it so much. It was miserable having to work for 9 hours and then going to class for another 4.5 hours this week. 2 weeks down, 13 to go? I think that’s right. Like I’ve said, I have to miss the last 1-2 weeks of classes for work, so I’m not sure how much I have left really.

Anyways, me and the BF have been really lazy lately. We have been staying home a lot (and sleeping a lot). There is really no excuse for this except that I hate the cold and really don’t want to step a single foot outside. Once the weather gets better, there are tons of things that we like to do.

We really need to stop being lazy though! Of course we like to save money when we do things also. What are some frugal date ideas that you have? Below is a list of things that we like to do or would like to do.

Some date ideas:

Try new restaurants. We love using Restaurant.com certificates because we can try new restaurants without spending a ton of money. If you sign up for their e-mail list, you usually get e-mails a couple times a month for 80% or 90% off their certificates. So this means that I often buy these certificates for around $2. Since you usually only have to spend $10 to use the $25 certificate, that means that we get around $35 worth of food for only $12 (plus tip). But that’s a good deal! There are a lot of restaurants that we go to a lot that are on there also.
Have a picnic. We love going to the park and having a picnic, we haven’t done this in awhile. Last time we did this, we rode our mopeds (yes we have mopeds, and yes they are fun) and a photographer actually took our pictures for the newspaper (or at least that’s what he said)! This is relatively cheap and a lot of fun. Usually there are interesting people and we can people watch also.
Go skiing. Haven’t done this yet, but if it gets cold this weekend, then we plan on doing this finally! It’s expensive though, I looked up prices and it’ll be around $100 each for equipment rental and everything.
Order/make lots of food, watch scary movies, and stay in.
Go to the zoo. For some reason, the zoo always seems like a fun idea, UNTIL I get there and I want to leave. Parking is always horrible and it’s always hot. But, I do love going! The zoo where we live is free, so this is always fun! Parking is free also (they have paid parking but I don’t mind walking 1-2 minutes and park).
Take a weekend vacation. We’ve done this a couple of times. What we’ll do is take that Friday off and make it a 3 day weekend. Last year we went to Miami for the weekend. It was fun, but it was hard to pack in the flights, travel and everything into 3 short days.
Go to the movies. We don’t go to the movies a lot (because it’s like $13 a person and because I always fall asleep at the theater), but we do have $50 on a movie gift card, so we plan on using it soon. Nothing too good has been out lately though, but I’m definitely seeing The Vow with Channing when it comes out next month! Who else is excited for that?
Hike. We have a lot of hiking trails around us, and we finally went hiking a couple of months ago on the trail near our house. It was fun and interesting for us. FREE
Drive around. I know this isn’t eco-or-pocket-friendly, but the BF likes to drive around, and I like just sitting in the passenger seat. It’s relaxing. And we just talk about nothing and everything.
Look at the stars. The BF’s grandma has a lot of land, so sometimes we will drive all the way out there and lay out a blanket and just relax. It’s nice and very pretty.
Shooting range. We go shooting at least twice a month. It’s fun, but very expensive.
Hot air balloon. Haven’t done this yet, but would like to. I’m a little afraid right now though since there was an accident last month where everyone died. I’m not sure how much this cost? Maybe $150 a person? More? I don’t know…
Sky Diving. Haven’t done this yet, but would like to. He doesn’t see the need to jump out of a perfectly good airplane, yet he will do tons of scary things that I don’t get. I plan on going with his friend this spring, so this isn’t much of a date idea, but maybe the BF will join. This will be around $200 just for me when I do this in the Spring. I also want to get pictures from it, and that’s around an extra $75.
Paddle boat. Downtown there is a little man-made canal thing (yes I know I sound so smart) and you can paddle boat, get a canoe or a kayak. It’s a lot of fun, really pretty and pretty cheap. Only around $15 an hour (but they don’t really make sure that you’ve only been gone for an hour).

What do you guys like to do? Any new ideas?

P.S. Don’t forget to Follow me on twitter!

A little info about the BF and how we handle the cash money

Last Updated: May 31, 2015 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 50 Comments

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I don’t talk too much about the BF on my blog, but I’d like to. A lot of you said that you don’t mind that I blog anonymously, but that you’d love it if I shared more information about my life. I’ve never really said too much about the BF, I just tend to throw those letters around, but none of you really know anything about him. So you guys are lucky, today you will learn about him and how we handle our money.

A little information about the BF:

The picture above is of him when we went to San Juan last year
He’ll be 23 in about 2 weeks (does anyone have any present ideas for him?)
He has a new habit pretty much everyday. And he’s obsessive about them. Whether it’s cars, guns, motorcycles, he goes absolutely insane and will read everything about it until I want to run away
Before last year, he had NEVER been on an airplane, but I definitely changed that last year once I had time for vacations
He comes from a GREAT family, and his family is the best thing ever
He’s very clean
He’s a workout maniac
He loves to drink tons of milk and it makes me want to barf
I tend to talk in my sleep (and it tends to scare him) and he will have long conversations with me because he thinks it’s hilarious
He eventually wants to graduate and have a career with something involving the environment and scientific sustainability research
Hmmm I’m obviously horrible at describing him so now I will resort to the physical (since I obviously don’t show pictures yet, I will describe him). He’s around 6’1″, blonde hair, blue eyes (can’t tell in the picture of course).

Now for some information about our relationship. We’ve been together almost 6 years, and we’ve lived together for almost 5 years. Yes, that means that we moved in together right after high school. We’ve lived in a total of 4 places (I think, I might be forgetting) and we bought our house at the age of 20.

Most would say that we’re crazy. But it worked for us. We also have joint accounts (nothing is separate). This doesn’t bother me though. After all of the problems that money brought in my family, I guess that caused me to not to get upset about money and relationships. And yes, most people will say that we are crazy since we live like this and are not married, but it doesn’t bother me (mainly because I don’t see how being married or not really affects us). This mainly has to do with the way I saw my parent’s marriage shrivel up as I grew up. I hope I don’t offend anyone with my thoughts above.

I’ve made a post on this before, but how does everyone else handle their finances? Joint accounts, separate, separate and joint? What do you think would work best for you? Tell me!

This leads me to the next little fact about us: Our lives are kind of similar to Erika’s. I also have a bigger salary than the BF, and because of the field I’m in, I most likely always will. I don’t see anything wrong with this. And I don’t understand why some people do think there is something wrong with this. We actually have had some people criticize him/us for that. Do you make more than your significant other? What do you think?

We are not married, we’re not in a rush for that and don’t want to go into debt for a wedding. We do plan on doing that soon (I know, not romantic since we’ve talked about it). Now don’t get me wrong, I definitely want to get married, but with school and work, I don’t have time to plan a wedding. I actually cannot wait until I can plan my own wedding. I’m having a blast planning my friends wedding. She similar to me and my BF. They’ve been together for 12 years (since they were 14, and yes they are high school sweethearts too), but because of schooling, she has her PhD from an Ivy League school, and so does he, so they never had time until now to get married. Looks like we’ll be on the same path as them 🙂

We’re high school sweethearts (Awwww right?) and I love him a whole lot of course. He’s very wonderful and we have a blast together. He’s someone that I can complain to (even though I know he’s not always listening), he listens about problems with my mom, he is actually nice to my mom, he was there for me when my dad passed, he’s my best friend!

Well, that’s all I can think of for now. Do you have any questions for me?

What habits keep you in debt?

Last Updated: December 19, 2015 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 25 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Most of us engage in habits that are keeping us in debt. I know this, because I do this. The little things (and of course the big things) add up very quickly, and if you don’t keep track, then that could be a debt payment right before your eyes.

Here’s a list of what might be keeping you in debt:

1. Banking fees. – We’re not Guilty.

Do you keep track of your daily balances? Going under by just a cent can drastically affect you. I read an article the other day about a teenager who was around $1 under (if any of this info is wrong, sorry I read the article and can’t seem to find it again). He was only under because his account was sitting at around $9 or $10, so the bank then charged him a $10 maintenance fee. He was then charged around $30 a day for being under and in less than 10 days, he owed around $230. He barely ever checked his account and didn’t notice.
Interest and late payment charges can also add up very quickly. We’re trying to pay off our debt so that we can get rid of all of this crazy interest that’s building up. It just builds up so fast.

2. Eating out. – Guilty. We’ve been bad with this lately and reverted to our old habits. I’m blaming it on the holidays and pure laziness.

Eating out can add up quickly. The other day we went to McDonalds for smoothies, the casino for dinner and McDonalds again for a snack. And we did something like this a lot of days this past week. Sometimes eating out can cost almost the same amount as a weeks worth of groceries. That’s where the savings of eating at home really come in.

3. Being house poor. – Not guilty. We bought a house that was much under what we were approved for. This has helped a lot, especially since when we bought the house, we made around half as much as we make now.

Definition of ‘House Poor‘ – A situation that describes a person who spends a large proportion of his or her total income on home ownership, including mortgage payments, property taxes, maintenance and utilities. House poor individuals are short of cash for discretionary items and tend to have trouble meeting other financial obligations like vehicle payments. via Investopedia
A lot of people are guilty of this. Just because you are pre-approved for a certain amount, definitely does not mean that you should buy a house at that amount.

4. Impulse shopping. Mostly Not Guilty. I definitely research most of my purchases, just to make sure that I don’t have any second thoughts after I get something (which I usually do).

Groupon is a major for most people. You see something that you kind of like, and it seems like a good deal, so you buy it instantly. Lots of people don’t use these. I am guilty of this, I have some Groupons that are expired. I can use these for the face value still though, but haven’t. Most of these places are too far away for me to willingly use.

5. Spending to make you happier. Mostly Not Guilty. I’m saying I’m mostly not guilty because usually shopping and spending money does not make me happier, but of course I have done this before.

Do you often go to the mall, Target, grocery store, wherever when you’re not feeling 100% yourself and buy stuff?
These things can add up quickly. And sometimes, maybe most of the time, you won’t even like these things after a couple of days. This adds up quickly, especially if you’re always not feeling 100%.

6. Spending because you say to yourself “I deserve it.” Guilty. I am busy a lot, so I always make myself feel better with my spending by telling myself that I deserve it for all of my hard work.

These purchases can add up very quickly. Just because I think I deserve it, doesn’t mean I should buy it. Don’t I deserve to pay off my debt as well?

What’s keeping you in debt?

Have you ever found an error in your credit report? I sure have.

Last Updated: December 19, 2015 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 19 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Have you ever found an error in your credit report?

I have found errors, and some of them are still not fully fixed. Someone bought a house in my name when I was 13, and for some reason no one believes that it wasn’t me. How the heck could I have bought a house at 13? The police think that someone must have sold my social security number when I was younger, because it keeps getting re-used.

Anyone know what to do when this happens? Am I stuck with this number forever? The police and lawyers that I have talked to are no help when it comes to this. For the most part the mortgage problem IS fixed, in that it is no longer affecting my credit (I think).

I don’t even know where this house is. They won’t tell me. They say that they can’t tell me. If it’s my house, I would like to know where I’m supposedly living. I mean if I went into the house, could I even be charged with trespassing since the house is technically mine?! Could I go in and just steal everything (is it even technically stealing if it’s all in my name?)

I remember reading this story awhile back (like 5 years ago) about how this woman had her identity stolen and she was at Starbucks ordering a drink. She has an unusual name, and the person before her had her name called out so that she could pick up her drink, and the name was similar to hers. This lady then followed her supposed identity theft person and rung out again behind her and noticed that this lady HAD HER CREDIT CARD. The lady then followed her outside and tackled her and called the police. The person who stole her identity is in jail, but I believe it was for a ridiculously short time (like a couple years).

Here’s what to do when you find an error:

You should be constantly checking items on your credit report, ESPECIALLY if you are like me and things like this keep on happening. I am “subscribed” to a credit reporting agency and I check mine every month.
When you eventually do find an error, contact the credit bureau where you found the error. You can call (to get more information on it) but make sure that you write. When you write, then include the date, your name, address and the problem.
If there is an error with more than one credit bureau, then do the same thing for all 3 credit bureaus.
Include a copy of your credit report and the page that has the error (make sure you don’t include any originals of anything). Originals should of course stay with you.
Include your proof that this is not you. It was VERY hard for me to find proof that the house wasn’t mine. How was I supposed to prove that? I WAS 13. Who the heck remembers what they were doing on an exact day when they were 13? I was probably at school when I allegedly bought this house.
And then wait for a response

If you never check your credit report, and don’t find out about it until you buy a house or try getting some sort of loan. This can greatly affect you. You might not be able to get the loan and your credit score will be affected.

Here are the numbers and websites to get a copy of your report.

Experian-1-888-397-3742 www.experian.com
TransUnion-1-800-916-8800 www.transunion.com
Equifax-1-800-685-1111 www.equifax.com

Have you ever found an error? How was the process for you?

Debt Traps

Last Updated: December 8, 2014 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 8 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Cash Money Life had a great article on 5 Debt Traps. I HATE debt, who doesn’t? I can’t wait until my house is paid for, my car is done and my student loans have completely vanished.

Here are debt traps that you should avoid:

Payday loans. I hope this trap is obvious. When I was younger, I distinctly remember my dad laughing at the TV whenever payday loan commercials would come on. The fees are exceedingly high, and you just fall into a crazy debt trap circle that you might not be able to get out of.
Having maxed out cards and only paying the minimum. You are ruining your credit and also falling into a hard to get out of trap. I pay all of my credit card balance completely off every month. I have ever carried a balance.
Buying too much house. You will most likely get approved for a mortgage that is too big. We were approved for a mortgage of around 33% more than what we could actually afford. You should definitely go under what you are approved are.
Having too much in student loans. Read my past posts on why I don’t regret my student loans, and also my other post on how student loans might be bad for you. Carefully consider your degree, the loan amount and the school you are going to and make sure it’s worth it.
Co-signing on a loan. Make sure you trust this person, or it will end badly.

What other debt traps do you think I left out?

Using Savings to Pay Off Debt

Last Updated: July 14, 2017 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 10 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

I’m currently trying to build up my emergency fund to $15,000. This fund is to cover job loss, anything wrong with the house or cars, and so on. I don’t separate my different emergency funds just yet.

Anyways, I often ask myself when I should apply more money to paying off debt or to use more to fund my emergency fund. And then I also wonder if I should just take some of my savings to pay off my debt. Here’s a great article on this. Here are some tips in order to help you figure out what you should do:

First off, do you even have an emergency fund? If your savings are earning you less than the cost of your debt/loans, then of course you will be saving money by paying your loans first (instead of saving). But if you don’t have an emergency fund set up at all, then paying off your loans completely first might not be a great choice.
I would try to make an emergency fund of around 3 months pay. That’s what I’m trying to do right now. In the article it says just to have an emergency fund of $1,000 at first, but I do not think that’s enough.
After I have my emergency fund set up, then I would start aggressively paying of any debt like it says in the article.

I’m still paying my debt right now, I’m just also trying to finish my emergency fund also.

How much do you have in your emergency fund? What’s your plan of savings versus paying off debt?

Too much student debt to handle

Last Updated: April 7, 2021 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 8 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Do you have so much student debt that it’ll ruin your life? Check this article out.

I know my past posts have related to this, but this is the most debt that I have ever heard of. In this article, a couple from Seattle graduated with a combined $500,000 worth of debt. I believe school loans can be good, as I stated in this post, but in this case, I’m not so sure they are worth the debt.

The couple has two children and a combined annual income of $80,000, and they couldn’t even make the initial payments on their loans.

“Of the 3.4 million federal-loan borrowers who entered repayment in 2008 (as the economy slid into recession), 7% defaulted within the year, the highest percentage in more than a decade. That statistic doesn’t include the thousands of borrowers who fell behind on their payments without defaulting, or those who couldn’t keep up with their private student loans.”

The article states ways to help you pay off your loan, but it also lists ways to defer it and what happens when you don’t pay. You should’ve realized that $500,000 is TOO MUCH!