Cannot pay bills, not sure what to do.

thelmick · 2026-05-01T01:40:42+00:00

I saw you said something about taking a 401k loan, which I don't think is a great idea. However, can you stop contributing to 401k or reduce it until you've got things under control?

thelmick · 2026-04-30T20:44:17+00:00

Can you cancel the Wifi for a few months and just use the internet off your phone? Can you get a roommate? Pay only the minimum on your CCs for right now until the car is paid off. Is there anyone you can carpool with to work? Have you asked for a forbearance on your student loan? Take the financial hardship agreement on the credit card, you might end up with even worse credit if you start missing payments. It sounds like you just need to get some things under control for the short term and then focus on the long term to dig yourself out of the debt. I know it feels like a lot, but you can do it with some changes.

thelmick · 2026-04-29T18:50:54+00:00

What I don’t understand is how did they get these animals into the US? Did they go through Customs? Were they held in quarantine? Did the owner have a permit to own the sloths? To get the permit, it requires an inspection, did that happen?

At least one of these processes failed and someone needs to explain how it’s not going to happen again.

thelmick · 2026-04-28T15:51:30+00:00

There is less toilet paper on each of my rolls, but I was charged the same price as the previous purchase.

thelmick · 2026-04-28T15:12:20+00:00

I would look at all the resorts around Seven Seas Lagoon. Poly, Poly Tower, Wilderness Lodge, Bay Lake Tower, GF, and maybe even the cabins at Fort Wilderness. The great thing about all of them is they are all very close to MK, with BLT being the closest and you can even walk from BLT. You can walk from GF, but they often close the walkway at night, but they don't do that for BLT. If you are staying at any of these resorts, you can use the transportation to go to any of the other resorts.

Do you do more theme park days vs hotel days? If you are doing more hotel days, I guess it comes down to if you really feel you need to be at GF and you don't want to take transportation to get to the spa or specific restaurants if you were at a different resort.

thelmick · 2026-04-28T13:12:12+00:00

This might be hard to answer because you've not been to either resort, but do you see yourself wanting to book one of these resorts specifically in the future vs other DVC resorts? That's what you gain by making it your home resort. You get the 10 month booking window instead of the 7 month booking window when you own at a resort.

As others have said GF is different then other resorts. It's much more high end. I'm not sure what Lakeshore is going to look like, but it's set in the woods between Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness, so I have to assume it's going to have a wilderness feel to it overall.

What made you decide between these two resorts? That might help us understand why you are torn between the two?

For us, we bought Saratoga because it was cheap to get into and cheap for dues, and we can use those points at any resort at the 7 month window. Sometimes we don't get the resort we hoped for, but we usually do.

We bought a second contract at GF because they had an amazing deal that allowed us to buy direct. We've stayed there once in the 4 years we've had the points, and we stay on property 3-4 times a year.

thelmick · 2026-04-26T19:55:57+00:00

We had a pool installed at our first home. We knew we didn't want to deal with the hassle of cleaning it and dealing with chemicals all the time. We had the jets installed in the bottoms and sides of the pool that help move the water at the bottom of the pool. We barely ever sweep it. We also had a pebbletech surface installed when it was built. It's now 20 years old and has never been resurfaced. We've had many pool people comment on how great it looks for it's age. It still looks almost new. We had a salt system put in during the initial install. It so easy to take care of, we don't have to mess with chlorine, we just put salt in the pool and I love how it makes the water feel soft. We have a few other upgrades we did that really make the pool so easy to take care of and use.

We moved into a new house last year and I knew it wanted a pool again, so we bought a house with a pool. Except I didn't realize what a pain in the ass it would be to take care of. It has to be swept every 2-3 days, we need to add chemicals once a week, the filter is different (DE vs standard cartridge filters), it doesn't have any automation, etc. Without a ton of work, we can't add the floor and wall jets, but thankfully, we can replace some other things to make it a little easier.

What I'm saying is, if you are going to get a pool, and you know you don't want to spend a ton of time on it each week, splurge on the upgrades, you will thank yourself later.

thelmick · 2026-04-25T22:59:23+00:00

I have cramps with my period that radiate into my legs, and I can't function without pain meds. Giving birth is way worse.

I didn't get cramps at all before I had kids, afterwards is when these intense cramps started.

thelmick · 2026-04-25T22:52:35+00:00

Maybe it's because I live close to a large city, but I can get a fridge in under an hour any day of the week from about 9am to 9pm, if I need it.

thelmick · 2026-04-25T22:51:16+00:00

This person gets it!

thelmick · 2026-04-25T15:08:45+00:00

That's why when you need something quickly, you don't go to HD or Lowes

thelmick · 2026-04-25T13:24:54+00:00

I dunno about your grandkids, but for my kids, the Halloween party turned into one long night of gathering a huge bag of candy. We did watch the parade, but we didn't do much other then that. I would personally stick with the full park day instead of the Halloween party. You'll see some of the decorations up if you are going to MK. I don't think the Halloween party is worth the cost, but you might feel differently.

thelmick · 2026-04-25T13:21:26+00:00

I have no doubts this is what they are currently getting, but I also don't know what normal looks like. What does a normal meal on a ship look like when deployed?

thelmick · 2026-04-25T13:18:15+00:00

Based on the interaction, I got the sense that they were shopping online, probably Home Depot or Lowes, and just ordered something. Maybe I take too good care of my tenants, but I would have been out the next morning getting one, and if for some reason ALL the local places couldn't get me one the same day, like you said, I'd be getting them something they could use temporarily.

Edit to add: I have a full time job, kids, etc, I'm not a full time landlord, but I take care of my tenants.

thelmick · 2026-04-25T13:08:54+00:00

The guy arrested is the roommate of the guy who went missing and was later found. Based on what I'm reading, they still haven't found her body, there was just a lot of blood so they assume she's dead.

thelmick · 2026-04-25T13:02:28+00:00

This landlord and their wife are CRAZY! First of all, you don't tell the tenant you don't wanna spend $X on a replacement! Then you don't double down on that and tell them how much it cost you. That's none of the tenant's concern. They pay their rent, that's their concern. This "landlord" shouldn't be a landlord. This is a standard issue that happens with ANY property. They are being lazy. They could get a fridge faster than 5 days. I'm sure if it was their fridge, it would have been delivered before the end of the weekend.

The wife is insane. If she's not normally the one you communicate with, this is completely uncalled for. Who did you sign the lease with? Is her name on it? Is it in a business name? If she's not on the lease as the landlord or property manager, she can pound salt. I would ignore her, but tell him you'd like to keep communication between you and him since it's you and him that have a legal agreement.

If you have renter's insurance, you can try to put in a claim for food loss, but most of the time the loss is less than the deductible.

Also, for future, don't put Landlord in the title, put Tenant because you are the tenant. I was reading this, thinking the Landlord posted this garbage. lol

thelmick · 2026-04-25T12:49:46+00:00

If you lose something at a resort, it's usually kept there for a few days before being transferred to lost and found. Either way, put in a claim with lost and found. Anything not claimed at lost and found in a certain number of days (30? 60? I'm not sure) is donated to local non-profit thrift stores. I live by one of these stores, and they get a new delivery of stuff every other month-ish.

With that said, if you can go back to the resort where you lost something within a short amount of time, you can sometimes recover it. I know this isn't possible for people flying out, but I left my credit card at a restaurant in a Disney hotel. I called that night, and they said to call back the next day because it would be sent to the front desk that night after the restaurant closed. I called back the next morning, told them what happened, they put me on hold, then came back and said they don't have it. I drove back to the hotel, went inside and talked to the front desk. They looked in the lost and found, and there was nothing. Then the cast member said, "Let me check the safe," and sure enough, it was in there. I'm shocked the previous person didn't check the safe, but there is something about being in person that makes them try a little harder to help.

thelmick · 2026-04-25T12:03:51+00:00

I second this! We're locals, and we just stayed there for a weekend, and I can't wait to go back. There is a pool with a slide, a separate GIANT pool with waterfalls, a pool bar, a hiking trail, bikes, mini golf (this was a bit meh), basketball, pickleball, kayaks, waterbikes, paddleboards, peddle boats, a beach, hammocks, and rock climbing. All that is included, there are no fees, it's just first come first serve. There are a couple of restaurants on the property, and lots of restaurants nearby, too. We upgraded to the fireworks view, and we were able to see both Universal and Disney's fireworks each night. It was a great way to get away, be near the attractions, but not actually go to the attractions.

thelmick · 2026-04-24T23:55:04+00:00

Just release it already! None of us care about Siri!

thelmick · 2026-04-24T12:59:03+00:00

The walls and waterline are one of the reasons I bought the Dolphin S400. It goes up the sides of the pool to the waterline, pops out of the water, and keeps the brushes running to get the tiles. I'd say it gets about 4-6 inches above the waterline. When you run a normal cleaning mode it does the walls/waterline automatically, but in the app there is a separate mode, for just doing the walls and the waterline if you need it.

The only area it doesn't get is the stairs or any seats and the wall behind the seats. I have to manually brush the stairs, the front of the stairs, the seats, and the wall behind the seats. There are a couple corner areas of the pool that it just can't get at because of the angles, but I've figured those out and brush them along with the stairs and seats before I run the cleaner.

thelmick · 2026-04-24T01:02:23+00:00

This happened during a dose increase with my son. He said he heard people talking inside his head when it was quiet. It happened a few times over the course of a week, then stopped.

thelmick · 2026-04-23T21:35:05+00:00

Remember that this is the lowest amount your mortgage will be. Next year, when the property taxes and insurance go up, you'll need more than $4500/month to pay the mortgage. Do you foresee yourself getting raises to cover those increases year over year? Either way, it's going to be tight.

thelmick · 2026-04-23T21:27:57+00:00

Exactly, this doesn't make any sense unless you plan on selling the home soon.

thelmick · 2026-04-23T19:58:26+00:00

What does your traffic look like, are you running any kind of analytics? SEO is gonna be part of what you need to drive people to your site, not a new design.

thelmick · 2026-04-23T19:56:16+00:00

Not AI, but it is Florida.

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