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Zeta Taskforce posted:To me that sounds like you under budgeted. I don’t care if you buy some protein bars, but seriously, how hard is it to throw some powder in a shaker bottle? And do you need BCAA tablets? Really, be honest. Isn’t it just protein that is a bit more bio-available, and you are already eating whey, the most available protein. Why do you think your body that laughs at cigarettes will disintegrate if you don’t take BCAA? Well I could just buy next month's supplements... Next month as usual. I was hoping to buy them this month so they would be here by next month though. Shipping takes forever in Canada. No, I won't die without the bcaas, I went without this month because I couldn't afford them, and it's really just about recovery. I don't find that the protein and poo poo makes me huge, it just keeps me from slowly turning into a block of wood. Like today. (gently caress you 90 bodyweight front-squats  )So no, not a need, just something to make me more comfortable and improve performance a little. The benefits of protein supplements are much better explained in one of the beginner FAQ w&w threads. Basically you should get between 1.5 and 3g* of protein per pound of bodyweight. You can either do this by eating cans of tuna and boiled chicken breast, or supplementing with whey. The whey is much much cheaper. *debatable and dependent on activity and goals, but protein is like cheese, no such thing as too much. tuyop fucked around with this message at 20:05 on Aug 24, 2011 |
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Aug 24, 2011 19:57
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Haifisch posted:Do you even need protein suppliments? From what I've read, most people get more than enough protein in their diets to help them build/maintain muscle. That said, I don't care if you buy them either, but don't use "I NEED them" as an excuse to 1)buy something more expensive when the powder would work just fine, and 2)get into the bad habit of going "oh, I can just borrow against next month's budget." Even if you do think you need them, is it impossible to last another week so that you can get them out of next month's budget? To be fair, when some is lifting and generally physically active, they do benefit by taking protein. And creatine. But neither is expensive and you don’t need anything fancy.
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Aug 24, 2011 20:01
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Be lucky you aren't like me - allergic to whey. I threw up the last time I had protein powder made from whey, and even a bite of my wife's protein bars made my throat swell nearly closed. Thankfully, soy protein powder is still available and doesn't try to kill me.
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Aug 24, 2011 20:56
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tuyop posted:Speaking of fitness and stuff, how do you guys feel about sort of borrowing against my September grocery budget? For things like this I really like Mint's feature to "Let this Budget Rollover", if you spend too much in one month you already start with money spent in the next. I use it for big lump payments like Auto Insurance or the huge grocery bill every 3 months to stock the freezer.
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Aug 24, 2011 21:03
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Saltin posted:Things You make good, logical points that I can respect. I can’t help but assume your post was (at least a little) in response to mine. Perhaps I should have qualified “utterly necessary” with something that would have made clear I understand the relativity at work behind financial decision making. On that note, however, Tuyop’s financial state leaves very little wiggle room if he expects to make any meaningful progress. My exploration of his budget could be improved, but it seems the amount that is left over each month for debt repayment would certainly benefit from every extra penny. I would agree with your deductions regarding Tuyop’s emotional/impulsive character. That is what got him into this situation in the first place. To fundamentally change his financial situation, it is only reasonable to focus on the source of the problem. I’m all for enjoying life, but each financial decision must be made with attention paid to one’s relative position. I would absolutely love to play soccer for a local club — it would be great for my emotional health — but I am a broke rear end student living off my savings and you better believe I am in no position to pay the dues. There absolutely must be a line drawn in the sand, and I believe this is what many people in this thread are trying to convey. I appreciate your stance about emotional wellbeing. The budget apparently makes room for entertainment. If he decides to spend some of that on cigarettes, fine. Cigarettes are no more worthless with regard to debt recovery than going to a movie or taking a weekend camping trip. If he’s going to spend it on something rather than throw it at his debt or into a savings account, it really doesn’t matter. And if smoking helps him cope, then great - better than throwing it out the window.
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Aug 24, 2011 21:28
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Jobert posted:For things like this I really like Mint's feature to "Let this Budget Rollover", if you spend too much in one month you already start with money spent in the next. Yeah I was using that, but I was under 45 last month for groceries, and under 200 (after next week) this month, so it was like I spent very little on groceries this month and not very accurate I guess. I could have probably afforded BCAAs this month after all eh?
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Aug 24, 2011 21:32
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Is it impossible to buy that powder stuff locally somewhere, so you don't have to wait for it to be shipped to you?
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Aug 24, 2011 22:56
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tuyop posted:cheese, no such thing as too much. This right here is the first thing tuyop's wrote that I've completely agreed with. As for "borrowing against next month", especially if you're ordering online and taking shipping into account, I don't see a problem with that. So long as you account for it accordingly (via Mint's budget-rollover or otherwise), it's all the same and it's a wash after the first month's setup time. If you will be regularly spending money ahead of time to account for the shipping, then this problem will fix itself. For example, I give myself 100 bucks for blow money (not the drug) every month. Every month I spend it all and go over about 25 bucks, and then say "drat, I'm over 25 bucks, I need to tighten up" and stop spending. Then, next month, I equalize and only take out 75 bucks and overspend the 25 again. For whatever reason, my mind doesn't lock on target until I'm 25 in the red, but in reality, I overspent 25 bucks ~3 years ago and have been fine ever since. Even though I realize this and can say to myself "T0MSERV0, you're being an idiot" it's just the way my brain works. Net is it doesn't matter so long as you are honest with yourself about what you're spending when and equalize it vs. saying "Oops over $X this month oh well!" and taking out the full amount next month. PS: Smoking will kill you and is a bad habit, but I've got plenty of my own and it's your life, so do your thing.
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Aug 24, 2011 22:59
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/\/\/\ Yeah that's what I was thinking, money doesn't care where it comes from as long as I don't forget that I overspent this month (which I might not even do anyway).Leperflesh posted:Is it impossible to buy that powder stuff locally somewhere, so you don't have to wait for it to be shipped to you? My protein brand is 90 locally or 60 online. BCAAs are 65-80 in store, or 30-40 online. It's possible, but I think it might be less financially prudent than just borrowing against a category when I'm already underbudget.
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Aug 24, 2011 23:13
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tuyop posted:"Because I like that thing and it's not like it's ruining me. Except that it is. As others have said, it's not just one thing that's forming our opinions. It's a combination of tuyop's hypocritical position regarding his health, the cost of cigs and the fact that it's a worthless habit that combines to cause this frustration. If it were any one of those three alone, it'd have been dropped after a page of slugging, however the combination means it's a bigger point. tuyop posted:Also, that's a lot of money to spend on booze (but whatever). I've had problems with alcohol in the past so I'm very very cautious about it now. Maybe I just have an addictive personality. Gee that fills me with confidence that you'll kick it once you finish training like you plan to. Nam Taf fucked around with this message at 00:35 on Aug 25, 2011 |
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Aug 25, 2011 00:28
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Is that like a six month supply?
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Aug 25, 2011 02:07
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Probably the big 5 lb tub.
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Aug 25, 2011 02:10
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I would just like to see a break down of where you are now. It's a little confusing hearing that you're over budget here but under budget there... I'd like to see how it all panned for you, either now or at the end of the month and where you were overbudget/underbudget and by how much. I'm not a military person so the difference b/t on the field and on the course and what that means in terms of your budget is confusing. Are these supposed to be the cheaper months (grocery wise, etc.) or are your next few months supposed to be the cheaper months? I don't care that you smoke, I worry that your budget just isn't sustainable. If you reguarly spend $77 on cigs and $23 on haircuts and you have a girlfriend and miscellaneous items to replace for work, I wonder if the $40/wk is really doable or if you're going to just keep failing. If the cigs go up when the groceries go down or something, then it might be doable - if you keep your general "This is how much total I'm going to spend and this is how much I'll save" in line then the subcategories really don't mean that much. It's just hard to get an idea of where you are right now, in the overall grand scheme of things and how that will change as you change roles in your job.
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Aug 25, 2011 04:29
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If you're not going to give up smoking, then simply add it as a new row to your budget. Figure out how much you actually smoke, how much of that you actually pay for, and simply build it in. Then, like any other entertainment expense, try to minimize how much of that budget you actually use, and roll the leftovers into debt reduction. If it leads to an overall decrease in how many cigarettes per day/week/month that you smoke, bonus. I'm not going to take a moral/health stand on smoking because I've got my own bad habits that cost me time and probably years of my life. But there's no problem adding an additional layer of granularity to your budget that will help you plan and prioritize your spending moving forward by transitioning spending from a general "entertainment" or "cash" category to "vices." Then, if you eventually quit smoking, you can eliminate that category altogether - and if you're still in debt, rather than repurposing general entertainment funds to eating out more, or going to the movies more, it can be rolled into savings/debt reduction instead.
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Aug 25, 2011 05:48
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Leperflesh posted:
Haha, no if I do 12 workouts a week, that's a one month supply. I've had the last five pound tub for almost three months though, and I take about 50g of protein from it a day. I just gave myself tendinitis in my right foot so I've been taking it easy for the last month or so with < 5 workouts a week. I'm also developing a burning hatred for the rowing machine. I'll take a look at the budget and see if it's time to do a breakdown. I'm taking leave for labour day and driving to Halifax to see my family before course, so I have to make sure that's in September's budget. Edit: oh yeah, and I ordered the bars and bcaa caplets. 110 bucks. I put it on my credit card (grocery points, y'all) to be paid off ASAP, but the compounding date is the 22nd so I don't think it causes any problems if I pay it off before the 22nd next month. Is this correct? tuyop fucked around with this message at 12:04 on Aug 25, 2011 |
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Aug 25, 2011 11:14
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I think that when you're Trying to figure out if if the interest from the supplements you put on credit are going to cause a problem? You already have one. And seriously need to stop justifying and start changing.
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Aug 25, 2011 12:42
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Eris posted:I think that when you're Trying to figure out if if the interest from the supplements you put on credit are going to cause a problem? You already have one. And seriously need to stop justifying and start changing. Well, I could pay for it immediately or pay for it next month before the balance compounds. I don't think it matters either way, which is what I meant, does it matter? It's in the grocery budget which is 144 under this month according to mint. The only thing is that I put some other stuff on there for my roommate and girlfriend and they have to pay me back once it gets here.
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Aug 25, 2011 13:00
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tuyop, I think that it would be a great help for this thread if you could please present in a bullet-pointed list all of the changes you have made to your week-to-week spending habits in the month that this thread has been open, TIA.
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Aug 25, 2011 13:40
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Well I royally screwed up my mint.com, it's been double counting my cash because I log the expenses with the mobile app, which I sort of fixed, so I'm focusing on reconciling my excel budget with the transactions shown, which are correct. It matches, it's just confusing because I categorized things differently and mint posted like five cash withdrawals all at once. Bulleted list: - reduced monthly spending budget from 240 to 160. 160 has been spent this month because I made the change after the first week. - reduced gas spending from 350/month to 88.57 through (forced) carpooling. Also lost a lot of sleep from having to wake up two hours early to car pool, but you do what it takes. - reduced grocery spending from 250 to <200 due to field time and thrifty shopping. - accounting for expenses in the budget ahead of time and paying cash instead of debit (mostly, see: fuckups) - paid down 18% of my mastercard balance by selling my tv. - began saving, now have 200 in a regular savings account and 75 in a TFSA. Edit- oh yeah, and some over data and long distance fees on my phone made the bill 89 bucks. So 17 over. Fuckups: - Xbox live membership: 50 bucks (went for a family membership with my dad so the cost went down by 20) - eBay fees from selling an iPhone. 16. These were paid by my cut of the sale, but I forgot to budget it, hence, a fuckup. - bought a wireless card for my computer with (basically) the grocery budget from being in the field. Not happy about categorizing it this way. 45 Total cost of fuckups: 101 Still sitting at 340 positive cash flow including fuckups for the month so far. Should be ~1700 in my account after my pay next Wednesday. With some tweaking I've gotten the mint.com tracker to agree with my excel tracker. Speaking of the excel tracker, I have a column on each month for net income basically. I have it so that my income just subtracts from everything to give me a net total. Everything includes debt payments, savings, everything. This almost never agrees with my account balances though, so I'm not really sure if I'm thinking of net expenses properly. Screenshots to follow. tuyop fucked around with this message at 15:29 on Aug 25, 2011 |
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Aug 25, 2011 14:41
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tuyop posted:
 Mint budget  Mint graph  Excel sheet
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Aug 25, 2011 15:46
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tuyop posted:It's come to my attention that my financial situation is terrible. I guess I want some accountability and feedback, so I'm posting a thread about it. tuyop posted:Well I royally screwed up my mint.com, it's been double counting my cash because I log the expenses with the mobile app, which I sort of fixed, so I'm focusing on reconciling my excel budget with the transactions shown, which are correct. It matches, it's just confusing because I categorized things differently and mint posted like five cash withdrawals all at once. tuyop posted:
Oh happy day, there's a new village idiot in town! I mean, I was pretty content to just passively read this thread and chuckle at another overly-defensive financial gently caress up dithering against all good advice, but then you done and dropped your "field cigarettes." You're cut from the same self-destructive cloth as the esteemed Mr. Murderknobs (may he rest in peace), but with the added ability to excrete a cloud of hyper-rationalized, faux-apologetic, screenshot-heavy bullshit. The sheer amount of effort you (appear to) put into your whole hoocoodanode, woe-is-me martyr campaign is a sight to behold. And that slap fight that you, the very incarnation of a reckless, chain-smoking, military brat, got into with Zeta over frozen veggies? That was comedic genius. I mean seriously, setting yourself up as some downtrodden Adonis who just wants to make an honest living hocking photos on the Internet was brilliant. A team of Hollywood writers couldn't have scripted a more obvious reveal. Congratulations, you're the Michael Bay of idiot BFC summer blockbusters. Going forward, I really can't wait to see what kind of "oops I forgot" expenses you have up your sleeve. We already have Xbox, haircuts, boots, gas station cash back, and cigarettes. I eagerly anticipate thousand word effort posts, complete with with overly-pedantic spreadsheets that completely miss the point, explaining why you are only ever treading water. I'm preemptively laughing at the regular splurges and vacations you have to "treat yourself" because you won a game of Excel. I can't wait for you to win over some of the BFC regulars with false contrition, only to dash their hopes a few weeks later with another colossally stupid decision. Yep, this is going to be a good thread. Never stop being a total failure, tupoc. E: words. Kobayashi fucked around with this message at 08:55 on Aug 28, 2011 |
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Aug 27, 2011 20:25
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Okay, it sounds like you are making progress here and that's a good sign. At least you've managed to realize you have issues, and know that you should never jump at a silly "deal" for things you don't need. For example, suppose you suddenly get a great offer for discount cruise tickets or perhaps an awesome opportunity to have a trek across Europe from Germany to Mongolia via train, with flights on either end. You should not do that, because that is a needless vacation no matter how attractive the opportunity is; it is still beyond your means, and it will remain beyond your means until you manage to pay off your debts. I, too, love a good deal and know how hard it can be to resist this stuff. When I go grocery shopping I typically only purchase things on sale beyond the essentials, and sometimes that habit leads to temporarily buying more than I exactly need since I see a great deal. But I know you're smart enough to not take a new vacation just because it sounds like a deal.
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Aug 27, 2011 22:40
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Chronojam posted:Okay, it sounds like you are making progress here and that's a good sign. At least you've managed to realize you have issues, and know that you should never jump at a silly "deal" for things you don't need. What are you talking about? That would be across Asia.
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Aug 27, 2011 22:42
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I thought you were going across Europe and across Asia, sorry. Obviously if you're only going across Asia alone then it's no big deal, have a nice trip 
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Aug 27, 2011 22:44
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Chronojam posted:I thought you were going across Europe and across Asia, sorry. Obviously if you're only going across Asia alone then it's no big deal, have a nice trip What are you talking about?
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Aug 28, 2011 03:25
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Zeta Taskforce posted:What are you talking about? I trolled an irc channel earlier saying that I was going on another trip and got a sweet deal on a flight to Germany and then was taking the train to Mongolia. In reality I have to take a few days vacation before course because of the way our leave system works, but I'm just going home to see my parents, eat their food and stuff. Also, grocery store had a HUGE meat sale, so I bought tons of tenderloin and salmon fillets with grocery points. Pretty sweet.
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Aug 28, 2011 04:00
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Kobayashi posted:I've missed you
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Aug 28, 2011 04:41
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tuyop posted:Also, grocery store had a HUGE meat sale, so I bought tons of tenderloin and salmon fillets with grocery points. Pretty sweet. I thought being underbudget in grocery was how you explained away the cigarettes? $165 + $77 for cigarettes = $242 out of your $250 grocery budget. So now wouldn't buying a ton of tenderloin and salmon put you over on groceries for the month?
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Aug 28, 2011 17:11
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KarmaCandy posted:I thought being underbudget in grocery was how you explained away the cigarettes? $165 + $77 for cigarettes = $242 out of your $250 grocery budget. So now wouldn't buying a ton of tenderloin and salmon put you over on groceries for the month? Is that what I said? I put them on my cash category, still under for grocery as far as I know. The meat was bought with grocery points that I had on my mastercard, so it was technically free. \/\/ By "technically" I meant that it won't appear in my budget. I understand that those grocery points are just a bone tossed to me by MasterCard and President's Choice to make the credit card seem like a good idea to suckers like me who will carry a 2k balance on it for months and months, and that my interest payments could have bought me pounds and pounds of tenderloin. tuyop fucked around with this message at 18:28 on Aug 28, 2011 |
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Aug 28, 2011 17:38
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tuyop posted:Is that what I said? I put them on my cash category, still under for grocery as far as I know. The meat was bought with grocery points that I had on my mastercard, so it was technically free. It wasn't technically free and once you understand that your budget will be in far better shape.
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Aug 28, 2011 17:51
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If you've never budgeted before it takes a few months to get it right. They don't teach this in school especially if you are a free spirit who has never thought about this stuff before, it's not obvious. I don't like the cigarettes more than anyone else, but its not a crisis that he didn't get it 100% right his first month. Now if he can stay out of planes and/or 3000 mile road trips....
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Aug 28, 2011 18:23
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Are you active duty military? Volunteer to deploy. You won't spend any money, can just use what you make to pay down debts. Or if you're a reservist, get into contracting. Insane amounts of money, you'll be able to pay off your debt in a couple months.
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Aug 28, 2011 18:33
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Our Gay Apparel posted:Are you active duty military? Volunteer to deploy. You won't spend any money, can just use what you make to pay down debts. Or if you're a reservist, get into contracting. Insane amounts of money, you'll be able to pay off your debt in a couple months. I have literally the bare minimum of training to even be employed as an officer. In about a year I'll be eligible for a tour depending on the regiment I end up in. But yes, a deployment would solve all of my problems at this point.
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Aug 28, 2011 18:39
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 August update Net income: 1554 This is the best month I've had since last September when I got like 6k of back pay all at once. Debt paid: 1229 Still don't know how to make a graph. 
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Aug 31, 2011 11:17
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tuyop posted:
If there's a library nearby, ask if they offer or know about free computer courses in office/productivity software. Not only will you learn to make pretty graphs to help you visualize your finances, but you'll gain marketable skills for when you're not serving. Plus, free books yo.
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Aug 31, 2011 15:06
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tuyop posted:Still don't know how to make a graph.
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Aug 31, 2011 17:07
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And if you don't have Excel, don't pay for it; instead, download OpenOffice (it's free) or use Google Docs (there's a spreadsheet program). Or, hell, did you go to high school? Surely they taught you how to draw a graph. Just draw one and scan it or take a picture.
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Aug 31, 2011 18:54
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I've got excel, and I use formulas and stuff a lot for work, but I've never ever had to make a graph, and it was very Microsoft when I tried to make one a few weeks ago. I'll give it another go I guess. Edit:  Yeah I wasn't formatting my cells correctly. This is a depressing graph. The car and student loans suck.
tuyop fucked around with this message at 20:42 on Aug 31, 2011 |
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Aug 31, 2011 19:29
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 I think facebook is making fun of me.
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Aug 31, 2011 21:09
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tuyop posted:how do you guys feel about sort of borrowing against my September grocery budget? I know this is from last week but this kind of thinking is how you got into your situation in the first place. Don't borrow, pay off debt, once debt free spend less than you earn so that you can operate from a pool of cash you've saved when those extra expenses rise up. And don't get me wrong, I'm the same way. I decide what I want first and then twist and turn to figure out how to get it. I'm slowly learning by hanging around here to change that way of thinking, but I understand. I mean, why is it so hard for us to imagine having $30k in the bank, when it feels so normal for us to owe $30k to the bank? It's the culture of borrowing against future income. It has to stop, for all of us. Well, for all of us who want to get somewhere.
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Aug 31, 2011 23:27
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