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Higgy posted:...and whose idea of birth control is "whatever happens, happens.".... A former co-worker of mine was even worse. When her ex-husband got her pregnant, she honestly couldn't understand how it was possible. He exact words to me were, "But, he pulled out like always, I don't understand how this could happen". To make this semi-relevant, she didn't learn her lesson and proceeded to have two more children, (one with her now ex, and one with her current husband). She has to grab every bit of overtime that she can, just to make ends. The last time I talked to her, I got the impression they still weren't using any protection, as she felt that it was just a fluke she got pregnant all three times. (Despite using the obviously super-effective 'pull out now' method).
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Oct 14, 2013 23:57
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Harry posted:A computer store I used to go to in the 90s got massacred due to selling people computers with pirated versions of Windows 95 and Microsoft Office. The store was gone overnight and reopened a year later owned by someone else. Many years ago a local computer store where I used to live got their rear end sued to the ground by Microsoft. They'd be selling computers with pirated Win98 on them, they would break and people would come to office supply stores to get advice or to buy a new computer. Talked to one really upset woman who discovered her $2k high end computer wasn't, and was using all stolen software that she thought she purchased.
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Oct 16, 2013 23:33
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At another forum I frequent there's this one crazy girl planning to get married who has just bought her 5th wedding dress. She "outgrew" (got fatter) her first dress and then just disliked dresses #2, 3, and 4 I guess. Another poster called her out on a thread she posted last week where she admits to: - not having any job at all in the last 2 years - dropping out of 3 different schools: Cosmetology ("halfway through it I discovered it wasnt what I was expecting"), wedding planning ("after learning what would all be involved i dropped out"), and medical assistant ("after graduation my school lost its accreditation") - living with her mom and grandma, and discovered her grandma's safe and "kinda found the key and been taking money out ... also been taking out of her purse too. i know thats really bad but other then asking my mom for some of her unemployment money, that was kind of my last resort option. ... I will mention, i have not been the only one doing it. my mom also did it to pay her bills as well." When she was called out to maybe not buy 5 different $1000+ articles of clothing, the girl flipped out that everyone "ganged up on her", and weren't gushing over how pretty wedding dress #5 was. I'm just so 
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Oct 17, 2013 05:49
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The local news just posted this story. I'm only sharing it because it's a really good portrayal of what I feel is the typical Canadian. "She makes $71,000 a year, but lives paycheque to paycheque.". Some snippets:quote:Emily, 28, lives in Toronto and has a good job with the provincial government in the health care field. She earns $71,000 a year, has a full benefits package and her defined benefit pension plan with matching money from her employee is giving her a good head start on retirement. Where the gently caress is their money going.  And this is pretty common in Canada. Our household debt is higher than the U.S.'s national average. drat Bananas posted:- dropping out of 3 different schools: Cosmetology ("halfway through it I discovered it wasnt what I was expecting"), wedding planning ("after learning what would all be involved i dropped out"), and medical assistant ("after graduation my school lost its accreditation") Do they all talk to each other and suggest the same career routes, or something? It's really bizarre. melon cat fucked around with this message at 13:54 on Oct 17, 2013 |
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Oct 17, 2013 13:39
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melon cat posted:
Often on stupid little poo poo that adds up. Some people never cook at home and always eat takeout. Then, they have to go clothes shopping weekly. Then, they have to get their hair done weekly. Then, they commute in their 17mpg Ford F-150 for 100 miles a day. Then, of course they have to spend thousands of dollars on a vacation each year. (Do you know that there are LOANS WHOSE SOLE PURPOSE ARE TO PAY FOR VACATIONS NOW?) Then, they got out to the bars on the weekend and blow $100-$200 easy. Then, they only make the minimum payments on their credit cards and student loans so they proceed to get raped on interest. The amount of money some people blow monthly on stupid poo poo they never use will make you shake your head sometimes. Sometimes people take out loans at stupid interest rates on car/houses they can't afford. Often someone is doing all this at once. G-Mach fucked around with this message at 14:51 on Oct 17, 2013 |
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Oct 17, 2013 14:01
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canyoneer posted:Dogpiling on this, I once heard someone say the same thing about software. "It only costs Adobe maybe $4 to print up a box and discs for the new Photoshop, only a rube would spend $800 on it!" The guy making Resume's in SA Mart did the same thing for a long time till someone called him out on it because the pirated version of word left some metadata somewhere in the documents. I just got back from a wedding a few days ago that costed the Father 30k. Apparently he was smart and set up some sort of stock fund when his daughters were little to grow so they could use. There is no way I would spend anywhere close to that on a wedding though. Cheap Wedding + good honeymoon, and dump the rest into a mortgage or just invest it. TLG James fucked around with this message at 14:25 on Oct 17, 2013 |
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Oct 17, 2013 14:21
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software to earn an income. There's so much risk there. Consider the difference between how Microsoft treats a home user and a business violating software licenses. One of them gets a "please buy a legit copy" and the other gets nailed for cash damages.
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melon cat posted:The local news just posted this story. I'm only sharing it because it's a really good portrayal of what I feel is the typical Canadian. "She makes $71,000 a year, but lives paycheque to paycheque.". Some snippets: This is pretty much my sister, who works at a factory in Ontario. She nets almost three times what I do but lives paycheque to paycheque and is in five figures of debt. Part of it is understandable: she works rotating shift work with a mandatory minimum 48-hour work week, and so it's easy to fall into the trap of getting take-out every day of the week. Likewise, it really decreases your ability to have a social life, and so instead of meeting up with friends for coffee or just hanging out during the day, it's usually a pricy trip to the pub after work, or else trying to make the most of her time off by going to Cuba or Mexico every time she has a week off. Beyond that, I think there's a money threshold where people start to think, "I make x amount of money, so of course I can afford that." I know I don't make a lot of money, and so I'm aware that anything beyond my monthly essentials and some budgeted spending money will require at least a couple of months of saving up. Whereas when my sister wants to get laser eye surgery or wants to try some juice diet and needs a juicer, she seems to think that because she makes 70k a year, the money must be in her account, or nearly there, so why not just put the purchase on a credit card and surely it'll work out by next payday...
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Oct 17, 2013 15:10
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melon cat posted:I've seen similar things with oil rig workers at Fort Mac- they pull in $2500 biweekly paycheques, and their accounts are still overdrawn. Meth. Depending on how the area surrounding the oil industry is, the oil workers might be spending half their check just on rent for a 2bd singlewide they share with another worker.
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Oct 17, 2013 15:25
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melon cat posted:Where the gently caress is their money going. In the US, $34,000 worth of debt that includes student loans wouldn't be considered that outlandish. Honestly, this girl doesn't sound like she's doing anything that crazy - she made a mistake in buying an expensive car (a used $17000 car so really not that expensive either) and now it doesn't make much sense to break that agreement and she needs a car of some sort. The finance person basically found $300/month that she could save from frivolous purchases and aside from that told her to quit making retirement contributions, which she probably thought was a responsible thing to be contributing to, taught her to put more money towards the debt with the highest interest rate and told her to increase her income. It doesn't sound like she was spending money on crazy and outlandish things. HooKars fucked around with this message at 16:25 on Oct 17, 2013 |
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Oct 17, 2013 16:10
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HooKars posted:In the US, $34,000 worth of debt that includes student loans wouldn't be considered that outlandish. To be honest, it just sounds like she got comfy with having a good salary, and put debt repayment on the backburner. I know that I'm making a lot of assumptions here, but what she's doing is a really common thing that a lot of Canadians are doing. A lot of people don't realize just how bad Canadians are with debt. I still remember hearing a lot of people during my undergrad years say things like: "Student debt is good debt!" "I have a big OSAP loan, but the rates so low, so I can take my time with it." ... and of course: "I can just roll my student loan into my mortgage. I'm not worried." And those aren't just one-off quotes. They're really common mindsets among young Canadians (in many cases it's old "wisdom" passed down by their parents). I've even heard career counselors say these things. melon cat fucked around with this message at 17:16 on Oct 17, 2013 |
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Oct 17, 2013 17:05
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Living in Toronto probably means she's blowing $2000 a month or more on rent.
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Oct 17, 2013 17:18
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Harry posted:Living in Toronto probably means she's blowing $2000 a month or more on rent. quote:Tehranchian didn’t find Emily’s budget outlandish. For example, she lives with a roommate, allowing her to split utility costs. One exception is her car. Emily bought a used car for $17,000 and has paid off $5,000 so far. Her monthly payment is $337 with three years left on the 1.9 per cent financing. Emily also spends an additional $363 per month for parking, gas and insurance. That’s nearly as much as her rent. Even the financial planner in article comments that her monthly budget isn't outlandish. It honestly sounds like her priorities weren't in the right place for quite a while. All you need to do is make one silly decision before it puts you into debt. And taking out a $17 000 car loan while you're paying off a student loan isn't what I'd call a good idea. Heck, even if she took out $10 000 instead it would've been a better decision. melon cat fucked around with this message at 17:40 on Oct 17, 2013 |
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Oct 17, 2013 17:27
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melon cat posted:I've never understood people like her. They have strong incomes (with full benefits and a sweet pension plan with defined benefits) but are still up to their eyeballs in debt. I've seen people in better shape with half of her income. I've seen similar things with oil rig workers at Fort Mac- they pull in $2500 biweekly paycheques, and their accounts are still overdrawn. My ex's aunt and uncle were like that. We hung out with them a lot - they were young and always had us over and whatnot. Anyway they were loaded. They both made 6 figures. The aunt drove a HUMMER. Yes they literally had a Hummer, and the uncle had an Escalade. They took us on an all-expense-paid 4 day trip to Las Vegas for my birthday, we had been dating like <6 months. We had multiple $500+ meals. I heard on more than one occasion the uncle complaining about paying off their student loans. Like, what the gently caress? They both worked in insurance/sales, I doubt they had THAT much loan debt. Certainly not $200,000 or anything NEAR their annual salary.
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Oct 17, 2013 17:27
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melon cat posted:More like $700 a month. From the article (emphasis mine): Yeah, she could make some simple changes and be in much better shape. A lot of people I know put money into retirement savings or general savings while still carrying balances in loans or credit card debt because they don't seem to understand the concept of interest. If you're paying $2000/month in rent in Toronto you're insane. My girlfriend and I pay $1500 combined and that's for a nice 2-floor 2-bedroom place that includes our utilities, cable, and internet.
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Oct 17, 2013 17:33
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Giant Goats posted:Whereas when my sister wants to get laser eye surgery or wants to try some juice diet and needs a juicer, she seems to think that because she makes 70k a year, the money must be in her account, or nearly there, so why not just put the purchase on a credit card and surely it'll work out by next payday... I work for an eye doctor who does LASIK surgery. There was some error with the credit card machine where all the surgeries from May to September didn't actually get charged to peoples' credit cards until mid October. There were some two dozen people who never called to see why their $4000 surgery fee was never taken from their account, and once the charges did go through, only one of them called. She said it had overdrawn her account by $3700 and could we please give her a refund and set her up on a payment plan instead, because when she noticed that we hadn't collected the money back in June, she moved it to a different account, which her bank had then closed (???). I asked why she hadn't called us instead, and she said she was too busy and just never got around to it. Anyway, I said I'd have to talk to the office manager about it and call back, but she didn't answer the phone or return my call sooooo... I simply cannot believe that for SIX MONTHS not a single person called about not having been charged for their surgeries. Did they all just hope it was going to be free?
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Oct 17, 2013 17:48
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HelloIAmYourHeart posted:
Yes! Our company accidentally paid for everybody's health insurance for about 5 months (we have to pay a certain portion of it through payroll deductions) and nobody said a peep about it. Then when the company noticed and announced it would need to double charge for 5 months, everyone started screaming bloody murder that they couldn't possibly afford it.
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Oct 17, 2013 17:54
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^^^^^^ I hope someone essential quit and then reapplied over that. HelloIAmYourHeart posted:I work for an eye doctor who does LASIK surgery. There was some error with the credit card machine where all the surgeries from May to September didn't actually get charged to peoples' credit cards until mid October. There were some two dozen people who never called to see why their $4000 surgery fee was never taken from their account, and once the charges did go through, only one of them called. She said it had overdrawn her account by $3700 and could we please give her a refund and set her up on a payment plan instead, because when she noticed that we hadn't collected the money back in June, she moved it to a different account, which her bank had then closed (???). I asked why she hadn't called us instead, and she said she was too busy and just never got around to it. Anyway, I said I'd have to talk to the office manager about it and call back, but she didn't answer the phone or return my call sooooo... I move money out of my checking account pretty often, but not on a fixed schedule and I could see myself missing this. I wouldn't need a payment plan but I could see my checking account being overdrawn if a random large purchase had a long delay before charging me. I don't generally consider the possibility that I bought something and the person I'm buying it from hasn't collected their money for 4 months, so I just assume my checking account is settled up after each months bills are paid. I don't have a conception in my head of how much should be there, I just move out what's there. I don't really use checks for any reason anymore and this happening seems quite rare with credit/debit cards. I certainly wouldn't call someone to remind them to take my money. Granted, the person needing the payment plan is odd, did she have the money and spend it because she figured it was never going to be charged? Jeffrey of YOSPOS fucked around with this message at 18:18 on Oct 17, 2013 |
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Oct 17, 2013 18:16
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Yeah, I wouldn't be calling up begging you to take my money. People who did something else with the money are obviously dumb. But people who just didn't notice you hadn't taken it yet? I think that's not nearly as bad as the office not noticing they were missing INCOME for six months.
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Oct 17, 2013 18:49
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i like nice words
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So this showed up on my twitter: http://www.howtosavemoney.ca/why-you-may-not-need-an-emergency-fund quote:Having an emergency fund is all well and good, but it is a terrible use of money because for it to qualify as an emergency fund the money usually has to sit in bank account somewhere earning negligible interest that is taxable. Putting that money to use paying down debt, like your mortgage, or investing it will get you much further ahead. Ok, that's an interesting position, but what if there is, indeed, an emergency? quote:Any one of the things I am about to suggest on its own would not be enough to replace an emergency fund because they aren’t fool proof like cash in a bank account. However, my hypothesis is that combining a bunch of these backup plans together can essentially replace an emergency fund if you’re willing to accept a small amount of extra risk. This is not good advice goddamn.
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Oct 17, 2013 18:57
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FrozenVent posted:
Yes, skipping payments on your mortgage then putting everything else on the credit card is a FANTASTIC plan. It's never gone poorly for anyone, ever.
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Oct 17, 2013 19:08
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cstine posted:Yes, skipping payments on your mortgage then putting everything else on the credit card is a FANTASTIC plan. It's never gone poorly for anyone, ever. Liquidating RRSPs is also a terrible, terrible, terrible thing to do. The penalties are harsh as gently caress. TFSAs... Heh, I have my emergency fund in a TFSA saving account; it's not the best use of the thing but I wasn't using all of the contribution room anyway. I'm also impressed by "Sell your stuff". Because my old pants are a pretty liquid saving vehicle.
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Oct 17, 2013 19:17
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This is a really small one, but it just happened five minutes ago: My office is raising money for charity. Our VP is a big stickler on dress code but yesterday he agreed that if people want to pay $2 on Fridays during this fundraising campaign, they can wear jeans. A coworker of mine asked if he could donate $100 and be allowed to wear jeans on Fridays for the next year. They said yes. He just handed this in:  It's nothing like $20k in debt or a really crazy story, but it seems really dumb and funny to me. 
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Oct 17, 2013 19:30
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Anne Whateley posted:Yeah, I wouldn't be calling up begging you to take my money. People who did something else with the money are obviously dumb. But people who just didn't notice you hadn't taken it yet? I think that's not nearly as bad as the office not noticing they were missing INCOME for six months. After a few months, it's not even that stupid to do something else with the money. Yes, the customer is still responsible for the bill, but it's going to be well outside the transaction deadlines established by the credit card company. HelloIAmYourHeart is damned lucky that nobody issued a chargeback, because they'd probably be well within their rights to do it.
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Oct 17, 2013 19:37
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The Berzerker posted:This is a really small one, but it just happened five minutes ago: Heh, it's a charity thing. If it was just so they could wear jeans, yeah, that's a dumb thing to do, but if you can afford to give to charity... Why the hell not?
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Oct 17, 2013 19:44
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I get that, and I plan on giving my $2 tomorrow, it just seemed silly to pay for a year up front and also go to the trouble of specifically getting a $100 bill and circulating a picture to the office.
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Oct 17, 2013 19:55
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Some people, myself included, really hate wearing dress clothes. We are already allowed to wear jeans on Friday, but I would pay $100 up front to increase that to two days per week for a year. If I could wear jeans every work day, I would probably save $100 alone on laundry bills. It's not like I keep my work clothes on when I get home; I have to change into something else for the remaining five hours of my day.
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Oct 17, 2013 19:59
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I'd buy that $100 bill for $100 solely because it looks cool. We did those types of fundraisers at the jankey non-profit I worked for. They worked well, most people wanted to wear jeans one day of the week. Hell, people would donate part of their paycheck back to the clinic. Then they gave us a mandatory 5% pay-cut. Then, three months ago I was laid off. They dealt with money in the same manner as some of the people mentioned in this thread—using retirement funds to pay bills, not collecting on debts, switching vendors because our bills locked our accounts out. Thankfully, they just gave up on the dress code a few months before that. I will mention myself in this thread one of these days.
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Oct 17, 2013 20:12
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systran posted:Some people, myself included, really hate wearing dress clothes. We are already allowed to wear jeans on Friday, but I would pay $100 up front to increase that to two days per week for a year. If I could wear jeans every work day, I would probably save $100 alone on laundry bills. It's not like I keep my work clothes on when I get home; I have to change into something else for the remaining five hours of my day. What are you, a farmer? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_P7yWnAAd0
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Oct 17, 2013 20:13
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HelloIAmYourHeart posted:I work for an eye doctor who does LASIK surgery. There was some error with the credit card machine where all the surgeries from May to September didn't actually get charged to peoples' credit cards until mid October. There were some two dozen people who never called to see why their $4000 surgery fee was never taken from their account, and once the charges did go through, only one of them called. She said it had overdrawn her account by $3700 and could we please give her a refund and set her up on a payment plan instead, because when she noticed that we hadn't collected the money back in June, she moved it to a different account, which her bank had then closed (???). I asked why she hadn't called us instead, and she said she was too busy and just never got around to it. Anyway, I said I'd have to talk to the office manager about it and call back, but she didn't answer the phone or return my call sooooo... I can't believe you guys didn't notify the customers about your billing error before charging them months later for a very expensive procedure. Not your fault personally, but that was an incredibly stupid business decision.
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Oct 17, 2013 20:44
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It seems a bit silly to wring your hands over interest, or lack thereof, on emergency funds. An emergency fund is still not going to be a huge amount for most people, probably around 20k or so. If you assume risk, then you can probably get about 7%, which is about 1400. Its a non-trivial amount, but not a game-changing amount, and you're assuming risk with your risk-hedge (which is obviously pretty silly). Even sillier are people who are very concerned about interest and inflation on a few hundred dollars savings. During the whole "move your money to a credit union" phase, people kept quoting superior interest rates, until I looked into them and found that they only applied to a few hundred dollars, after which they were worse than "big banks." Not necessarily a "bad with money" thing per-se, since something is better than nothing, but people were making it seem like I was being robbed on my interest rates. ryde fucked around with this message at 21:00 on Oct 17, 2013 |
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Oct 17, 2013 20:55
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The Berzerker posted:This is a really small one, but it just happened five minutes ago: I didn't make too much right out of college and had a strict dress code but I would've done the same thing. Now I can wear shorts at the place I'm working now and would have to make some serious considerations to a higher-paying place that had a dress code. It's me, I'm a person bad with money.
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Oct 17, 2013 21:11
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The Berzerker posted:This is a really small one, but it just happened five minutes ago: Is nobody else going to mention that your legal tender for 100 moon dollars has a penis on it, or is it just really passé to mention it by now?
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Oct 17, 2013 21:22
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FrozenVent posted:So this showed up on my twitter:
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Oct 17, 2013 21:56
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cowofwar posted:If you have an unused line of credit it's totally fine to invest your emergency fund in to long-term investments. Maintaining a line of credit costs nothing or maybe $20 a year. It's not a luxury that most people have though. I've never used the margin in my brokerage account, but wouldn't it be ideal for this?
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Oct 17, 2013 22:20
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Folly posted:I've never used the margin in my brokerage account, but wouldn't it be ideal for this? I keep $5,000 in my emergency account in cash but I could just go to my bank and open a student line of credit for $5,000 and use that instead.
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Oct 17, 2013 22:58
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cowofwar posted:If you have an unused line of credit it's totally fine to invest your emergency fund in to long-term investments. Maintaining a line of credit costs nothing or maybe $20 a year. It's not a luxury that most people have though. A bank can close your line of credit for any or no reason. During the financial crisis when many people lost their jobs, they also lost their lines of credit as banks tried to reduce their exposure. A line of credit isn't a great replacement for an emergency fund. My story of stupidity belongs to a former co-worker. Aside from being creepy and practically stalking several women where we worked, he was horrible with money and had the mentality of a 16 year old. I worked there for 6 years, and he went through 3 cars and 3 motorcycles in that time. By the time I left he had a Mustang GT 500 and a Hayabusa while his wife drove an old lovely caravan. He spent thousands on sound systems for his cars in addition to stupid mods. His Mustang also cost more than their house which was in terrible disrepair. The basement would regularly flood when it rained. Inept fucked around with this message at 00:41 on Oct 18, 2013 |
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Oct 18, 2013 00:34
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http://www.schwabcdn.com/public/file/P-4193744/ posted:Margin is an extension of credit from a brokerage company using your own securities as It may traditionally be for margin trading, but I can use the money for any purpose. When I was buying my house, I researched bridge loan options. The trick is that you're only allowed to borrow up to a certain percentage of the value of your securities. So if the market goes down, you can find yourself over-leveraged and needing to deposit more money. Of course, the limit here is that a real emergency would probably have you liquidate your securities to pay for it anyhow. So why bother to pay interest? But if you have to get some of the money while the markets are closed, here's a way to do it.
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Oct 18, 2013 00:39
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the littlest prince posted:Is nobody else going to mention that your legal tender for 100 moon dollars has a penis on it, or is it just really passé to mention it by now? Ain't nothin' wrong with some dick money. And yeah I guess I can see how some people would do the $100 up front thing, so I guess comment rescinded.
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Oct 18, 2013 04:01
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martyrdumb posted:I can't believe you guys didn't notify the customers about your billing error before charging them months later for a very expensive procedure. Not your fault personally, but that was an incredibly stupid business decision. I was pretty incredulous as well, because that is some "bad with money" poo poo right there. The first I heard of it was "hey the credit card machine malfunctioned, so you might get some people calling about their LASIK payments" so I'm not entirely sure what chain of events lead up to it. LASIK money is weird because it's completely separate from the rest of the patient and insurance money, which are my responsibility. If I had been in charge of the LASIK money, you can bet I would have noticed. Oh, and the woman who wanted a payment plan almost certainly spent the money on something else, which is why she wanted a refund and payment plan. It was kind of sketchy.
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Oct 18, 2013 13:53
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I heard something on the radio a few weeks ago - one of those Money programmes. Couple both worked: he earned £40k, she earned 20K so money was not tight. It seems that her company got her bank account details wrong and so her salary was paid into someone else's account. She didn't notice for a while and when she did notify the bank, they said she could not claim back all the lost money. Why couldn't they return the money, you ask? Because they could only go back 6 months and the situation had been like this for 3 years. 3 years. Who doesn't check their salary payments for 3 years?
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