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UberNonchalantguy posted:Closed on first house. Amazing I own a house! Did you pay cash? Because if not, you bought a mortgage  Someone said this to me the day I signed my papers. They were right, too 
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Jan 9, 2014 15:00
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Well my savings was lower than I hoped (My budget was a little to extreme) but we still managed to save quite a bit. Also my wife (thanks partially to Obamacare) managed to negotiate a better transfer (They were going to send her further away which would make her commute an hour and a half both ways) after her branch closed. We still basically make the same amount of money but our jobs are easy and since we're tight/smart/a little evil with money we're able to save a lot regardless. Not to mention I'm more relaxed about money now, some of you guys probably remember my posts from last year so this is actually an improvement. edit: My opinion on mortgages has changed a bit. The next time I buy a house I would like to have the money to pay it down completely but mortgage it instead. As long as I can keep my budget down to something that two minimum wage jobs could support (plan for the worst) I'll be OK no matter what. Sephiroth_IRA fucked around with this message at 15:04 on Jan 10, 2014 |
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Jan 10, 2014 15:00
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Start grad school next week and my employer just worked with me to keep me on full time! Also just maxed out my Roth IRA for last year. Feels freakin good.
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Jan 10, 2014 20:38
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Orange_Lazarus posted:edit: My opinion on mortgages has changed a bit. The next time I buy a house I would like to have the money to pay it down completely but mortgage it instead. As long as I can keep my budget down to something that two minimum wage jobs could support (plan for the worst) I'll be OK no matter what.
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Jan 11, 2014 04:25
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If you're in the US and you're not taking a 30 year fixed mortgage at ~3% then I think you're missing out. That's the most amazing inflation hedge imaginable. In Australia no one will let you fix for more than 10 years and right now that will cost you ~7.5%.
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Jan 11, 2014 05:04
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Hooooly poo poo. we've done it. We ran through the debt snowball. This morning I sent off my last payment on my last loan. After starting this back in May of 2012 we have paid off almost $20,000 in debt including credit cards, my fiancee's car, student loans and a new air conditioner. The most daunting was definitely the student loans. When we started this we were looking at $13,500 in student loan debt. After this morning we're looking at $0. Now it's on to Step 3, 6 months of savings aka "There is how much in our savings account?!?" We'll also be saving for a wedding in 2015 that we will simply write a $7,000 check for. During the first 3 steps we've had multiple dog emergencies, car breakdowns, household emergencies and even some small but incredibly fun vacations. I never thought we'd actually reach this point when we started but now that we're here this is an amazing feeling.
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Jan 11, 2014 14:17
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Sent in the last payment for one of my student loans. Between my wife and I, we still have a lot of student loan debt to get through, but it feels really good to have one of them out of the way.
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Jan 13, 2014 20:34
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revengeanceful posted:Sent in the last payment for one of my student loans. Between my wife and I, we still have a lot of student loan debt to get through, but it feels really good to have one of them out of the way. Good job (we are in the same situation) and keep it up!
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Jan 15, 2014 05:35
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I just made the final payment on my LASIK/PRK eye surgery, from October. It was on a 0% card for the next year or so, so paying it off early may not have been the best dollars-and-cents financial decision, but it feels totally great to have zero consumer debt. Now, to attack those student loans and save enough money to buy a new car, in cash.
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Jan 15, 2014 14:06
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My credit card will be paid off by my next paycheck and I can start loading money into my emergency fund, which is a weird but good feeling. I've started cooking at home as well which has reduced my food costs and I feel better, so even more savings should be appearing soon. On top of that, even though my company didn't turn a profit last year, I got a raise! A 1.5% raise, but a raise nonetheless. The raise was enough to cover the increases I made to my FSA and 401k contributions this year so I'm only seeing $8 less per paycheck.
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Jan 16, 2014 23:22
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Wife got into grad school so I had to get a new job in that area. Just accepted an offer to work at Google for more money; it's in a more expensive area, but should still effectively make slightly more than right now, and having Google on my resume will be great for my career.
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Jan 18, 2014 00:41
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Cicero posted:Wife got into grad school so I had to get a new job in that area. Just accepted an offer to work at Google for more money; it's in a more expensive area, but should still effectively make slightly more than right now, and having Google on my resume will be great for my career. Hey congrats man I hope you were able to negotiate between them and the company you were working for!
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Jan 18, 2014 01:59
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Somehow, my TV has turned into a lucrative investment vehicle. I bought it almost exactly 3 years ago for $1000 out the door and got a 3-year SquareTrade warranty on it for about $87. It mysteriously died on me about 2 months ago after leaving it unplugged for a while while remodeling, and the technician they sent out couldn't fix it with what he had available or even really figure out the true problem. After about 2 months of everyone pussyfooting around or parts not being available and them not getting me fixed up, SquareTrade told me today they'd be doing a payout for me in the form of the purchase price + Edit: Nope, it was purchase + just over 3%, I misheard him on the phone. Still not complaining, it's like I leased the thing for a total cost of $50 over 3 years then! SpelledBackwards fucked around with this message at 07:27 on Jan 28, 2014 |
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Jan 23, 2014 08:03
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TVs are so cheap now, you can get absolutely enormous (well, by my standards anyway) flat screens for $600 or less. Maybe 4-5 years ago my parents bought two new huge gigantic flat-screen TVs for something like $3,000 each. You can get very similar ones now for about a grand. TVs are the one thing that always seem to be cheap if you're willing to wait a year or buy an off-brand. As for my incremental improvement... I finally have a job interview after applying for 50+ jobs! So in about a month I should find out if I'll be a full-time park ranger in New Mexico
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Jan 23, 2014 19:48
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I just did my taxes last night. $11 refund from federal, $52 refund from state. That's about as close as you can get to zero on both.
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Feb 6, 2014 15:42
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My student loan consolidation disbursed on the 31st of Jan. So glad I can tell Sallie Mae to get hosed. In addition, I also got my third paycheck of Jan and since my budget is based on two paychecks I used it to pay off the last $1600 on my car loan so I can reduce my insurance premiums when that renews in a couple months. I didn't remember to add any exemptions until late last year so my federal return was also huge and I got it today, using most of it to pad out my emergency fund a bit more and pre-save for a bunch of upcoming non-monthly bills and I'm throwing another big payment toward my student loans with the rest. My Loan Overpayment category in YNAB is sitting north of 2k this month. Feels great. 100 HOGS AGREE fucked around with this message at 00:42 on Feb 7, 2014 |
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Feb 7, 2014 00:38
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Got $600 from an insurance settlement, which I used to pay my student loans, finally putting me ahead of my bills. And I just got $800 from my tax returns, which has gone to paying my car off a month early, and will cover the rest of my bills this month. Still have about $150 coming from state returns, plus I got a job offer to go from part-time retail barely keeping up with my bills to full-time working at a financial institution making enough money to finally start saving and snowballing the rest of my debt. February is looking to be a good month for me.
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Feb 7, 2014 02:03
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I was finally able to get my girlfriend to sit down with me and put down all of her financial obligations on paper. She just graduated from Art Center so she has a buttload of student debt that we'll be paying down (hopefully quickly). Thankfully, she grabbed an amazing job at Square so we're not too worried about the job search anymore. Anyway, I feel like we had a small victory as a result of actually putting everything down onto paper. She's realizing how long its going to take her to pay down her debts as well as her outstanding CC debt. The next step is for me to convince her to borrowing money from her mom to pay off the rest of her CC debt is not the best choice. She's receiving a signing bonus that will easily cover the CC debt but she's just so impatient.
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Feb 11, 2014 18:34
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100 HOGS AGREE posted:In addition, I also got my third paycheck of Jan and since my budget is based on two paychecks I used it to pay off the last $1600 on my car loan so I can reduce my insurance premiums when that renews in a couple months.
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Feb 11, 2014 19:27
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Shadowhand00 posted:I was finally able to get my girlfriend to sit down with me and put down all of her financial obligations on paper. She just graduated from Art Center so she has a buttload of student debt that we'll be paying down (hopefully quickly). Thankfully, she grabbed an amazing job at Square so we're not too worried about the job search anymore. Will she pay less in interest by borrowing from her mother now, or are the familial strings attached not worth the hassle, even if she pays her back promptly with the signing bonus?
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Feb 11, 2014 23:05
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SpelledBackwards posted:Will she pay less in interest by borrowing from her mother now, or are the familial strings attached not worth the hassle, even if she pays her back promptly with the signing bonus? I guess so. It'd be a no-interest loan. Her CC cards are headed towards the end of their promotion 0% interest (end of March) and the signing bonus should arrive prior to that.
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Feb 12, 2014 00:20
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Bodanarko posted:Talk to your insurance Co., Mine (USAA) allows you to update/change coverage at any point, and if it reduces your premiums then whatever excess you prepaid for following months will be applied as a credit for when you do renew.
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Feb 12, 2014 15:04
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100 HOGS AGREE posted:I'll try but I don't plan on renewing with AAA because I've found comparable plans that are several hundred dollars cheaper. Unless they cut me a check. Should be an option too, I haven't done it but I've heard that if you drop coverage to go with another provider then you will get refunded what you prepaid.
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Feb 12, 2014 16:02
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Bodanarko posted:Should be an option too, I haven't done it but I've heard that if you drop coverage to go with another provider then you will get refunded what you prepaid. This is absolutely true. You pay up front for your premiums, and if you cancel or lower your coverage you will get a refund.
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Feb 12, 2014 16:56
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Did it when I bought my house to get a better package deal. They send you a check for whatever you have left.
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Feb 12, 2014 17:59
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SpelledBackwards posted:the familial strings attached not worth the hassle This is almost always true. Exceptions exist, but an amount of debt that can be covered with an incoming signing bonus is not one of them.
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Feb 12, 2014 18:39
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razz posted:As for my incremental improvement... I finally have a job interview after applying for 50+ jobs! So in about a month I should find out if I'll be a full-time park ranger in New Mexico Well to quote myself, I got offered a job! Not the park ranger position, but one that is much more fitting to my skills and interests. On top of that, I was able to negotiate my salary and increase my starting pay by $5,000! On the flip side, oh god I am almost 28 and this is my first real job. I've been in school forever. What's it like to be an adult? Is it magical? It better be magical.
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Feb 18, 2014 18:54
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It's not magical, but having money is nice.
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Feb 18, 2014 19:39
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Cicero posted:It's not magical, but having money is nice. Considering the most money I have ever made in my life was <20K a year and this job is more than double that, I certainly hope so. I'm going to find the most ballin' penthouse apartment and spend all my money on booze and drugs! Just kidding, I'm obsessively frugal. I'm actually pretty pumped about being a boring responsible adult and saving money for retirement and all that fun stuff. And paying back my student loans, blah.
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Feb 18, 2014 20:52
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razz posted:Well to quote myself, I got offered a job! Not the park ranger position, but one that is much more fitting to my skills and interests. On top of that, I was able to negotiate my salary and increase my starting pay by $5,000! This is great news. I was legit gonna PM you to ask about it 2 days ago but thought it would be weird.
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Feb 18, 2014 22:08
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BossRighteous posted:This is great news. I was legit gonna PM you to ask about it 2 days ago but thought it would be weird. Thank you friend! Hit me up any time, totally not weird If anyone is interested in biology/conservation/wildlife jobs or anything like that, you all can PM me any time, truly. I love to help people and this is a hard path to go down, many disappointments along the way but also the potential for a very rewarding career if it is truly your passion as it is mine. I love to chat about wildlife or conservation topics or just generic non-serious biology/wildlife stuff.
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Feb 18, 2014 22:38
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Small Wins 1) I've improved my DIY skills significantly by helping my wife move into her first and second studios. Through the business she was able to subsidize new shiny tools for me including a bandsaw, miter saw, and hammer drill. I've also been active on the promotional side of her business. I learned how to use Wordpress, basic SEO principles, and how to create Machforms that gather customer data and facilitate payment processing. This experience will help me out for Projects 2) and 3). Projects 2)I am in the process of building a floor in my attic so that I can move in there poo poo from my garage so that I can finally setup a respectable workspace for my WOODWORKING BUSINESS (thanks to the DIY gains). Basically I'm going to start by making props for my wife's photography business and selling any extras through Etsy. I'm going to be ridiculously creative as to create first-mover status on the items, since the designs are normally copied pretty fast. I will also branch into smaller items such as belt hangers, since I need one anyway. I'll use nice wood, an attractive stain, some nice hooks. I'd like to also offer steampunk versions of the same item which incorporate reclaimed wood and metals. 3) I'm getting trained by a friend so that I can train others in SCUBA. He is a NAUI-certified Dive Master who hates his day job. Together we're going to partner into a scuba training business and use my business background and his certifications to market both a quick dive program for tourists and a long-term program for locals (wreck, advanced [deepwater], cavern and cave diving). Right now the focus is on getting me certified. The SCUBA business will not progress nearly as fast as the woodworking one because of the many more factors beyond my control, but I am equally excited about both of them as they will represent my official forays into entrepreneurialism. Suave Fedora fucked around with this message at 22:49 on Feb 18, 2014 |
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Feb 18, 2014 22:44
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TouchyMcFeely posted:Hooooly poo poo. we've done it. We ran through the debt snowball. Thanks for sharing this. I started snowballing my car loan four months ago. I have 19 months to go and it seems so far away that some weeks I'm very tempted to go back to minimum payments. But I want that amazing feeling too, dammit, so I will keep at it. After all, October 2015 is only next year. Tiny wins to celebrate in the meantime: 1) Just completed my first month with YNAB and stuck to the budget with $34.71 left over. February was a tight month; I paid ~$1000 in school fees/books/uniforms for three kids, and also had to make a $400 payment on a store card before the interest-free period expired, so I'm really happy with that result. 2) Started cleaning out my wardrobe and made $70 on eBay. 3) Received a pay increase of $0.34/hr, which means I have an additional $55 a month to add to my holiday fund.
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Mar 1, 2014 13:33
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Nocheez posted:This is absolutely true. You pay up front for your premiums, and if you cancel or lower your coverage you will get a refund. Should get like 300 bucks back from AAA for the remainder of my policy. Feels fuckin great.
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Mar 1, 2014 20:17
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I finally finished off some private student loans. I dumped $7.5k on them last month. Feels good to get them out of the way, but of course I still have a lot more left in federal student loans.
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Mar 1, 2014 20:36
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I finally setup an autopayment thing where I route bill and savings money out of my account before I can touch it and into a secondary account where it autopays - not only does this make it much easier to view my different accounts and what I'm paying in terms of bills vs other expenditures (gas, food, etc all goes out of the leftovers there), but I've managed to save almost three grand almost on accident so far by overpaying into the bills account. Considering I've never had more than a tiny amount in my savings before (generally a hundred bucks or so), this is a big accomplishment for me. Edit: Also managed to pay for me and my Fiancee's wedding out of our shared pockets, but that was less savings and more spending my entire bonus from last year. Still happy to be able to do it.
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Mar 2, 2014 19:17
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4% raise and a 12% bonus. Super nice.
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Mar 4, 2014 05:21
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Man this thread is pretty great to read. It's like all the payoff of the personal trainwreck threads but without the trainwreck, just the happy aftermath. I have the most boring financial life imaginable - asian parents drilled frugality into me so after graduating I did all I could to pay back my student loans asap and have just been steadily saving since. Nothing exciting ever happens.
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Mar 4, 2014 12:27
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Today, I paid off a $2.6k student loan at 6%. I started aggressively paying it down in December. I don't make a whole lot of money. Let's keep it going and work on the whole career situation.
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Mar 4, 2014 18:50
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Today I start a new part time job after being unemployed for 2 months. I'm happy to have income, but I'm not very happy with it being a night-shift job and I'm pretty sure it won't pay enough to cover my living expenses. I guess small steps are important?
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Mar 5, 2014 21:45
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