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Merrill Grinch posted:Started at $800/year in maintenance fees when I met her, quickly ramped up to $1400/year before I could dump it. That's only to stay in that one particular timeshare in a destination which really isn't a high demand vacation destination. If you want to join a trading network to stay elsewhere it's several thousand in one-time administration fees, a few hundred in network fees yearly and another couple hundred for a booking. Holy poo poo, you can get a week at a decent all-inclusive, including airfaire, for less than that. Every time I learn more about time shares, they get worst.
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May 30, 2014 23:20
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MrKatharsis fucked around with this message at 02:26 on Aug 18, 2015 |
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May 30, 2014 23:42
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cowofwar posted:It's good with money to convince your parents to buy a timeshare because then you get free timeshare access and don't have to pay for it. Unless you're parents decided to leave you out of their will, you're still paying for it. Or maybe they did decide to disown you for getting them to buy a timeshare.
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May 31, 2014 00:02
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MrKatharsis posted:Piracetam helped me while studying for some industry certifications. I hopped jobs twice last year with pay increases each time, so it retrospectively lands in the good investment category.
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May 31, 2014 00:05
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I'm so hosed. Credit cards (3)- Sears Card-Should not have opened this in 2011. Should have read the fine print. Should have known what a 26% APR was and that this was a bad idea. But, whatever, a 3k limit is cool, I can just pay it off as I go. wrong It's been at a ~$2000 balance for over a year. I'm paying more than the minimum payment every month, but I'm getting assfucked by interest payments and account care. I finally put a substantial dent in it, until the $850 vet bill for the dog. I should not have used this card for that, but I had no other choice, because US Bank card-$2,700 limit on this one, all but taken up, because I got into the whole "I'm in the intro period for another year, so might as well pay down this card." hosed up there. Chase Slate-I was shopping around for a credit card, and I wanted to see what kind of limit I would be approved for here. I was thinking that it would tell me, and ask me whether I accept it or decline it. It didn't. Great. Another credit card with a $500 dollar limit.  My credit score at the beginning of the year was in the 720-30's. It dropped. 650 right now. I'm trying to figure out how many things I can take issue to, fixing random charges like Account Care and trying to get lower APR's and what not. I wasn't paying attention to a card I wasn't using, so I didn't really see that I was paying 20 a month to Experian. gently caress that. So right now, I'm looking at almost 6k in debt. Awesome. Other debt: $500 left on an old student loan. I'm going back to school in a month, on financial aid, so this will be deferred. I'm taking as much as I can get to go back. I'll be in a better spot in life to pay it off  Budget: Comcast internet $38 (soon to be $66...I don't need internet, right?) Netflix: $8 WWE Network: $10 (locked in for a few more months because of their 6 month requirement) Spotify: $10 Gym: $30 Health insurance: I give my parents $100 a month for being on their plan. My other options aren't much cheaper Groceries: maybe 200 a month Transportation: This one is a fun one. I either take the bus, use car2go, or walk to work. A bus ticket costs $2.50, a car2go trip costs $.41 cents a minute, and walking takes upwards of 45 minutes. I'm in the same situation for school. Aside from leaving an hour before I have to, driving a car2go is expensive as gently caress. My average drive time is 15-20 minutes, add in trips to the store, and I'm spending $30 a day on a loving Smart car. I spend over 300 to 400 a month on car2go, add in maybe 100 for the bus, and I'm pissing money away on unreliable transportation. I'm convinced right now that leasing a car will help me out in the short term. I'm looking at the lowest leases I can find, which hover in the $150 range, add in insurance, and I'm paying less than $250 for a car. My parents offered to put up the down payment, so I'd be paying them back, ie: 2,500/36 a month. Job: I work at an unstable job. One week, I'm working 40-50 hours, the next 20-25 hours. I work a position where I can walk with 150-200 in tips a night, to making jack poo poo. That's the nature of working in the concert event business. Living situation: I stay with my girlfriend in a studio apartment. I still have a room at my parents house. She basically covers the rent, and some of the food with her food card. We split electricity payments. Basically, I have no money aside what I throw at bills, the government is giving me money to fix my garbage fire of a college career, so I'm not far off from a degree. I'm so hosed right now that I'm having panic attacks. I need a steady full time job. tl;dr: I'm 26 and I suck at life. It feels a little bit better writing this out.
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May 31, 2014 00:35
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DEAR RICHARD posted:I'm so hosed. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3549291 2 quick pre-thread/proper thread post: *If your folks will give you $2500, GO BUY A CAR. Don't use that as a downpayment for a car, use that for the whole car. *Comcast will definitely give you a promo rate if you chat with them (or call - chatting while doing other internet stuff was easiest for me) and tell them you need to cancel because you cannot afford the rate. You want the 'Sales dept', not the 'Billing dept'. And save a copy of your chat, the guy prorated mine wrong and I got billed for an extra $8. A supervisor waived that, but it took more effort cuz I didn't have a copy of the chat, and they don't either. First tier guys can credit plan change errors if you have proof! SiGmA_X fucked around with this message at 01:01 on May 31, 2014 |
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May 31, 2014 00:59
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SiGmA_X posted:*If your folks will give you $2500, GO BUY A CAR. Don't use that as a downpayment for a car, use that for the whole car. pig slut lisa posted:*If your folks will give you $2500, go buy a bike (and a trailer for groceries) and THROW THE REST AT YOUR CREDIT CARD DEBT IMMEDIATELY.
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May 31, 2014 01:17
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What can be walked in 45 minutes (2 - 3 miles? certainly no more than 4) should be bikeable in <= 15 minutes.
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May 31, 2014 01:35
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Assuming that he's in the US, there are some places where riding a bike is more dangerous than walking. But yeah, biking to work is a good idea if possible.
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May 31, 2014 01:56
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You make a good point. I just couldn't imagine life without a car, even though I only use mine on the weekends and evenings to go places. Its faster to bus to my work than to drive/park - and way way way cheaper.
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May 31, 2014 01:59
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SiGmA_X posted:You make a good point. I just couldn't imagine life without a car, even though I only use mine on the weekends and evenings to go places. Its faster to bus to my work than to drive/park - and way way way cheaper.
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May 31, 2014 02:12
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When I've been strapped for cash biking has always been a real lifesaver. I agree with pig slut lisa. Get a $250 bike and then just ride the wheels off that thing. You can even take the bus when the weather is really lovely. I'm not sure where you got the idea of leasing a car for $250 a month including insurance. That seems like wishful thinking. Once you factor in registration, gas, down payment on the lease, parking if applicable, etc you are looking at more than your current transportation expenditures. If you just saved $300 per month then you'd have enough money in a year to buy a more expensive car than I've ever owned. I agree with the other posters 'tho. You should face the world and post a thread.
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May 31, 2014 02:16
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Try to reduce your transportation spending and if you can get that $2600, put it all on that Sears card (or pay off the Chase Slate and then dump the rest on the Sears card.) If you are efficient, you might be able to afford a car or be able to budget for a lower interest loan around wintertime (thanks to the repaired credit score.)
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May 31, 2014 02:30
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DEAR RICHARD posted:I'm so hosed. That sucks but you're not completely hosed. Leasing a car would gently caress you for real. You are correct that it would help you out in the short term, but you'll be back in 6 months or a year with a thread of your own and a horrible feeling of dread, even worse than right now. You've done a decent summary so far, but for your own benefit, and to allow us to really help, a full accounting of your monthly expenses is key. According to your post you have $700/mo in expenses, plus credit card payments, plus the utility bill. How much did you earn last month? Where did the remainder go? If you can't measure it, you can't improve it. MrKatharsis fucked around with this message at 02:27 on Aug 18, 2015 |
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May 31, 2014 02:37
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DEAR RICHARD posted:Health insurance: I give my parents $100 a month for being on their plan. My other options aren't much cheaper... How are you 26 and on your parents' insurance? You can only be a dependent on their insurance up to your 26th birthday per the ACA (I'm assuming US here, since you're talking about paying for health insurance). Are you on COBRA or something? If not, you need to make sure that $100 is actually getting you coverage.
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May 31, 2014 03:05
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HelloIAmYourHeart posted:How are you 26 and on your parents' insurance? You can only be a dependent on their insurance up to your 26th birthday per the ACA (I'm assuming US here, since you're talking about paying for health insurance). Are you on COBRA or something? If not, you need to make sure that $100 is actually getting you coverage. NY has it extended to Age 29, so maybe he's in a state like that: http://www.dfs.ny.gov/consumer/faqs/faqs_S6030_Age29_young.htm
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May 31, 2014 03:16
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Oh, I don't think we have that in Missouri or Kansas, which is I do all my insurance stuff (I live in Missouri and work in medical insurance in Kansas). Looks like New Jersey even lets you stay on your parents' insurance until 31. That's actually a pretty sweet deal if you're lucky enough to be in one of those states, DEAR RICHARD.
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May 31, 2014 04:44
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Why do so many poverty poors own pets? It's like a recurring theme and always hilarious. "Abloobloo this vet bill was so high" well yeah dumbass it's a pet.
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May 31, 2014 04:54
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Zo posted:Why do so many poverty poors own pets? It's like a recurring theme and always hilarious. "Abloobloo this vet bill was so high" well yeah dumbass it's a pet. Pets have a very low (or even zero) upfront cost! Though phrasing it like that makes me imagine a used car salesman type hawking kittens for $0 down.
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May 31, 2014 05:39
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SiGmA_X posted:You make a good point. I just couldn't imagine life without a car, even though I only use mine on the weekends and evenings to go places. Its faster to bus to my work than to drive/park - and way way way cheaper. If you have to have a car, but you don't drive very often, you may be able to get discounted insurance. That probably won't be a huge savings, but eh, you might get a week's groceries out of it. DEAR RICHARD posted:Budget: Why is this going up to 66? Do you have any alternatives? quote:Netflix: $8 Netflix -  (risky in the US, of course) or free streaming sitesWWE - WTF dude? Spotify - GBS.fm is free, and more fun! Gym- Unless you're lifting serious weight, getting useful advice from a trainer, swimming, or using the hell out of their machines, a bike, some good running shoes, and some weights can substitute for this. Groceries - Is this for you AND your girlfriend? If it's just you, learning to cook, and buying whatever produce is on sale could cut this in half. quote:Transportation: This one is a fun one. I either take the bus, use car2go, or walk to work. A bus ticket costs $2.50, a car2go trip costs $.41 cents a minute, and walking takes upwards of 45 minutes. I'm in the same situation for school. Aside from leaving an hour before I have to, driving a car2go is expensive as gently caress. My average drive time is 15-20 minutes, add in trips to the store, and I'm spending $30 a day on a loving Smart car. I spend over 300 to 400 a month on car2go, add in maybe 100 for the bus, and I'm pissing money away on unreliable transportation. A 2000 dollar beater would be a better bet than a lease. Even if you spend 1000 a year on repairs and 50 dollars a month on insurance (about what I was doing at 26, but that was a while ago) you're still halving this expense. Including the initial cost of the car, if the car lasts more than a year you're still coming out ahead. One month's car share fees would buy you a good bike new, or a frickin' sweet bike used. DON'T FORGET A HELMET! SiGmA_X posted:2 quick pre-thread/proper thread post: If you don't know what you're doing, this would give the AI/BFC/Ask-Tell thread an actual challenge vs. the "oh does it have heated-cooled cupholders?" crap they've been chewing on lately. VideoTapir fucked around with this message at 06:16 on May 31, 2014 |
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May 31, 2014 06:12
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Zo posted:Why do so many poverty poors own pets? It's like a recurring theme and always hilarious. "Abloobloo this vet bill was so high" well yeah dumbass it's a pet.  Because they're cheaper than having kids!
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May 31, 2014 06:13
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viewtyjoe posted:
They sure as hell are. Plus when the vet tell you it's going to be $5000 to remove the cancerous tumor, it's so much easier and cheaper to just euthanize the pet. Plus euthanizing kids is illegal, at least in the US. Having kids is definitely bad with money, so is getting married unless your wife makes more than you or has rich parents.
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May 31, 2014 06:43
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RandomBlue posted:Plus euthanizing kids is illegal, at least in the US. You could be a Christian Scientist or something and dysthanize them.
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May 31, 2014 06:46
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VideoTapir posted:You could be a Christian Scientist or something and dysthanize them. I'm a Science Scientist though... sorry.
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May 31, 2014 06:50
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Time for some reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/26xtey/high_debt_tolerance_or_deep_deep_trouble/ quote:For as long as I remember, I've been taking out loans, using my credit card wildly, etc. I never really had any problems. I'd bring my credit cards to $8000 and work it back down to $0 within 6 months. Today's different. I've got a wife and dog to take care of. My credit cards collectively amount to $8600 ($3800 is at 0% until October). I have $3500 in student loans. I have a car loan with $11,500 remaining. Is this ridiculous? I'm 22 years old. I earn about $4000 a month. My wife won't be able to work for another few months. My credit limit is at $30,000. Does this situation look dire? I can't tell if I should be stressed out about this or not. I've had debt all my life, but this is the most I've ever had and it's starting to worry me.
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May 31, 2014 07:36
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I thought the DEAR RICHARD post was a c/p, especially with the bolded parts, since we like to do that with the worst pieces of the post.
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May 31, 2014 07:46
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DEAR RICHARD posted:I'm so hosed. Walk to work for a start. I walk for 90 mins a day.
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May 31, 2014 11:32
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Zo posted:Why do so many poverty poors own pets? It's like a recurring theme and always hilarious. "Abloobloo this vet bill was so high" well yeah dumbass it's a pet. I agree. I think it's completely insane but people get weird about pets.
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May 31, 2014 11:33
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DEAR RICHARD posted:I'm so hosed. Don't, under any circumstances, lease a car. Buy a bike, cut out all your stupid monthly subscriptions (netflix, wwe, gym, internet, spotify). If you're not going to buy a bike, doesn't your city have a monthly bus pass program? Usually you can get a pass for the cost of ~20-30 bus rides. Seems like a lot, but it will allow you to cap your transportation costs and NEVER USE CAR2GO UNTIL YOU'RE OUT OF DEBT AGAIN. Your debt levels are very low, you can fix them very quickly. I hope you're also looking for a different job.
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May 31, 2014 12:45
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FWIW op I had about £9,000 of debt at your age and managed to kill it within a year with a load of discipline that totally changed the way I treated personal finance so you're not that screwed as long as you make a plan and stick to it.
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May 31, 2014 13:27
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Bitcoins: http://np.reddit.com/r/BitcoinMarkets/comments/26ujtk/daily_discussion_friday_may_30_2014/chvajq9 quote:Greed is a powerful thing. Do what you can to keep it in check, always. 
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May 31, 2014 14:20
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Bitcoin is by definition bad with money
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May 31, 2014 15:52
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DrAlexanderTobacco posted:Bitcoins: I'm not sure I understand...is this person wagering bitcoins on some kind of electronic gambling thing? Like one click and "boop, you just lost thousands of dollars"?
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May 31, 2014 16:12
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pig slut lisa posted:one click and "boop, you just lost thousands of dollars"? Isn't that how bitcoins work 'tho?
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May 31, 2014 16:39
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QuiteEasilyDone posted:Bitcoin is by definition bad with money If you treat it as a speculative investment with high risk, like penny stocks, it's not that bad. Your investment portfolio shouldn't center around bitcoin any more than it should around beanie babies, but if you put a small percent in as a "heck, why not?" investment you're OK.
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May 31, 2014 16:45
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Volmarias posted:If you treat it as a speculative investment with high risk, like penny stocks, it's not that bad. Your investment portfolio shouldn't center around bitcoin any more than it should around beanie babies, but if you put a small percent in as a "heck, why not?" investment you're OK. Superficially, that's right. In practice, it's pretty difficult to get actual spendable money out of bitcoin, especially if you're outside the US... And properly reporting it on your taxes is a pain in the rear end since you have to do it all manually. Bitcoin's hilarious, but from a BFC standpoint all that needs to be said is to stay the hell away. And that guy's actually straight up gambling with his bitcoins.
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May 31, 2014 16:58
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Penny stocks are also being bad with money. You're statistically far better off taking it all to Vegas, and at least then you'll have a fun time too.
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May 31, 2014 16:59
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pig slut lisa posted:I'm not sure I understand...is this person wagering bitcoins on some kind of electronic gambling thing? Like one click and "boop, you just lost thousands of dollars"? Yep - He used a gambling service, literally a double-or-quits flash game thing. Stupid as hell.
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May 31, 2014 17:07
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Dr. Eldarion posted:Penny stocks are also being bad with money. You're statistically far better off taking it all to Vegas, and at least then you'll have a fun time too. Seeing a stock go from 8 cents to 20 cents to 3 cents is a lot of fun.
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May 31, 2014 17:33
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Leroy Diplowski posted:Isn't that how bitcoins work 'tho? Bitcoins don't "work" as such - they're like any currency in that they're only as valuable as somebody (somewhere) is willing to acknowledge. The only interesting thing about bitcoin was the whole concept of a cryptocurrency/purely digital currency and that idiots thought it was an 'investment' opportunity. I remember reading somewhere that Bitcoin was pretty much "nerds learning one step at a time why banking regulations exist," and I think that's a very true assessment. At least penny stocks are regulated, so you're at least somewhat protected. And here's one for the pile - people who at the height of the GFC placed their superannuation funds into 'defensive' strategies because they no longer trusted the stock market, and just left it there. Despite the fact they've got many years until retirement and easily could have made it back had they just ignored it. I feel sorry for them because I can sort of see where they're coming from, but on the other hand they're jeopardising their retirement and may not have enough money.
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May 31, 2014 17:37
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