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District Selectman posted:I immediately told my sister in med school: please don't listen to mom and dad for financial advice, I am always here to talk to.
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Aug 29, 2014 20:39
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District Selectman posted:I see a similar thing with engineers, although I feel like they have less of an excuse. For them, it seems to be about choice; they're just so spergy they focus all of their mental energies on engineering and their obsessive hobbies that they never learn about money. Speaking of him, I learned last night that not only is he drawing down on his 401k to take a long break from work and to fund his mildly obsessive doomsday prepping and other ridiculous projects around the house, for years he had been running like four shell corporations that he shuffled money between every year to get more back in taxes. He said he doesn't do it anymore but I was like 
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Aug 29, 2014 21:25
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Zhentar posted:Bad with money story: Me. Today. I had to pay a $360 fine because I forgot to pay my property tax on time. Then I paid a $90 "convenience fee" to pay it online because I can't be assed to write a check and stick it in an envelope (well, I might have if they had mentioned the fee before the last step, but by then I'd already typed in my whole credit card number! At least I'll get half the fee back in points). Oh, convenience fees. When I had finally finished up my undergrad thesis, I had to get two copies bound at $9 each. My old university wanted a "convenience fee" of something like $10 for the privilege of paying by credit card (I worked on campus and could have easily dropped by the cashier's office with the cash, if only they would have accepted it). But you can get around this by paying electronically with an e-check! Unless you mis-enter one digit like I did and get billed a $25 penalty for your hubris.  On the plus side it steels my resolve to keep my wallet closed whenever the Alumni Association comes calling, hat in hand.
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Aug 29, 2014 22:52
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100 HOGS AGREE posted:This is my uncle. Heh, we've got a few uncommitted preppers. These are guys who haven't done it yet, but talk a lot of poo poo about burying a schoolbus in the ground and living in it like a bunker. Got a guy who doesn't believe in banks either, and keeps his money in cash I just don't get it. I talk to 50+ year old engineers who have been making $100k+ for the last decade+ and they're living month to month. They seem to take pride in not understanding how to take care of their money and there's a lot of "I'll work till I'm dead I guess" gallows humor. This even goes for my parents, who will both retire from a defense contractor with a maxed out 35+ year pension, that will likely pay them about $50k a year EACH once they retire. Forget about their lifetime of savings, which should be enormous. If you take into account equity in their home and a combined $100k annual pension, plus social security...I have to ask myself why my dad is joking about never being able to retire? Having seen the frivolous things my parents wasted money on over the years though, I believe his concern. Anyway, that whole group is lesson enough for me. An addiction to nice SUV's, and expensive hobbies to fill the void in your soul is not a good way to financial freedom.
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Aug 29, 2014 23:45
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SiGmA_X posted:I know a couple doctors, fresh grads and almost retiring. They have *lots* of time to learn about investing and budgeting. That is a 100% cop out and a choice they make. They could forego a couple of evenings of drinking and learn basically all you need to know about budgeting and mutual fund picking, but they choose not to (or they do it, and *actually* become wealthy..) I'm not a doctor, and only know med school students, so you may be right. My evidence is purely anecdotal and based on what my sister and her friends tell me. Somewhere there's an engineers sibling saying, "my brother said engineers don't have ANY spare time to learn about money", and I would be all like bitch that ain't true.
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Aug 29, 2014 23:48
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Jeffrey posted:Having a company card instead is nice. I only have to pay the bill if I don't have proof that something was for work, and it's all after the fact. Even without it, the company would certainly book flights and hotels for me, why would I front them cash for that? (I guess the cash back would be kind of nice.) You miss out on all the rewards then. My company is going to mandatory Corp cards and it loving sucks.
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Aug 30, 2014 01:26
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Bloody Queef posted:You miss out on all the rewards then. My company is going to mandatory Corp cards and it loving sucks. I have a work issued spending card for traveling. Seemed safer to me than getting a credit card even if I could get a rewards one. What is the company goes under? You're but a creditor on a bankruptcy. Maybe for bigger companies the risk would be less, but even then you never know.
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Aug 30, 2014 01:51
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Knyteguy posted:I have a work issued spending card for traveling. Seemed safer to me than getting a credit card even if I could get a rewards one. What is the company goes under? You're but a creditor on a bankruptcy. Maybe for bigger companies the risk would be less, but even then you never know. In general with corporate cards the cardholder is also held individually liable. I work for an enormous company, but if my company went under, I'd have a lot more to worry about than the 2-3k they owed me for travel reimbursement at any given time.
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Aug 30, 2014 03:07
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HelloIAmYourHeart fucked around with this message at 03:18 on Aug 30, 2014 |
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Aug 30, 2014 03:15
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Who agrees to pay that for a 600 dollar phone?
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Aug 30, 2014 03:23
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People who don't have $600.
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Aug 30, 2014 03:24
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Cloks posted:Who agrees to pay that for a 600 dollar phone? Don't ask stupid questions. Obviously people who want it NOW.
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Aug 30, 2014 03:25
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This is literally insane. There are no words. I spoke with a lady who has 2009 Toyota Camry and pays $550 a month for it. That is more than what I pay for two vehicles, both newer and a bit more expensive than that car. The financing situations people have are insane. The banks clearly make money off of me, I can't imagine how much money hand over fist they are making from folks that pay interest rates/payments like that.
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Aug 30, 2014 04:27
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HelloIAmYourHeart posted:People who don't have $600. I just don't get it. 
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Aug 30, 2014 04:36
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melon cat posted:But here's something I don't understand- they're apparently too broke to pay $600 for a phone, but they're prepared to pay $142/month for it? I don't know about you guys, but $142/month is nothing to scoff at, and I say that as a guy with a decent income. Literally go without the elite phone for two months and you're already half way to owning the phone outright.
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Aug 30, 2014 04:44
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Jastiger posted:Literally go without the elite phone for two months and you're already half way to owning the phone outright. Or if you really cannot wait, get an interest free loan from your network carrier and pay $20 a month or whatever that comes out to. There is no worse way to purchase things than this
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Aug 30, 2014 07:41
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Some people can't keep cash around without spending it, and to them $64 a paycheck is easier to make than $600 every other year.  Speaking of lease, is mentioned a friend of a friend who was under a ton of debt and selling Mary Kay while considering an RRSP loan from Primerica a while back. Got an update; they didn't get the loan because their credit is too poor. Got into a cat accident, couldn't afford the deductible to get it fixed... Somehow they returned it to the dealership where they'd leased it and got the old lease rolled into a new one for an econo subcompact, which costs them $500 a month or so. They're both in retails with two kids. Thankfully she gave up the Mary Kay... But she had enough credit card debt that she couldn't make payments, so she went to one of those debt service companies that advertise on TV. They convinced her that she couldn't afford to declare bankruptcy so they arranged a consumer's proposal of some sort. I've met these people once and I only really know them at arm's length so I don't have exact numbers, but goddamn...
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Aug 30, 2014 12:49
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The Door Frame posted:Or if you really cannot wait, get an interest free loan from your network carrier and pay $20 a month or whatever that comes out to. There is no worse way to purchase things than this To be fair, you have to qualify credit wise for that still with carriers. They all fk that system now (no contract) but the credit standards are higher.
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Aug 30, 2014 12:53
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Jastiger posted:
Are you comparing equal loan term lengths? If not, then the comparison doesn't mean much.
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Aug 30, 2014 13:08
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Pompous Rhombus posted:Oh, convenience fees. This. My undergrad school was great and while it was expensive up front, everything was included; my master's degree school nickel and dimed me with all sorts of bullshit fees like you described. I donate to my undergrad; my master's school gets nothing.
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Aug 30, 2014 14:59
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University I'm taking classes at right now uses a payment processor that charges a $10 convenience fee for cc payments online. Visa told them to cut that poo poo. They stopped accepting Visa.
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Aug 30, 2014 15:02
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EgonSpengler posted:Are you comparing equal loan term lengths? If not, then the comparison doesn't mean much. TO be fair, I don't know the entire loan length. I just think its insane that someone with limited means spending twice what I do on two vehicles.
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Aug 30, 2014 15:19
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melon cat posted:But here's something I don't understand- they're apparently too broke to pay $600 for a phone, but they're prepared to pay $142/month for it? I don't know about you guys, but $142/month is nothing to scoff at, and I say that as a guy with a decent income. What makes you think they're actually going to make those payments? I doubt anyone actually does for more than a couple months.
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Aug 30, 2014 15:45
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Back in the 90s, my ex traveled for work on the company credit card, but she got to keep all the rewards points and airline miles. I'm pretty sure the company paid the bill directly, because we were too young and stupid not to spend reimbursement checks on toys and drugs. Guess it's not Clinton's America any more.
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Aug 30, 2014 16:26
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FrozenVent posted:University I'm taking classes at right now uses a payment processor that charges a $10 convenience fee for cc payments online. My university does this for CC payments but instead of charging a flat fee, it's a percentage of the bill owed. I paid with a card once and realized that I was paying $50 to not use a check and a 40 cent stamp. gently caress that.
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Aug 30, 2014 16:50
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FrozenVent posted:Got into a cat accident, couldn't afford the deductible to get it fixed...  I laughed way too much at that typo. HelloIAmYourHeart posted:What makes you think they're actually going to make those payments? I doubt anyone actually does for more than a couple months. That's the game as I understand rent to own. They don't actually expect anybody to finish making the payments without screwing up once, at which point they go repo the furniture and do it again. They can sell the same piece of inventory over and over that way. And if the poo poo is too worthless to repossess, they'd rather destroy it than let you keep it, because they know you'll be back. It's the predecessor to payday lending, back before they discovered they could run the same scam without having to have inventory, and that garnishment laws were easier to manage than repossession. I'm not sure how you'd self-help repossess a phone, though. Physical confrontation seems impossible to avoid.
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Aug 30, 2014 17:05
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Folly posted:I'm not sure how you'd self-help repossess a phone, though. Physical confrontation seems impossible to avoid. Maybe they have some sort of resettable soft-kill switch. Not sure how you'd keep a customer from unlocking it disabling it, though... Maybe that's when you resort to physical repo and collections.
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Aug 30, 2014 17:31
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Old Fart posted:Guess it's not Clinton's America any more. Most of those 90s expense policies were reversed partly because businesses are tighter with cash, but also largely because of Sarbanes Oxley and the resulting rise in tightly internal controls.
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Aug 30, 2014 17:34
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A $2500 phone is a serious status symbol not to be passed on while saving to buy a $600 phone. Why save for four months to avoid spending $1900? Also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SMKHE26PU8
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Aug 30, 2014 22:05
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Folly posted:
I was introduced to SA through the Goldmine entry, Stories from Rent-to-Own.
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Aug 31, 2014 03:26
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canyoneer posted:He started a business with his student loan money. I think this guy's problems were compounded by not maintaining minimum enrollment at school. He spent 2 years in prison, with another 5 or so on probation. drat, what a dumbass. If you aren't enrolled at least half time, you get a final demand letter and have to pay it all back in 90 days. There are much safer ways to get money that do not involve loving with the federal government's money.
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Aug 31, 2014 04:08
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Used to be that here in Quebec you'd get a big check from the school at the beginning of the semester (they got the check from the government, took out tuition and gave you the rest, I think). Plenty of stories of women getting boob jobs and dudes buying cars... Then being broke until the next semester. They switched to a monthly system ten years back or so.
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Aug 31, 2014 04:12
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FrozenVent posted:Used to be that here in Quebec you'd get a big check from the school at the beginning of the semester (they got the check from the government, took out tuition and gave you the rest, I think). In the states, some schools would do that too. Some with transient populations would be screwed if the person left and the school had to cover the money. Most stopped that practice once it wasn't so fun to hand out easy money, thank god. I could fill a thread on poo poo that went down in the student loan industry. Like the housing bubble, except now part of it is waaaay more subsidized. Effexxor fucked around with this message at 04:35 on Aug 31, 2014 |
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Aug 31, 2014 04:31
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Effexxor posted:In the states, some schools would do that too. Some with transient populations would be screwed if the person left and the school had to cover the money. Most stopped that practice once it wasn't so fun to hand out easy money, thank god. That would be a great thread, you should do it, because a lot of people have got stories. Or you could lay down some bad-with money poo poo here. Hell, education financing in the US is a whole country bad with money. I've got a friend who has a bachelor's and masters in English lit, a ton of medical and other debt, and 110k in student loans. I told him he should just flee the country.
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Aug 31, 2014 17:46
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Leroy Diplowski posted:I vote that anyone who mentions cars itt outside of a story about people bad with money has to watch this entire youtube video or get probated. Could we do something similar with people who get all frugal-er-than-thou over the choice of vehicle, residence, or leisure activity of someone living within their means? The Door Frame posted:Or if you really cannot wait, get an interest free loan from your network carrier and pay $20 a month or whatever that comes out to. There is no worse way to purchase things than this You could put $600 on a credit card at 30% interest, pay off much less than $140 a month, and still come out way ahead of that.
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Aug 31, 2014 19:57
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Thank you for that link.  Everyone needs to read this.
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Sep 1, 2014 02:51
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RC and Moon Pie posted:I was introduced to SA through the Goldmine entry, Stories from Rent-to-Own. It's stuff like this that got me hooked on SA. Awesome read.
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Sep 1, 2014 03:15
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Cockmaster posted:Could we do something similar with people who get all frugal-er-than-thou over the choice of vehicle, residence, or leisure activity of someone living within their means? Rent to own customers don't have credit cards though. Because they have poo poo credit scores.
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Sep 1, 2014 05:19
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FrozenVent posted:Rent to own customers don't have credit cards though. I remember getting my credit card when I was in my first year of university. They literally have a worse credit score than a student. e: I really needed to add this as it's closer to home for me. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0406/S00004/2003-draunisalato-award-for-worst-company-in-fiji.htm quote:Burns Philps normally charges 1.7 % monthly interest rates, while Courts charges 1.9 % monthly interest rates. This translates to 20.4 % interest rate or 22.8 % interest rate a year on the goods sold. If the payments are spread over two-three years, the interest rate doubles and triples. In addition, the interest rate is fixed and not based on reducing balance. In the end, the customers may end up paying a total of 40% or 50% interest rates or more on the value of the goods purchased. Devian666 fucked around with this message at 05:28 on Sep 1, 2014 |
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Sep 1, 2014 05:25
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Student cards are a whole different animal though, you're assumed not to have credit in the first place. It's an introductory thing to get used to having a credit card.
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Sep 1, 2014 05:29
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