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antiga posted:There's definitely enough space in there now for a sweet pool table. They're gonna need some wonder hangers to go with that table.
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Sep 29, 2014 17:48
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CuddleChunks posted:They're gonna need some wonder hangers to go with that table. Don't forget custom M&M's for the baby shower! VERY IMPORTANT. No but, for serious, good job Knyte. It looks a lot better and I think it will go a long way in making your current living situation tenable.
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Sep 29, 2014 17:51
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ExtrudeAlongCurve posted:Don't forget custom M&M's for the baby shower! VERY IMPORTANT. Wasn't it Hershey's Kisses? And the Wonder Hangers will create extra closet space that will in turn make room for the pool table, so it's win/win. Finally, buy a condo, wait for a couple of years as you go upside-down on the mortgage, then try to rent it out so you can buy a house way out of your price range, because your wife gets pregnant again (against your will, and likelihood is it's not your kid). Voila - the conversion to Zaurg is complete. But seriously good job on getting organized. Let it be a lesson that there are solutions to problems that don't involve throwing more money at it. I've been thinking more and more about Cuernavaca - it was a city I visited 20 years ago as a two-week exposure trip through my high school. We saw everything from the very rich, to the squatter settlements, to the indigenous villages that were little more than hovels. What shocked me most what how happy the people were. A second wife with 5 kids that got little money and less time from her husband who was genuinely happy with her life and thankful for what she had. They warned of the culture shock coming back to Canada, but you don't appreciate it until you are tossed back into materialism after two weeks of just being content with what you have. It probably shaped a lot of my attitudes towards money and happiness, and that rarely does the former improve the latter. Point being, KG, that you can be happy where you are with the right mindset (which I think you've almost gotten to at this point but it doesn't hurt to reinforce the positives of your current situation).
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Sep 29, 2014 18:40
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I have not found any times in my own life where getting rid of a bunch of poo poo was a bad idea. Great on you making some space. My dad and his wife are pretty bad hoarders, it makes an already small living situation worse and it's really a huge quality of life improvement to clear all the pointless junk out of your space.
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Sep 29, 2014 19:08
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100 HOGS AGREE posted:I have not found any times in my own life where getting rid of a bunch of poo poo was a bad idea. Great on you making some space. My wife and I have started to realize this, and have been shedding tons of crap over the past year. We both come from packrat/borderline hoarder families, so there's always a little resistance, "Who knows when we're going to need those crutches again?!" "I might use that computer case for something someday!" But every single time, getting rid of the junk has always felt good after the fact. Bonus points if we made some cash on craigslist, or some charitable deductions from Goodwill. With a little work and cleaning up, you've basically added a room to your house. Good job!
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Sep 29, 2014 19:23
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Thanks everyone. Pool table and wonder hangers sound like a plan.  Agreed that it all comes down to attitude about being happy with what we have.Really excited to finally get some space. We pretty much inadvertently made a study room (recliner added), which I expect will be very nice to have in the coming months as stated. We're enacting a suggestion someone made for our home now: if we bring something in, then we need to get rid of something we already have. 1:1. It really surprised both my wife and I when we came to the realization of just how much stuff we had in boxes that was pointless to hold onto. I thought we needed all of it. Back to a little more bread and butter financials - we opened our 12 additional savings accounts over the weekend. They should be ready by tomorrow according to the teller (just decided to keep everything at our local CU). I know we probably could have made each account a line on the spreadsheet, but I think having the accounts will work well for us. Will post the finalized budget tonight or tomorrow night. Whoever said we need to hit the boring part of all of this is spot on. Just gotta stick with the plan: slowly build up our savings, and start the process of building up towards our goals instead of trying to shortcut our way there, or perhaps even worse: seeing the goals as insurmountable and procrastinating indefinitely or writing them off.
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Sep 29, 2014 21:00
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Looks great, congrats on clearing it out!
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Sep 29, 2014 21:30
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Now that you're making more forward progress with the budget, you should really reconsider using the envelope system for handling your blow money. Drop that discretionary stuff down to $50 a month for each of you and put it in an envelope at the start of the month. Plop that into your wallet and now you know exactly how much money you have to spend on whatever. Not enough to buy something you want? Just need to wait till next month and you get your next payout. Plop it in the blow envelope and repeat until it reaches whatever size you need to get the thing you want. The rest of the money you can dump into your many savings account and keep piling up prior to your baby's arrival. I hope what you'll find is that by having a strict limit on what you can spend on stupid poo poo that has a physical presence you are going to start saying to yourself, "Oh crap, if I buy this drive-thru breakfast I won't have any blow money left over for later." There is a neurological difference between spending cash and paying with a card. Because of this, moving yourself to an envelope system for a while means you can immediately see the effects your spending has on your available resources. You've said you don't want to do this for all your spending categories and that's fine but try it with the blow category and see how it suits you. Seriously though, drop that number down a ways and let the rest pile up in your savings account as insurance against any unforeseen baby costs. PS: Good job on cleaning out the junk room. That looks really nice and functional now!
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Sep 29, 2014 21:59
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Wow, that looks amazing! Congratulations on turning your 1br apartment into a 2br.
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Sep 29, 2014 22:25
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CuddleChunks posted:Now that you're making more forward progress with the budget, you should really reconsider using the envelope system for handling your blow money. Drop that discretionary stuff down to $50 a month for each of you and put it in an envelope at the start of the month. Plop that into your wallet and now you know exactly how much money you have to spend on whatever. Hm well I don't think we're ready to cut to $50 yet. I'd like to keep the budget a little more fat... since yea we're still learning a bit. Definitely feeling motivated though. I am however down to try cash discretionary, with a nice deposit at the end of the month for discretionary savings. Old Fart posted:Wow, that looks amazing! Congratulations on turning your 1br apartment into a 2br. Thanks. The room is already feeling like a little escape spot. It's really great. ~8 hours of work was a good investment. --- OK here's the final budget. I think this should last until the baby comes: pre:Allocated Monthly Dollars (v. conservative) $4,700 Pre Tax Savings (Doesn't affect allocated monthly dollars) HSA 1370 Post Tax Savings Emergency 500 House 300 Moving 100 Pregnancy bills 100 * HSA will cover most of the pregnancy Holiday/giving 50 Baby fund 50 Vet bills 50 Car repairs 45 Car registration 30 Clothing 25 Vanguard 10 Her discretionary 0 * Rollover only His discretionary 0 * Rollover only Second car 0 * This is a within 5 years goal, so it'll be empty for a long time. --- Total 1260 Costs Rent 1200** Debt 710 Groceries 500 Pets 150 Utilities 150** Fuel 130 Car insurance 100 Internet 55 Renters insurance 20 Phone 19 Netflix 8 Medical 0 * HSA should cover all going forward --- Total 3042 Discretionary Her discretionary 200 His discretionary 200 --- Total 400 ** Inflated to feel effect of living in a bigger place if we decide to move. I moved some dollars around in savings to better match what I feel we may need, and subtracted the discretionary by $100. Extra $100 going towards the house down payment. That will really add up over time, and better aligns our budget to match our goals. I really appreciate everyone helping me come to a consensus on these numbers. I'm feeling really confident about sticking with this; definitely more-so than any other budget I've/we've drawn up pretty much ever.
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Sep 30, 2014 05:05
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That looks like a great budget and I'm really rooting for you to stick to it!
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Sep 30, 2014 19:11
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Congrats man, that looks like a good budget, and props for cleaning up that room and unfucking that part of your habitat. That was a measurable, manageable, realistic goal and you achieved it. Feels good, don't it? Enjoy unfucking your finances!
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Sep 30, 2014 20:55
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Knyteguy posted:Hm well I don't think we're ready to cut to $50 yet. I'd like to keep the budget a little more fat... since yea we're still learning a bit. Definitely feeling motivated though. Now THAT looks like a good budget. Now let's see if you can stick to it for a few months!
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Sep 30, 2014 21:21
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Part of budgeting is planning for known future expenses. Your current budget does some of that but with a baby on the way and your wife staying home for a while it's important to plan out the numbers to account for these events. Right now, the more money you can scrape together into a giant pile, the better insulated you are from dumb poo poo happening to you or your family. Using the numbers from your last budget, this lays out where you are spending your money and what you are doing with savings. You *know* that the baby is going to cost a bundle so piling up the cash for that event should be a major priority for you. Moving forward, you need to save for your eventual retirement, future health concerns and basic quality of life stuff. pre:Budget for October 2014 Knyteguy $4,334 Janus Owl $1,370 Total Income $5,704 Bills (fixed expenses) Rent $790 Power $120 Renter's Insurance $20 Groceries $500 Pet food/litter $150 Fuel for car $150 Car Insurance $100 Car loan $510 Internet $55 Business $75 Cell phones $19 Student Loan $87 Grandma Debt (?)$100 Netflix $8 Blow $50 Total Bills $2,734 Remainder $2,970 Irregular Expenses Clothing $50 Vet bills $50 Home goods - cleaning, laundry $30 Vehicle registration $30 Birthdays $50 Christmas 2014 $50 Total Irregular Bills $260 Remainder $2,710 Savings Retirement - Vanguard $10 Medical -- HSA $1,300 General Savings - Emergency Fund $500 Total Added to Savings $1,810 Remainder $900 Money that needs a purpose: $900 pre:Budget February 2015 and onwards Knyteguy $4,334 Janus Owl $0 Total Income $4,334 Bills Rent $790 Power $120 Renter's Insurance $20 Groceries $500 Pet food/litter $150 Fuel for car $150 Car Insurance $100 Car loan $510 Internet $55 Business $75 Cell phones $19 Student Loan $87 Grandma Debt (?)$100 Netflix $8 Blow $50 Total Bills $2,734 Remainder $1,600 Irregular Expenses Clothing $50 Vet bills $50 Home goods - cleaning, laundry $30 Vehicle registration $30 Birthdays $50 Christmas 2014 $50 Stupid Baby poo poo $30 Total Irregular Bills $290 Remainder $1,310 Savings Retirement - Vanguard $400 Medical -- HSA $500 General Savings - Emergency Fund $400 Total Added to Savings $1,300 Remainder $10 Money that needs a purpose: $10 One of the biggest drains on your finances is that car. It's a HUGE expense month to month for you. Ditching that thing and getting a vehicle that is paid for would take a lot of burden off the budget. It's the same thing with any debt, like your student loans. Once those are repaid the money you were allocating to them is now available for other more enjoyable uses. The blow money thing is something you and your wife should really talk about once you look over the numbers up above. You don't necessarily need to live like monks forever but right now you are starting a family and have student loan debt and a massive car loan to shoulder. Getting out of that poo poo will take some sacrifice over the short term so you can move forward for the long term. What about moving or new furniture or entertainment? Under these budgets you don't have the money for it. If you want to budget in for future furniture purchases, and I think you should, then you'll need to reduce money going into savings. Want to go to San Francisco? It's a great place but you'll need to plan for it by reducing what goes into your savings accordingly. Notice how tight things get once your wife stops working. You aren't broke by any means but I hope this helps lay out clearly where your money is going and what you can expect to happen in the very near future.
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Sep 30, 2014 21:56
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I can't say that's a good budget for increasing your rent Knyte because the debt is account for minimum payments until your emergency fund is worked out. Because of that money is getting dumped into it constantly due to the uncertainty of your baby. If that's your budget for moving out into a bigger place, please also calculate how much money you're losing each month to interest and include that as an opportunity cost. Though, as a current budget, it's good!
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Sep 30, 2014 22:30
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CuddleChunks posted:One of the biggest drains on your finances is that car. quote:The blow money thing is something you and your wife should really talk about
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Sep 30, 2014 23:07
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CuddleChunks posted:
I appreciate you spending the time to come up with some sample budgets. I agree that the car is our foremost debt priority, but like Rhythmic said we're too underwater to do much with it now. After the baby is born and we see how that all goes, and after we start paying down the car, we'll definitely consider selling it. Would love to have that money in our accounts every month. Life insurance is something I'll be adding in the very near future - before the baby is born. I don't think it's hugely expensive, so I'll probably just take it out of my discretionary until we revisit the budget. With all of that said I don't think we're ready for the budgets you drew up yet. We need to prove to ourselves that we can stick with what we drew up, first. Perhaps when the baby is born we can revisit this and see if we're ready for something like this. Veskit: Forgot about opportunity cost and that's a good point. There's definitely some lost ability to pay down debt if we move, and the side effects of having the debt longer of course. April, Sheri, Quantum Finger: Thanks! Aside: It's relieving to see the thread is a lot more positive the past few days. It tells me we're moving in the right direction.
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Oct 1, 2014 16:26
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Knyteguy posted:Aside: It's relieving to see the thread is a lot more positive the past few days. It tells me we're moving in the right direction. Are you planning on making or have you already made any hundred dollar (or more!) purchases of consumer electronics in October that by "in October" you mean "in the first week of October that will devastate our discretionary budget" even though you know you "have" to spend extra discretionary money on [gifts, social events, celebrations] sometime nearer the end of the month? Because if not, you're definitely heading on the right track. Can we get a summary of your September spending in the next day or two? How did you end up doing (ballpark estimate)? I remember being really concerned you weren't going to make your discretionary budget because you front-loaded your spending again or something.
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Oct 1, 2014 16:49
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Horking Delight posted:Are you planning on making or have you already made any hundred dollar (or more!) purchases of consumer electronics in October that by "in October" you mean "in the first week of October that will devastate our discretionary budget" even though you know you "have" to spend extra discretionary money on [gifts, social events, celebrations] sometime nearer the end of the month? No plans for big electronics/video games/anything of the sort. Only plans this week are going to a college football tailgate party my boss invited me to. $10 for each of us (wife and I) for food. No football tickets as they're sold out. As far as the September budget: Under on gasoline, groceries, utilities by about $100 We went over discretionary by just under $100 We went over clothes by $149 (as previously mentioned) We went over on some bills (medical, internet, car insurance) I think all three overspends came down to both my budgeting mistakes and a lack of understanding. If we could redo the past three months with our new budget and my new knowledge, then I would have known to save for the football device over the months (leaving us with more discretionary), clothes would have had a savings balance, we'd have had more groceries, we wouldn't have had both austere and indulgent months, etc. My wife and I are going to make up for these mistakes out of our individual discretionary funds over the next few months anyway. We'll consider it the mistake of borrowing from our future selves, rather than just money lost. My mindset in the past has been more about reconciling instead of budgeting as has been pointed out. For anyone else who may be wondering what the difference is: reconciling is adjusting your budget to your spending, whereas budgeting is adjusting your spending to your budget. It took my awhile to get that. Moving forward I'm feeling much better knowing this information. Having clearly defined goals will help us stay on track too.
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Oct 1, 2014 19:02
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That's great that you're finally understanding what a budget is! You can use past data to help figure out where you overspent and what your budget line items should be, but not changing your spending habits is a sure-fire way to be unsuccessful. Reconciliation should still occur after every month so you and your wife know where you did well, and where you need to improve. Your budget should not change very often, usually only after life-changing events like having a child or a change in income.
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Oct 1, 2014 19:26
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Nocheez posted:That's great that you're finally understanding what a budget is! You can use past data to help figure out where you overspent and what your budget line items should be, but not changing your spending habits is a sure-fire way to be unsuccessful. Yep... finally getting it I think. Time for implementation. We'll definitely get together and go over the months still. Plan is to keep budget the same until the baby comes pretty much no matter what. That in itself is a relief. Quick question regarding our new credit card and its usage: When is interest generated on a credit card? Do I have to pay off transactions before the closing date? Or is it after statement closes, but before the next closing date? I want to make sure I setup autopay correctly so we don't have to pay interest. There's no due date listed or anything. Only date I have is the 15th as the statement closing date. I setup autopay to pay the balance off in full on the 8th. Hope I did that right.
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Oct 1, 2014 23:46
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After the statement closing date, you should get mailed/emailed a statement. That statement should have a due date on it. As long as you pay before then you're golden. I like to pay right when I get my statement. That way I don't forget about it and it's done.
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Oct 2, 2014 00:56
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Why not pay it off on the 16th? Are you sure there's no due date? What about the online statement? As long as you pay it by the due date there's no interest, but the sooner the better anyway.
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Oct 2, 2014 00:58
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My autopay is set up to pay from my checking account as soon as I get the e-bill or something, and pretty much the only interaction I have with my credit card bill is reading the "here's your bill" and the "we scheduled a payment for this much" emails I get every month (I only log in if the number looks wrong, which would be because I forgot about a large purchase or something).
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Oct 2, 2014 01:57
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I have a statement closing date and a due date, and the credit card company had some little box that I checked at some point for "pay my bill in full from my bank account on the due date". The closing date is about a month before the due date. Read your statement more closely maybe 
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Oct 2, 2014 02:09
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Ah OK got it everyone, thanks. I can only setup autopay to pay between the 2nd and the 9th (USBank policy I guess?). I don't actually have a statement yet since the closing date hasn't happened I guess. I'm not very impressed with their online CC account system. I feel like they're trying to trick me to pay interest at least once through screwing up. I'll keep an eye on everything closely once the first statement is generated.
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Oct 2, 2014 02:48
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Just caught up with the whole thread. Things have definitely looked more positive in the last few days, and I hope you can keep this up. One quick question I haven't seen asked yet - you subscribe to Amazon Prime (or at least you did several months ago, I haven't seen an update). Where is that coming from in the budget, and (probably more importantly), what do you actually use that for? Do you order enough necessities/watch enough content that the $99 is worth it, while also not enabling you to say "hey we need this and free shipping we need to get our money's worth out of?" I know that's nitpicky, but hey, everything else I had to say has been said.
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Oct 2, 2014 02:50
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Knyteguy posted:I'm not very impressed with their online CC account system. I feel like they're trying to trick me to pay interest at least once through screwing up. They are. I had a crappy credit card a couple of years ago that wouldn't let you set up autopay online, you had to mail a request in. This was of course designed to generate fees when people forgot to pay. In a year or so, get a different credit card. That one sounds like rear end.
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Oct 2, 2014 04:55
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It's secured, all of them are going to try to gently caress him.
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Oct 2, 2014 05:03
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Banzai 3 posted:Just caught up with the whole thread. Things have definitely looked more positive in the last few days, and I hope you can keep this up. Amazon Prime shipping we don't use as much as I'd hoped. Luckily I sold the 3 other accounts to Goons for $15 a piece, so it was only I think $30. I'd say we've gotten enough use of Prime Video or whatever that to make it worth it at least. As far as renewal - if we decide to renew (and we will definitely do some math to see if it's worth it for baby diapers) we'll just have to save out of discretionary like everything else I suppose. Not really liking the idea of a price hike to $95 or whatever it is now. Inept posted:They are. I had a crappy credit card a couple of years ago that wouldn't let you set up autopay online, you had to mail a request in. This was of course designed to generate fees when people forgot to pay. That's terrible. I'd be tempted to throw the card away if they made me mail in for autopay. Schiesty. Yea this card we have isn't very good. I'm not a big fan of US Bank for even a normal bank account, but they had the best offer at the time unfortunately. I think with a year of responsible use we'll be ready for something better. Kiwi Ghost Chips posted:It's secured, all of them are going to try to gently caress him. Yea I did read almost every word of the ToS though before signing up, so at least I know there won't be random fees thrown at me. I think Harley Davidson subsidizes some of the risk to have their name on the card or something. Rewards points give us Harley Davidson gift cards. I'll try to sell those I suppose since I don't ride a motorcycle.
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Oct 2, 2014 05:13
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I wanna know the story on how you settled on a Harley Davidson rewards card, among all of the rewards cards on the planet.
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Oct 2, 2014 05:39
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Set a recurring alarm on your phone to pay the CC the day after the statement comes out. Online bill pay takes about ten seconds. There's no excuse.
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Oct 2, 2014 11:10
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Uncle Jam posted:I wanna know the story on how you settled on a Harley Davidson rewards card, among all of the rewards cards on the planet. Jesus loving christ. Knyte, please don't ever make any major decision without consulting the thread ever again. I know you're making steps in the right direction over the past few days, but a loving Harley Davidson rewards credit card? Nobody here would have given that even a slight hint of approval. You could have done better if you had stopped wanting it immediately and gave it time and educated yourself. The same with a lot of things you purchase and then change your mind about. This is probably just beating a dead horse but it's basically The Knyteguy Behavior Pattern. I think it's been discussed, but have you thought about implementing some kind of mandatory cooldown for every purchase? A day for something that costs $10, a week for $100, a month for $1000? Something like that would probably put you in a lot better of a place and making much smarter purchases.
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Oct 2, 2014 14:31
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It matters not one whit what kind of secured credit card he has as long as it is from a real bank and the fees are somewhere in the range of zero to reasonable. Which he apparently researched exhaustively. Give the guy a break
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Oct 2, 2014 14:46
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slap me silly posted:It matters not one whit what kind of secured credit card he has as long as it is from a real bank and the fees are somewhere in the range of zero to reasonable. Which he apparently researched exhaustively. Give the guy a break He could have done better had he not done the same thing he historically does, which is decide he wants something and work to obtain it immediately. That's the point I'm making. 'The best at the time' is not 'the best'.
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Oct 2, 2014 14:51
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Dude, he has a fee-free secured card from a normal bank and knows how to use it. That is way above average already.
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Oct 2, 2014 14:55
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How did I miss the H-D CC gem? God drat.slap me silly posted:It matters not one whit what kind of secured credit card he has as long as it is from a real bank and the fees are somewhere in the range of zero to reasonable. Which he apparently researched exhaustively. Give the guy a break I disagree. He chose a card that earns points that will encourage him to spend money on poo poo he doesn't need (read: all H-D merchandise), rather than a card that will give him money back, money off groceries, or any of the many cards that encourage you to spend less.
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Oct 2, 2014 14:56
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He said he's going to sell the gift cards. Do secured cards with rewards programs like that (money back etc.) even exist?
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Oct 2, 2014 14:57
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This whole conversation actually already happened a dozen pages ago where he posted all the details about this card, so tell you what let's drop it.
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Oct 2, 2014 15:07
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lol you don't need to police the discussion topics here post-by-post, mr. bfc mod man, relax
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Oct 2, 2014 15:52
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