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Hopefully moving and all of it's "unexpected expenses" will give you the foresight to take a good, long, hard look at your baby "budget". I personally don't have a child, but I would be willing to bet it is going to cause a lot more chaos (and have a lot more "unexpected costs") than moving did. You're 100% doing better than when this thread started. You're also still showing you have a bad habit of grossly underestimating expenses. Also you have a baby due in like 2 months of which you've never truly costed out.
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Nov 24, 2014 22:39
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Knyteguy posted:Lawn mower: we got a $100 manual reel mower from Home Depot, and I haggled it down to $90. Yes I checked Craigslist for weeks and they didn't have any, or I would have had to buy a ton of tools to restore one. Didn't check Craigslist for anything else because only the trimmer was worth the effort, and I wanted a battery trimmer because gasoline can be wasteful. Considering that: batteries are not only the most expensive piece on battery driven tools, they're usually the first thing to go out. Buying used may have cost us more money since you need some acumen that I do not have yet to buy used. If it's freezing cold out, how much care could the lawn possibly require? Your default position is always "welp, guess I have to go buy some stuff!", without ever asking if there's a better way, or looking at your budget beforehand and planning it out. You're telling me that your mom who lives two minutes away didn't have lawn stuff she could loan you? A neighborhood kid didn't want to make $20 before the winter sets in? You could have reasonably put off buying all the yard stuff till spring. Or even asked for gift cards to Lowes or whatever for Christmas in just a few weeks if you couldn't wait that long. But as always, you jump into "GOTTA BUY NOW!!!" mode, then pat yourself on the back for making yourself miserable in other ways (the awful apartment, biking to work in frigid weather, etc.). Not to mention your whole "Hey I saved us $4800 over two years!" You haven't saved a nickel so far. If you don't spend a dime on the yard, then yes, you will have saved that much. But that's not the case. You're already spending on the yard, and you haven't lived there for two years. You're going to "need" to upgrade your tools, probably next summer, and you're going to pay more for water, and you're going to probably need other things like grass seed and hay to repair the damage that multiple dogs will do to a yard. Once again, you're grabbing onto a number that you might possibly hit if everything goes exactly perfectly (hint: it's already wrong). So that's why I call you a child. A combination of the whole "need it NOOOOOWWWWWW" mentality that you have, and the way you consistently ignore reality and brag about the things you haven't actually accomplished yet.
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Nov 24, 2014 23:34
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Bugamol posted:Also you have a baby due in like 2 months of which you've never truly costed out. Edit: just to play devil's advocate a little here: It's not freezing in Reno, and this time of year is the time to do stuff to your yard. Have you ever tried to haul a mower in a car? It is not a wise idea. Deferring the expense until later does not somehow magically make it go away (I've never understood that about BFC)... Asking for gift cards to Lowe's - I severely doubt BFC would be any less perturbed no matter where the money comes from. There will always be someone to chime in and say it could have been used different/better/wiser. My Rhythmic Crotch fucked around with this message at 23:48 on Nov 24, 2014 |
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Nov 24, 2014 23:35
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April posted:If it's freezing cold out, how much care could the lawn possibly require? Your default position is always "welp, guess I have to go buy some stuff!", without ever asking if there's a better way, or looking at your budget beforehand and planning it out. You're telling me that your mom who lives two minutes away didn't have lawn stuff she could loan you? A neighborhood kid didn't want to make $20 before the winter sets in? Don't have a truck, exactly how do you expect me to haul a lawn mower of all things? My stepdad was just complaining about carting a lawn mower to his kid. Also the link I posted said it all, and I explained why the lawn needed to be taken care of very quickly (it's the perfect time to winterize a lawn). I grew up in a family who always had the most well kept yard on the block, so yes it's something I care about. I have saved many nickels so far. 4000 to be exact, since the deposit was adjusted to our negotiated monthly rent rather than the original $1,300. Boom we're net positive on the deal, and we'll pretty much break even on the 1st with the tool price. Dogs don't go in the grass since they don't go in the front yard. They stick to the dirt/gravel in the back yard. Don't see why I'd need to upgrade tools, I did the right thing and bought good sturdy tools, many of which should last for decades with proper care. I don't like how you said I need it now when I researched this for like 3+ weeks at the very minimum. Yes I considered borrowing, and even considered just paying for a lawn service. Everyone likes assuming the worst in here sometimes, which is fair I suppose considering my full history. So since we've come back in June we've saved an average of $1000/mo. We've also saved about $4,000 in our HSA account. If we didn't move out of the apartment that average would shoot way up. I feel like you're being too critical here for pretty much no reason. If I take back the tools and borrow and what we have $200 more in savings? Paying off the debt will save us $700 per MONTH. That's the target here, $200 to help me meet the obligations of my lease contract is small change in the grand scheme here. We're blowing that much money away in interest every month on lovely debt. And thanks Bugamol I know we did price out some of the baby stuff earlier in the thread. I'm still assuming $500/mo + daycare at the moment. I'm hoping I'm high there. Luckily the HSA contribution going back to a normal rate of $400/mo instead of roughly $1,100/mo+ will keep us I think above what we have now at the end of the month. Edit: Just saw your post Rhythmic thanks; I think we hit a couple of the same notes here.
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Nov 25, 2014 00:02
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Knyteguy posted:Don't have a truck, exactly how do you expect me to haul a lawn mower of all things? My stepdad was just complaining about carting a lawn mower to his kid. Also the link I posted said it all, and I explained why the lawn needed to be taken care of very quickly (it's the perfect time to winterize a lawn). I grew up in a family who always had the most well kept yard on the block, so yes it's something I care about. What the gently caress kind of monster mower is this? The one I have has a handlebar that folds over so it fits nicely in a boot of even a small car, and weighs about 25-30kg full of oil and fuel.
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Nov 25, 2014 00:10
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Rudager posted:What the gently caress kind of monster mower is this? Let me tell you bout these 'merican mowers now. Something that folds? What is this? Got dang Nazi Germany? That there is for women and children. No we have mowers that'll put hair on your chest just by lookin' at 'em. I'm just kidding obviously. I have absolutely no idea the dimensions and weight, but I've used my family's mower many times in the past and I'm certain it doesn't fold. No way it would fit in the trunk of our Sedan. Maybe a hatchback.
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Nov 25, 2014 00:14
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Mower goes in the trunk with the lid flopping open. Or at least that's how the low-budget landscapers do it around where I live. True, most of them drive 80's Buicks
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Nov 25, 2014 00:38
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The forum is just pissy because you moved. The thread needs to chill out. On the other hand, you need to track expenses all the time, too. And not make excuses about moving as to why you're eating out. I'm looking forward to your expense reconciliation for November and budget for December.
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Nov 25, 2014 00:45
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Knyteguy posted:Don't have a truck, exactly how do you expect me to haul a lawn mower of all things? My stepdad was just complaining about carting a lawn mower to his kid. Also the link I posted said it all, and I explained why the lawn needed to be taken care of very quickly (it's the perfect time to winterize a lawn). I grew up in a family who always had the most well kept yard on the block, so yes it's something I care about. I agree that hauling around a mower is dumb, but I can see your caring about having a well kept yard getting out of hand, especially regarding watering it. Not only are lawns in places like Reno dumb, they're expensive and bad for the environment. If you plan on watering it any more than what it takes to keep alive and true to your rental agreement (i.e. you want it to be a nice lush green), then that money should come out of your personal fun money, because you don't actually need to do it.
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Nov 25, 2014 01:08
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Knyteguy posted:And thanks Bugamol I know we did price out some of the baby stuff earlier in the thread. I'm still assuming $500/mo + daycare at the moment. I'm hoping I'm high there. Luckily the HSA contribution going back to a normal rate of $400/mo instead of roughly $1,100/mo+ will keep us I think above what we have now at the end of the month. Not so worried about this part. I think you've thought about most of this and have it relatively under control. I'm more worried about the diapers, food, toys, clothes, furniture, eating out because things are hectic, wife potentially wanting to stay home, and other such expenses. I know you've claimed time and time again you have hand me downs and it's not a big deal. You've also proved you have very little impulse control and when you see that cute onesie, t-shirt, or toy whether or not you'll be able to stop yourself from buying it.
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Nov 25, 2014 01:25
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Knyteguy posted:I'm still assuming $500/mo + daycare at the moment. I'm hoping I'm high there. El oh el. You will not have time for your dogs, by the way. They are about to get (more) neglected for at least six months.
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Nov 25, 2014 02:25
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My Rhythmic Crotch posted:Deferring the expense until later does not somehow magically make it go away (I've never understood that about BFC)...
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Nov 25, 2014 03:56
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So it seems like you made a rather well researched purchase on the lawn stuff. I still don't understand how you think you're saving $4800 over two years if you admit that your water bill will be at least $75/month. That being said, if you spent the time to research the purchases why didn't you spend the time to budget for it? Do you have a working November budget? Do you have a budget setup for December? I think posters in this thread - myself included get sidetracked by these 'surprise' expenses. People get frustrated that all of a sudden you spend money on something that you say is unplanned, but to everyone else seems like something you could have planned for. This is especially true in this situation where you negotiated to do the lawn care yourself, so you had to know you'd have to have a lawnmower and poo poo. In a world where you are budgeting, this isn't a big deal. You just shift money from other areas that aren't part of your 'fixed' expenses, and you pay for it from that - without your total monthly outflows changing. In a month with a bunch of large one time expenses - like moving - you might have to really cut back to the bone to prevent your total monthly outflow from changing. Even if you don't really have a good idea of the upcoming expense, if you plan ahead by cutting down your blow/restaurant/etc budget that can be cut back, that should give you a pretty good buffer for many things. The way real sacrifice works is that when you have your budget set, you give up other things that month (or for months at a time) so you meet that budget at the end of the month.
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Nov 25, 2014 04:30
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moana posted:Deferring an expense is a great way of finding out if you actually need it, or if you can figure out a cheaper or free alternative. It makes the decision less emotional and more rational. That's something a lot of bad decision makers need to understand, so it makes sense that it would be brought up multiple times in this thread. Like that one time he splurged on a shopping trip because his pants ripped and he NEEDED new clothes NOW. n8r posted:I still don't understand how you think you're saving $4800 over two years if you admit that your water bill will be at least $75/month.
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Nov 25, 2014 05:41
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I think what gets people worked up is that you drop bombs after the fact. Okay, maybe this one was fine? You say you researched for three weeks? Why was this never mentioned in all the talk about moving and budgets and the like? How are we supposed to know the difference between the "oh by the way I bought a lawn mower because I saved $4800 phantom dollars" vs "oh by the way I bought a kindle because I deserve it"? And okay, you thought it might take a little longer to get pregnant, but you were STILL TRYING TO GET PREGNANT. Did you think the dog was going to disappear? Did you do any research as to how high maintenance this dog was going to be before you decided to cram it into a tiny apartment that had an entire bedroom dedicated to junk storage and half a dozen other mammals already in it? Try talking about and planning for things BEFORE you do them. See how it works out.
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Nov 25, 2014 06:31
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Old Fart posted:Try talking about and planning for things BEFORE you do them. See how it works out. When I was 5 years old I was told "think before you act". This is the one weird trick that can completely transform your life. It has certainly been good advice in my life (except for those times I stupidly didn't think before I acted).
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Nov 25, 2014 07:21
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Knyteguy posted:OK I'll bite. What purchases have I been impulsive with in the past 6 months? If I were this "child" you've called me twice now, why wouldn't I go buy a $1,000 car or truck instead of riding my bike to work, and calling it good? Or I could go finance one. My credit has risen nearly 50 points since we bought our previous car. Hell I could even justify going the MMM route and buying an electric bike kit. I don't have to make these sacrifices, I choose to. Here's all your largeish expenses in the past 6 months: May 2014: Wife is pregnant May 2014: 2 bedroom for ~$765.00 / mo instead of the 1 bedroom May 2014: 22 rifle from a pawn shop and a scope June 2014: Our dog got a pretty nasty cold that required antibiotics July 2014: new couch for $149.00. La-Z-Boy recliners for $70.00 a piece. July 2014: No football unless $4,500 saved by September 1 July 2014: MOVING (~500 budgeted) July 2014: $1,100 for next month's rent and moving deposit July 2014: With our current income it is entirely possible to retire by 37 July 2014: We went over our grocery budget ($320 total) July: we still don't have everything moved so multiple car trips (costing gas) will still need to be accounted for somewhere August 2014: SPARTAN AUGUST August 2014: Kindle + books August 2014: If we stay here for 2 years which is likely August 2014: we should be able to manage about $18,000 saved by the time the baby is here August 2014: Our dog needed to be spayed before she hit her first heat cycle (gently caress that). August 2014: we broke the blow money budget August 2014: we hit our savings goal of $4,500.00 August 2014: a secured credit card would be a good place to start ($300) Sept 2014: Took my sister out for dinner, Took my mom out for drinks, Went out to dinner and got a couple drinks on Friday, Got a few beers for football, Went over to a friend's place Sept 2014: (wireless HDMI) We chose the middle option at $128.00. Sept 2014: We had a $150.00 deposit on top of the normal rent Sept 2014: Got some replacement jeans. Shoes were also lovely (Clothes were $150) Sept 2014: budget is now blown by a couple hundred dollars Sept 2014: my wife and I talked about it, and we're not going on the vacation. Oct 2014: we've decided we're going to move Oct 2014: Lease break is 1.5 months rent, but deposit is not forfeited. Oct 2014: Rental house deposit: $1,100. Pet Deposit: $500 Oct 2014: We have $1950 saved in our moving fund. Oct 2014: Move-in day is the 14th of November. Have the apartment until Nov 29th. Nov 2014: I don't really know where we stand. We've been eating out Nov 2014: lawn mower, a trimmer/edger, a manual aerator, a rake for leaves and grass trimmings, lawn food, etc. Obviously, some of these are good, necessary, or unavoidable expenses, and I didn't bother putting your car payment on here but it was pretty high, but I don't think it's changed recently. I think you were starting to get better in Oct and then promptly backslid (partly due to reasons outside your control), and now you're still following the momentum of that Oct backslide. (Also, reading your thread makes me feel better about my own purchasing decisions.) Colin Mockery fucked around with this message at 08:10 on Nov 25, 2014 |
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Nov 25, 2014 08:07
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Horking Delight posted:Here's all your largeish expenses in the past 6 months: Thanks, Hork. I started trying to dig all that up and gave up. Some things I did notice, however, as this thread has just passed the 1 year mark (not including his previous thread): Retirement Savings: Nov. 2013: $0 Nov. 2014: $0 House Downpayment: Nov. 2013: $0 Nov. 2014: $0 Savings: Nov. 2013: $0 Nov. 2014: $4,800 (+ HSA which on Oct 5 was $1131, but may be as high as $4,000?) Debt: (this has been harder to track because he only started using a proper spreadsheet in Aug). Aug 1, 2014: $36,437 Oct 5, 2014: $35,817 (This isn't including the $20K medical bill he's hoping will go away, IIRC) So, in summary, in one year you have come no closer to any of your goals, while making no headway on getting out from under your debt. You have managed to scrape together an emergency fund and sock enough away (maybe? need another update with Bugamol's spreadsheet) for the delivery so you don't get plunged further under water. At this rate forget retirement at 37. Hell, forget retirement. $20,000 matching payment from Grandma by end of 2015? Nope. You're increase in rent along with upcoming baby expenses will guarantee that this trend continues for the next few years. Look, don't get mad at us. About a month ago you dropped the mike saying, "yeah I'm totally reformed now let's just let this thread die." Followed by moving (increased rent), buying a bunch of lawn maintenence stuff you may or may not need (c.f. trimmer), and stopped tracking expenses because you know that your budget has been smashed to pieces so why bother? Again - once the dust settles see if you can stick to the new budget for 3 months (Dec-Feb). Will be tough with Christmas and such. This will be important, however, since in three months you will have a baby and it will be crucial that you can actually succeed. To everyone else: On the baby expense front - it's been beaten to death and beyond. He's only going to get it after 3-4 months or so. At that point all the hand-me-downs and family-cooked stews won't save him. If we start a pool I'm calling top-of-the-line breast pump ($200-$250) as his first knee-jerk purchase. Edit: Before you argue that retirement and house payment are on hold in lieu of more immediate needs (emergency fund and HSA), I'm well aware - just pointing out that those are goals that you have that have been put on the back burner because of decisions you have made. And will be for a long time. Hork: You forgot all the poo poo we had to talk him out of, including, but not limited to: A PS4 A washing machine that could wash 2 pairs of pants A babymoon A football TV package? (I think he didn't end up buying it? 12 pages of just KG posts) Aagar fucked around with this message at 12:02 on Nov 25, 2014 |
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Nov 25, 2014 11:49
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Aagar posted:I'm calling top-of-the-line breast pump ($200-$250) as his first knee-jerk purchase. I totally believe this and even more depressing would be if he didn't called his insurance first. KG, please call your insurance and figure out if they cover a breast pump, especially since your wife is planning on going back to work. Mine does and most(all?) insurances are required to, as part of the Affordable Care Act, iirc. I submitted my forms early so that I won't have to worry about it at all near the birth and the pump will just show up on my doorstep when it gets close. Yay free poo poo that is really useful.
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Nov 25, 2014 18:02
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Oh, of course -- this is only things he actually buys, not things he wants but doesn't but. The football package ended up being a chromecast (returned) and then the wireless hdmi (streaming or something). My money's on a brand new car seat. They have safety implications for babies, and when my friend had her kid, a new carseat instead of a used one was on the top of her wish list. Also for the record, apparently the police station will absolutely install a car seat for you, for free, so there's no reason to do it less expertly yourself. (On the other hand, she couldn't use a breast pump because of medical reasons...) I think Knyteguy had a pretty good (clear progress being made) couple months until October happened and his savings got cannibalized because he didn't really have a proper emergency fund. But I'm not sure he can easily make up for that in coming months and it's only going to get harder. Colin Mockery fucked around with this message at 18:21 on Nov 25, 2014 |
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Nov 25, 2014 18:11
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moana posted:Deferring an expense is a great way of finding out if you actually need it, or if you can figure out a cheaper or free alternative. It makes the decision less emotional and more rational. That's something a lot of bad decision makers need to understand, so it makes sense that it would be brought up multiple times in this thread. Like that one time he splurged on a shopping trip because his pants ripped and he NEEDED new clothes NOW. I did need new clothes right then. Like I said I blew out my last pair of wearable pants/shorts. n8r posted:So it seems like you made a rather well researched purchase on the lawn stuff. I still don't understand how you think you're saving $4800 over two years if you admit that your water bill will be at least $75/month. That being said, if you spent the time to research the purchases why didn't you spend the time to budget for it? Do you have a working November budget? Do you have a budget setup for December? Water bill at my mom's house is $75/mo with a bigger yard and more people living there. I imagine ours will be less. We have been moving money from other budget categories to cover stuff. I've done my best to ensure we dip into savings as little as possible. Old Fart posted:I think what gets people worked up is that you drop bombs after the fact. Okay, maybe this one was fine? You say you researched for three weeks? Why was this never mentioned in all the talk about moving and budgets and the like? How are we supposed to know the difference between the "oh by the way I bought a lawn mower because I saved $4800 phantom dollars" vs "oh by the way I bought a kindle because I deserve it"? I don't like to bring up purchases before hand because (as seen below) I catch poo poo for it forever, even if I'm actually trying to help our financial situation a la the "washing machine that washes 2 pairs of pants" that I've been hearing about for months now. Everything in the move was budgeted for and in fact I think we have $40 left in the moving account still. It was still grossly expensive though which is all I've ever said on the matter. December budget same as the standard budget with an increased rent, with a little less discretionary to help ease the burden of moving. Football TV package was a reward for saving, and I still chose the cheaper option even though we more than met our savings goals. I don't understand why everyone likes bringing this up as a bad thing, because it was a planned purchase. I should have just bought the football package instead of the wireless HDMI since I think I'm catching even more poo poo for making a frugal decision for some reason. Aagar I just posted this: we have about $4,000 saved in the HSA right now yes. Well technically less but we've got delivery prepaid. If we want to switch doctors or whatever we get a full refund. So we've saved give or take $9,000 since June but we're doing so bad right? That's with TWO moves in there. Yea some of that is for the baby but obviously a baby is a horrible financial decision that many choose to do anyway. Everyone has said this to me before, so I'm going to say this to you: forest for the trees guys. We're doing great even if we're not doing perfect, or optimum as someone else put it. I'll admit these dramatic changes need to stop now though, since a few more of those and we're back where we started. E: grammar Knyteguy fucked around with this message at 18:20 on Nov 25, 2014 |
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Nov 25, 2014 18:16
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Horking Delight posted:Oh, of course -- this is only things he actually buys, not things he wants but doesn't but. The football package ended up being a chromecast (returned) and then the wireless hdmi (streaming or something). Got a car seat from the baby shower. In the next couple of months our income will go up drastically when we're not eating almost my wife's entire paycheck on the HSA account. We're saving like 25% of our income right up front right now, and then even more afterwards from our net paychecks.
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Nov 25, 2014 18:18
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ExtrudeAlongCurve posted:I totally believe this and even more depressing would be if he didn't called his insurance first. Missed this post. Yes my wife is already planning to call the insurance company. I think you're right that breast pumps are supposed to be covered by law or something. She's reading this thread daily so I'm sure she'll see this. Thanks for the reminder.
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Nov 25, 2014 18:23
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Dude people are giving you poo poo because you, like many people, spend money when you're stressed and the next twelve months of your life are going to be very stressful. You resent that people keep criticizing your financial decisions but hiding the purchases isn't going to stop that criticism. They're just going to flip out more because hiding them makes them look like impulse purchases instead of planned ones.
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Nov 25, 2014 18:28
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Horking Delight posted:Dude people are giving you poo poo because you, like many people, spend money when you're stressed and the next twelve months of your life are going to be very stressful. I resent (well actually I don't even resent, really) that people keep criticizing my financial decisions because like 33% of the time there's misinformation being spread. No not purposefully, but it can become a little frustrating. The washing machine and the football package are great examples of that. Motivations behind the purchase are probably more important than the actual purchase. Was I trying to save money by doing this (in the case of the washing machine)? I'm not hiding purchases, I just don't intend to bring them up sometimes because everyone is going to jump on my rear end for it either way. Seriously I pretty much regret it no matter what. That's why I said forest for the trees. We're saving money at a very reasonable rate; why does absolutely anything else matter? I think we've gone full circle with this argument a few times. I think the reaction would have been drastically different if I would have just said "well shoot moving was expensive here's where we're at now" and been done with it. There's always a more frugal way of doing something. I could walk to work for example, and then I'll save bike maintenance costs. However money should be used with a degree of pragmatism as well, agreed? Well I feel buying the lawn tools, for example, was a pragmatic use of money. Knyteguy fucked around with this message at 18:40 on Nov 25, 2014 |
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Nov 25, 2014 18:38
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Knyteguy posted:I did need new clothes right then.
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Nov 25, 2014 18:40
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moana posted:No, you needed CLOTHES. I don't spend $150 on shopping trips ever. Ever. And I'm a girl. But keep on justifying your insane spending levels while wondering why your debt never seems to go away. You really think your lawn needs aerating? An electic edger? Are you loving kidding me? You don't own that lawn, and you're taking care of it like it's your baby. Which is great, since you don't have an actual baby on the way or anything that you need the money for. JFC. Girl's clothes are way cheaper. You guys can buy like 5 shirts for $20. A man's shirt is like $20+. I bought 2 pairs of good fitting Levi jeans that'll last me for years instead of buying cheap generic clothes again that tear or the button falls off. And they aren't as fitted. Pragmatism.
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Nov 25, 2014 18:45
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Forest through the trees is the saying. Can't see the forest through the trees.
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Nov 25, 2014 18:47
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spwrozek posted:Forest through the trees is the saying. Can't see the forest through the trees. Both: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/see_the_forest_for_the_trees
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Nov 25, 2014 18:48
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Knyteguy posted:I don't like to bring up purchases before hand because (as seen below) I catch poo poo for it forever, even if I'm actually trying to help our financial situation a la the "washing machine that washes 2 pairs of pants" that I've been hearing about for months now. Everything in the move was budgeted for and in fact I think we have $40 left in the moving account still. It was still grossly expensive though which is all I've ever said on the matter. Yeah it's annoying, but does it actually hurt you to catch poo poo for it forever? In the end you know the score. But not bringing it up leads to not getting advice that would make a huge difference. That's actual damage that you can't just shrug off, damage that's measurable.
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Nov 25, 2014 18:59
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Rurutia posted:Yeah it's annoying, but does it actually hurt you to catch poo poo for it forever? In the end you know the score. But not bringing it up leads to not getting advice that would make a huge difference. That's actual damage that you can't just shrug off, damage that's measurable. Well yes you're right. For example if we had bought the washing machine it would have been a terrible choice, and I'm very glad I brought it up. Alright fair enough I'll start bringing up bigger purchases before hand.
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Nov 25, 2014 19:04
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If you want everyone to get off your back (which it sounds like it) you have two options in my mind: Option 1: Abandon the thread. Live your life the way you want to live it, and maybe report back in a year or two with where you're at if you're feeling generous. Option 2: Transparency. It's been about a year since you started this thread. Why not do a reconciliation to the goals you originally posted. This will not only give the thread clear line of sight to where you stand, but will also hopefully give you some time to be introspective on your life since this thread started. I feel like half the problem right now is you're just casually involved in this thread currently. Trying to back yourself up with no hard numbers to provide. "We spent about this much, we've been eating out a bit more, we've saved about this much, etc." Also you said it well to someone else in another thread a few months ago: Knyteguy posted:I'm not exactly a shining example of implementation here and I'm still learning a lot of this stuff myself, but consider this: I can put aside $400.00 right now to buy a new Playstation 4 next week. There now I've planned for it, I can take take the hit and still make my bills, but does that mean I should? Would you advise me to pick up a PS4? How much interest would you save putting that towards one of your loans, or alternatively how much interest could you turn that money into if you saved it for 1 year? How about 10 years?
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Nov 25, 2014 19:05
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spwrozek posted:Forest through the trees is the saying. Can't see the forest through the trees.
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Nov 25, 2014 19:09
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Knyteguy posted:Girl's clothes are way cheaper. You guys can buy like 5 shirts for $20. A man's shirt is like $20+. I bought 2 pairs of good fitting Levi jeans that'll last me for years instead of buying cheap generic clothes again that tear or the button falls off. And they aren't as fitted. First off, you just piss people off when you make poo poo up out of whole cloth. Putting aside the fact that it has been widely publicized that women pay way more for so many things (so in general it costs more as a woman shopping), what you paid for a couple of pair of jeans is ridiculous. You can get a pair of Kirkland jeans for $14 - I have 3 pair and they are nigh-on indestructible. You can go on and on rationalizing why you paid more for X, Y, and Z, but in the end you STILL seem to fail to understand that you are fighting a war of nickels and dimes over time. Also: Bugamol posted:I feel like half the problem right now is you're just casually involved in this thread currently. Trying to back yourself up with no hard numbers to provide. "We spent about this much, we've been eating out a bit more, we've saved about this much, etc." Seconding this - bow out or get back to putting up real numbers. Right now all we see is a lot of hand-waving and assurances that you are still on target, despite it sounding like you decimated your November budget (even beyond what you had budgeted for the move).
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Nov 25, 2014 19:19
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Knyteguy posted:Girl's clothes are way cheaper. You guys can buy like 5 shirts for $20. A man's shirt is like $20+. I bought 2 pairs of good fitting Levi jeans that'll last me for years instead of buying cheap generic clothes again that tear or the button falls off. And they aren't as fitted. quote:I did need new clothes right then. Like I said I blew out my last pair of wearable pants/shorts.
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Nov 25, 2014 19:20
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Pragmatism is spending $150 on new clothes when you're tens of thousands in debt? It's spending money to aerate a lawn you don't own? You're a loving joke. I shop at Goodwill because I like the challenge of finding awesome designer stuff for dirt cheap and $150 can buy me an entire new wardrobe every year there. You should shop at Goodwill because you're broke. But go ahead and keep justifying your spending. Justify, justify, while my net worth increases and yours goes into the shitter because you have no capacity to plan ahead for the future.
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Nov 25, 2014 19:28
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moana posted:Pragmatism is spending $150 on new clothes when you're tens of thousands in debt? It's spending money to aerate a lawn you don't own? You're a loving joke. I shop at Goodwill because I like the challenge of finding awesome designer stuff for dirt cheap and $150 can buy me an entire new wardrobe every year there. You should shop at Goodwill because you're broke. But go ahead and keep justifying your spending. Justify, justify, while my net worth increases and yours goes into the shitter because you have no capacity to plan ahead for the future. If you rent out your house like you're thinking of doing, would you appreciate the tenants taking care of the place like it's their own? Oh no $25 to aerate and fertilize a lawn get lost holy crap. I like to get out in the dirt after sitting in an office all day and the money is both paltry and within our moving budget. What do you care whether I work on the lawn or not? My net worth has been steadily rising since June. Here's that 33% misinformation again. Not sure how many times I need to say that. Just because YOU spend money at Goodwill for clothes doesn't mean I have to. It doesn't mean I'm wrong either. Just because YOU find it a nice challenge doesn't mean I do. I can absolutely guarantee you spend money on something I find completely wasteful in turn. Guarantee it. In fact I loving know it because you've told me in PMs before. You really seem to like to talk about your accomplishments, why don't you go start a big brag thread? Aagar I just said that we've saved roughly $9,000 since June. That's the only put up or shut up I can do at the moment since I won't know the entire picture until the end of the month; and I already said I'd post that then. Ugh done for now guys. Bugamol I'll get back to your post later but I'm done fighting for now.
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Nov 25, 2014 19:52
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Not sure why you're saying misinformation is being spread in the thread. You need to post a budget and where your finances really are at if you want the thread to be accurate. Even I told you to take a break and come back when you are ready to sort everything out. You'll find the feedback easier to deal with if you structure your financial information.
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Nov 25, 2014 19:54
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Knyteguy posted:If you rent out your house like you're thinking of doing, would you appreciate the tenants taking care of the place like it's their own? Oh no $25 to aerate and fertilize a lawn get lost holy crap. I like to get out in the dirt after sitting in an office all day and the money is both paltry and within our moving budget. What do you care whether I work on the lawn or not? My favorite part is where you don't think you're in financial trouble. You're less than broke - you have negative money and a child on the way. That seems like a huge emergency to me. You can get angry at people who really are trying to point out the ways you are wasteful and act without proper planning, but it's ultimately up to you to make it happen. You posted this thread to get outside opinions. Apparently, lots of people here have ways to help you make progress that you don't want to hear. If that's the case, then just close the thread and quietly walk away. No one will blame you for it.
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Nov 25, 2014 20:03
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Knyteguy posted:Bugamol I'll get back to your post later but I'm done fighting for now. No worries. Again I really feel like it comes down to: Option 1: Walk away from the thread. It's your life. If you don't think you need it then move on. This thread is supposed to help you. If you don't think it's doing that anymore then move forward. However I would challenge you to question whether or not this is the correct decision. Keeping in mind you started a thread a few years back that you walked away from. Option 2: Post either a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly reconciliation that clearly states where you're at. Make sure you don't double count your money and at the end of the day tie back to cash on hand. IE don't count being a month ahead as savings, don't count savings in multiple buckets, etc. (I think you're already doing this with your array of savings accounts). If you need help with a spreadsheet (if that's what you want to use) let me know and I can work with you to make something that fits your needs. Alternatively you could try mint, YNAB, or some other online resource. Whatever works best for you.
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Nov 25, 2014 20:04
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