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Old Fart posted:Depending where you live, considering going pre-pay minutes with no data plan. WiFi is everywhere. In my town, my home ISP has free hotspots for customers all over the place. Maybe you really don't need 24/7 connectivity. Pre-load some podcasts or reading list pages. Download offline maps if you're going somewhere unfamiliar. If you're a transit commuter, buy a kindle and feel smug. I get trying to save a few bucks on your cell phone bill but not having a data plan and contorting yourself around it? Come on.
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 16:11 |
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# ? Jun 5, 2024 05:07 |
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Barry posted:I get trying to save a few bucks on your cell phone bill but not having a data plan and contorting yourself around it? Come on. For example, here in Canada data plans are very overpriced. Koodo (my carrier, and considered one of the "cheaper" ones) has some pretty laughable offerings. Having a data plan would be convenient, but I have a hard time justifying the higher bill for such a pitiful data cap, especially considering that I'm already paying an inflated amount for my home Internet. As you can see in the link, the cheapest data plan offers a whopping 50MB per month (with very high overage fees). The most you can get is 1GB per month, but that nearly doubles your monthly bill. It's stupid. melon cat fucked around with this message at 17:32 on Dec 3, 2014 |
# ? Dec 3, 2014 17:23 |
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BigDave posted:Dang, and here I am with my Mr. Coffee drip machine and can of Hills Brothers. You guys really take coffee seriously. http://www.virginmobileusa.com/cell-phone-plans/data-messaging-plans/overview/ We do the $35/mo plan. No complaints. Only drawback is you have to use one of their phones, but at $75/month savings + whatever you get for reselling your current phones, that will probably make up for your upfront out of pocket pretty soon, unless you need the latest and greatest phone for some reason. Related bad with money story: My sister is about to buy a brand new iPhone 6+ out of pocket for like $600. She's a college freshman who is currently accumulating loans, and working like 5-10 hours per week. She already has an iPhone 5. At least she went to an in-state school and has some scholarship money. But still.
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 18:00 |
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Hopefully she's trading in or selling the iPhone 5--that'll take care of a good chunk of it.
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 18:09 |
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Boot and Rally posted:By PDX, do you mean Portland? Is living in parts of the country not naturally warm considered bad with money? Not a Children posted:Seems like a pretty lousy workaround to me. Just 'cause it's all charged up front doesn't mean it's not interest. An upcharge by any other name would smell as sweet to the banks KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:No, you're paying a set amount as the "interest" - western interest rates are compounding, this is not.
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 18:17 |
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Barry posted:I get trying to save a few bucks on your cell phone bill but not having a data plan and contorting yourself around it? Come on. Believe it or not, you don't need to be connected to Facebook 24/7. Unless you're constantly using your data plan for work, there's little reason for it these days. It wasn't that long ago that nobody had a data plan. Oh, no, so you won't be able to instantly look up random bits of trivia. You might have to talk to people, like those bygone days of the early aughts.
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 18:29 |
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Old Fart posted:Do you control your data or does it control you? I'd argue that there's a lot of value to being able to listen to music or watch videos while in public so when the creepy dude keeps trying to talk to you, you can pretend your earphones are too loud.
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 18:33 |
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I guess I'm the one that's bad with money right now. I took a job with Amazon and moved from the east coast to Seattle, and Amazon wouldn't budge on relocation funding. They were very straightforward that it wasn't available for this position. However, to compensate, they increased my sign-on bonus by $2000 and gave me the entire $12,000 (plus normal salary) upfront on my first check. The job also increased my annual pay by $20,000 from what I was making. The bad with money part? I had to make a deal with my girlfriend's parents to float us the cash and credit to get out of our lease in Atlanta, pay all of the moving costs (pod, movers, plane tickets, gas for me to drive across the US, etc). My girlfriend doesn't have a job yet (though she is looking) and I'm paying back the entirety of the $4700 loan. I paid $1600 out of my bonus and spent the rest paying off two credit cards ($1300 combined), the first month's rent and associated fees for the new apartment, the exit fees for the old apartment, and set up a $1000 buffer in my checking account, plus budgeted for everything necessary. We've also been living with them for about a month now while we hunted for an affordable ($1415/month, 750 sqft apartment in a neighborhood that lets me have a 20 minute walk to work) apartment and for me to get my first check and the bonus. All we had to do was pay for half of the groceries, which is more than fair. Her parents were absolutely thrilled to have her back in Seattle (she'd been gone for the last seven years getting her BA and MA degrees on the east coast). I still owe her parents $2958, and I'm going to have to pay it all off by myself. Plus I'm paying for all other apartment expenses, rent, food, furniture, etc. This is the bad with money part. My girlfriend would love to help but she's still unemployed (with applications out, at least) and even when she gets a job, her field will see her lucky to get $35,000 at the highest. So, being the progressive liberal people they are, her and her family have been pressuring me to not divide up expenses 50/50 and for me to pay more than half of everything because, proportionally speaking, if she were to contribute to 50% of the expenses she would have basically no money left over. I agreed to this because I think it's a good idea in principle, but at the same time I think it's a bad idea for my wallet. It's me, I'm the one complaining about those drat taxes and welfare queens leeching off the hardworking American taxpayer I just have to hope she gets a job soon. We're not going to go homeless or hungry because I make just under $3900/month after taxes, but it'd be nice to have some help at least. It'll make building my buffer a lot more difficult while I'm paying her parents back, and I won't be able to really contribute anything to savings, especially if I have to add her to my insurance because her parents' insurance dropped coverage for her type 1 diabetes medical supplies HonorableTB fucked around with this message at 18:37 on Dec 3, 2014 |
# ? Dec 3, 2014 18:34 |
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Old Fart posted:Do you control your data or does it control you? This debate will go round and round for forever. Some people can get by without it. I personally could not get through work without a data plan, and it keeps me better connected with my wife. Therefore for me, a data plan is good with money for employment plus personal convenience needs. I would probably lean towards that being the case for a lot of people. It's an extension of the point that cell phone have moved from extra convenience to being a real necessity to get by. Cell phone plans in the US have dropped anyway, so a basic, 1GB data plan is usually only $5-10 more monthly, and a cheap, good android phone is $179. So value wise I would argue for most people it's worth the extra few $$. HonorableTB posted:I guess I'm the one that's bad with money right now. I took a job with Amazon and moved from the east coast to Seattle, and Amazon wouldn't budge on relocation funding. They were very straightforward that it wasn't available for this position. However, to compensate, they increased my sign-on bonus by $2000 and gave me the entire $12,000 (plus normal salary) upfront on my first check. The job also increased my annual pay by $20,000 from what I was making. I went through a similar move 3 years ago moving from Tennessee to Philadelphia. Moving out of the south specifically I feel is really hard just because you are moving from what is usually just a much lower cost of living to higher, and it can be a shock the living difference of $30-40K will be between locations. Duckman2008 fucked around with this message at 18:40 on Dec 3, 2014 |
# ? Dec 3, 2014 18:37 |
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Cool, I learned something!
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 18:46 |
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melon cat posted:It's really dependent on where you live, and what your local wireless provider's data plan prices are like. I think there is some sort of magic you can pull off with some providers where they will give you a Manitoba or Saskatchewan plan. Rates and plans are significantly better in those provinces because they have (or had) a large government owned telephone system with cheap prices. I have an unlimited data/text plan (after 15GB they throttle) with some number of minutes, voice mail, caller ID for $80 per month, taxes included. I hit that 15GB limit from time to time, so if I was with Koodoo in Ontario, I'd pay upwards of $300 per month for an equivalent plan plus overage charges.
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 18:47 |
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HonorableTB posted:So, being the progressive liberal people they are, her and her family have been pressuring me to not divide up expenses 50/50 and for me to pay more than half of everything because, proportionally speaking, if she were to contribute to 50% of the expenses she would have basically no money left over. I agreed to this because I think it's a good idea in principle, but at the same time I think it's a bad idea for my wallet. Right about there I was wondering why your girlfriend's parents feel like they should have any say in how you two run your household finances. Then I remembered that you owe them money, which is essentially writing them a permit to be nosy and meddling. I think if I were in your situation, I'd rather be in debt to the worst credit card companies in the world than have to deal with that. My mother in law tried that once, and I politely reminded her that it was none of her drat business how we spend our money.
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 18:49 |
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BigDave posted:Any of you guys know a way to save on cell phone bills? I'm paying $180 a month for 3 smartphones and that HAS to be bad with money. If you don't already have a smartphone that you want to keep, Republic Wireless is amazing. Very cheap, good quality service provided you live in a Sprint service area, and fantastic customer service. If you already own some fancy-pants iGadget, though, they are not an ideal provider since you can't bring your device with you. If you live in a heavy wi-fi area, they are an even better provider because you can cut down your plan and offload even more. I have two Moto E phones on their unlimited voice/text/3G data plan for $47.50 a month total (plus fees, probably comes to $57 or so).
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 18:50 |
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HonorableTB posted:I guess I'm the one that's bad with money right now. I took a job with Amazon and moved from the east coast to Seattle, and Amazon wouldn't budge on relocation funding. They were very straightforward that it wasn't available for this position. However, to compensate, they increased my sign-on bonus by $2000 and gave me the entire $12,000 (plus normal salary) upfront on my first check. The job also increased my annual pay by $20,000 from what I was making. Do your girlfriend and her parents hate you or something?
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 18:58 |
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canyoneer posted:Right about there I was wondering why your girlfriend's parents feel like they should have any say in how you two run your household finances. Normally they are very good about not meddling in our finances, and I think this is a case of "We did you a favor by loaning the money, you should do our daughter a favor and cut her some financial slack" especially since by loaning us/me the money, they put themselves behind on their own goals for remodeling a house and some other things they had been trying to do. I really don't have a problem with paying more than my half of the expenses, because I do understand that when my girlfriend gets a job, I will be making almost 2.5x what she makes, and that it would be unfair to expect her to go broke every payday to pay her half. I feel she should have the opportunity to save money in a savings account herself, or whatever the case may be. I don't tell her how to manage her money and she doesn't either tell me how to manage mine either, but I will be firm on one thing: if I'm footing the bill for everything by myself, I and I alone will decide how money should be spent when it comes to spending on things that are non-essential. What's that dear? You want to go get $200 in art supplies? Sorry, not in the budget. Try again next month
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 19:01 |
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HonorableTB posted:I guess I'm the one that's bad with money right now. I took a job with Amazon and moved from the east coast to Seattle, and Amazon wouldn't budge on relocation funding. They were very straightforward that it wasn't available for this position. However, to compensate, they increased my sign-on bonus by $2000 and gave me the entire $12,000 (plus normal salary) upfront on my first check. The job also increased my annual pay by $20,000 from what I was making. So her parents loaned the two of you money (which benefited them by getting her back on the West Coast), but you are paying back 100% of the loan? The unequal balance of the bills I can understand, because expenses need to get paid regardless of whose working, but I'd probably stop repayment of the loan. Make up some kind of believable fiscal excuse (pet medical expenses). Maybe say that you can start again when their daughter finds a job. Because you being responsible for all of the loan is kind of hosed up.
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 19:03 |
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Krispy Kareem posted:Because you being responsible for all of the loan is kind of hosed up. But they moved because of his choice though. She wouldn't have had moving costs if it weren't for him taking the job.
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 19:07 |
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Antifreeze Head posted:I think there is some sort of magic you can pull off with some providers where they will give you a Manitoba or Saskatchewan plan. Rates and plans are significantly better in those provinces because they have (or had) a large government owned telephone system with cheap prices. I'm just brainstorming here, but I wonder if setting up a PO Box in Saskatchewan or Manitoba would be sufficient for qualifying for their monthly plans. melon cat fucked around with this message at 19:17 on Dec 3, 2014 |
# ? Dec 3, 2014 19:11 |
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Chin Strap posted:But they moved because of his choice though. She wouldn't have had moving costs if it weren't for him taking the job. Exactly. Moving was my decision (not that I got any resistance from my girlfriend or her family - they've just about always lived in the Puget Sound area) and it was my decision to take the loan to do so. I made a calculated decision for the future of my career and found that the upfront expense was worth the $20,000 increase in salary, having Amazon on my resume, and the increased earning potential of the Seattle area in the tech field. I compared average salaries for my career in Atlanta and Seattle, and in Atlanta my salary would have topped out at around $70,000 even in a management role. At Amazon, given a couple of years of experience (even if I didn't stay with the company after four years), my salary will average out at a maximum of around $120,000. The upfront loan is the price I chose to pay. Would I like some help repaying it? Absolutely. However, the reality of the situation is that, even if my girlfriend got a job, she still wouldn't be able to make much more than a tiny contribution because of her low earning potential. She would carry that debt (and give her parents a hold over us) for years and years if she had to pay off half of it herself. It sucks, but I think objectively speaking, it's better for me to take the financial hit and get out from under her parents in a few months rather than pay my half and then have that hanging over the both of us.
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 19:13 |
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I just found out one of the higher-ups at my workplace is affiliated with Primerica.
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 19:14 |
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I feel bad with money today because I'm turning down a large promotion because I don't want to gently caress over my boss, who basically put his neck out for my very recent promotion.
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 19:17 |
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Don't do it.
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 19:18 |
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You're moving for your job and you make the vast majority of household income. Splitting the loan or anything else 50/50 would be nuts. Contributing proportionately isn't "cutting her some slack" or a "progressive liberal" thing, it's normal. If you're entwined enough to live together and move together, it's also time to start thinking of your finances as a household. If you approach it from "it's all my money and I won't give her disposable income and I'm irked she's not paying for half of everything," you seriously need to drop some money on couples counseling. Or break up and find someone who makes as much as you do, if it's that important to you.
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 19:19 |
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Old Fart posted:Do you control your data or does it control you? I don't even have a facebook account. The marginal cost of a data plan (at least in the US) is going to be worth it 100% of the time. I'm not going to list the various reasons but it's always going to be worth it. This isn't 2007. LorneReams posted:I feel bad with money today because I'm turning down a large promotion because I don't want to gently caress over my boss, who basically put his neck out for my very recent promotion. I'm not going to pretend I know anything about your situation beyond what you just posted but you should really, really rethink that.
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 19:24 |
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I have an iphone 4 a friend gave me, it's unlocked and doesn't have a sim card. What's the cheapest way to get it up and running? I probably talk on the phone thirty minutes a month, couple hundred texts, 3-5gb of data.
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 19:25 |
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Late reply to the coffee chat, but for folks who don't like cleaning a french press try a Clever Coffee Dripper. I bought one for work and liked it so much I got a second to use at home and have basically retired the french press because it's just so much easier to clean and deal with. They use filters so you just toss the filter & grounds in the trash and rinse it out. It has a valve and doesn't let the coffee out until you put it on a mug, so you don't have to fiddle with learning pour-over techniques. My boss is consistently bad with money in the sense that he wants to own things that we use for events maybe once a year and have to periodically rent. He told me yesterday that he wanted to buy a bounce house and I was like His rationalization was that we could rent it out to other people when we weren't using it. So we'd have to be responsible for storing this thing year-round plus all the maintenance, vs renting one periodically when we need to set one up at an event. After I ran through that with him he was like "oh yeah, I guess that's a bad idea but I still want one!"
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 19:33 |
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Anne Whateley posted:You're moving for your job and you make the vast majority of household income. Splitting the loan or anything else 50/50 would be nuts. Contributing proportionately isn't "cutting her some slack" or a "progressive liberal" thing, it's normal. $35k is barely half the median income in the Puget Sound area. https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=median+income+in+the+puget+sound+area&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8 It would be one thing if he was a doctor making $250k and she was making $70, but your disposable income doesn't go up geometrically with your salary. After he pays his higher marginal tax rates, his 401(k) contributions, their health insurance, etc. he's got much less than 2.5x what she'll max out at when she gets a job. I do agree that he should shoulder more of the load for a little while because of the move, but I think if she ends up making a tiny salary and he has to pay 3/4 of the bills, he's going to start to resent it.
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 19:36 |
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Barry posted:I'm not going to pretend I know anything about your situation beyond what you just posted but you should really, really rethink that. I also don't know the whole situation, but I certainly wouldn't accept a promotion if it "hosed over" my boss. I'm not sure exactly what that means, but I really wouldn't for most accepted definitions of "hosed over." I've always had great bosses that I genuinely like though, who constantly work with me to fix problems and fight for raises/promotions for our team. My current boss is always looking our for the team and we have a great relationship. I don't think there's a promotion they could offer me that would ever sway me to in any way hurt him. Unrelated: My wife and I are in the process of adopting a child. We've jumped through a lot of hoops and just started the "6mo-2yrs waiting" part, but have already paid a fairly large portion of the related fees. Is paying tens of thousands of dollars for a two-decade liability is bad with money? Or will it eventually work out with the dishwashing and yard work I'll make them do?
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 19:36 |
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Barry posted:I'm not going to pretend I know anything about your situation beyond what you just posted but you should really, really rethink that. Another group is trying to steal me to run some poo poo, which I would consider if my current boss didn't basically pull a "If he leaves, I will leave" to get me my current promotion six months ago (and got me a large raise before that 1.5 years ago). I don't think I could live with myself, but I understand why some people would think that's stupid.
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 19:36 |
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I don't know if it's stupid but at the end of the day, you should be looking out for number one. You're also not "leaving" technically, so I guess there's that? That being said, there's more to a job than salary and promotions.
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 19:39 |
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LorneReams posted:Another group is trying to steal me to run some poo poo, which I would consider if my current boss didn't basically pull a "If he leaves, I will leave" to get me my current promotion six months ago (and got me a large raise before that 1.5 years ago). The promotion I kind of see, but 1.5 years ago on the raise? You're not a wookiee, it's not a life debt. Business is business. Around the 18 month mark I'm always looking for better opportunities (but I am underemployed and trying to move up). On the other hand, if he didn't do that maybe you'd be in a position to take this other job or a similar large promotion. It sounds like he really likes you, why don't you just talk to him about it?
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 19:45 |
xie posted:The promotion I kind of see, but 1.5 years ago on the raise? You're not a wookiee, it's not a life debt. Business is business. Around the 18 month mark I'm always looking for better opportunities (but I am underemployed and trying to move up). ...are you, like me, also rereading the Thrawn trilogy right now or something?
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 19:49 |
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LorneReams posted:Another group is trying to steal me to run some poo poo, which I would consider if my current boss didn't basically pull a "If he leaves, I will leave" to get me my current promotion six months ago (and got me a large raise before that 1.5 years ago). You should talk to your boss about the opportunity you have. One of three things will happen: 1. He'll be happy for you and you can work with him to help find someone to replace you. Since you're not leaving the company, you can even set up some sort of training/knowledge transfer over time. 2. He'll want to keep you badly and may try to match the offer the other team is making. Is money the only thing making you want to job hop? I had a very similar situation where I was offered a full 20% more than I made by another company, and my manager fought to match it and keep me where I was. 3. He'll get really angry about sticking his neck out for you and you spitting in his face, and you'll probably want to get away from him anyway. This is assuredly less likely than you think to happen than the other two outcomes. Disclaimer: I don't know your job, I don't know your company, I don't know your boss. YMMV.
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 19:55 |
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The fact that you're getting poached within the companies reflects well on your skills and your boss recognizing that with the earlier promotion seems to make a case for him to go to *his* boss and come up with a counteroffer. You doing well makes your superiors look good. So yeah, talk to him.
icehewk fucked around with this message at 20:05 on Dec 3, 2014 |
# ? Dec 3, 2014 20:00 |
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HonorableTB posted:Normally they are very good about not meddling in our finances, and I think this is a case of "We did you a favor by loaning the money, you should do our daughter a favor and cut her some financial slack" especially since by loaning us/me the money, they put themselves behind on their own goals for remodeling a house and some other things they had been trying to do. I really don't have a problem with paying more than my half of the expenses, because I do understand that when my girlfriend gets a job, I will be making almost 2.5x what she makes, and that it would be unfair to expect her to go broke every payday to pay her half. I feel she should have the opportunity to save money in a savings account herself, or whatever the case may be. I don't tell her how to manage her money and she doesn't either tell me how to manage mine either, but I will be firm on one thing: if I'm footing the bill for everything by myself, I and I alone will decide how money should be spent when it comes to spending on things that are non-essential. What's that dear? You want to go get $200 in art supplies? Sorry, not in the budget. Try again next month There's enough weird control issues all around with this situation that it'd make more sense for her to live with her parents and you to get your own place until she has a job and can be slightly financially independent.
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 20:09 |
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HonorableTB posted:Exactly. Moving was my decision (not that I got any resistance from my girlfriend or her family - they've just about always lived in the Puget Sound area) and it was my decision to take the loan to do so. I made a calculated decision for the future of my career and found that the upfront expense was worth the $20,000 increase in salary, having Amazon on my resume, and the increased earning potential of the Seattle area in the tech field. I compared average salaries for my career in Atlanta and Seattle, and in Atlanta my salary would have topped out at around $70,000 even in a management role. At Amazon, given a couple of years of experience (even if I didn't stay with the company after four years), my salary will average out at a maximum of around $120,000. Moving was your decision, but in a situation where you're supporting their daughter, any money loaned to you by her parents is essentially a joint loan. And since it isn't a bank, repayment is a whole lot less structured. Your girlfriend could easily pay half of it with a reasonable payment schedule. If you're married I can see you paying all of it. And if you're planning on getting married, it might be best just to swallow the whole loan. It just seems odd that they're expecting you to support their daughter and pay back a loan that, let's face it, helped move their daughter's stuff as well as yours. Especially when the loan is preventing you from getting yourself (and their daughter) in a better financial situation. I'm biased on this though. My sister and her finance moved across the country and the guy had to pay back a loan to his parents. So she was stuck paying 100% of household expenses for 6 months, which really hurt them long term.
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 20:10 |
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Personally I wouldn't ever let a partner pay back a loan from my parents to pay for my personal expenses, your girlfriend should probably step up and say something.
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 20:21 |
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Inverse Icarus posted:
My wife and I are in the process of getting someone else to carry my child for a few thousand. If that doesn't work we are looking at IVF. Apparently it could cost us up to 25k to maybe have a child while all the poors we know are having multiple kids like magic. If I didn't care about MY GENETICS as much, adoption might be further up on the list. For what I'm paying this baby better be a lawyer or doctor or astronaut.
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 20:22 |
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Krispy Kareem posted:Moving was your decision, but in a situation where you're supporting their daughter, any money loaned to you by her parents is essentially a joint loan. And since it isn't a bank, repayment is a whole lot less structured. Your girlfriend could easily pay half of it with a reasonable payment schedule. We've talked about marriage, and it is definitely in the cards at some point. I don't know when we're getting married, but it would most likely be within the next two or three years assuming we are still together at that point.
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 20:22 |
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# ? Jun 5, 2024 05:07 |
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HonorableTB posted:stuff You're being a doormat and you really don't make enough money to take on all these expenses which benefit your girlfriend and her family as well. I'm guessing if you marry her she and her parents will insist on a big wedding and insist you pay for it(on credit, naturally, because you're making less than 100k and Amazon won't give you big raises for awhile after giving a hefty signing bonus). Also moving may have been "your decision" but in theory she could have stayed, except she's unemployed so how? She has moving costs because she depends on you to pay for everything, full stop.
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# ? Dec 3, 2014 20:28 |