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I give myself $200 a month for blow money, and I make what you do roughly. I often don't spend it all. I also don't drink or smoke and I don't really eat out because it makes you fat (+expensive). Gym is a great hobby to save money via!
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Sep 17, 2015 19:13
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I don't know if adding a gym expense is the best thing. That said, taking up a running, biking, or outdoor hobby would help distract me from not going out. I work in the entertainment industry, so most of my friends and colleagues are in similar boats and they see these issues as more something to joke about over a beer. It isn't uncommon for people in the office to laugh on Monday about dropping 5K over the weekend on some bad decision. I'm mainly posted in this thread because I really need to talk, even in general, with people who don't have that same mindset.
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Sep 17, 2015 19:23
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You should consider posting your own thread here. BFC loves new threads.
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Sep 17, 2015 19:29
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pig slut lisa posted:You should consider posting your own thread here. BFC loves new threads. Maybe I should do that instead of filling up this megathread, haha. I wouldn't mind having somewhere to check in and be accountable for my goals.
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Sep 17, 2015 19:33
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Your office doesn't offer a gym? Too bad. But there are lots of things you can do at home for cheap to free, or bike if you have one - that's a great time sink as well.
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Sep 17, 2015 20:24
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SiGmA_X posted:Your office doesn't offer a gym? Too bad. But there are lots of things you can do at home for cheap to free, or bike if you have one - that's a great time sink as well. Nope. And I have about 2 months before it's uncomfortably cold out and 3-4 months before it's so cold I stay indoors. Ah Canadian winters! I went ahead and started my own thread. Probably a good call since I would like to keep posting as I try to meet my goals. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3742329 Thanks for the advice guys!
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Sep 17, 2015 20:30
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So here’s the deal. Background: I take in $85,000 a year, with another $20,000 or so in freelancing. My wife doesn’t work. (Stay at home Mum). We have no debt and a six month emergency fund, by the end of the year we’ll have about $5,000 towards a down payment on a house. (This is alongside ongoing savings for things like Christmas, car repair, car registration, etc). I’m 28, my wife is 31. The logical thing to do now is to save up for a downpayment on a house. But here’s the thing – a 20% deposit in my area is about $80,000. It’s going to take me about eight years to save up that much money. (We would save more, but we have to visit family in America regularly as they won’t come here. Those trips suck up money like nothing else). Plus, even when we do get to the point where we have a 20% deposit, we’re never going to be in a situation where a mortgage repayment is less than 25% of my take-home pay. So…I’m at the point now where I’m seriously considering *never* buying a house. But I just don’t know what to do. What is my strategy apart from that? Do I just pump everything into my superannuation, (401k equivalent), or some other types of investing? Is there an opportunity for own a house here that I’m missing? Is it dangerous for me to never buy a house? I guess I’m looking for some direction as to what to do next with my money. I have no direction!
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Sep 18, 2015 02:17
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CelestialScribe posted:So here’s the deal. There is a lot of cultural pressure to buy property as a sign that you've "made it". Don't buy into the hype. Think very carefully about what you want out of your living situation: do you value being able to customize your space, or maybe you value the convenience of letting someone else do all the maintenance? What are your space needs and wants, both indoors and outdoors? Are you willing to trade some of these for a better neighborhood? You can think of plenty more things along these lines. Then do the math about whether renting or buying is a better use of your money to give you the living situation you want. In many cases renting is actually the smarter financial choice. There's plenty to be said about homeownership, but the cultural exaltation of that ideal leads a lot of people into less-than-ideal financial situations.
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Sep 18, 2015 02:33
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Yeah I'm definitely learning towards renting forever, but I guess the question, what else do I do with the money?
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Sep 18, 2015 02:36
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CelestialScribe posted:Yeah I'm definitely learning towards renting forever, but I guess the question, what else do I do with the money? Hookers and blow. Honestly, you mentioned trips to see family. I assume you at least get some enjoyment on those trips? If so, there's a partial answer of what to do with money: you already travel to see people. There are two points to money: 1. Make enough to pay bills and not starve and 2. To afford to do things that you enjoy. Only you can answer what you would enjoy.
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Sep 18, 2015 02:43
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Duckman2008 posted:Hookers and blow. I guess I want to put the money to work, if I'd otherwise be putting it in a house. (I know property value doesn't always rise, etc).
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Sep 18, 2015 02:45
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CelestialScribe posted:I guess I want to put the money to work, if I'd otherwise be putting it in a house. (I know property value doesn't always rise, etc). Maybe keep some of it outside of retirement in a more conservative allocation and then cross your fingers and hope that your housing market collapses!
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Sep 18, 2015 02:59
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CelestialScribe posted:So…I’m at the point now where I’m seriously considering *never* buying a house. Buying a house in Australia or NZ is a questionable activity depending on where you live or the fact that you may want to relocate. Often there are better uses for your money. I didn't buy my house until I was 38 so there's no hurry and generally you need quite a few years to get a decent deposit together so you get a good interest rate and aren't living on baked beans. Put as much money into Australian superannuation up to the limit of the tax breaks or tax advantages. Past that point (I don't know the details as kiwisaver is a completely different scheme) you should invest in mutual funds, ETFs, bonds or high interest savings accounts. To do that you need to read the four pillars of investing which is in the OP of the long term investing thread. Whatever you invest is going towards your retirement, whether at the official age or some time earlier or later. The other option is having enough invested to retire but keep on working at what you like. That's financial independence and it gives you the option to go gently caress this poo poo and leave your job if you don't like it.
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Sep 18, 2015 03:10
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Hmm. So what I'm thinking I'm going to do is this: - Up my contributions to my superannuation. (Currently my employer pays the equivalent of 9.5% of my salary in there, and I pay another 3%. I'm going to up that to 15% total). - Erase house deposit savings from my line-item budget. Instead, start saving towards investing in various forms. I may start with a Vanguard mutual fund. - Put any freelancing I get towards a house deposit, which means that I'm still saving that money and it's earmarked for a house, but I won't be bothered by the fluctuation in income as I don't care when we buy a house at all. Any thoughts?
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Sep 18, 2015 04:11
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CelestialScribe posted:Hmm. So what I'm thinking I'm going to do is this: If you can add a before tax contribution that would be best as you get the returns on tax free money. There is a post tax contribution from the government but it is limited to $500 per year similar to kiwisaver. The general recommendation is contribute tax free or up to the limit of government contributions. Just remember all that money is locked away. Long term the investments will put you in a better position. At some point in the future it may (or may not) make sense to sell the investments to buy a house. So yes this is the right thing to do for the long term. House fund contributions from your freelancing are best put in a savings account as you have indicated. At worst you will have a reasonable chunk of cash earning interest so this is a good choice. At least you aren't going crazy like some Australians are and buying a house that takes up 50% or more of their take home income each month. In NZ the average time to save to buy a house is around 9.7 years which is ridiculous but we do have tax free capital gains on our houses.
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Sep 18, 2015 04:50
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Devian666 posted:If you can add a before tax contribution that would be best as you get the returns on tax free money. There is a post tax contribution from the government but it is limited to $500 per year similar to kiwisaver. The general recommendation is contribute tax free or up to the limit of government contributions. Just remember all that money is locked away. Great, thanks! Re: before-tax contribution, my superannuation contributions are all before tax dollars. I salary sacrifice through my employer.
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Sep 18, 2015 04:54
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CelestialScribe posted:Great, thanks! The best thing is 15% of gross salary is the uncalculated target for maintaining your present lifestyle. Everything else invested beyond that and you'll end up in a very comfortable lifestyle if you stick with it.
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Sep 18, 2015 05:27
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Need a quick "yea that is/isn't responsible use of credit card" for a specific use case. I got engaged and am planning a wedding. I got a card recently that has 0% introductory rate for 15 months (DoubleCash). I need to put down a deposit on a venue for the wedding ($1000 deposit). I plan on paying this off over 5 months ($200/mo, no interest accrued since the card is 0% introductory). I have enough to cover the entire balance in my emergency fund savings account, but I don't want to dip into that unless I have it (hence emergency). I worked the $200/mo payment on that deposit into my monthly budget. Seems logical and appropriate, I just don't want to get caught in the rain with some hidden thing or something or other. Responsible use/irresponsible use?
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Sep 21, 2015 04:02
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I would be very nervous about doing any wedding spending without (non-emergency!) funds on hand to cover payment in full. That said, if you are going to deviate from that rule this is probably the best/safest way to do it. Just make sure you don't put so many other expenses on your 0% card that you can't pay them all off by the time the intro period ends.
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Sep 21, 2015 04:16
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I should note that I currently have no other debt, and my other cards are paid in full every month.
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Sep 21, 2015 04:22
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I'd say don't do it. You should have the money for you wedding in savings before you start buying things for it, no? $1k seems to just scratch the surface at the total cost of a wedding. VVVV I hadn't thought of the potential time frame from deposit to wedding. Most folks I know were more on the 6-9mo, even for very ritzy venues. If its a longer duration, and you (the OP) both have a plan to pay for the rest in cash and need to lock in a date now, I suppose that could be alright. Putting wedding <anything> on a CC worries me, as what if you use the same justification for *upgrading* this or that. SiGmA_X fucked around with this message at 05:46 on Sep 21, 2015 |
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Sep 21, 2015 04:40
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If there's one thing to make an exception for, it would be the wedding venue deposit. Bad wedding venues make for lovely weddings. Any other costs, I would not put on credit however, especially since you have 6-18 months to save up for them, probably.
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Sep 21, 2015 04:47
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What I feel is that, for 1k, putting it on a 0% card is fine, especially if you have the money in your emergency fund to pay it off if you have to. On the other hand, and this is what's ringing the warning bells, if you are considering putting 1k on a CC instead of just paying it out of your emergency fund, and are feeling nervous about putting it on a CC, then perhaps 1k represents a significant amount of money for you or your emergency fund. If that is in fact the case, then you need to carefully weigh the options. However, if it is not a case and you are simply wondering whether putting things on a 0% CC is really 0% or if you missed something and will suddenly start paying 20% interest on it, then you're safe putting it on the card. Bad discipline/human nature aside, there's nothing objectively wrong with putting things on a 0% CC if it does not represent money you do not actually have. Having the ability to repay the CC without difficulty is the number one factor in whether or not something like your plan is a good idea. The question might be "why are you even putting this on a CC if you can just pay for it right away", though, and it is also a very good one to ask.
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Sep 21, 2015 15:22
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What is a good number for groceries and eating out for one person? 300? 150? Also how do I save money at bars? I'm starting to become friendly with some ppl at a nearby bar but i also know its sucking away money. I'd like to keep going
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Sep 27, 2015 19:06
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My wife and I budget 50 dollars a week for both of us in our budget. So maybe try 25? We do the same allocation for restaurants a month.
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Sep 27, 2015 19:23
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Edgar Allan Pwned posted:What is a good number for groceries and eating out for one person? 300? 150? I do $300 a month and I eat out 2-3 times per week. I live in the city so food is kind of expensive though. In college I got by on like $50 a month, but that was a lot of ramen and tuna sandwiches.
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Sep 27, 2015 20:16
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Hey all, How important is it for me to have a credit card? I've been using my debit card for ~10 years now, and I never had an issue. I'm 31, live in the US, have no debts, have a healthy emergency fund, max out my retirement contributions, have no kids, have no intention of buying a house. According to my brother I am an idiot for using my debit card or cash for all my purchases.
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Sep 27, 2015 20:49
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theHUNGERian posted:Hey all, Sounds like you are good to go. Why use credit when you can pay cash unless you want to sperg on airlines points or something.
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Sep 27, 2015 21:15
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Not at all. But if you want to finance a car purchase or a home (assuming you change your mind) you would be better off having a credit account with "age" on it in good standing. Also, rewards/miles can be good. However, there's definitely behavioral economics research out there suggesting that merely owning a credit card can induce you to purchases you wouldn't otherwise make.
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Sep 27, 2015 21:16
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Edgar Allan Pwned posted:What is a good number for groceries and eating out for one person? 300? 150? I spend about $25-35 a week on food, that includes beer and wine. But I spent nearly 2 years on unemployment so I've sort of mastered the art of "tastes good, has fresh produce, but is almost free". A lot of pasta, rice, cheddar and Bacon. Going out to bars is always going to be expensive. One option is to live somewhere with a nice patio area that you can entertain, option B is hit up happy hours and leave when happy hour ends. I don't do either so Friday night is typically bar night with friends which includes a $12-14 dinner and four or five drinks at $6 ea + tip = ~$50. So yeah about $300 a month. Add on casual dating, birthdays, etc and it probably goes to $400 a month? When I was 25 we all met up at the local outdoor patio resturant on Tuesdays and they had terrible margaritas but they were $1 each until 7pm and we'd usually split one $3 queso and chips between five people, and on thursdays we'd do frozen margaritas at this restaurant in Dallas that invented them and they had them half price until 7pm so my drinking budget was like $15 a week and I probably drank as much then as I do now (at $50). I have a friend who's a vet tech and is on a much tighter budget than I am so we end up drinking at this place that does $3 margaritas all night and $3 queso on Thursdays. I think with dinner ($10) and tip I got out of there for $22 last week. theHUNGERian posted:How important is it for me to have a credit card? I've been using my debit card for ~10 years now, and I never had an issue. I'm 31, live in the US, have no debts, have a healthy emergency fund, max out my retirement contributions, have no kids, have no intention of buying a house. According to my brother I am an idiot for using my debit card or cash for all my purchases. You can get a secured credit card for as little as $200 through Citi, no reason not to have one, should you decide to pick up a hobby (like sailing) and want to buy a boat some day down the line and need to prove credit. If you have an emergency fund you don't plan on needing, wouldn't you want access to a line of credit down the road if you need it in an emergency? Also with a credit card you can use it to build points for stuff like airline miles and get a free vacation just for using it, if you're responsible with your money. Debit cards don't give you that option. I route all my electric/internet/phone bills and some of the big ticket amazon.com items through my credit card and that seems to be working out ok for me. I have auto bill pay turned on and get a weekly text message with my balance to keep tabs on it. Day to day items under $20 goes on my debit card. Hadlock fucked around with this message at 21:20 on Sep 27, 2015 |
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Sep 27, 2015 21:16
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Counterpoint: it's trivial to use a single, easy rewards card for 2% back on everything. That's $200 for every $10000 you spend AND it builds your credit score (so you can get better rates on things like auto/housing loans).
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Sep 27, 2015 21:18
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Besides rewards, I know that my credit card is better in terms of fraud protection/chargeback stuff than my debit card from my CU is. I don't know if that is universal - maybe your debit card is really good there - but it's something to look at when considering whether to use a credit card at all.
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Sep 27, 2015 21:30
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The advantages offered by a good rewards/no annual fee card are good enough that I think it's definitely better to have one than to not. Only if you exercise restraint with your spending, though. I keep seeing ads on facebook saying "Find the right credit card for you," with a thousand comments all saying "The right credit card is no credit card." How witty. I think my favorite feature is the near two month buffer it offers. I'm trying to pay off my car loan as quick as I can, so I charge as much as possible. Any extra cash I can use now for the loan saves some interest, and I can just budget for paying off the full statement balance when it's due. Or another example- I have a large purchase I want to make. If I make it as soon as I get my next statement, October 10th, I won't have to pay it off until December. I suppose trying to balance things like that can be risky, but I have a good handle on my finances.
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Sep 27, 2015 21:44
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Thanks guys. I did test the waters earlier this year, but Citi gave me a shitload of documents to fill out, in part because I am not a US citizen. I thought to myself: "gently caress this poo poo. I'll keep doing what I've been doing for the last couple of years." A house purchase is very unlikely (single + no kids -> I don't need a house, it's a money pit anyway) and cars are bought on the used market in cash. My first car ($600 purchase) lasted me 7 years, so I expect my current one (bought this year, NOT a VW TDI) to last me 15+ years. How do I deal with potential future landlords who need me to have a certain credit rating before they are willing to rent to me? I hear this is common in the bay area. Is an excellent reference and pay stubs enough to convince them that I am good?
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Sep 27, 2015 22:05
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With finances like that just pay your years rent in advance
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Sep 27, 2015 22:16
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El_Elegante posted:With finances like that just pay your years rent in advance I don't have THOSE kinds of finances. Bay area rent is ~$2500 a month for 12 months is $30k. I have an emergency fund of only $20k. Even if it were bigger, I would argue that paying rent a year in advance is not an emergency - in fact it's high risk. It would be better to find a place that is more relaxed in that regard. I'll just deal with the paperwork when I have some free time and get myself a CC. There really aren't huge downsides. Thanks.
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Sep 27, 2015 22:36
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DNK posted:Counterpoint: it's trivial to use a single, easy rewards card for 2% back on everything. What's a 2% card on everything? I feel like I have missed that one somehow.
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Sep 27, 2015 23:38
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theHUNGERian posted:I don't have THOSE kinds of finances. Bay area rent is ~$2500 a month for 12 months is $30k. I have an emergency fund of only $20k. Even if it were bigger, I would argue that paying rent a year in advance is not an emergency - in fact it's high risk. It would be better to find a place that is more relaxed in that regard. Speaking of rent, I'm looking at taking a position out there, everything on Zillow shows these tiny 500sq ft apartments with tiny lovely apartment windows for $2700/mo Are there any neighborhoods within 10 miles of mountainview with like, old crappy duplexes or something with some more space? I really want to move out there but it's hard to give up 1400 sq ft and 25 LARGE windows with a backyard for less than half the price to move in to a 500 sq ft efficency that's worse than most dorm rooms. Maybe there are some nice 1000 sq ft flats in downtown San Jose I don't know about? If you can build a 35 story condo building in downtown Dallas in 2013 there ought to be a massive construction boom happening in the peninsula but I can't find anything for rent for less than $3000/mo that isn't some dank looking 1960's shithole and it's really turning me off to the idea of moving out there.
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Sep 27, 2015 23:43
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waloo posted:What's a 2% card on everything? I feel like I have missed that one somehow. Citibank double cash Hadlock posted:Speaking of rent, I'm looking at taking a position out there, everything on Zillow shows these tiny 500sq ft apartments with tiny lovely apartment windows for $2700/mo Blinky2099 fucked around with this message at 00:01 on Sep 28, 2015 |
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Sep 27, 2015 23:59
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The part about "I'm a grown-rear end adult and cohabitating with a couple who are also my landlords" is the part that scares the ever-living bejeezus out of me. No disrespect but I've been living by myself in a 2 bedroom for 5 years now, I'm thinking that kind of living situation I dealt with when I was 24 may be difficult to go back to. Where do the baristas at starbucks, the gas station attendants, the guy trying to sell you on the replacement plan at Best Buy live?
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Sep 28, 2015 00:31
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