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I am an idiot and have 11,000 in credit card debt and unless I adopt draconian austerity measures I can only afford to make the minimum payments. I still have good credit and was considering a debt relief service. "Freedom Debt Relief" was the one I was considering but I'm worried I'm going to get scammed by them. Is this a good idea?
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Sep 25, 2018 00:42
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Suspekt Device posted:I am an idiot and have 11,000 in credit card debt and unless I adopt draconian austerity measures I can only afford to make the minimum payments. I still have good credit and was considering a debt relief service. "Freedom Debt Relief" was the one I was considering but I'm worried I'm going to get scammed by them. Is this a good idea? My man, welcome. How did you get here? Are you allergic to vampires and their austerity measures?
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Sep 25, 2018 00:55
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Suspekt Device posted:I am an idiot and have 11,000 in credit card debt and unless I adopt draconian austerity measures I can only afford to make the minimum payments. I still have good credit and was considering a debt relief service. "Freedom Debt Relief" was the one I was considering but I'm worried I'm going to get scammed by them. Is this a good idea? adopt draconian austerity measures until you're out of credit card debt and then keep that lifestyle since it sounds like you may be living outside your means unless your minimum payments are spread across 50 cards or something.
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Sep 25, 2018 01:02
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EAT FASTER!!!!!! posted:My man, welcome. How did you get here? boop the snoot posted:adopt draconian austerity measures until you're out of credit card debt and then keep that lifestyle since it sounds like you may be living outside your means unless your minimum payments are spread across 50 cards or something. ^^^^^ What's changed that will prevent you from going into debt again? If I remember correctly, those types of programs can actually hurt your credit if they take a settlement. You might pay less in the short run, but in the long run you're hurting. Unless you recently got a big promotion/job change/something that means you'll be able to maintain your lifestyle while not incurring more debt, you'll go back under. Take it from someone who has done that - I cashed out my 401k when I left a job 10 years ago to pay off credit card debt that I had paid off multiple times with various loans and such. Make a budget - even as simple as an Excel "Bills" vs "Income" that calculates against each other can be eye opening. And if your bills are greater than 80% of your income, you're gonna go back into debt even deeper.
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Sep 25, 2018 01:14
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Suspekt Device posted:I am an idiot and have 11,000 in credit card debt and unless I adopt draconian austerity measures I can only afford to make the minimum payments. I still have good credit and was considering a debt relief service. "Freedom Debt Relief" was the one I was considering but I'm worried I'm going to get scammed by them. Is this a good idea? It was easy to get in this mess, it will not be easy to get out. Any easy outs will just be you getting in deeper and worse. The continuity equation is a harsh mistress: Moneyin - Moneyout = ΔWealth (change in net worth). You've been artificially boosting Moneyout with cheap credit, and people will continue to give you cheap credit as long as you pay the minimums while you throw away a fortune in interest and continue to get more and more rope to hang yourself with when you ultimately can't service it. Adopt draconian austerity measures and pay it off ASAP. If you can boost your income in the meantime, do that too. Medullah posted:^^^^^ What's changed that will prevent you from going into debt again? If I remember correctly, those types of programs can actually hurt your credit if they take a settlement. You might pay less in the short run, but in the long run you're hurting. Listen to this guy's advice and learn from his past mistakes. $11k is a lot, but you can recover if you learn to live within your means.
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Sep 25, 2018 03:53
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Wrong thread
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Sep 25, 2018 07:28
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Suspekt Device posted:I am an idiot and have 11,000 in credit card debt and unless I adopt draconian austerity measures I can only afford to make the minimum payments. I still have good credit and was considering a debt relief service. "Freedom Debt Relief" was the one I was considering but I'm worried I'm going to get scammed by them. Is this a good idea? $11k in debt doesn’t come from no where. I would recommend creating a thread , posting your honest current income, savings and budget. Getting some advice from this forum could really help. I’m assuming there has to be some spending habits that you have that are hurting. First step is admitting what is going wrong so you can fix it.
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Sep 26, 2018 03:49
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Duckman2008 posted:$11k in debt doesn’t come from no where. I would recommend creating a thread , posting your honest current income, savings and budget. Getting some advice from this forum could really help. I’m assuming there has to be some spending habits that you have that are hurting.  (seriously, this would at least help you be honest with yourself even if you don't take any advice)
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Sep 26, 2018 07:05
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I posted this in the stock thread, but got redirected here. Here was my original post. quote:I'm pretty financially illiterate and that's not super likely to change soon, but I'm finally earning enough now to be able to start really saving. Since I'm still pretty young, I'd like to be a bit more aggressive than just putting everything I save into CD's and money market funds. I heard about index funds recently, which sounds like a really good option for me. Is it a bad idea to just invest solely into something like the S&P 500 ETF trust over the next 30 years or so? I know diversification is a big deal, but the fund itself is really diversified so I don't know if it's necessary to invest in many of them. To clarify based on some responses I got in that thread, this is not retirement savings. I have a 401k plan through my employer with a 7.5% match, and a pension. This is more of an emergency fund that will grow beyond what would be necessary for an emergency, and I would like to build that up over the rest of my life with higher interest rates than a generic savings account. It's basically be a savings account that's trading liquidity for having the interest rate of an index fund. To me it seems like a lot of the perks of playing the stock market with limited risk and no need to pay a whole lot of attention to the day to day minutiae of the financial market. If anyone has any recommendations for directions I should start looking, I'm all ears.
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Sep 26, 2018 21:44
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What's your income? What are your goals for this money? You should fund an e-fund and then figure out what to do with the rest of the money, not have one big weird risk-heavy e-fund, which it sounds like you plan to do. Are you contributing to any form of IRA? Because you should definitely stick money in that. I know you are saying that this isn't for retirement but you should be funding an IRA if you can afford to do so.
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Sep 26, 2018 21:58
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Just to clarify: you have calculated how much money you'll need in retirement and have confirmed that your current retirement savings will grow under conservative circumstances into the amount you need, yes?
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Sep 26, 2018 21:58
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:What's your income? What are your goals for this money? You should fund an e-fund and then figure out what to do with the rest of the money, not have one big weird risk-heavy e-fund, which it sounds like you plan to do. About $50k annually. The goal is to I guess build a nest egg. I could contribute probably $100 a week for the next 10 years without touching it. Then from that point on I could continue to contribute while having more freedom to make decisions like buying a nice car, or kids college funds and things like that. No, I don't have an IRA. It's not something I've really researched. Hoodwinker posted:Just to clarify: you have calculated how much money you'll need in retirement and have confirmed that your current retirement savings will grow under conservative circumstances into the amount you need, yes? I'm at least 35 years out from retirement. I know I'm going to be in good shape retirement-wise 20 years from now. This is more about being in good shape 20 years from now, and with that financial flexibility I'll be able to better assess what I need to do moving forward then. I don't want my only investing to be tied up in poo poo that's not doing anything for me until I turn 65.
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Sep 26, 2018 22:15
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Volkerball posted:I'm at least 35 years out from retirement. I know I'm going to be in good shape retirement-wise 20 years from now. This is more about being in good shape 20 years from now, and with that financial flexibility I'll be able to better assess what I need to do moving forward then. I don't want my only investing to be tied up in poo poo that's not doing anything for me until I turn 65. I ask this because it may not be advisable to invest an arbitrary amount of money for an arbitrary amount of time. You may have other considerations immediately in front of you. Hoodwinker fucked around with this message at 22:43 on Sep 26, 2018 |
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Sep 26, 2018 22:40
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Get real goals.
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Sep 27, 2018 02:18
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:Get real goals. Get SMART goals. Make sure they're specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. examples: I would like to have sufficient assets by age 55 that I could replace our current combined monthly take-home adjusted for inflation with no more than a 3% withdrawal (if we so choose). In 24 months, I would like to have saved 20% of a down payment toward the home we want to inhabit for the next 30 years. etc.
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Sep 27, 2018 15:28
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Any recommendations for good personal finance podcasts?
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Oct 2, 2018 23:56
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I have a variety of different accounts open. Like 3 checking accounts, 3 savings accounts, and a couple of investment accounts. Is there something I should be documenting if i get hit by a car tomorrow and die, so that my wife will at least know where my money is hidden? I mean, I know about power of attorneys and stuff, but should I make a a list of account numbers/locations? Most of our money is in joint accounts, but I've opened up a few different accounts in the last year because the interest rates were better on some online banks.
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Oct 3, 2018 02:59
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TLG James posted:I have a variety of different accounts open. Like 3 checking accounts, 3 savings accounts, and a couple of investment accounts.
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Oct 3, 2018 05:29
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TLG James posted:I have a variety of different accounts open. Like 3 checking accounts, 3 savings accounts, and a couple of investment accounts. A will. Although my wife and I have been talking about making a will, and we always say we will do it later. So we probably are making the same mistake. For right now, of all things my wife has complete access to our shared 1 password account, so I think anything of mine she would need she can get through that. So that’s a smaller, non formal way of leaving info behind. Make sure she knows your iPhone lock code. That’s a legit big issue when people die.
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Oct 3, 2018 05:34
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Many banks will allow you to assign a beneficiary (I forget the exact term they use) who is automatically paid out the value of the account on the accountholder's death. You can easily do this with all of your bank accounts to simplify needing a will.
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Oct 3, 2018 05:52
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Duckman2008 posted:A will. Although my wife and I have been talking about making a will, and we always say we will do it later. So we probably are making the same mistake. You definitely need a will but there is much more to legal and practical estate planning then having a will. In fact a significant goal of estate planning should be avoid probate of a will with regard to as many of your assets as possible, because it is time-consuming and expensive and whomever you intend to benefit from your estate will not have access to the assets being probated until the process is complete, which can take months or years.
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Oct 3, 2018 17:20
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I have not recently had medical insurance because frankly it's expensive and we're young and healthy for the moment, no babies on the way, my son is over the every month pediatrician visits, etc. My offered PPO insurance costs $605 per pay period which is 24 periods a year (twice a month), so $1210 pretax cost. I'm comfortable doing no insurance until we own a home which we'll be getting serious about the end of next year; our medical costs right now are probably $200/yr without insurance, and if something drastic happens then we'll either make payments/pay it in cash or file bankruptcy and hold off on the home if it's serious enough. My inpatient appendix removal was $22,000 and we didn't take advantage of significant no insurance savings because lol we had $0 anyway. However with my new job there are a lot of benefits I've never heard of. FreshBenies for example is one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85JY4mbjWLk A flexible spending account is another. I know with this you lose the money you don't use in a year.  Are any of these useful? Can anyone give me a quick first-hand experience with what the hell they are?
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Oct 3, 2018 18:54
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Modest Mouse cover band posted:A flexible spending account is another. I know with this you lose the money you don't use in a year. FSA is definitely helpful. You can use it for any of you medical expenses. It's pre-tax as well which is awesome. One year I knew I had to get a root canal and a medical procedure so I applied the amount of money I knew those procedures would cost plus and extra few hundred to get through the year worth of Co-pays and prescriptions. For the first year, start small and short yourself the amount you think you'll need. Then you can up it in the future as you learn more about how it works.
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Oct 3, 2018 19:29
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rotaryfun posted:FSA is definitely helpful. You can use it for any of you medical expenses. It's pre-tax as well which is awesome. One year I knew I had to get a root canal and a medical procedure so I applied the amount of money I knew those procedures would cost plus and extra few hundred to get through the year worth of Co-pays and prescriptions. For the first year, start small and short yourself the amount you think you'll need. Then you can up it in the future as you learn more about how it works. OK thanks, I'll take advantage of this then. My wife probably needs a filling so that's at least one thing we can take care of tax-free. Anything else I should be looking at re: those benefits goons?
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Oct 4, 2018 02:49
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Only put in an FSA what you're 100% sure you will spend and be able to be reimbursed for, and make absolutely loving sure you keep every loving scrap of paperwork. They're pretty bad, otherwise. Note that you can also use them to pay for child care (or, at least, you could a few years ago).
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Oct 4, 2018 04:02
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Thanatosian posted:Only put in an FSA what you're 100% sure you will spend and be able to be reimbursed for, and make absolutely loving sure you keep every loving scrap of paperwork. You can carry over $500 a year on your FSA card now, so you do have a small buffer. But yeah, FSA is great as long as you track it and use it.
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Oct 4, 2018 11:26
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Medullah posted:You can carry over $500 a year on your FSA card now This is employer dependent. They can elect the $500 carry over, or two extra months for prior year fund spend, or make no changes.
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Oct 4, 2018 12:02
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Untagged posted:This is employer dependent. They can elect the $500 carry over, or two extra months for prior year fund spend, or make no changes. Fair enough, I just knew the IRS began allowing it the year after I lost $400. 
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Oct 4, 2018 12:18
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Thanatosian posted:Only put in an FSA what you're 100% sure you will spend and be able to be reimbursed for, and make absolutely loving sure you keep every loving scrap of paperwork. I have nothing to add here but man this is some grade A gubberment BS. I have two kids and each May I need to sit down and guess what medical tragedy I'm going to have to pay for this year. Why don't they just let you deduct up to X in medical expenses from your taxes and do this after instead of before. Oh wait....I remember why.
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Oct 4, 2018 20:06
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So uh, a friend tells me he got slammed with like $10,000+ in loan stacking fraud (he didn't take them out). How...how does this happen? 
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Oct 4, 2018 22:09
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Apologies if this is the wrong thread, but what are the best online resources for finding entry-level jobs in my area that don't require a resume? My work history is poo poo, my degree is useless, and I've been unemployed for too long.
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Oct 5, 2018 08:05
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are you looking for office work or just A Job because if you're not a complete idiot you can get a job in a warehouse by just showing up
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Oct 5, 2018 12:19
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:are you looking for office work or just A Job Just a job. I also don't have a car right now, so I'd have to find public transportation to get to a warehouse.
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Oct 5, 2018 15:07
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Solitair posted:Just a job. I also don't have a car right now, so I'd have to find public transportation to get to a warehouse. all depends on your location but near where i am there are a lot manpower staffing agencies that place in low-skill jobs - they can usually hook you up with jobs that are near public transit - quality varies widely you may also have local town, county, or state level employment offices - the quality of these varies widely.
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Oct 5, 2018 15:23
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Solitair posted:Just a job. I also don't have a car right now, so I'd have to find public transportation to get to a warehouse. Where do you live? Are there any retail outlets near you, especially Costco?
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Oct 5, 2018 19:36
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Medullah posted:Where do you live? Are there any retail outlets near you, especially Costco? I live in an urban area of Richmond. As far as big box retail outlets go, they're several miles away.
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Oct 5, 2018 19:42
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Solitair posted:I live in an urban area of Richmond. As far as big box retail outlets go, they're several miles away. Are you legally allowed to drive with a clean record and are somewhat presentable? Car dealer lot porter / parts delivery fucker is almost always hiring and those things are everywhere.
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Oct 5, 2018 20:08
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Solitair posted:Apologies if this is the wrong thread, but what are the best online resources for finding entry-level jobs in my area that don't require a resume? My work history is poo poo, my degree is useless, and I've been unemployed for too long. If you're a warm body who knows Word and Excel and can answer a phone like a human being, Robert Half, Office Team, and other temp agencies can probably find you occasional work. More if you prove to be decent at it. Just keep in mind that the recruiters for those places only give live birth so that they don't consume their young. If you land a better opportunity in the middle of a temp contract, you loving take it.
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Oct 5, 2018 22:31
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:parts delivery fucker I can only handle soup can mufflers, because that's all that will fit my magnum dong 
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Oct 6, 2018 01:18
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Solitair posted:Apologies if this is the wrong thread, but what are the best online resources for finding entry-level jobs in my area that don't require a resume? My work history is poo poo, my degree is useless, and I've been unemployed for too long. Another type job that you can pretty much walk into and get hired is anything restaurant/food related. You don't need to be a culinary genius. If you want to excel you pretty much need to show up on time most of the time, don't stare at your phone too much, and if you regularly get stoned at least wait until the end of your shift. Heck, if you become moderately good at it in 6 months you will likely be one of the senior people there and you could become a shift leader, which kind of sucks in a way because you will be responsible for your coworkers who don't show up on time, who do stare at their phones too much and get stoned during their shift. But you can say legit that you were a manager, which always looks good. Even if this career isn't for you, you can work nights and weekends and your schedule can be remarkably fluid if you do land something during normal business hours.
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Oct 6, 2018 16:58
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