Hoodwinker posted:

But jeez, man, I feel like they're a generation or two away from creating little Zaurglings who don't understand the time value of money or how it works.

TraderStav posted:

Those things are money pits too. Before my kids outgrew it (and I dumped it on the curb with a huge satisfying grin) I replaced the motors several times on each wheel, the battery, the tires, and I think some other part in there. They wear like a mofo and the replacement parts are crazy.

Now what’s really BWM and likely BWL is the community around modding these up to crazy speeds and torque. They’re chaining batteries together and doing all sorts of nutso poo poo.

Sorry you crashed and knocked your head little Tyler, I’m sure the kids won’t make too much fun of your new stutter at school.

Panfilo posted:

Functional, not dismal. Can't edit when phone posting.

Panfilo posted:

Ive never seen a person with a dismal go kart, they're always a broken one rusting away in some gen Xers garage.

quote:

I used to have great credit, then after my divorce, I keep racking up credit card debt with no way out. My overall portfolio is net positive, but I have worked for startups my whole career and have a lot of private stock that has increased in value but hasn’t had a liquidity event.

I’m in a 1 br apartment with 2 kids (50% custody), where I sleep on the couch when I have the kids.

My monthly income is around $8,000 with the following expenses:

$2k child support
$2k alimony
$3k rent (NYC)
$1k cc interest

All of my living expenses are put on my credit card. I currently have over $70k of debt on the cards. The alimony will only be paid out for 2 more years. I have over $500k of private company stock from employee bonuses (based on the last round of financing), but I don’t know when I will be able to get any liquidity out of the stock - the owner keeps telling me an acquisition is in the works and I’ll get paid out then.

Not really sure what to do, I’ve tried living further out of the city in a cheaper apartment, but between the kids’ school and activities, I couldn’t sustain work and transporting them, so my rent is about as cheap as I can get it.

It seems kind of useless to budget when the necessities alone put me well over my income, and trying to get lower interest on the cards doesn’t seem feasible while I’m continuing to rack up more debt. Anyone have any advice?

quote:

I am an international student in a university in Canada. One thing has led to another and I am unable to finish my degree and am going to leave in a few days. The problem is, I have about $25k in loans, one as a $20k line of credit (8% APR) and another $5k credit card (25% APR). I have about $2k in my Canadian bank account currently that I will use to service these while I can, but I have no income and no other assets, be it at home or Canada.

In my home country, fresh college grads can expect the equivalent of $600-$800 salary, so as a drop-out, I don't expect I can get more than $200-$300 per month, so servicing these loans is going to be extremely difficult/impossible, especially since my home country has strict currency control and only exporters/importers and currently enrolled international students can send money internationally.

My question is, what is the worst possible outcome if I have to end up defaulting? Again, I want to service the loans and I will with my $2k saved up as long as possible, but outside of that, I don't see many other ways to handle this.

quote:

Hi PF,

I'm probably in one of the worst places a 31 year old can be, financially. Especially in the Bay Area. I've spent money willy nilly for almost 8 years straight. Now that I want to plan for my future, I'm absolutely freaking out internally (as I should be) because of how supremely I've hosed myself over. I've botched it as supremely as Da Vinci drew Mona Lisa. I have a sense of humor about these things, so I've got that going for me, which is nice. Unfortunately comedy isn't the trade I ply, so it won't feed me or pay my bills. This is my roundabout plea for help. What better Xmas gift for myself other than a nice big dose of financial responsibility?

Here is what I owe (not counting student loans, which is ~20K):

code:

Credit Card	Balance	Minimum Pay	APR
AMEX	5397.55	357	29.99
Chase Frdm	6300.62	160	19.24
Chase Saphr	19,202.98	455	17.99
Barclaycard	2367.27	52.65	14.99
Paypal	1940.85	69.43	19.99
Citi Costco	7800.33	199.36	17.24
Car loan	444.99	324.28	6.00
TOTAL	43,454.26	1617.72	--

My income is ~5500 a month after taxes (and maxing out my 18K of retirement - which I only did at the beginning of this year when I turned 30).

Here are almost all my expenses:

Expense Amount
Rent 1900
Phone 70
Net / TV 200
Stdnt Loans 400
Minimums 1617.72
Car 325
Gas 150
AMC A List 20
Netflix 15
Linode 10
AAPL Music 10
Goo Drive 2
Dropbox 10
iCloud Drv 1
TOTAL 4730.72
I'm pretty much left with ~500 after setting aside $250 for food. What I would like is a game plan to get me out of this hole. Ideally something I can check on a daily basis to make sure I don't stray off my track. Maybe a burn down chart? How do I even budget?! I'm so lost and confused, and blaming myself heavily for doing this to myself. I can't talk to my friends about it because this is WAY too embarrassing (and I have this one friend who sometimes tells me he has a problem, which is having too much money and not knowing what to do with it - I told him to go enjoy life - which is the kindest way I can tell him to go gently caress right off - and then I feel depressed and miserable that I'm in this situation). Which makes me feel immature for feeling that way, and that makes me more depressed. It's such a vicious cycle that I can't take it anymore. I started reading the book "Your money or your life" and a book title has never hit me harder.

I know need a side hustle and the only one I can think of is being a Doordash / Uber food delivery person (or take up a job on the weekends or both? I don't know where I can find weekend only gigs though). My car is a 2 seater Miata so I can't Lyft/Uber.

It feels like what I need is the help of a financial planner but I can't afford one, clearly. So that's why I'm here.

.... it's 2:25am PST on Xmas Day. I'm so depressed financially it feels like my post is going to sink the bottom and never get any real / substantial help in planning for my future. If that's the case I hope a repost won't have horrible consequences . Also I feel like nobody would want to be with me (I started seeing someone and I care for them a lot), which is why planning for my future is now the only thing I care about.

EDIT: ... it's 9:15am and I just woke up to shitloads of comments! I'm completely overwhelmed by the support and response, and it will take me some time to grok everything. The amount of support makes me feel like this is not an unsurmountable challenge, which is the best I can ask for at this point. Also /u/ironicosity - I was just sleeping (I posted this and went to bed at 2:30am or later), so I'm sorry I didn't partake in the discussion until now. I'll try to acknowledge comments individually now that I'm awake. Some quick updates though:

RENT: I live in the South Bay in a rent controlled area so moving isn't particularly the best option for me. I'd rather cut my expenses somewhere else, and I can probably get someone to move in with me by March after I donate / sell just about everything I don't need (a laptop, some books, and basic cookware is all I absolutely require).

SUBSCRIPTIONS: I have cancelled all of the subscriptions I can think of except what is noted above. I'm willing to cut out everything but AMC - my date and I are super avid movie buffs and I watch 3 movies a week on a consistent basis, and I don't buy anything from concessions. Outside of hanging out with people it's really the only thing I look forward to.

CAR: I think it would be absolutely stupid to get rid of it. If I were in SF I'd get rid of it in a heartbeat but where I live I find it impossible to get anything done without a car. I used to do it and everything took at least an hour longer. It takes me places that I need to get to and I'd rather use it to get some more money on the side, especially since it's almost paid off. I got it used for 10K with 30K miles on it so it'll serve me well for the next 5 years easy.

Obligatory thanks for the gold, stranger! Of all my years lurking, this is what gets me gold, haha. Thanks again, whoever you are!

quote:

SomeCase
4.1k points ·
19 hours ago

Just reading this made me tired. I don't want anything to do with her family's money for pretty much every reason you just stated, though that hasn't stopped her mom from calling me a gold digger.

Her parents do control her with money. GF is co-owner of a business and has a decent income of her own, but her lifestyle is way beyond what she's bringing in. She's really bad at managing her own money, has never had to make or stick to a budget and doesn't have much of a grasp on priorities when it comes to spending. Her parents pay for her townhouse and her credit cards. Whenever they get mad at her they threaten to suspend her cards and she freaks out because she doesn't have any of her own money set aside.

smackfu posted:

Canadian international drop out seems pretty GWM since he is planning to go back home and can just walk away from the debt.

SiGmA_X posted:

(CAN) International student dropped out. $25k debt. No way to service it in the long term.
https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/a9qiqu/can_international_student_dropped_out_25k_debt_no/

Sundae posted:

Christmas Day 3 continues... My 14 yr old brother in law just opened the cat, and the other one is from yesterday. Like I said, BWM master class.

Thanatosian posted:

Meh, the snowman kit looks like it goes for ~$10. The real BWM is flying to visit family during the most expensive time of year.

Thanatosian posted:

Meh, the snowman kit looks like it goes for ~$10. The real BWM is flying to visit family during the most expensive time of year.

Sundae posted:

Christmas Day 3 continues... My 14 yr old brother in law just opened the cat, and the other one is from yesterday. Like I said, BWM master class.

Sundae posted:

Christmas Day 3 continues... My 14 yr old brother in law just opened the cat, and the other one is from yesterday. Like I said, BWM master class.

Sundae posted:

Sundae posted:

Christmas Day 3 continues... My 14 yr old brother in law just opened the cat, and the other one is from yesterday. Like I said, BWM master class.

Vox Nihili posted:

Lol @ the people moralizing at this guy in the comments for considering default. Will someone please think of the banks!!!!

BEHOLD: MY CAPE posted:

Lol the Green Bay Packers sticker decorated cat statue is possibly the worst object that has ever existed

Murderball posted:

I'm a Patriots and Red Sox fan

Elysium posted:

I just caught a car ad on TV offering 12k in incentives for some SUV if you finance through them. But what caught my eye was the tiny print saying the incentive amount was based on the MSRP of $77,000. Mother of god.

Sundae posted:

Christmas Day 3 continues... My 14 yr old brother in law just opened the cat, and the other one is from yesterday. Like I said, BWM master class.

Sundae posted:

Sundae posted:

Christmas Day 3 continues... My 14 yr old brother in law just opened the cat, and the other one is from yesterday. Like I said, BWM master class.

moana posted:

Interesting. In completely unrelated news, my father in law is no longer drinking regular water but super duper Kangen water, which is like regular water but without the acid(?) but you also set your wallet on fire while drinking it. It can also be used to put out wallet fires, probably better than that dumb lame regular water.

Thanatosian posted:

I somehow just noticed that this is a present for a 14-year-old boy, and not a middle-aged woman.

I do not understand.

howdoesishotweb posted:

14 year old brother in law is also kinda unless you married at 18. Or maybe a half/step brother-in-law. But to each their own!

howdoesishotweb posted:

14 year old brother in law is also kinda unless you married at 18. Or maybe a half/step brother-in-law. But to each their own!

howdoesishotweb posted:

Ah ok. It’s ok dude, I don’t require genealogy in the BWM thread

Sundae posted:

Just wait until you meet my six year old sister-in-law. Did you know that some states don't care how old you are when you adopt? Did you know that some states let 63 yr olds adopt toddlers they're fostering?

I could BWM/BWL megapost my in-laws all loving week. My only worry would be accidentally posting something so stupid it'd be identifiable.

Edit:. I'm 36 and married at 29. I have a six year old sister-in-law. My oldest brother-in-law is also 36.

Sundae posted:

Just to be clear I'm not attacking you. It's hilarious to me-- that was all rhetorical tongue in cheek and I think it's a travesty that they were allowed to adopt five children going into their 60s.

moana posted:

Interesting. In completely unrelated news, my father in law is no longer drinking regular water but super duper Kangen water, which is like regular water but without the acid(?) but you also set your wallet on fire while drinking it. It can also be used to put out wallet fires, probably better than that dumb lame regular water.

spwrozek posted:

Many areas people still get married young or come from families with 3-4 kids not stacked right on top of each other. My sister and brother are 8 years apart. If she had got married at 22 he would have been 14. It is not that strange. Even less so in a truly Catholic or Mormon family.