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I've stated this in other BFC topics but it makes me feel good to repeat it. In the past two years my wife and I have: Paid off all of our Credit Card debt, which included our wedding expenses. Paid off both of our cars. Saved over $10,000 in cash. Maxed two Roths for 2011. We've yet to contribute for 2012. So at the moment our only debt is the mortgage, which is under water. Fortunately we live in a non-recourse state so if worse comes to worse we can always walk away. Our goal now is simply to save as much money as possible for a potential down-payment or complete purchase of a small home. By the end of this year I'm expecting to have about $30,000 in cash saved up. Edit: Should I read "All Your Worth"? I've read "The Millionaire Next Door" and other books which preach frugality/budgeting and at the moment I can't find a way to make my life cheaper without sacrificing my happiness. Is there anything in that book for someone like me? I've heard about other books which preach about spending and enjoying your money while your young but I get the impression those books assume that the reader accepts that they will be working until they can claim social security which isn't my goal. Sephiroth_IRA fucked around with this message at 14:19 on Jul 16, 2012 |
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Jul 13, 2012 17:05
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Cicero posted:My wife and I recently hit 10k of savings after a little more than a year out of college, in spite of having our first kid this last October and her not working. This is still mostly due to her, because I like shiny gadgets and games far too much. Thanks honey! Yeah, my wife is the same way and I really appreciate it too. Sometimes she'll give her blessing and let me get what I want but usually she just convinces me I really don't need it or to sell some of my old stuff to pay for it.
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Jul 16, 2012 14:16
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^Grats man. Hopefully we'll be there some day. Just got the money my wife and I lent out to her aunt back. We're up to $30k in cash now  Now we just have to continue saving and hope that we can get out of our mortgage in 6 months.
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Jul 23, 2012 13:41
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SpclKen posted:Just paid off my mortgage and wanted to tell someone. Feels good. Congrats, my parents just paid off their mortgage as well. Owning a home outright is my next big goal but it seems like such a long way off since homes are way overpriced in general. Does anyone actually feel like their home is truly worth the price they paid or its current value?
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Oct 2, 2012 04:17
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We're going to start using Google voice + prepaid phones for emergencies so I'm going to call Sprint today to see if I can get out of our contract, even if it costs us $200 bucks as I suspect it will it's still worth it in the long run even if the upfront costs are high. Started cooking at home and now I'm bringing my lunch to work. That's a minimum of $100-$150 bucks saved every month if I can pull it off. Started funding the 2013 Roth, they raised the limit to $5,500 this year! Just got healthcare for the first time in years.  Although that's an extra $250 down every month  At least now I'll be a bit more focused at work and maybe a raise will come my way.I really wish there was a thread on this forum for people interested in life hacks/frugal living. I keep suspecting that there has to be some way I can save more money but the truth is I'm probably just scraping underneath the couch for loose change by now. Sephiroth_IRA fucked around with this message at 14:34 on Jan 4, 2013 |
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Jan 4, 2013 14:28
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Do you see yourself owning that home for the rest of your life? It really boils down to what you think is more valuable to you, owning your home outright or saving for retirement. Most people here will suggest retirement, especially with your low interest rate.
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Jan 20, 2013 02:39
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Doccykins posted:Thanks to the GBS sticky I read the entire Zaurg trilogy with increasing alarm over the last two weeks, and today paid off two credit cards completely and the balance due on a third. Zaurg trilogy? I guess you're including the novella in You Look like poo poo as well? Good job paying off your cc debt. RogueLemming posted:I know in internet time this post is years old, but have you looked at Ting wireless? They run on Sprint's network, but you only pay for the minutes/texts/data that you actually use. The downside is that they don't subsidize their phones so there may be an initially higher cost (and they have a limited selection), but it might be worth looking at compared to what you're considering. I still haven't picked up the Tmobile plan yet but I'm definitely going to look over this. Their cheapest plan would cost me about $120 bucks a year if I don't use any minutes at all. Something tells me I should just go with T-Mobile though considering their phones are cheaper, I would pay at the beginning of each year and I know exactly what I'm getting ahead of time. I'm guessing it's 2 cents per minute if I choose the 0/0/0 plan with Ting? It says 2 cents per minute after I run out of minutes if I have the XXL plan but it doesn't say if that's the same charge if I go with the XS: 0/0/0 plan. https://ting.com/plans Sephiroth_IRA fucked around with this message at 17:54 on Jan 25, 2013 |
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Jan 25, 2013 14:51
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I try to keep in mind that the only reason I'm better off than other people is simply because I'm more fortunate than they are. I lucked out when I was younger and met an older person who had gone through bankruptcy. He told me how much debt (especially credit cards) had hosed his life over and I saw how debt and bankruptcy affected his life on a daily basis. Later, I met another person who directed me to The Millionaire Next Door when I asked him for advice on money. Finally someone on another forum unrelated to finance told me about SA which is where I found BFC. Had I not met any of those people I'd probably be loaded down with debt and living above my means just like everyone else. I kinda understand some of the frustration over co-workers though because I'm aware that our employer would probably pay us better if she wasn't aware that most of her employees were debt slaves. Once I have a house paid down I could tell her "Give me a raise or I'll quit" without fear because I could work part time at Walmart and pay my bills (while looking for another job) if she fired me. The rest of my co-workers (except for one trust fund baby, bragging about debt is bad, bragging about collecting from a trust fund every year is worse.) will work for peanuts because it's the best paying job they can get and they're still barely able to make ends meet each month. Sephiroth_IRA fucked around with this message at 18:33 on Feb 9, 2013 |
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Feb 9, 2013 18:04
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How old are these people? Most of my co-workers are in their late fourties to mid fifties and seem to have the same mentality. I've realized a person's income (with the help of facebook and co-workers) really has nothing to do with how smart they are, especially with money.
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Feb 12, 2013 04:01
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I think you had your own thread a year or so ago, it seems like you've come a long way since then, good job.MJBuddy posted:Why would I? I agree a person shouldn't feel ashamed about being debt free when others are not (I try to be empathetic though) but work is one of those environments where being cautious is a usually the best way to go. I mean I recently caused a ruckus at work because one of my co-workers said, "Slavery only existed in the United States for less than 80 years." and instead of walking away I had to be correct them, "Try over 200 years". Turns out it was a bad idea because I forgot where I was and another co-worker told me that was the dumbest thing she ever heard because the United States was only a little over 200 years old.  So my choices are unnecessary drama with co-workers that angers me so much that I have to create an E/N thread to deal with it or I could just avoid it and spend more time in my office daydreaming or doing something more productive. Sephiroth_IRA fucked around with this message at 04:10 on Feb 13, 2013 |
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Feb 13, 2013 03:51
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According to Mint, Our net worth just hit $60,000.. Too bad I have to pay the mortgage soon. 
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Mar 1, 2013 14:53
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Happy Hat posted:Basically what it means is that I've taken my expenses, categorized by place of purchase, and gone to some of the places that we frequent often, asking them for an account to get a rebate on all future purchases. This works with smaller businesses, not with large ones. It won't get me any money back, but if I plan on spending a couple of thousand somewhere during the next year, I will now save a couple of hundred when doing so... Any examples of the stores you managed to pull this off at? I can't think of one I frequent that would offer something like this, I suppose it would have to be a really small business. Now I'm wondering why haggling stopped being a societal norm (as opposed to firm pricing) in the United States, or maybe it started elsewhere? Most people wouldn't even consider trying what you did because "haggling" (loosely applies here) is considered to be "undignified". Even a tight-wad like me wouldn't consider doing it because I'd assume most companies would just laugh when approached over a discount because why would they give me a discount when they have so many other suckers around willing to pay premium without even thinking about it?
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Apr 2, 2013 13:56
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canyoneer posted:Congratulations! They're worth 20-30 bucks maybe. People use those things along with can radios to make Wifi antennas so they can steal/provide Internet long range. At the moment I have the Can but no ladder to get my old satellite off the roof. http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR2.TRC1.A0&_nkw=satellite+dish&_sacat=0&_from=R40 My DirectTV sat is still strapped to the roof but I just don't have a ladder long enough to get it down. Sephiroth_IRA fucked around with this message at 14:39 on Jun 13, 2013 |
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Jun 13, 2013 14:29
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Technowrite posted:Paid off my second of seven student loans yesterday. After ending my college career in 2008 with $37,000 in student debt plus a $12,000 car and a $2,000 CC bill, I am down to just $13,400 on my student loan and everything else is paid off. Great job. I kinda missing having debt only because every time I killed a credit card or a loan it felt like I was getting ahead. Now I just toss money into retirement accounts for when I'm 60, if I even make it that far since I see people in their 50's and early 60's in the obituary page every day. I probably should try to come up with some short term saving goals to get that feeling back. Anyway the good news is that it looks like I'll have an opportunity to rent a home for $700 a month pretty soon which is about $300 bucks cheaper than my mortgage and since it's much smaller I assume the utilities will be a bit cheaper. I'm also taking steps to try and maximize my retirement accounts/reduce my taxes. Theoretically I could pull off something like an effective tax rate (state/federal income combined) of 3.49%
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Jun 20, 2013 18:09
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Well my savings was lower than I hoped (My budget was a little to extreme) but we still managed to save quite a bit. Also my wife (thanks partially to Obamacare) managed to negotiate a better transfer (They were going to send her further away which would make her commute an hour and a half both ways) after her branch closed. We still basically make the same amount of money but our jobs are easy and since we're tight/smart/a little evil with money we're able to save a lot regardless. Not to mention I'm more relaxed about money now, some of you guys probably remember my posts from last year so this is actually an improvement. edit: My opinion on mortgages has changed a bit. The next time I buy a house I would like to have the money to pay it down completely but mortgage it instead. As long as I can keep my budget down to something that two minimum wage jobs could support (plan for the worst) I'll be OK no matter what. Sephiroth_IRA fucked around with this message at 15:04 on Jan 10, 2014 |
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Jan 10, 2014 15:00
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Blackjack2000 posted:I was in such a good mood earlier that I started looking at prices for computers and monitors on amazon. But then I closed it all down and just went ice skating instead. I'm keeping the drat money.  That was the most beautiful story I've ever read, what an ending. *sniff*  *holds back tears*
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Dec 12, 2014 21:12
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