No Wave posted:

I'd probably buy some pork belly/pork fat and make ground pork/sausages. Tenderloin makes for terrible stew.

I posted:

It's come to my attention that my financial situation is terrible. I guess I want some accountability and feedback.

This thread wasn't really to ask for how to change my lifestyle. I went to a military financial councillor in June, made lifestyle cuts, hosed up in July, made more cuts and took budgeting more seriously. Then I posted this thread. The reason that I seem unable to change is because a lot of change has already taken place, as much as possible I guess.

Do they really seem like excuses? I just think that there were options to help the situation, I did the leg work to see if they would pan out, and they won't. There is no silver bullet for this debt, I just have to stop spending money.

It's comforting for me to have 15000 available if I immediately have to leave the country and never come back or something. It's not like I'm a compulsive spender, a vacation is not exactly something you just pick up from the store.

I caused the debt by going on many, many vacations. Last year alone I took fourteen vacations. Each cost well over 1000 dollars. I also bought some stuff I didn't need and lived outside of my means.

Well, I'm pretty sure I'm going to take a debt-free celebration vacation to SE Asia to surf two to three months after the 0 point. Then I'll focus on paying down the car so that I can start saving a down payment for a nice used one.

Which is curtains, sheets, a used mattress (I don't get your guys' pickiness with new mattresses. Everyone uses sheets so whatever), stuff like that.

I buy underarmour boxerjocks. 3" black to be specific. Cheap boxerbriefs are a recipe for chafing, so gently caress that.

And I have to buy underwear next week, which is one of the things I've been building that savings account for. I've had the same three pairs since July 2008, I remember buying them, and they're really getting quite old. That'll be at least 100 bucks.

I knew this was coming and saved for it. I need new socks too but I still have one pair so that's probably going to wait until the new year. I won't tell you how much my socks cost.

I have a 430 dollar speeding ticket that I have to start making payments on in September.

I'm not willing to sacrifice diet for money, but I'm pretty good at eating well for a reasonable amount

I understand that my situation is pretty lovely, but is it a dire emergency?

I'm years away from needing a good credit score, and mine isn't that bad anyway, so it's not a big deal to me.

Do I really need to sell things like my camera (the TV is going for sure though), which is a huge source of free entertainment and possible income and make an even larger cut to my lifestyle than I already have? I mean, this apartment sucks and I hate carpooling, and these are not "things that I don't really use much". Most of the value is in objects that let me do things that I find very fulfilling.

Basically, you guys are saying that I can't possibly afford my life as it is, but my friends, coworkers, parents, pretty much everyone, seem way less alarmed when I tell them the numbers.

That's the thing, none of these people are broke. They don't think I'm broke. They have 5-30k in debt, make 25-75k a year, they make their payments and pay down stuff slowly.

Also, I lent my roommate 200 bucks because he said he'd pay me back 240 on the 15th. I figured a 20% return on a loan was pretty sweet and I know he'll have the money.

The worst part of this for me, and the reason I'm willing to live like a hobo and sell some things, is thinking that, for three hours out of every day I work, it just pays debt. Three more hours feeds my car. Somehow, one of the hours pays for everything else. I am a slave to my car and my debt.

Why is it so necessary to wring everything enjoyable out of my life for three more months closer to being without debt? It's 3 months closer to freedom, yes, but the slavery isn't complete or that bad as long as I don't have to spend two years doing nothing but having sex and walking around this horrible loving town.

I just want to get rid of this debt as quickly as possible.

Wait. Hey, I have a tent, there's this woods behind the old building on base where I lived, it's very private. What if I just take my tent and go live in there? I could sell literally everything I own except for a set of workout gear and my military kit. I'll keep it all under a tarp that I have while I'm not using it. I'll use the shower in the gym and get books from the library and cook my meals in the microwave. I think my expenses will be about 105 a month (groceries, soap, razors, batteries, gas for friends in case I need a ride). It'll take me a year to pay off EVERYTHING, then maybe I'll keep squatting for awhile to build that savings buffer. How does that sound to you guys?

I'm ignoring you now because I can't stand the fact that someone with absolutely no life experience is giving me advice, not just about finances, but about my responsibilities to my country when you didn't even have the spine to get fit and try out yourself. gently caress you.

Yeah I'm pretty proud. Part of the problem, I guess. But I have a lot to be proud of, other than finances obviously.

I'm an officer in the military.

I have literally the bare minimum of training to even be employed as an officer.


And I have shitloads of long term life ambitions. Are the only legitimate ambitions about building up larger and larger piles of savings and investments until you die? gently caress that, too.

I've been reading a lot about finance since I've been in the field, and i'm actually excited by the amount of savings I could have at retirement if I start now.

Food, sleep, and fitness are at the top of my priorities right now. Call it an excuse if you want, but I want you to understand that this is not some impulsive decision to eat steak and avocados all the time (I don't, though I miss avocados), it's a carefully researched and prioritized lifestyle decision that I think is critical to my success and wellbeing.

Groceries are higher than they need to be because of my diet. I buy fresh vegetables and meat and a few supplements. I'm not willing or able to live on beans and rice like you guys recommend, because I have to work out intensely 5-8 times a week. This is very important to me regarding my health and career so it's not going to change.


Field smokes are just cigarettes, that you smoke while in the field. They are a necessity for keeping mosquitoes away and staying awake. And yeah, it's only like 5-10 cigarettes a day. I'm going to quit completely when I'm done training.

Going a week or so without smoking is not a big deal and I do it quite often.

I don't really give a poo poo if I have some cigarettes, but I care a great deal if I eat well.

I wouldn't call myself a health nut, I just know the problems associated with bad diet, see a huge difference in performance when my diet is bad, haven't really personally seen any impact at all from smoking on my fitness

I could shave once or three times a week, but it would be unprofessional and it's an insignificant cost too.

It's going to be so small that it won't really show up on the graph, it's less than 300 a month.

Yeah sorry, I could put that say, 50 bucks a year towards my debt but if you haven't noticed, it's really a drop of water in the loving ocean.

No, I won't die without the bcaas, I went without this month because I couldn't afford them, and it's really just about recovery.

So no, not a need, just something to make me more comfortable and improve performance a little.

oh yeah, and I ordered the bars and bcaa caplets. 110 bucks. I put it on my credit card (grocery points, y'all) to be paid off ASAP, but the compounding date is the 22nd so I don't think it causes any problems if I pay it off before the 22nd next month.

Trust me, I'm not eating like a gourmet, I eat a chunk of meat and a pile of raw vegetables for every single meal. Sometimes I have fruit. I'd rather be bankrupt and living out of a 1980s hatchback than skimp on nutrition.

Also, grocery store had a HUGE meat sale, so I bought tons of tenderloin and salmon fillets with grocery points.

Also, what hardships? Last month was pretty easy, I just had to get my girlfriend on board with the whole budgeting thing. I ate like a king and have a freezer full of tenderloin and salmon. I didn't go to Nova Scotia because of the money, but my family can deal with it.

100 HOGS AGREE posted:

zaurg posted:

Why are all these people horrible with money? Schooling failed them? Parents failed them? They're hopeless regardless of the education?

dreesemonkey posted:

Post your budget-bustinest pictures

FrozenVent posted:

If the door works fine, swing by Canadian Tire and pick up a $10 can of patch-up paint, clean the area and spray that poo poo on so it doesn't rust. It may or may not look worse than it does now, but it'll at least slow down the rust.

And holy gently caress do you have terrible luck with cars.

Sephiroth_IRA posted:

I brought food for both of us in today

Anyway, on the NPR "Market Place Morning Report" this morning (or the broadcast right before, I forget) they were talking about "Tandas" which are basically lending circles that many Latin people participate in. EX: You get 12 friends together that you trust and they each give you $100 bucks, then the next month everybody gives $100 to the next person in the circle, etc. They were even talking about how certain "community" banks were helping people set these up in a way that reduced risk so that way low income people could get capital to start a business or whatever.

I thought, "Neat a 0% loan" and my wife said "Yeah, my aunt does that, I think it's dumb" and then I tried to convince her to get in on it once she told me no one has ever missed a payment.



Obviously, I'll tell her to scratch that idea when we get home.


whoa.

edit: NEW MONTH woohoo clean slate.

Sephiroth_IRA posted:

edit: You're right, it is a type of microfinance but there are some key differences.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tandas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotating_Savings_and_Credit_Association

Sephiroth_IRA posted:

I know what you mean. When I first started out things went great because every week/month I was completing goals and knocking my debt out of the park. A credit card here, the car, the wedding expenses, my emergency fund, etc. Now all of my personal finance goals are long term so those highs are no longer as frequent.

What made the long term stuff easier is when being frugal became part of my philosophy rather than something I had to do. I'm actually happier consuming less than I was before I started this journey and not just because I'm better off financially. I feel like the less I want/need the less of a slave I am and most of the people I've met that have high consumption lifestyles, even those that can afford it aren't really happy.

Juanito posted:

What do you think of never buying trash bags? My wife and I never do. We just use plastic bags from the supermarket. We usually get our groceries double-bagged.

There are times when a giant bag would be preferable to 8 smaller ones.. but not enough to actually waste our money on them.

Veskit posted:

All my basil from seeds died. I gave up and went to home depot and bought a 2 dollar plant of basil that has 5 stems in it. gently caress GROWING BASIL FROM SEEDS.



Everything else though is going gangbusters, especially my herbs I'm growing at work!

Veskit posted:

Someone needs to have an avatar that directly links people to the budget thread. This subforum needs a hero. A Shine if you will to bring financial responsibility to our lives. There's already enough villains. I would say budget logs are equally if not more important than workout logs

Bloody Queef posted:

Dude, I think you're the BFC champion.

Veskit posted:

Step one is getting your thread goldmined. Has there been any word on that?

tuyop posted:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbIZ1IuqCzU&feature=kp

Two folks broke up in twenty oh six
From some dark turbulent financial history
Twelve loans lined up across the spreadsheet
Seems the mainstream is gonna eat your wage.

BFC told the lady she had nothin to fear
Said, "The first thing you wanna do is post around here"
She prolly came from a town with a midwest name
But one of the facts gonna cause some real pain

Same numbers in the checking, same red on the sheet
Been one sleeve empty eighteen years in all
Got cats and kid, away from the world
She's thirty-eight years old, never swiped a card
She's thirty-eight years old, never swiped a card

We were lurking round the forums, heard that the thread got made
Zaurg said he gonna tell us when he beat the thing
Heard the clack on my keyboard in the middle of the night
Held down F5 for a chance to give advice

See my husband got mad, so we had to split
So off I went to uni, I got some thinking skills
Finances back to normal when we closed accounts
But I still stare at my shoes when I pass the bank

My TA cried, "Now the traveling must begin"
She whispered, "Not for the time being at least"
And in her handbag got that empty wallet sleeve
Thinkin how am I gonna get this done

Same numbers in the checking, same red on the sheet
Been one sleeve empty eighteen years in all
Got cats and kid, away from the world
She's thirty-eight years old, never swiped a card
She's thirty-eight years old, never swiped a card
She's thirty-eight years old, never swiped a card

Sephiroth_IRA posted:

Changed my password whoop whoop I am invincible now hackers.

Anyway, I was going to post this in one of the current budget threads but SlowMo's thread is really boring to me because it was obvious from page one he could easily pay down that debt but instead he just wanted to brag about how much money he made and what he spent his money on, which isn't even entertaining. I checked in months later and while I'm sure some entertaining stuff happened between my visits nothing seemed to have changed.

Everyone keeps suggesting that it's a good read though so maybe there's something I'm missing.

spwrozek posted:

What? A salt lick!

Everyone go buy a salt lick.

Juanito posted:

Sounds like you're in a good situation for splurging on something you want.

In my head I imagine a "custom built musical instrument" as something like a ukulele helicopter.

H. Helluva posted:

What kills me now, the cost to maintain the sanity of my wife and I has reached (our total monthly rent and utilities) $1600+ (Cost us an extra $300 for top floor). Meanwhile my friends back in my home state are renting/buying entire houses for less than half what we pay a month.

Veskit posted:

Chains are for the gym so you can walk around intimidating all the bros as Marley's Ghost. Can't do that at home can you Tuyop

SiGmA_X posted:

Sounds like some expensive and high quality *BASIL*, do you do hydro, or soil;if soil, chem or organic?

Veskit posted:

SOoooooo you're canceling your gym memberships then? Ohh god you don't even have a squat cage Tuyop whhyyyy.

Juanito posted:

Spend a few bucks and wash yo car!

Sephiroth_IRA posted:

Almonds aren't very filling.

Sephiroth_IRA posted:

I have a bag of carrots at home, I should have brought them to work.

should've would've could've

Sephiroth_IRA posted:

I don't think that would be cost effective.

Folly posted:

Protip: Raw carrots don't freeze well.

dreesemonkey posted:

There is a boat thread in DIY that might have the answers for you
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3503087

Juanito posted:

It's a neat idea, until you watch a movie like All Is Lost. Have you seen that?

Veskit posted:

I've turned on people in the GBS work crew to the best of BFCs and putting more money into roth iras and 401ks. I thought this was funny though.

spwrozek posted:

So my wife is leaving for Vail for 30ish months and this leaves me with a huge house to myself. It is kind of in the burbs but in a pretty nice location relative to Denver, boulder, and golden. She will be home on some weekends and I will be up in Vail on most.

I haven't had a roommate in 8 years... Should I get a roommate? I figure I can get $500-600 a month for a room. Plus they can use all my stuff. But I have all my stuff and it is mine and I don't know how much I want someone being around my stuff. I would need to actually lock up my finance stuff, not leave money laying around, I am afraid of terrible people and people who will try to steal from me. But the money would be nice!

What should I do?

Juanito posted:

I think airbnb would be nice because it would you give more flexibility. You could block off dates that you wouldn't want to have people around, instead of having someone there long-term. It requires you to be a bit more of a host though, clean stuff up before a new guest, etc. But you could require 2+ day minimum stays.



You guys who know about strapping a canoe to a vehicle.. what about a kayak to a Toyota Corolla with no roof rack? Any experience with that.. it seems feasible from what I see online, but doesn't feel safe. I don't know if the kayak being lighter than a canoe is a positive or negative.

I'd be able to save a lot of money buying a kayak later on instead of doing hourly/daily rentals.

Veskit posted:

Were those those like 500 dollar boots i can't remember

Sephiroth_IRA posted:

Sometimes I can't help but think "If everyone was like me or your typical BFC goon with money would the economy collapse?" and the answer I always arrive to is "yes.". I can drive down the street right now and point to a lot of companies that would go out of business overnight. Then several that would probably collapse because I don't use them very often.

edit: Sorry for the dbl post. The question I posed is a little extreme but often times I have friends tell me "There should be a life 101 class in college/high school that teaches kids to be financially responsible with money, how to create a budget and how to be better at saving money, invest, etc." and I can't help but think "Gee, that would probably suck long term."