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[vegohead]

Been using excel to track my spending since last October and its worked wonders with curbing my spending. Really made me realize how expensive cars are

I could still be wayyy more frugile if my parents decided to stop supporting me through college. I feel so blessed to receive that support from them, especially at my age.

My father in particular has helped me immensely, having racked up around 7 figures in stocks, he's showed me different ways to engage the stock market. Granted I would have to be a federal employee for some of his tips.

 

[ZackieChan]

The credit card part is using the card judiciously, paying off the balance in full so as to avoid accruing interest, all the while maximizing the rewards points. Requires a fair bit of discipline but can be effective if you can strictly hold to the paying off in full each month (a concept that the cc companies are betting against your ability to maintain).

Beyond that, there's a strong sense of Dave Ramsey influence-- I've said in a number of these threads that he's a good start, as are the resources in the OP. I would still (to a fault) stress the need to customize all those plans to your unique situation and fully understand that there's not a one-size-fits-all solution, but even grasping the concepts will certainly move you (meaning anyone reading this) in the right direction.

Subscribed.

As to your first point, that's what I do now, and I'm racking up those miles. It isn't the sense of what I got from the post I quoted, though. Sounded like they had some harebrained idea to spend on their credit card because they can't control their spending, but lower it each month. They need to go back to the drawing board!

2nd point I agree with - Ramsey is great, but that's why I said "at least the baby steps," which I think are a great outline for getting to financial freedom. How you do each step is where things could diverge. Like maybe you do a debt avalanche instead of snowball, etc. Or different investment allocation.

 

[Daante]

Subbed, and thanks op.

 

[Neo C.]

Gamify your spending really helps. I don't do budgets at all, but always end up having more in my account every year; all I have to do is to set up a weekly goal for groceries.

I also try to postpone buying luxury items, as they are nice to have but eat up lots of time and money. If I can wait three months before finally going in, it means I've saved expenses for three months.

 

[RumblingRosco]

Build in some cushioning to your assumptions. For example, if my home insurance costs $1367 a year, I assume it's $1500 now, increasing 5% yearly. I also assume no raises and that I will never receive my bonus. It's better to err on the side of conservative.

Good advice! We factored in 3.5% inflation on all expenses (discretionary and non-discretionary) and a 1% annual raise. We did not include bonuses at all. For all our savings goals, we worked out best-case and worst-case scenarios, kept a file for both scenarios, but are saving money as if the worst-case scenario is the only option.

 

[BumRush]

Good advice! We factored in 3.5% inflation on all expenses (discretionary and non-discretionary) and a 1% annual raise. We did not include bonuses at all. For all our savings goals, we worked out best-case and worst-case scenarios, kept a file for both scenarios, but are saving money as if the worst-case scenario is the only option.

That is the key...great job.

Also, try the rounding up on assumptions, even in worst case. Knowing that you WILL save (say) $1,000 a month, when in reality you save $1,100 - $1,200 will feel great. It's a psyche thing.

 

[Niahak]

One thing that helped me (which I don't hear often) - a good starting step is to set up an automatic transfer each time you get paid to a savings account (10%, $50, whatever you think you can start with). It'll add up and (assuming you had some budget room to begin with) you won't notice it missing.

Before you know it, you'll have a rainy day fund and you can start pushing that monthly/biweekly money towards debt instead.

 

[redlegs87]

One thing that helped me (which I don't hear often) - a good starting step is to set up an automatic transfer each time you get paid to a savings account (10%, $50, whatever you think you can start with). It'll add up and (assuming you had some budget room to begin with) you won't notice it missing.

Before you know it, you'll have a rainy day fund and you can start pushing that monthly/biweekly money towards debt instead.

That's exactly what I do it makes it less of a hassle.

I also use this app called Qapital that can siphon off money from a primary account you attach to it. Right now I have it set up to round up to the nearest dollar and deposit the difference into it. I'll use that as a slush fund for do whatever I want with money when it reaches it's goal limit. I already have $25 save in a month using this method. Plus you can set up different methods for saving then just the round up rule.

 

[Subway Diet]

I don't quite understand - you're trying to get out of debt by putting more on your credit cards? You need to get yourself under control first. Really look inward and understand why you're spending beyond your means.

Might have described that wrong.

I'm not in a position to pay the whole thing off in one go. And once I remove household payments, I don't really have enough to save in any meaningful way. Not at the moment, at least.

So, the plan was to reduce the limit on the credit card bit by bit. Put in 150, reduce the limit by 100. Keep doing that until it's whittled down. Not ideal, but it's the only way I can see.

 

[Piecake]

Cyan made a really good budgeting threat a ways back that you might want to include in your resources as well

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=458142

 

[reggieandTFE]

I started tracking my debt and set goals in November of 2013. We had $65,000 of debt from credit cards, school loans and a car note in addition to our $170,000 mortgage. We're down to $5,000 left on one loan and the mortgage down to $150,000.

We also had about $8,000 in a savings account back in 11/2013. We now have $30k across savings, Roth and a 529 for my daughter.

A simple Excel doc with a couple charts really got me started. My wife and I still spend to way too much money on frivolous things but we're headed in the right direction. We now track our spending in more detail with Mint.

 

[RumblingRosco]

Might have described that wrong.

I'm not in a position to pay the whole thing off in one go. And once I remove household payments, I don't really have enough to save in any meaningful way. Not at the moment, at least.

So, the plan was to reduce the limit on the credit card bit by bit. Put in 150, reduce the limit by 100. Keep doing that until it's whittled down. Not ideal, but it's the only way I can see.

Let me set up an example here:

Imagine you have a CC limit of $5,000 and a balance of $4,000. You'll pay off $150 of that balance, reducing your balance to $3,850. At the same time, you'll be requesting your max credit limit be reduced by $100, leaving it at $4,900. Is that the plan?

 

[Desi]

That's exactly what I do it makes it less of a hassle.

I also use this app called Qapital that can siphon off money from a primary account you attach to it. Right now I have it set up to round up to the nearest dollar and deposit the difference into it. I'll use that as a slush fund for do whatever I want with money when it reaches it's goal limit. I already have $25 save in a month using this method. Plus you can set up different methods for saving then just the round up rule.

I use Digit for this. It is attached to my Charles Schwab account and funnels about $10+ every few days and each check I move about 100$ into it as well.

Thing is the Charles Schwab is my secondary account next to my credit Union. Need to wither down other things down.

 

[redlegs87]

I use Digit for this. It is attached to my Charles Schwab account and funnels about $10+ every few days and each check I move about 100$ into it as well.

Thing is the Charles Schwab is my secondary account next to my credit Union. Need to wither down other things down.

I use to use digit but I prefer to have total control as to how much is saved and do the math myself. Qapital for me is nice as I can set up how it saves for me.

 

[Wellington]

Any book recommendations? I read The Millionaire Next Door and it was pretty good but pretty much common knowledge nowadays. I am considering doing secrets of the millionaire mind by T Harv Eker or A Random Walk Down Wall Street (tho I am not too interested in learning any more on investments, I am OK with my vanguard funds).

I started tracking my debt and set goals in November of 2013. We had $65,000 of debt from credit cards, school loans and a car note in addition to our $170,000 mortgage. We're down to $5,000 left on one loan and the mortgage down to $150,000.

We also had about $8,000 in a savings account back in 11/2013. We now have $30k across savings, Roth and a 529 for my daughter.

A simple Excel doc with a couple charts really got me started. My wife and I still spend to way too much money on frivolous things but we're headed in the right direction. We now track our spending in more detail with Mint.

That is amazing. Congratulations.

I am team forever alone. I always wonder where I would be at this point if I was in a relationship, DINK or with kids.

 

[Crisium]

Good for investing advice:

https://www.bogleheads.org/

The focus is on low cost index funds that cover basically the whole market.

 

[ZackieChan]

Might have described that wrong.

I'm not in a position to pay the whole thing off in one go. And once I remove household payments, I don't really have enough to save in any meaningful way. Not at the moment, at least.

So, the plan was to reduce the limit on the credit card bit by bit. Put in 150, reduce the limit by 100. Keep doing that until it's whittled down. Not ideal, but it's the only way I can see.

Maybe you're misusing the word limit? The bank, afaik, won't continually lower your credit limit. I suggest you read up on Dave Ramsey's baby steps, work your balls off to save a $1000 starter emergency fund (sell shit, work on the side, do whatever you have to), then tackle the debt snowball. Don't fiddle around with this limit nonsense.

In the meantime, do what you can to increase your income, at least until you get out of the credit card debt.

 

[Subway Diet]

Let me set up an example here:

Imagine you have a CC limit of $5,000 and a balance of $4,000. You'll pay off $150 of that balance, reducing your balance to $3,850. At the same time, you'll be requesting your max credit limit be reduced by $100, leaving it at $4,900. Is that the plan?

This is where my crap mental arithmetic comes into to play. Can you tell I'm not great with financial concepts?

The idea is to keep putting money into the credit account, then reduce the amount available to spend as far as possible while leaving a enough to comfortably cover the interest that month. Keep building it up and knocking it down each month and then just close the card completely. That's what I had in mind. I don't think the card company would take exception. The option is built right into their online card management page.

While I could just keep paying in money without making the the reductions, I'm weak enough that it'd tempting to spend again. Figured the better idea was to get it out of the picture entirely.

And, honestly, the debt is relatively small. Not pocket change, but not enough to ruin my life either. It can be slayed with time and dedication. The problem is more that I was put of of work due to sickness a few years back. And then had my benefits severely cut a couple of months back, meaning I've far less wiggle room, while also now having to pay for health care (Thanks Tories)

It'll be frustrating, and it'll hurt feeling like money is going away with nothing to show for it, but I'll just have to suck it up if that's what it'll take to get out of the pocket of some credit company.

 

[Ron Mexico]

Maybe you're misusing the word limit? The bank, afaik, won't continually lower your credit limit. I suggest you read up on Dave Ramsey's baby steps, work your balls off to save a $1000 starter emergency fund (sell shit, work on the side, do whatever you have to), then tackle the debt snowball. Don't fiddle around with this limit nonsense.

In the meantime, do what you can to increase your income, at least until you get out of the credit card debt.

ZC is 100% right here (and I completely missed the boat on the original idea. My fault there).

As far as the bank goes, this is largely dependent on the cc issuer, but I'd be floored if the issuer lowered the limit more than once as a courtesy. Plus you wouldn't be doing your credit score any real favors as utilization would still be consistently high, but that's more of a post-Baby Steps plan.

 

[tokkun]

Any book recommendations? I read The Millionaire Next Door and it was pretty good but pretty much common knowledge nowadays. I am considering doing secrets of the millionaire mind by T Harv Eker or A Random Walk Down Wall Street (tho I am not too interested in learning any more on investments, I am OK with my vanguard funds).

With the exception of structuring your money to avoid taxes, the best financial advice tends to also be simple, which is why it may feel like 'common knowledge'. With investing, I often feel that too much knowledge is dangerous, as it may tempt you to take unnecessary risks or try to time the market. Reading investment strategy books for anything other than entertainment is probably a mistake.

I like the idea of coming up with a list of good 'anti-common knowledge' advice, though. My biggest one would be to spend most of your prime years renting rather than owning a house / condo.

 

[entremet]

Subbed!

Love personal finance topics.

 

[Ron Mexico]

I like the idea of coming up with a list of good 'anti-common knowledge' advice, though. My biggest one would be to spend most of your prime years renting rather than owning a house / condo.

And I'd caution against this line of thinking, especially as even a one-size-fits-most. The risk/reward of owning vs. renting is very much an individual approach, based on geography, career moves, personal lives, the list goes on and on.

What I would endorse is a real analysis of each individual situation and not just assume "I'm X years old so I should buy a house" or "I should never own a house for XYZ". Far too many variables.

 

[Zips]

I am always jealous of those who live in areas that a house/apartment costs practically nothing.

Around here, homes are 700k to well over a million, including options like townhomes and semi-detached. Condos easily 250 to 500k+ depending on size and area.

 

[entremet]

I am always jealous of those who live in areas that a house/apartment costs practically nothing.

Around here, homes are 700k to well over a million, including options like townhomes and semi-detached. Condos easily 250 to 500k+ depending on size and area.

Australia?

 

[demosthenes]

I am always jealous of those who live in areas that a house/apartment costs practically nothing.

Around here, homes are 700k to well over a million, including options like townhomes and semi-detached. Condos easily 250 to 500k+ depending on size and area.

Bought 1400 square feet for 160k in buffalo, ny. If you can deal with winter it's a wonderful place to live and achieve financial freedom. Cost of living is very low!

 

[tokkun]

And I'd caution against this line of thinking, especially as even a one-size-fits-most. The risk/reward of owning vs. renting is very much an individual approach, based on geography, career moves, personal lives, the list goes on and on.

What I would endorse is a real analysis of each individual situation and not just assume "I'm X years old so I should buy a house" or "I should never own a house for XYZ". Far too many variables.

Yeah, it's always possible to pick apart generalized advice as not being optimal in every possible situation. Real estate markets are local, so yes, nothing is universal. However, sometimes it is better from a pragmatic standpoint to give a clear, if imperfect, advice. Especially when it is going against 'common knowledge'.

I do believe that renting is a better rule-of-thumb approach than buying. So if people want to go into their analysis with a bias toward renting (as opposed to the current bias toward buying), I think that would be a positive change.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

Australia?

Sounds like the Boston area currently.

I'm shopping for a condo and looking at paying no less than 250k.

Thanks for putting this thread together btw. I've recently made a few changes in my financial dealings to get myself out of debt, improve my credit rating, and build savings; spent my entire bonus this year on paying off two credit cards and on other debt, increased my contribution into my 401k (which my job matches, making it easily more valuable than any traditional savings account), stopped buying things on credit that weren't necessary (there's honestly no point in building up "bonus points" or even having savings with a modest return if you're dumping hundreds every month into interest), increased/doubled the credit line on a card with no balance just because I could, and refinanced my largest student loan through my credit union to pay it off in half the time with a lower interest rate, saving myself thousands of dollars in the payoff.

It's frequently espoused advice, but check your credit rating frequently. I treat it almost like a video game. Capital One's credit tracker lets you see all of your open financial accounts that are being factored in, as well as the variables that affect the rating (recent inquiries, recent account opening/closures, total credit available, % of credit used, oldest account, % of payments in good standing, etc). You can even run simulations to see what aspect you can improve to increase your rating. Financial responsibility can be as addicting as the F2P metagame in MGS5.

My biggest vice is still my dating life, but I'm working on that too.

 

[ZackieChan]

This is where my crap mental arithmetic comes into to play. Can you tell I'm not great with financial concepts?



It'll be frustrating, and it'll hurt feeling like money is going away with nothing to show for it, but I'll just have to suck it up if that's what it'll take to get out of the pocket of some credit company.

What you need to do to get out of the pocket of credit companies is pay off your debt. Stop trying to reinvent the wheel.

Make and stick to a budget. Use YNAB or Every Dollar. SOMETHING is better than nothing. Figure out a way to increase your income, if only temporarily. Save enough for a tiny emergency fund of $1000. Then pay the fucker off as soon as you possibly can. Don't worry about interest, limits, or anything else. You're worrying about all the wrong things, and it's going to drag the payoff out by years, I'd imagine.

 

[fatty]

THANK YOU Everyone for the recommendations, it is very much appreciated. I've updated the OP with additional threads, books, and linked to specific posts that people found helpful. Please let me know if you feel I missed something.

How I am going to do that is I've been weak in the fact that I have been dining out way to much and it's just wasting my money. Any time I get the urge to grab a quick bite out and resist it I'll deposit however much said meal would have cost into my savings. I know I'll cave every now and then but I got to remain strong and just bounce back from any set backs.

First of all, congrats on the steps you're taking to change your life. Keep it up, you will see these things start to snowball and many other positive side effects will come your way. Please keep us updated on how you are progressing!

You touched on how easy it is to spend on dining out and how it impacts your savings, which is a good way to look at it. What I also like to do is look at how my purchases affect my time, and how long it would take for me to earn that money back. As I've gotten older my time has become a much higher priority in my life, I can't believe how fast it flies by.

For an example, let's say we have a guy named John, and he wants to treat himself to a nice $30 italian meal because he has had a hard day of work.

John makes $15 an hour. Taking into account that is gross pay, so after taxes (like federal, state, social security and Medicare) and other deductions (medical, dental and vision insurance along with 401K) are taken out of his paycheck, and let's not forget tip and sales tax for the food, John has to effectively work about 3 hours for this one meal. Was this meal worth John working over 1/3 of his typical workday for? That is up to John but if he consistently made these type of choices it would not be a smart move on his part.

When I think of purchases in regards to time lost, it helps add perspective to see if the item I am wanting is really adding value to my life for the time spent.

I am going to post something my grandfather told me.

Follow the 1/3 rule.

1/3 goes to your rent/mortage + electricity and water
1/3 goes to living. Food, clothes, car and other expenses.
1/3 goes into your saving account.

Do you pay 1/2 for rent? You are living in a too expensive house try to go cheaper.
Do you pay 1/2 on living? Try to cut on groceries, a cheaper car or other expenses you don't really need.

I live by this rule and it works for me very well. I understand that it's not always possible for everyone. Some cities are just very expensive, but try to take this as a lead.

This is really good and simple. It's great for everyone as a basis but if you are young and able to live like this you are going to be set up nicely (and quickly) for later in life.

 

[fatty]

I started tracking my debt and set goals in November of 2013. We had $65,000 of debt from credit cards, school loans and a car note in addition to our $170,000 mortgage. We're down to $5,000 left on one loan and the mortgage down to $150,000.

We also had about $8,000 in a savings account back in 11/2013. We now have $30k across savings, Roth and a 529 for my daughter.

A simple Excel doc with a couple charts really got me started. My wife and I still spend to way too much money on frivolous things but we're headed in the right direction. We now track our spending in more detail with Mint.

That is awesome, man! To be able to chip away at all that credit card debt while having that much stashed away in savings is some great work. Once the credit cards are paid off think of how fast the mortgage will go down. Please keep us updated.

Any book recommendations? I read The Millionaire Next Door and it was pretty good but pretty much common knowledge nowadays. I am considering doing secrets of the millionaire mind by T Harv Eker or A Random Walk Down Wall Street (tho I am not too interested in learning any more on investments, I am OK with my vanguard funds).

Millionaire Next Door is pretty common knowledge...for people that have our type of mindset. But unfortunately, we are the exception. I remember starting to read the T Harv Eker book and not getting much out of it so I didn't finish it.

I am also pretty set with investment philosophy as well, but want to read A Random Walk Down Wall Street for the enjoyment factor. So far I am happy with recently firing my financial advisor and going the Vanguard index fund route (wish I would've had the nerve to fire him sooner but I was being too nice). Money - Master the Game by Tony Robbins is another one of those books, but this one I did read. Though I did not do the All Weather Portfolio by Ray Dalio as suggested, I enjoyed all the different interviews by some of today's best financial minds.

Might want to check out some of the recommendations in this thread.

ZackieChan recommends I Will Teach You To Be Rich

Some others that I have enjoyed:

• Think and Grow Rich
• The Richest Man in Babylon
• The Greatest Salesman in the World
• Tax-Free Wealth: How to Build Massive Wealth by Permanently Lowering Your Taxes

Check the reviews on Amazon to see if they might be interesting to you.

My current plan is to "retire" at 35. I've run it through some online calculators to determine how much I need to hold in investments to be able to live comfortably off of the interest, but I would appreciate some vetted reading material on the subject. I'll check out Mr. Money Mustache and that second link first, but are there more or is that all I'll need?

Could be an interesting thread.

You may want to link to www.reddit.com/r/financialindependence

It's where I mostly hang out for this kind of thing. Should potentially be able to retire at 45 if all goes well.

Lumination, I would check out this post (and the comments) over at MMM along with the FIRECalc over at early-retirement. Chris Hogan also has his Retired Inspired Quotient. To be honest, I haven't spent to much time in this area as even in 'retirement' I plan to increase my income but have my safety savings in place when I do choose to go this route, but I hope these links prove to be helpful.

I'd like to hear yours and Wormdundee's plan of attack to get to this point if you feel like sharing. I'm planning to retire before 45, which is a little more than 5 years away. What happens with my real estate purchases these next few years is going to play a big role in that.

 

[entremet]

In terms of books, the grandaddy of the FI movement is Your Money or Your Life.

Highly recommended. May be a tad outdated today, but the principles are the same.

 

[SamuelSupreme]

Subbed. My parents got divorced my dad has left my mom on the hook for the mortgage. Ive signed on to become a co-owner of the house /mortgage so we could keep the house. Not ideal but I guess I bought a house this year.


I feel so depressed saying that.

 

[MidgarBlowedUp]

For an example, let's say we have a guy named John, and he wants to treat himself to a nice $30 italian meal because he has had a hard day of work.

John makes $15 an hour. Taking into account that is gross pay, so after taxes (like federal, state, social security and Medicare) and other deductions (medical, dental and vision insurance along with 401K) are taken out of his paycheck, and let's not forget tip and sales tax for the food, John has to effectively work about 3 hours for this one meal. Was this meal worth John working over 1/3 of his typical workday for?

This is exactly how I think, but in terms of NC's minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. I think to myself are these shoes worth a days work, would I work 2 hours for a t-shirt? That kind of thinking is how I live now. I make a lot more than $7.25 an hour, but I still use it to determine the value of what I'm purchasing.

Some other thoughts.

Don't ever buy a new car.

Use the robinhood app to purchase cheap stocks that pay dividends. (There are some stocks that cost less than $2 per share that pay a dividend twice per year. And some that are under $15 per share that pay a div every month.)

EE Bonds are guaranteed to double in value 20 years from the purchase date (a worse case scenario) and are only taxed federally.

Learn a skill/hobby that will benefit you financially. Learning some basic woodworking will allow you to find a side job and build/repair your own stuff.

If you have a bit of land you can grow some of your own food to eat too. My parents grew squash, peas, spring onions, radishes, potatoes, corn, green and runner beans, tomatoes and even eggplant back when I was a kid. They would usually sell some of the radishes, tomatoes, and onions. I imagine they would get a pretty good price for some of these nowadays as they would be considered local organic.

Don't vote republican.

-edit- my post is geared more towards us poor folk.

 

[Tenck]

I actually canceled one subscription because this thread reminded me of it. Thanks OP.

 

[Pachimari]

I like this thread so I've subscribed to it.

But honestly, I have a really hard time not buying stuff here and there. I don't know why I can't stop but it's like I'm addicted.

I do keep an overview of my spending each month in an Excel file though but it doesn't really get me to stop spending.

[edit] I actually just cancelled an expensive pre-order on FFXIV: Stormblood CE as I ultimately don't need it. It was just for the figure that comes with the game but to hell with that. Now I'm also thinking of changing my pre-order of Tekken 7 from CE to standard edition. Tekken 7 and Fifa 18 are the only games I'll get for the rest of the year.

My problem is that I buy coca cola here and there, I buy games for my iPad here and there, sometimes I buy bundles of games for my PC or I buy something on sale or random stuff on Amazon. I really got to stop those habits, take some responsibility and start paying off my debt.

 

[RumblingRosco]

Use the robinhood app to purchase cheap stocks that pay dividends. (There are some stocks that cost less than $2 per share that pay a dividend twice per year. And some that are under $15 per share that pay a div every month.)

I agree with most of your post, but I think this part is a gross oversimplification of stock investments and could lead to people making mistakes with their money. I caution anyone out there regarding making stock investments without having a good grasp of the risks.

I'll also add, the price of the stock and the frequency in which you receive dividends are not as important, IMO, as the total dividend yield.

 

[AP90]

Bought 1400 square feet for 160k in buffalo, ny. If you can deal with winter it's a wonderful place to live and achieve financial freedom. Cost of living is very low!

Recently bought a house in the buffalo area as well. Definitely a great place to live with a low cost of living. And... Wegmans! =D

 

[demosthenes]

This is exactly how I think, but in terms of NC's minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. I think to myself are these shoes worth a days work, would I work 2 hours for a t-shirt? That kind of thinking is how I live now. I make a lot more than $7.25 an hour, but I still use it to determine the value of what I'm purchasing.

Some other thoughts.

Don't ever buy a new car.

Use the robinhood app to purchase cheap stocks that pay dividends. (There are some stocks that cost less than $2 per share that pay a dividend twice per year. And some that are under $15 per share that pay a div every month.)

EE Bonds are guaranteed to double in value 20 years from the purchase date (a worse case scenario) and are only taxed federally.

Learn a skill/hobby that will benefit you financially. Learning some basic woodworking will allow you to find a side job and build/repair your own stuff.

If you have a bit of land you can grow some of your own food to eat too. My parents grew squash, peas, spring onions, radishes, potatoes, corn, green and runner beans, tomatoes and even eggplant back when I was a kid. They would usually sell some of the radishes, tomatoes, and onions. I imagine they would get a pretty good price for some of these nowadays as they would be considered local organic.

Don't vote republican.

-edit- my post is geared more towards us poor folk.

I disagree on the new car front. If you're stable in your profession and in your location I think you can look at the low end of new cars. By low end I mean: Civic, Mazda 2/3, Impreza, Camary, etc. The reason is, these cars new are in the low 20's where I live. Getting used w/ 25k miles on them in a lot of places I was seeing prices for like 18k. For me I'd rather just get new, especially when I was offered .9% interest. Now that could change in 5 years when interest rates are much higher but I don't think new cars should be written off.

Recently bought a house in the buffalo area as well. Definitely a great place to live with a low cost of living. And... Wegmans! =D

Awesome, are you new to the area? And wegmans is life.

 

[AP90]

I disagree on the new car front. If you're stable in your profession and in your location I think you can look at the low end of new cars. By low end I mean: Civic, Mazda 2/3, Impreza, Camary, etc. The reason is, these cars new are in the low 20's where I live. Getting used w/ 25k miles on them in a lot of places I was seeing prices for like 18k. For me I'd rather just get new, especially when I was offered .9% interest. Now that could change in 5 years when interest rates are much higher but I don't think new cars should be written off.


Awesome, are you new to the area? And wegmans is life.

Grew up here! And I went to college at UB
=D.

And I highly recommend subarus. One of the best awd vehicles to drive in buffalo. Impreza has great safety and fuel economy for a fair price. If you can afford it, the legacy has become a nice family sedan. And if you have decent credit, you can get one financed for 1.5% or less for 48months depending on your credit.. that translates to
$500-650 in total interest paid over 4yrs.

 

[Neo C.]

The best ways to teach your little kids about money (PBS NewsHour)

 

[phxxBullet]

.......................

 

[DJwest]

Subbed, great thread OP.

 

[Mihos]

I like this thread so I've subscribed to it.

But honestly, I have a really hard time not buying stuff here and there. I don't know why I can't stop but it's like I'm addicted.

I do keep an overview of my spending each month in an Excel file though but it doesn't really get me to stop spending.

[edit] I actually just cancelled an expensive pre-order on FFXIV: Stormblood CE as I ultimately don't need it. It was just for the figure that comes with the game but to hell with that. Now I'm also thinking of changing my pre-order of Tekken 7 from CE to standard edition. Tekken 7 and Fifa 18 are the only games I'll get for the rest of the year.

My problem is that I buy coca cola here and there, I buy games for my iPad here and there, sometimes I buy bundles of games for my PC or I buy something on sale or random stuff on Amazon. I really got to stop those habits, take some responsibility and start paying off my debt.

You need to put some pain points between you and those purchases.
Unlink your accounts from those apps so you have to enter the information
Don't carry your credit card in your wallet.
Only use a bank/check card and on a separate account you don't keep the bulk of your money in.
Use cash, something as simple as having to break a $20 can trigger a second thought.
I never did this, but my wife in her lean days would never buy anything she didn't have a coupon for.

 

[BumRush]

Please, if you have free time and care about saving / investments, read both Bogleheads books (guide to Investments and guide to Retirement planning).

They taught me more about saving and investing - and in SUCH an easy way - than I learned the previous 10+ years combined. I hadn't even heard of the books until a month ago, but I'm so glad I did.

I like this thread so I've subscribed to it.

But honestly, I have a really hard time not buying stuff here and there. I don't know why I can't stop but it's like I'm addicted.

I do keep an overview of my spending each month in an Excel file though but it doesn't really get me to stop spending.

[edit] I actually just cancelled an expensive pre-order on FFXIV: Stormblood CE as I ultimately don't need it. It was just for the figure that comes with the game but to hell with that. Now I'm also thinking of changing my pre-order of Tekken 7 from CE to standard edition. Tekken 7 and Fifa 18 are the only games I'll get for the rest of the year.

My problem is that I buy coca cola here and there, I buy games for my iPad here and there, sometimes I buy bundles of games for my PC or I buy something on sale or random stuff on Amazon. I really got to stop those habits, take some responsibility and start paying off my debt.

Continue to buy those things, but limit yourself. See how much you spend in a month on each thing and aim to reduce it by 10%-20% at first. Nothing crazy, just something to get you started. When you see the extra $ in your bank account / brokerage account it will get addictive and that 10%-20% will turn into 50%

 

[fatty]

NY Times article: Student Loan Forgiveness Program Approval Letters May Be Invalid, Education Dept. Says

More than 550,000 people have signed up for a federal program that promises to repay their remaining student loans after they work 10 years in a public service job.

But now, some of those workers are left to wonder if the government will hold up its end of the bargain — or leave them stuck with thousands of dollars in debt that they thought would be eliminated.

In a legal filing submitted last week, the Education Department suggested that borrowers could not rely on the program’s administrator to say accurately whether they qualify for debt forgiveness. The thousands of approval letters that have been sent by the administrator, FedLoan Servicing, are not binding and can be rescinded at any time, the agency said.

Mr. Rudert submitted the certification form in 2012 and received a letter from FedLoan affirming that his work as a lawyer at Vietnam Veterans of America, a nonprofit aid group, qualified him for the forgiveness program. But in 2016, after submitting his latest annual recertification note to FedLoan, he got a denial note.

The decision was retroactive, he was told. None of his previous work for the group would be considered valid for the loan forgiveness program.

The program’s rules are complex. Only certain types of federal loans qualify, meaning that many borrowers need to restructure their debt to make it eligible — and the Education Department has done little to clarify gray areas, Ms. Abrams said.

No borrowers’ debts have been eliminated. Because 10 years of service are required, the first wave of qualified workers will be eligible to submit applications for debt forgiveness in October.

This is ridiculous. From the article the Education Department wrote "A FedLoan approval letter “does not reflect a final agency action on the borrower’s qualifications” for the forgiveness program."

How can they seriously think that is acceptable?? Things like this is why I try to encourage everyone to not rely on promises from the government, whether it be in government pensions, social security, or in this case student loan forgiveness.

Hopefully something good will come out of the lawsuits of the four borrowers and the American Bar Association, but this is another reason to be solely in charge of your financial situation.

 

[GhaleonEB]

That sounds like a class action lawsuit in the making. There's no way they can make it retroactive and have it stand up in court.

 

[Chorazin]

You need to put some pain points between you and those purchases.
Unlink your accounts from those apps so you have to enter the information
Don't carry your credit card in your wallet.
Only use a bank/check card and on a separate account you don't keep the bulk of your money in.
Use cash, something as simple as having to break a $20 can trigger a second thought.
I never did this, but my wife in her lean days would never buy anything she didn't have a coupon for.

This is what I'm doing now. I find it's so easy to throw small stuff on a random CC and then have it all just snowball.

 

[aerts1js]

The other week I finally became debt free. Paid off 75k in student loans and a new car in four years. The struggle was fucking real. I'll never go in debt again. My gf and Dave Ramsey woke me up to how stupid I was being for making minimum payments and essentially ignoring my debt.

 

[redlegs87]

The other week I finally became debt free. Paid off 75k in student loans and a new car in four years. The struggle was fucking real. I'll never go in debt again. My gf and Dave Ramsey woke me up to how stupid I was being for making minimum payments and essentially ignoring my debt.

Great job. It's really crazy how many people are in debt who could pay it off relatively fast but just aren't aware and bury their heads in the sand. At least you finally pulled your head out and did something about it.

I've had to forcefully pull my mothers head out of the sand to make her deal with her debt before it makes it so she won't ever really be able to retire.

 

[fatty]

The other week I finally became debt free. Paid off 75k in student loans and a new car in four years. The struggle was fucking real. I'll never go in debt again. My gf and Dave Ramsey woke me up to how stupid I was being for making minimum payments and essentially ignoring my debt.

Congrats, man! That is a really great. You say the struggle is real, and that is so true, but you accomplished something that few people ever will.

Speaking of Dave Ramsey, I was actually watching this video (Top 10 Debt Free Screams on The Dave Ramsey Show) a couple of days ago, and you feel the struggle that these people went through. The first part of the video shows where a couple started with 105k in debt, the husband was diagnosed with a brain tumor in the middle of their journey and passed away at the young age of 30 a few months before reaching their goal. But she was able to power through and finish a few months later in her husband's memory. Her life is forever changed. Yes, she lost her spouse but because of the sacrifices they made in that four years she is in a good place financially for the rest of her life.

Your life is also forever changed because of the way you lived these last four years. I'm guessing you are pretty young so if you continue with this same mindset your wealth is going to snowball.

Dream big. Get out there and live life the way you want to. Congrats again.

Edit: Reading aerts1js' post gave me an idea. I've added him to the OP on a new list of Gaffer's that have recently become debt-free. I hope to join him in a year.