Loony Bob
Common sense is a concept these plebs don't understand.
Loony Bob
Common sense is a concept these plebs don't understand.
Originally Posted by Fynn
I'm paying my bills, somehow, and still affording to smoke like a chimney.
Oh, wait. I eat maybe once a day.
I have my priorities straight.
I was told to GTFO but as if I would ever listen to Clo. Besides I always give good advice.
My colleague had this comment once that made no sense to me - he said that he has no money this week because it all went to bills.
I was like 'wait what?' because my bills break down as follows (yes I am telling you people my finances)
first two weeks:
- gym membership
- car insurance
- 80-100$ bus pass
- refill tank once
- food / fun
That's not actually a lot of expenses tbh - I end up saving at least half my paycheque this round
second two weeks:
- car payment
- 80-100$ bus pass
again, I end up saving half. At least until last month, where I paid off my car. So now I can go back to saving money.
The point of explaining my finances is to give you an idea of how things should look. You normally get 2 or 4 paycheques a month, and so you should split the bills such that you do not get overloaded. Imagine paying rent and car payment in the same pay period? That's possible but you would have to have savings in order to cover a month ahead (and then refill the spent amount using the money earned in the current month).
I am ofc talking about living paycheque to paycheque. If you have several months of earnings saved, then whatever (invest that mother!)
The other thing is to sit down and figure out your after tax income vs your expenses. Is your after tax income > expenses? Great. I'll get back to that.
The other thing is credit cards. I bet a lot of you have a balance. Credit cards are very annoying to pay down. What happens is you go through a cycle of spending money to pay down the credit card, and then you need that money to make expense payments. Oops - the balance goes back up to (or higher than) what it was before.
That's why you have to add into your expenses the minimum payment of the credit card(s). And then put away your credit card. So now you have your expense column (sigh) and your earning column (awww...nuts). What do?
Sort your expense column from lowest to highest. Yes really. Pay off the debt that is the lowest. This includes credit cards. Pay down your credit cards (I know you have more than one) from lowest balance to highest. If you ever get birthday money, or bonuses or whatever, it goes into your loans. It works! You'll pay down your credit cards really fast this way. Yes, really just pay minimum payments on the ones with higher balances - minimum payments ALWAYS are higher than the interest added to the principle, and you are basically keeping your balance somewhat the same as you pay down the rest.
Eventually you'll pay off all of your debt. I promise you.
The only way the above does not work, is if your expenses (minimum loan payments + monthly bills) are higher than your earnings. Then you'll have to make more money, or cut expenses. I'm afraid I cannot give too much advice as the scenarios are too different and varied. Suggestions might be moving back to your parents' place, getting a roommate who is stable (this is important as hell), or selling your assets to increase your revenue.
Good luck eoffers.
lol pg lives with his parents
My parents would never let me live with them.
I love them. But yeah.
My point was more like, he was being high and mighty about "THIS IS WHAT I SPEND MY MONEY ON WHY CAN'T YOU SAVE YOUR MONEY" but rent was not one of those things.
Don't make PG squat you.
i was actually listening to a radio program today about how the whole 'kids have to move out' is mainly a north american phenomenon, and most non-western countries work rather differently. ethnically speaking, i'm not expected to leave the house until i get married (e marriage doesn't' count unfortunately) and while i don't expect that to be the reason why i'll leave, it's interesting how there's a stigma for staying at home and saving money that way, but that stigma is mostly a western thing. i actually notice that my north american/western raised friends will comment on me living with my parents in terms of 'so when you movin out huh', while most of my non-na friends don't really care or think it that weird.
of course, there's the case where you don't do any development while you're at home, but i think that's less common than you'd think.
but even in canada there's a growing trend of 20-somethings moving back in with their parents or just living with their parents. i dunno if it's an economic thing, but when i hear about people that have to move out because their parents want them to i always tilt my head a little bit because i guess i'm not really used to it (although i should be after living in western society for so long).
I haven't lived with my parents since I was 18. I can't even fathom. My mom is kinda cray, if 'knom sayin'.
I really enjoy living on my own too. My apartment is small and cozy and not that expensive.
Almost two years ago I stayed with my parents a month in between apartments after being hospitalized and having to deal with the bill, so I can kinda relate, Boobs.
I ended up living in a single bedroom with my good friend Robyn to pay cheap rent somewhere eventually.
So wait, because I live with my parents that invalidates..what exactly? I've lived in 3 different cities and two different countries since I turned 18.
How are you going to justify it next year when I own property that I rent out to tenants? That I'm part of the "1%" that was able to do this?
My advice on paying off debt is spot on. Pay off the loans that are lowest in balance and move toward the highest loans afterward. Don't throw all of your cash into loans if you will just end up using them once you run out of cash.
If you can't afford to do even that your expenses are too high. Then you'll have to evaluate whether your situation is unmanageable.
Ever consider that I know this because of experience? You must think I'm sitting here with a silver spoon going 'oh those working class marxists are at it again'. Please.
>hurr durr pg doesn't spend 1200 dollars a month on rent what a fool
krissy makes a good point that outside of western culture, the idea of moving out asap is not really a norm. It's a waste of money. You rent only because the expenditure is less than your perceived value. I see renting as a colossal waste of money.
Anyway the good thing about forums is my post is right there for the world to see. Some lurker or person who won't reply will see my advice on paying off credit cards and in a year or two will be clear and free.
oh i wasn't offended or anything honeyboobs, i just felt the entire 'living at home' solution could be mentioned in the thread again, and the posts and the radio show just reminded me of my own situation. thought it was topical and interesting, there was a south asian lady that was saying how no one in that community sees the kids leave home before they're married, and it certainly helps with launching them out of the nest.
rent is DEFINITELY a huge expenditure, and i see where pg is coming from avoiding renting vs paying off a place. i can also see where clo is coming from, because there are times where we don't all get along, no matter how close we are; it's just a result of living with other human beings. but it's all different and every situation has ups and downs; i'd be incredibly afraid to move out AND take care of a kid for example, i'd be living off food stamps and i don't have a regular job. luckily i'm not in that position.
there were some items in the news today, following a local census, which described that whole moving back in thing i talked about earlier, and that there was a rise of people who were living alone which was interesting, although that may be the aging population. a lot of the older folks have trouble making ends meet as well. i heard a few years ago, that to maintain your current standard of living you need at least a million saved up in the bank before retirement comes around, on average. i'm not sure what kind of inflation that's had in the past few years, or even how true it is, but i don't see very many older people who AREN'T supported by their families doing so good economically. it seems like it's very good to have family support no matter what age you are, although i am beginning to sound like captain obvious and oh geez i digress.
adjacently (thought the news didn't connect the two) there's been an increase in food bank use by various populations. is there a food bank system in place near you clo?
Only for my own account, like most people should be for their own account.
But if you really want me to, you can send me your monthly incomings and outgoings and I can point at areas that you could potentially work on. I would say traffic tickets are one thing you could definitely focus on avoiding. Don't speed, don't park where you can't, etc.
Bow before the mighty Javoo!
The problem with handing out tips like this and "just budget your money" and so forth is that while they are sound for most people they are not sound for people who have been in situations where they suddenly find themselves sick/unemployed/disabled/etc. and are unable to budget because they are not making enough money to budget. I know because I have been there. I've had people telling me "just make a budget" when I'm coming up hundreds of dollars short every month just from paying necessary bills, and I've had people telling me "just get a job at Wal-Mart lolol" when I'm sending out dozens of applications to everywhere, Wal-Mart included, every day.
I'm not saying your guys' advice isn't sound. I'm just saying I've been in situations where none of this works.
^ 100% this
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