Finances: Advice, Woes and all things Money!

[ComicChick]

thanks LT

with another potential govt shutdown next week, i've already paid all my bills up until mid April, so i owe nothing out
just paid off a credit card, another i owe less than $100, so i'm really focusing on keeping them low and/or paid off every single month.

 

[trainingrules]

Has anyone ever got into selling domains? Looks super interesting, but I guess like anything in life, very competitive and has a slim chance of success. Still though, the idea that you could have bought something like fb.com or privatejets.com way back in the day and sold it later for millions is quite appealing! This makes it seem fairly easy, so maybe I'll see if there's anything left on the internet to pick up

 

[spiderman2]

So going to make this short has I am sure some of you have seen my post about being frustrated has I cant stand my job and cant find another one. Well more annoyed this morning got a email from a bank I applied at a few days ago for bank teller that they are going to move forward with some one else more qualified so yeah another job I know I could do and again wasted time doing a application for nothing.

 

[Lily Adler]

Invest in Bitcoin. That'll solve all your problems.

 

[ComicChick]

so here's some updates on my goals

less than 12 points until i hit my goal of a 750 credit score! might go for 775 next year, 800 if i really grind

i have roughly 7500-8k in savings towards a house or whatever. still looking for one in my budget that really catches my eye. found some i really like, but aren't realistically in my budget.
^i can knock this one off my 2018 goals!

i'm about 4-6 months ahead in my car payments. i'm hoping to pay that off at least a year early.

credit card balances are super low. i use them enough to have activity, but pay them off bi-weekly if not as soon as i use it. when i'm eligible again, i'm going to do the credit increases to improve my debt ratio even more

 

[Holiday]

I'm 2,500 dollars away from paying off my car, so it's looking like early next year that I'll make it happen.

 

[Teelie]

Depending on who I look at my FICO has a 20 point difference. Quite a gap there.

 

[ComicChick]

I'm 2,500 dollars away from paying off my car, so it's looking like early next year that I'll make it happen.

congrats

 

[ComicChick]

update:

so close to my 750 credit goal. my debt to income ratio has improved so much, and i hit my 7000 in savings goal that i had.

ive started talking to a mortgage guy and started the process of getting to where i can start looking for homes and seeing what kind of budget i can get and whatnot.

i'm also considering refinancing my car loan but i have no experience with anything like that so i need to do some research. any advice is much appreciated

 

[Erzengel]

Saving an extra $20 a month through the summer/early autumn by turning off the pilot light in my fireplace.

Also, one of the springs in my garage door broke and I replaced it myself. Probably would have been a $150-$200 service for something that was very easily fixed.

 

[Handsome Rob]

I also posted this in the Politics thread, but I thought it would be good here as a source of encouragement toward being financially disciplined:

Number of Fidelity 401(k) Millionaires Hits Record High

Story Link to USAToday

At the end of the second quarter, 168,000 people with 401(k)s managed by Fidelity Investments had at least $1 million in their accounts, a rise of 50,000 people from a year earlier when there were 118,000, according to a new study by Fidelity, one of the nation's largest administrators of workplace retirement accounts. While gaining, that exclusive group of savers is still just a fraction of the 16.1 million people who have a 401(k) account managed by the fund company.

Building a million bucks-sized nest egg doesn't happen overnight and is a result of workers who invest for the long term and put a chunk of their savings into stocks.

So, these workers are in a good place now because they exercised financial discipline:

1. They likely put as much into their 401(k) each pay period as they could manage. It's good to hear that the average salary percentage invested went from 4% in 2008 to 6.7%.

2. They didn't borrow from the 401(k) unless they absolutely had to.

3. They didn't freak out and withdraw money during market downturns--rising or falling market values, they continued to steadily invest.

So, especially if you're young, consider the idea of putting as much into a 401(k) as you can afford. Sit down, make a budget if you don't already have one, include savings/retirement planning in that budget, and stick with it. Retirement may seem like an eternity away, but unless you die before you get there, you will get there one day. It would be nice to have a good nest egg and not be dependent upon Social Security for survival, wouldn't it?

 

[ComicChick]

bought 2 shares of Nike on a whim today. we'll see if i regret that lol

 

[Lily Adler]

So I discovered I was overspending for about four months now I lost around $300 during that period. (forgot to figure in my cellphone payment into my expenses).

 

[Mandon Knight]

I have to budget like a demon budgeting machine because my earning power isn't fantastic and so as a result everything is always 'tight'.

 

[Lily Adler]

It also sucks when there's something you really want, but your budget will not allow for it.

 

[Mandon Knight]

It also sucks when there's something you really want, but your budget will not allow for it.

I save those times up for a birthday present to myself or a Christmas present to myself, twice a year, one of each obvs, that way I can justify the purchase with some validation behind it, so that I ease my guilt upon myself.

 

[Lily Adler]

Well I bought a budget friendly smart TV for myself this past Christmas.

 

[Mandon Knight]

Well I bought a budget friendly smart TV for myself this past Christmas.

Awesome, well done you

 

[ComicChick]

one of my new goals for the year is to put away a minimum of $150 into my home savings fund each month. proud to say i've already hit my goal for the month and put almost double away!

 

[Manasrepublic]

One of my distant uncles amassed a sizeable chunk of change with investments into defense stocks. Right now they are way too pricey but once things temper or crash those stocks are usually a pretty good bet for long term growth

 

[Manasrepublic]

one of my new goals for the year is to put away a minimum of $150 into my home savings fund each month. proud to say i've already hit my goal for the month and put almost double away!

That is so awesome! Can I ask for some tips on how you’re doing this without getting too personal? That is so great to reach that amount per month! Was there a large cost saving decision/adjustment you made to be able to reach that goal or multiple small adjustments to be able to put that money away per month?

 

[Manasrepublic]

Where I work our reimbursements are going down every year but we end up working longer hours! It’s been a struggle. Part of me wants to just completely change professions even if it’s a smaller earning and move to Europe for a more balanced lifestyle. I find the work-life balance in the US challenging and taxing

 

[ComicChick]

That is so awesome! Can I ask for some tips on how you’re doing this without getting too personal? That is so great to reach that amount per month! Was there a large cost saving decision/adjustment you made to be able to reach that goal or multiple small adjustments to be able to put that money away per month?

better money management. trying to really discern between "wants" and "needs" and not impulsively spending or buying like i used to. when i pay in cash i put all my change away. i also did some side jobs and sold off some stuff i don't need anymore

 

[Iceman]

one of my new goals for the year is to put away a minimum of $150 into my home savings fund each month. proud to say i've already hit my goal for the month and put almost double away!

Well done! Hope you can keep it up.

 

[Iceman]

better money management. trying to really discern between "wants" and "needs" and not impulsively spending or buying like i used to. when i pay in cash i put all my change away. i also did some side jobs and sold off some stuff i don't need anymore

I’ve become much better at that now. I dont do any impulse buying at all and don’t go shopping to browse. I know exactly what I want ahead of time and get it (as soon as it comes out), and nothing else, which keeps me totally satisfied. Now the only issue is actually getting rid of a lot of the stuff I’ve been hoarding all these years and just keeping the best stuff.