Money Management

I can't handle my money. I'm working on changing that though. I've always spent all my money within a week of getting paid, usually quicker than that. It's becoming a problem.

 

I don't like to stress about money so I'd rather not spend it all.

 

I'm pretty good with money. I could spend less if I wanted but if I can get the stuff I want without borrowing and still save a decent amount then I'm happy. Never bothered with credit at all; I'd rather save and buy than do that. I've got quite a few friends that are dreadful with loans and stuff. Sod loving like that if it can be avoided.

 

I stress about money more than anything else and it is really annoying. This week for example I have been tying to decide whether to buy 3D dot Game Heroes for £15 and so far I haven't done it. What happens if I need that £15 for something important?

I couldn't tell you how often I have purchased something for myself such as a game and then spent the day felling bad or thinking I shouldn't have done it.

I need all of money in the bank.. Just in case! You just never know!

 

HAHAHA, that is exactly how I am. My soul dies a little every-time I spend money on non-necessities. As soon as I sign the receipt, I regret purchasing stuff.

I once read that if you don't start saving for retirement by age 30, you are almost destined to work as a door-greater at Walmart. I try to bank 50% of my income nowadays, and I actually feel good checking my bank account. My co-workers are always bitching about money.

 

I don't think just saving is the answer a lot of the time. We're quite focussed on getting rid of our mortgage currently. It's a fair way off indeed but when you calculate how much it saves over your life then it's very sensible. We have an offset mortgage so we've always got access to all the money we over pay so it works well.

I'm amazed how dumb some of my friends are. One of them was saving a little whilst just paying the interest on his crappy rate credit card. He thought this was making him money. He's an idiot.

 

I don't either, I get home on a week night to find there is nothing on TV and I have no games to play and end up getting myself really depressed as I feel I am working for nothing. The problem is if I spend the money I also feel really bad so I can't win...

At the moment I am spending my weekends decorating and buying stuff for the move so its not too bad, its just the evenings after work when there is nothing to do other than be indoors which are draining my soul away. Doesn't help when you plan something and some scumbag goes and blows you out either...

 

You've got to enjoy life I reckon. My Uncle is a right penny pincher and he's quite the miserable bastard. I just don't get how he enjoys life as he's so paranoid about wasting cash and he really doesn't need to. Get some rainy day savings and then blow your remaining cash is the sensible option.

 

I'm Good with Money as you know, In fact you owe me money

My opinion on myself might change in three or four years time when I'm around £15000 in debt.

 

Do you mean saving while in debt? Because that isn't saving at all... like you said, it's being stupid. SAVING IS ALWAYS THE ANSWER.

I need to buy a house, because rent is my most worthless expense. But I feel like I'm "trapping" myself to where I'm at and what I'm doing, if I do.

 

buying a house is probably the most hardest decision to make and will create wrinkles on your face if youre in your 20's.

 

Been there. Your just lucky you didn't buy before the collapse. Now is a good time though. Interest rates are still low. The difference between 5% and 8% could be a few hundred dollars. Interest is the most worthless expense there is.

 

This is probably the best time in our lifetimes to buy a house. Rock bottom prices, lots of short sales and foreclosures, low interest rates. You'll be kicking yourself later if you don't buy something.

The caveat with short sales or foreclosures is that you need a good inspector. They usually haven't been maintained well and have a ton of problems.

 

I took a look at some short sales and realized you have to be careful. Sometimes the savings aren't really there and then the banks get real wishy washy with the offers.

I'm trying to close on a house now. Got locked into a 4.85% which is awesome.

 

Houses are very cheap in Sweden. Probally the lowest in Europe after Finland.

 

Yeah, I was referring to taking care of debt over saving. I'm surprised how dumb people can be about this; I knew another guy took out a loan and then put it in a savings account. That didn't work out well. In our case, we're much better off paying down our mortgage than saving. Our mortgage rate is around 5%, fixed for 8 years. A savings account would need to pay around 8% to be the better option once everything is considered like tax and so on. You're not seeing anything like that at all; you're lucky to see 3% over here.

 

I remember when you could shop around and get 5.25% in a money market. Now you'd be lucky to get 1.25%, regular savings pays 0%. I've actually been dumping my money into the stock market. I got really, really lucky, since I started doing this in 2009 I've had a pretty fantastic return on investment.

I'm basically managing my own unofficial 401k retirement fund, instead of having some banker who wouldn't give a shit do it. Interestingly, my real 401k valuation is significantly below my contributions. So I'm doing Wall Street better than the pros.

 

My Dad's making me take this Dave Ramsey coarse. I'm pretty good with money though... he just thinks its a good idea.

It's a decent class though, really says what I knew already, like don't spend more than you make, check your credit report at least 2x a year, write out a budget. I don't do half of that stuff (and some class won't change me either :|) though.

He says cut up your CC's and encourages that you ignoring your FICA score? That's rather new to me, and many ppl in my class don't like his reasoning, though it IS stable. His reasoning is that the folks that use Credit Cards are much more likely to step out of their budget than those who do not. That's good reasoning, BUT the way credit works you need to use credit cards, or at least play the banks' game.

This comes to his second point, IGNORE your FICA score! This is the stupid part according to most. With a bad FICA score you will have a tough time For him, an old rich man with a stable base, it might be ok, but not for most. In the end though, this coarse is NOT for the quick to the trigger type. You gotta take what you like from Dave Ramsey. He's a good guy! I suggest this class, he explains everything in great detail and is really funny We're learning about insurance now, if you really followed his system it wouldn't really matter how good your credit was by the end.