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TheReverend posted:Some significant money is coming my way. I think you would need to tell us your current finance situation: savings, income, monthly expenses, etc.
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Dec 18, 2013 14:22
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TheReverend posted:Some significant money is coming my way. If it just needs shingles and minor repairs, I would not put it off. Things like that have a way of cascading into worse issues if neglected. That's just me.
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Dec 18, 2013 14:31
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Just finished paying off my student loans! With the job I got at the beginning of the year, I've managed to put all 25k of that behind me. Not sure what my next step would be. 27 years old Current Salary: 70k per year 16k in cash on hand, earning 2% APY in a checking account All credit card balances payed in full every month 10k car loan with 1.99% interest (2012 Ford Focus Titanium, worth roughly 16-17k) Rent/Utilities/Gas payed for, $51 per diem 5k in a 401k started this year, contributing 6% (50% employer match). No other investments. I've been thinking about selling the car since I only use it when I travel home. Would save me on the car payment and insurance for awhile. At some point I'd like to buy a more interesting car anyway, so the difference in cash could be put towards that. Should I be upping my savings rate in the 401k? Maybe start looking at investing in mutual funds? Any other suggestions?
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Dec 18, 2013 16:32
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Kinfolk Jones posted:Just finished paying off my student loans! With the job I got at the beginning of the year, I've managed to put all 25k of that behind me. Not sure what my next step would be. I would then pay off your car loan. And maintain a 3-6mo emergency fund, which you're solidly building. With your car loan being at a lower interest rate than your liquid savings, I'd say aggressively pay it off but I wouldn't use the emergency fund for that purpose. But do treat your car loan like any other non-house debt and get it gone. Nice job on the 25k of loans this year, that's fantastic. Good work!
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Dec 18, 2013 16:56
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I wouldn't bother paying off the car loan. If you're going to sell it, just sell it. Do a contribution to a Roth IRA since your income is above the phase out I believe for IRA deductibility. You could probably up the 401k as well if you want/can.
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Dec 18, 2013 17:03
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TheReverend posted:Some significant money is coming my way. There's no way to be able to say without knowing your situation. If you have: 5k savings 0 retirement 5k credit card loans 10k car loan 45k a year income You're going to have different priorities than: 15k savings 100k 401k, 50k IRA 0 credit car loans 0 car loan 80k a year income
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Dec 18, 2013 17:23
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Is there a generally recommended iOS app for tracking finances? I used Mint for a while but got tired of the ads and lackluster mobile feature set. I don't mind paying for an app or entering transactions manually. The features I'm most interested in are budget tracking and robust trends/stats. Any recommendations?
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Dec 18, 2013 23:43
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TheReverend posted:Some significant money is coming my way. Even if you live there long term, delaying the roof now (as long as it is functional) means the next roof needs to be replaced later as well.
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Dec 19, 2013 00:09
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terre packet posted:Is there a generally recommended iOS app for tracking finances? I used Mint for a while but got tired of the ads and lackluster mobile feature set. I don't mind paying for an app or entering transactions manually. The features I'm most interested in are budget tracking and robust trends/stats. Any recommendations? YNAB is the best one out there - but you need the desktop app too if you plan to use the iOS app.
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Dec 19, 2013 01:13
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Mad Wack posted:YNAB is the best one out there - but you need the desktop app too if you plan to use the iOS app. That won't work for me then, I've got an iPad & iPhone & that's it.
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Dec 19, 2013 01:33
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terre packet posted:That won't work for me then, I've got an iPad & iPhone & that's it.
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Dec 19, 2013 04:22
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SiGmA_X posted:Borrow a computer for one hour a month to set your budget. YNAB rocks, as does it's mobile interface. Wow, that good! I'll check it out then. 
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Dec 19, 2013 04:59
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 The YNAB Phone app is like $3 but YNAB itself is $60. YNAB isn't the hammer to fix every budget nail with, people. The YNAB app is NOT GOOD for BUDGETING. It's good for entering transactions, and that is basically it. You can check your budget balances but it's not at all a robust app. I wouldn't recommend it as a standalone or nearly-standalone app. It's basically just good for entering transactions to YNAB on the fly, and then getting the whole picture on my desktop.
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Dec 19, 2013 14:51
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terre packet posted:Is there a generally recommended iOS app for tracking finances? I used Mint for a while but got tired of the ads and lackluster mobile feature set. I don't mind paying for an app or entering transactions manually. The features I'm most interested in are budget tracking and robust trends/stats. Any recommendations? Personal Capital isn't as good as Mint for budgeting, but it does track transactions and trends, and has no ads.
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Dec 19, 2013 15:40
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Does anyone know of a good free basic budget android app where I can just put in income, expenses and transactions? I don't want to deal with putting also in what's in my accounts since I'm drawing money mostly from one source and I've pretty much always lived within my means.
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Dec 19, 2013 15:47
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Me in Reverse posted:
I still use quicken, too, and I don't use either mobile app. But YNAB has worked far better *for me* than any previous budget software that I've used.
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Dec 19, 2013 16:06
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It used to cost money, IIRC. Glad it's free now, considering it requires the paid desktop app. I agree that YNAB itself is a fantastic tool for budgeting, but the guy above can only use a mobile app. In that scenario, the YNAB App isn't going to do the job. You literally suggested he "borrow a computer once a month".
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Dec 19, 2013 16:09
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There will eventually be a fully featured iPad app for YNAB that's equivalent to the desktop app, but I think they're developing it on Valve time.
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Dec 19, 2013 18:22
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I always liked PocketSmith too, I think their forecasting is fantastic
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Dec 19, 2013 18:59
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TheReverend posted:Some significant money is coming my way. I think the Dave Ramsey baby steps make a lot of sense here. If you have no savings at all, if you are living paycheck to paycheck, set the first $1000 aside for an emergency fund. If you have any consumer debt at all, student loans, credit cards, car loans, pay those off next. After that make sure your emergency fund is fully funded, 3 to 6 months. If you have an old house you might want to go on the heavier side of things. Anything after that put into retirement. You can fund a Roth IRA for 2013 and in a few weeks fund 2014. If there is anything after that you can pay down your mortgage. I also don't think you would be out of line to spend a part of it on something nice for you as long as you don't go crazy and giving a portion of it away in membory of your deceased relative to a cause they would have supported.
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Dec 19, 2013 19:32
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The Steam sale has started and YNAB is once again 50% off until January 2nd. Who knows if it'll get any cheaper. It has been, I bought it for 75% off in July so maybe wait and see.
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Dec 19, 2013 20:35
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Me in Reverse posted:It used to cost money, IIRC. Glad it's free now, considering it requires the paid desktop app. A full featured iPad app will be fantastic.
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Dec 19, 2013 20:52
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I've gotten my first "real" job out of college and they want me to apply for a corporate credit card. I have decent credit so far (750 on creditkarma, for what it's worth) and I'm wary of doing anything that will gently caress it up. My average account age is only 4.x years, which is only a C rating, and I'm worried that adding myself onto the corporate card will drop my average age by a good amount, as I only have 12 accounts total. It'll also be a recent inquiry, but that doesn't matter as much to me as it will fall off soon enough. My question is: how will the corp. card affect my score? Will it be a big negative impact on my age of accounts? Will it being a corp card make it somehow less weighty on my overall score? I don't know what else to ask, other that "what will this thing do to me?"
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Dec 19, 2013 22:50
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Iced Cocoa posted:Does anyone know of a good free basic budget android app where I can just put in income, expenses and transactions? I don't want to deal with putting also in what's in my accounts since I'm drawing money mostly from one source and I've pretty much always lived within my means. Expense Manager https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=at.markushi.expensemanager
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Dec 19, 2013 23:51
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Richard M Nixon posted:I've gotten my first "real" job out of college and they want me to apply for a corporate credit card. I have decent credit so far (750 on creditkarma, for what it's worth) and I'm wary of doing anything that will gently caress it up. My average account age is only 4.x years, which is only a C rating, and I'm worried that adding myself onto the corporate card will drop my average age by a good amount, as I only have 12 accounts total. It'll also be a recent inquiry, but that doesn't matter as much to me as it will fall off soon enough. My question is: how will the corp. card affect my score? Will it be a big negative impact on my age of accounts? Will it being a corp card make it somehow less weighty on my overall score? I don't know what else to ask, other that "what will this thing do to me?" Don't sweat it. If you need the card for your job, get the card. Just pay it off every month like you do for every other card, and your credit score will take care of itself like it says in the OP.
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Dec 19, 2013 23:54
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Richard M Nixon posted:I've gotten my first "real" job out of college and they want me to apply for a corporate credit card. I have decent credit so far (750 on creditkarma, for what it's worth) and I'm wary of doing anything that will gently caress it up. My average account age is only 4.x years, which is only a C rating, and I'm worried that adding myself onto the corporate card will drop my average age by a good amount, as I only have 12 accounts total. It'll also be a recent inquiry, but that doesn't matter as much to me as it will fall off soon enough. My question is: how will the corp. card affect my score? Will it be a big negative impact on my age of accounts? Will it being a corp card make it somehow less weighty on my overall score? I don't know what else to ask, other that "what will this thing do to me?" It won't even have any real affect on your credit score, maybe minus 1-3 points. Average account age is a low factor and you can have a credit score upwards of 790-800+ with an average account age like yours.
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Dec 20, 2013 00:01
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I am really, really lovely with impulse spending. I would like to get some way to limit my spending to an allowance in such a way that I have to do something out of the ordinary to go beyond that limit, so it resonates with me better. Right now I am considering getting a prepaid debit card, but I'm wary of them because they generally cost money every month to use. I definitely need my allowance to be able to be spent on the internet though. So what's a good way to handle this problem? Criteria: 1- I want to be outright denied, not overdrafted, when I go over budget 2- Must be able to be spent on the internet 3- Preferably not cost me extra money Should I just eat the 5 bucks a month or whatever it would cost me to get a prepaid mastercard/visa or is there a better way? I have tried just setting a budget for myself but I inevitably go through this up and down cycle of spending a lot in a month or 2, then spending almost nothing for a month or 2 because I have to get back to zero.
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Dec 21, 2013 17:19
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signalnoise posted:Should I just eat the 5 bucks a month or whatever it would cost me to get a prepaid mastercard/visa or is there a better way? Pennies and pounds, forests and trees, several old saws come to mind. I don't know why you wouldn't spend $5/mo if it's really the solution to your problem. You might be able to set up a separate checking account with a visa debit card type arrangement that will cut you off when you reach zero, too - I'm not sure what the rules on that are these days. Why do you think you won't just drag out your current credit card when the new one runs out of money? I bet you even have the number memorized.
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Dec 21, 2013 17:48
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slap me silly posted:Pennies and pounds, forests and trees, several old saws come to mind. I don't know why you wouldn't spend $5/mo if it's really the solution to your problem. You might be able to set up a separate checking account with a visa debit card type arrangement that will cut you off when you reach zero, too - I'm not sure what the rules on that are these days. It's easier to spend 100 dollars when you know you have 1000 in the bank, or when your limit is several thousand in credit. With a prepaid card, when looking at the Mint app on my phone, it would say I have 350 to spend, and that's my limit, instead of say 1350 and thinking "yeah but I'll pay that back." I want to experience someone telling me my card was declined so it feels bad when I have to borrow from another account, for some classical conditioning. Also at this point also I'm willing to just throw stuff to the wall and see if it sticks.
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Dec 21, 2013 18:07
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If you've got truly addictive behavior going on, as soon as you trample a boundary you've set yourself a couple of times that bad feeling will wear off and you'll just be back where you started with a slightly more complicated system. It's great you're fighting a bad habit, but in my experience setting up mousetrap-like prevention mechanisms doesn't work for long, if anything it's reinforcing your acceptance that you are too weak to restrain yourself and offloading the responsibility for your behavior to external forces. In conditioning terms, normal consequences so far have been too far removed to "condition" you to learn impulse control. The second your brain spots that a card rejection isn't the end of the world, especially online, in fact has very little consequence and only requires some shuffling of money, kiss that fragile barrier protecting you from yourself goodbye. Any new system might work while it's new and interesting to you, so use that time to work on your own thinking and appreciating what not impulse-spending is gaining you, how good it feels to be the person you want to be. Sooner or later instead of playing Spy vs. Spy with yourself you have to become what you want to be, someone who gets that life is just as good without spending binges.
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Dec 21, 2013 18:44
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Another option would be that he could drop the internet only and do cash. I grab about $200 twice a month in cash for all of my expenses from gas to food and everything else is automatically debited from credit cards to student loans. I don't know what the hangup is with having to buy things on the internet, but this helped my impulse control immensely.
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Dec 21, 2013 19:33
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Remy Marathe posted:If you've got truly addictive behavior going on, as soon as you trample a boundary you've set yourself a couple of times that bad feeling will wear off and you'll just be back where you started with a slightly more complicated system. It's great you're fighting a bad habit, but in my experience setting up mousetrap-like prevention mechanisms doesn't work for long, if anything it's reinforcing your acceptance that you are too weak to restrain yourself and offloading the responsibility for your behavior to external forces. In conditioning terms, normal consequences so far have been too far removed to "condition" you to learn impulse control. The second your brain spots that a card rejection isn't the end of the world, especially online, in fact has very little consequence and only requires some shuffling of money, kiss that fragile barrier protecting you from yourself goodbye. White Chocolate posted:Another option would be that he could drop the internet only and do cash. I grab about $200 twice a month in cash for all of my expenses from gas to food and everything else is automatically debited from credit cards to student loans. I'm a heavy Amazon Prime user. Honestly I don't even leave the house much.
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Dec 21, 2013 19:51
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signalnoise posted:I'm a heavy Amazon Prime user. Honestly I don't even leave the house much. I was having this problem too. I started putting stuff on wishlists instead of just buying it. Then when I have a little extra money, like maybe I dropped 30 bucks of change into coinstar, I go buy something off the wishlist. Half the time when I go back to something on a wishlist I don't want it any more. Kindle books and rental movies are a little different because they aren't exactly "stuff", but you can still back off on them by tackling it this way.
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Dec 21, 2013 20:00
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signalnoise posted:Thanks for this, this is probably really what I need to hear You could use Amazon Payments and add funds through your checking account there? I try to limit my Amazon spending to what I make off MTurk (survey taking site that links up to Amazon payments) or occasionally, my credit card rewards since I have an Amazon card. I won't buy something until my Amazon Payments account from taking surveys gets up to that amount and then it kind of feels free.
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Dec 21, 2013 20:33
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signalnoise posted:I am really, really lovely with impulse spending. I would like to get some way to limit my spending to an allowance in such a way that I have to do something out of the ordinary to go beyond that limit, so it resonates with me better. Right now I am considering getting a prepaid debit card, but I'm wary of them because they generally cost money every month to use. I definitely need my allowance to be able to be spent on the internet though.
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Dec 23, 2013 01:25
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signalnoise posted:I'm a heavy Amazon Prime user. Honestly I don't even leave the house much. You can buy Amazon gift cards at the supermarket. If most of your impulse spending is through Amazon, add the cash -> gift card step.
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Dec 23, 2013 03:24
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Both good ideas, thanks
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Dec 23, 2013 03:43
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Looking to send money to a foreign country via xe.com They will direct debit the funds from my account and deposit it to the foreign account through Draft or Wire. Which one would be the cheapest, and best to go with? I assume Draft? But my google searches come up with no difference really? Basically I don't want any extra fees on the receiving bank. lol internet. fucked around with this message at 02:46 on Dec 24, 2013 |
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Dec 24, 2013 02:41
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FCKGW posted:I always liked PocketSmith too, I think their forecasting is fantastic This looks cool, but only 2 accounts for the basic version?  Is it worth the $10 monthly? I've been getting annoyed at the Mint.com site incorrectly displaying my investments for almost a month now.
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Dec 25, 2013 22:58
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Very basic credit card question. I have great credit and currently have two CC's with a 25k+ limit. I've always paid my balance in full but recently have been curious on how the interest rates work. I have one card with a balance of $3,500 with a minimum payment of $25 due on January 8th, 2014. My APR is 15.24%. If I paid the minimum $25 by January 8th, 2014, I will be charged a rate of 15.24% for the remaining balance on my credit, correct? Also, if I pay off $2,000 of my $3,500 credit card balance by January 8th, 2014. Will I still be charged a rate of 15.24% on the remaining $1,500? On my previous credit card there was something about not being charged an interest rate on any remaining balance if paid an X amount compared to the balance or something along the lines of that. Busy Bee fucked around with this message at 03:25 on Dec 26, 2013 |
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Dec 26, 2013 03:23
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