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tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

Every second that we're not growing BASIL is a second wasted

Fun Shoe
Current budget as of August 21st 2013

It's come to my attention that my financial situation is terrible. I guess I want some accountability and feedback, so I'm posting a thread about it.

I'm a Canadian 23 year old male in a soon-to-be common law relationship (with a currently unemployed carpenter/waitress who has enough savings to look for work here for about two months). I'm an officer in the military. I have a Bachelor of Arts from a Canadian university in Halifax. My income is 51132 gross, but it's heavily deducted with medical, pension, tax, and other things, so take-home is $2894 a month right now.

I'll post screenshots of my budget, but here's the quick rundown of my current finances.

Income: 2894 on the 15th and last day of the month.
Assets/Things I can sell: 21900
My car is worth 18900, but it's part of the problem.
Debts:
Mastercard (29.9%): -2328 ($67 min payment)
Visa (14%): -12295 ($242 min payment)
Student Line of Credit (4.5%): -16529 ($167 min payment)
Car loan (1.9%): -25550 ($372 payment)
Total: -$34 802 :gonk:

I've taken all of this week and the weekend to read a significant amount of Cornholio's thread and general financial advice stuff like Dave Ramsey's website. I also posted a lot in the "Share your budgets" thread but I'd like to make a thread to log my progress and stop derailing that one.

I take out 60 dollars every Sunday for expenses, including everything from seeing a movie to buying a wireless IDE card to grocery overflow. I usually only use about 40 bucks on actual fun stuff, but miscellaneous things eat the extra 20.

Next month I'm putting 200 dollars in a savings account and from now on I'm putting 25 dollars a pay into a tax free savings account. I understand that this is a silly pittance, but the guy at the bank said that a little bit of saving will improve my credit score, and I think 600 dollars a year is nothing to sneeze at, really.

I'm going to start using the jar system (envelopes, in my case) for discretionary expenses to keep from touching any of my sweet electronic money.

Fortunately(?), I don't have to worry much about repayment strategies because my highest interest debt is also the lowest balance, so I'm debt snowballing and making the mathematically correct decision!

I caused the debt by going on many, many vacations. Last year alone I took fourteen vacations. Each cost well over 1000 dollars. I also bought some stuff I didn't need and lived outside of my means. For 9 months my means were -$400 a month because of a clerical error and I didn't budget correctly for the backpay and income that followed.

Also, I bought the loving car. It's a 2010 Mazda 3 Sport GS (not that anybody cares). It's pretty much my dream car for this stage in my life. I financed for 72 months at 372 a month and my insurance is 202.

I financed a laptop in 2007 for 36 a month. It's got quite awhile left before it's paid off but it's pretty insignificant compared to the rest of the mess, so I guess I have to leave it alone.

My rent will go down to 112.50 a month once the girlfriend moves in next month.

My bank fees are 13 a month with some overdraft fees for almost a year now. Hopefully the overdraft goes away, but I budgeted 20 a month just in case.

I'm hoping to spend:

$240 on spending
$250 on groceries
$350 on gas (This will go down, I'm carpooling now to work and I should be driving much less with the girlfriend living with me)
$50 on savings
$1391 on debt repayment (1283 by Sept, 1391 by October)


Enough E/N nonsense. Here's the budget. I have last month (June) on mint.com, this month in detail on excel, and (hopefully) the next three months depending on how August goes. Hopefully I'll be making do with less than I've budgeted.


This month I moved into a new apartment, hence the "misc" category. Which is curtains, sheets, a used mattress (I don't get your guys' pickiness with new mattresses. Everyone uses sheets so whatever), stuff like that. I didn't make any savings because I started the month pretty much in the hole. I freaked out and poured money onto all my debts and had to save money on groceries and spending money to break even when I get paid on Friday.
"Hobby" is a couple of hiking trips with friends, books I bought, and a game or two. I will stop paying for these things outside of cash spending now.
The budget is missing about 160 in income and probably some money in one category or another. I know because I have like two other sheets full of account history that I categorized and totaled. I just missed a number or two while transferring it over to the weekly breakdown. It doesn't matter anyway, August is the real trial month for this budget.


This month I know I'll start off with 1157 from my pay, I have some payments (97) for gear that I need for work coming off on Monday (I lost a watch, my hydration pack broke, and I splurged on a pedometer because I want to run a marathon next year, sorry), probably, so I know that I'll already have to short my spending category, but whatever.
I'm going to only spend minimum payments in August to build up a chequing account buffer in order to stay out of overdraft and avoid using credit cards, and drop 200 on savings for some reason that I don't really know.


This is the first month of making debt payments. I'm worried about maintaining a positive cash flow while doing this and keeping control of my bank account in case of emergency, so I might take even payments out throughout the month instead of two lump sums. I really have no idea how this kind of plan is supposed to go.
I got my template (not shown) for debt payments and balances from this template. I set one up for each account on different sheets and worked formulas through them to get balances and plug new payments into them. I'm pretty proud of this. :)


Some balance has built up in the chequing account so cash flow is not a huge problem. Speaking of which, should I be spending more on debt because my balance seems to keep going up?
I'm very new to Excel. Do these numbers, equations, format, everything make sense?


Some issues:

I'll be making significantly more and spending less starting in September while I'm on training (shown below), and my budgets don't account for it. I need a new laptop soon, but I'm willing to try to put it off for another year and put the balance from this fall on my credit cards to hopefully be rid of the Mastercard by November.



I have a 430 dollar speeding ticket that I have to start making payments on in September. I want to challenge it, but it's in another province and I simply can't make it to the court dates. I'm going to have to take 20 a month out of one of my spending weeks, groceries on course, or something. This may also increase my insurance next year.

I want to get a costco membership ($55) and try to save money on meat, but I have no idea how to go about doing this while maintaining a positive cash flow. In order to make the savings worth it, I'd probably have to spend 300 bucks at a time once every 2-3 months. I'm not willing to sacrifice diet for money, but I'm pretty good at eating well for a reasonable amount, I think. Is it a good idea to buy bulk, freeze, and eat and how do I keep a positive cash flow while doing it?

I have 3-4 thousand in items. I have an old DSLR with a couple of lenses and a flash that I got for a good deal (1000 hopefully, but it has potential to make money if I ever sell a photo), a desktop with two monitors that I use to edit photos (1000 hopefully), a full apartment worth of furniture in military storage that needs a huge administrative effort to get to, but it's possible if I'm desperate (hopefully 1000), a PSP, DS, 42" TV, and other miscellaneous electronics that I haven't seen for more than a year (hopefully 1000, at least 500). I'm thinking the whole mess could be sold quickly for a maximum of 4000 dollars, probably 3000. That's depressing for me and I don't know how much it really helps my situation.


What I'd like some help with:

How can I sell my car? I owe 25500 on a 19000 dollar car. I'd probably need 1000 for a replacement car, so I need 6000-7500 dollars. Would it be worth it to hold back on credit card payments for six months to save up the cash to pay back the loan? Looking it up using http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/debtplanner/debtplanner.jsp it seems like if I took all of the money saved on car payments it would take 12 months to pay off my credit cards and 19 months to get debt-free. If I don't sell the car I only have 1283, max, to spend on debt, so it will take 21 months to pay off the credit cards, 36 months to pay off the student loan, and 48 months to become debt free.

In summary:

Car sold (+6 months to all payments):
12 (18) Months to pay off credit cards
19 (25) Months debt-free

Car not sold:
21 Months to pay off credit cards
36 months to pay off student loan
48 Months debt-free (car loan)

This seems like a trick question, but does this mean that it's worth it to save up to sell the car? I have to keep in mind that a 500-1000 dollar car will probably need significant repairs or even replacement every year, registration, insurance, all that. I'd say that that amounts to 800 more a year in maintenance than I pay now, but I could get lucky. Not accounting for any misfortune there, it's potentially half the time to get debt free.

All this short-term budgeting and musing does not include:

A significant inheritance from my grandfather.
A raise to 55k gross (Lieutenant) in 12 months. (I make 51132 gross now)
A raise to 71k gross (Captain) in 18-24 months.

The worst part of this for me, and the reason I'm willing to live like a hobo and sell some things, is thinking that, for three hours out of every day I work, it just pays debt. Three more hours feeds my car. Somehow, one of the hours pays for everything else. I am a slave to my car and my debt.

Long term, I'd like to go back to school for a Bachelor of Education and work as a high school teacher. It's my dream job, but I'm not willing to leave my position of relative security to become a student again and train for a job that makes less money.

Does all this budget stuff look good? Am I screwed? Do I need to sell my car, camera, and computer?


Table of Contents

July 2012 Update

August 2012 Update

Debt Repayment Schedule Throwdown

September 2012 Update

Three Month Update

Life Happens! (Career-ending Injury ITP)

October 2012 Update

November 2012 Update

December 2012 Update

January 2013 Update

February 2013 Update poo poo gets automated, flowcharts are created.

March 2013 Update Buy-nothing-new month, go on a smartphone diet.

April 2013 Update 13.5k Visa paid off, toeshoes (the wife) gets a bike. Anti-automobile April changes nothing and we fail.

My bicycle breaks and I buy a terrible bike with really nice wheels.

May 2013 Update

June 2013 Update

July 2013 Update

August 2013 Update Student loan paid off. 18k-0 in 14 months!

September 2013 Update

Debt-Free 21 January 2014 $59k in 2 years, 5 months, and 26 days!!!

tuyop fucked around with this message at 14:01 on Jan 21, 2014

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Leperflesh
May 17, 2007

You can't sell your car. Your auto loan is secured by the car, and so if you sold it, you'd have to pay off the difference immediately. You don't have the cash for that, and shouldn't use a credit card to do it because your terms would certainly be worse than the rate on that car loan. Only paying minimums on your cards is going to accumulate a lot of interest. I agree that the car payment is severely impacting your ability to pay other stuff, but I really can't condone (effectively) shifting your gap from the car loan to a higher-interest credit card.

Selling the car, then, becomes a possibility once you're right-side up on it, which you could get to more quickly by paying extra on top of your monthly payments... but, right now, I think the big problem is your high-interest debt, and (maybe) your monthly expenses. Your car loan is at 2% and you won't beat that with anything else, so you should set that aside for the moment.

You need to pay off that 30% card as fast as humanly possible, and then that that 14% card with the $12k on it is the big hurdle. Selling stuff to put money on that card will help.

I agree that you need a cash buffer. The $500 in a checking account is to absorb any emergencies (not all of which can easily be paid for with credit) and of course to help your cashflow problems.

I think you should start by poring over your paycheck stub and look closely at all the deductions. Obviously most of them are non-voluntary but it'll be a good idea to check to see if you're paying for anything you don't need to.

The costco idea isn't a terrible one (well, rather, the idea of buying in bulk to save) but my experience is that shopping at Costco doesn't save me a dime... because I wind up buying stuff I wouldn't have, otherwise. Like 5 pounds of pistachios, a flat of Hansen's soda, a desk chair, or whatever.

Instead, focus on your discretionary expenditures and figure out where it's going. $250/month on groceries does not seem all that out of line... but, are you eating out a lot? Where is your entertainment/misc money going, and can you cut back? Etc. I think you're already doing that to some extent.

"hopefully" your overdraft fees don't go away: you find out what you're paying for and stop doing that immediately. Don't rely on hope to find out when you'll stop paying for something; read the fine print, call them up, do whatever. Banking should be free, the bank should be paying you for your deposits, not you paying them for the privilege of them having your money.

That colorful spreadsheet is kinda confusing and weird, I think it might be unnecessarily complicated.

How much are you actually paying for that laptop? That is, what's the total you owe, how much interest are they charging you, etc?

Selling some stuff is definitely a possibility but you seem to be making wild guesses about what your stuff might be worth. In some cases it might well be worth it (like that big TV you have in storage?)

Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 02:47 on Jul 28, 2011

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

Every second that we're not growing BASIL is a second wasted

Fun Shoe
Sorry, the colours help me out a lot, actually.

And you're right about the car, I just realized that the 1300 number I'm using is including minimum payments. Saving 7500 right now is not an option.

Regarding entertainment:

I go to bars once every couple of months, spending about 40 when I go.
I eat out once or twice a month for 10-25 dollars.
I see a movie or two a month (20), which I will probably stop doing because I can always just wait for the library to get them. :(
I sometimes miss lunches or forget my coffee at home and buy some at work. This probably comes to 15-20 a month.

I'll start saving receipts to figure out where all that money goes.

For the past couple of months I've kept it entirely within the 240 that I take out in cash, except for some stuff that I bought online and then forgot about. I'm going to stop buying things online now.

Monthly pay deductions woo!

Federal Income tax: 779.35 (I got 63 dollars on my tax return so I know that this is right on)
Superannuation: 252.42
CPP: 199.50
EI: 76.93
Supplementary Death Benefits: 10.40
Disability: 7.40
Other pay allotments (Read: compulsory gym membership): 101.40

None of that is voluntary, but I get the Superannuation payments back when I leave the military, I believe.

I would go to costco solely for meat. I've been there, I know how tempting the 25 pound sack of marshmallows is.

Can I keep my other accounts with a bank if I move my chequing account to a bank with no fees? I know presidents' choice has free banking, and 172 dollars a year is 172 dollars, so I'd move even though I hate them.

Edit: I got an estimate on what my stuff might be worth based on kijiji prices for the big stuff and eBay prices for the electronics. I have a very good idea what these things are worth depending on their condition and the market. The tv will be sold as soon as possible because it's not in storage, it's at my girlfriend's place in Halifax. I'm bringing it here, taking pictures of it, and posting it on Monday for 500 bucks.

The other easy sell might be the camera. I won't say that I love it, only that I'm hesitant to sell because it kind of pays for itself in presents and I'm trying to do small freelance work around town which might pay for the camera if it ever pans out.

I talked to someone who knows, and getting into my stuff in storage is not really an option. It's wrapped, boxed, and wrapped again then coded in a big storage unit "somewhere close". They only really deliver it on posting or request, and I don't have enough space to store that stuff in this 500sq foot apartment, and I'll have to buy all replacement stuff again next august anyway. Is that a good excuse?

tuyop fucked around with this message at 03:22 on Jul 28, 2011

Old Man Fancington
Jul 24, 2007

by T. Mascis

tuyop posted:

I caused the debt by going on many, many vacations. Last year alone I took fourteen vacations. Each cost well over 1000 dollars. I also bought some stuff I didn't need and lived outside of my means. For 9 months my means were -$400 a month because of a clerical error and I didn't budget correctly for the backpay and income that followed.

When you took that vacation to Spain, you should have charged the tranny to gently caress him in the rear end. :gay: Hope this helps!

Also looooooooooooooooooooool at you financing your laptop from 2007.

Tuyop: never change.

edit:

tuyop posted:

I'm a Canadian 23 year old male in a soon-to-be common law relationship (with a currently unemployed carpenter/waitress who has enough savings to look for work here for about two months).
AH HAHAHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHA

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

Chronojam
Feb 20, 2006

This is me on vacation in Amsterdam :)
Never be afraid of being yourself!


Do you remember us questioning all of your poor decisions?

tuyop posted:

I know how tempting the 25 pound sack of marshmallows is.
:eng99: I would hope you could muster the self control to go to a warehouse club to find value instead of refusing because of stupid impulse buys like that. You can get extreme savings, they sell things like nine pound cans of peeled potatoes for something like $3 at Costco, which is absurd.

Old Man Fancington
Jul 24, 2007

by T. Mascis
But are marshmallows paleo? :ohdear:

Old Man Fancington
Jul 24, 2007

by T. Mascis

Tuyop posted:

I have a 430 dollar speeding ticket that I have to start making payments on in September. I want to challenge it, but it's in another province and I simply can't make it to the court dates. I'm going to have to take 20 a month out of one of my spending weeks, groceries on course, or something. This may also increase my insurance next year.

CRIMEZZZ

Yngwie Mangosteen
Aug 23, 2007

Tuyop posted:

:frogsiren: I'm a Canadian 23 year old male in a soon-to-be common law relationship (with a currently unemployed carpenter/waitress who has enough savings to look for work here for about two months). :frogsiren:


Don't. Stop. Ever. You are amazing.

xthnru
Apr 6, 2007

FUCK YOU GUYS. I'm out.

Old Man Fancington posted:

When you took that vacation to Spain, you should have charged the tranny to gently caress him in the rear end. :gay: Hope this helps!

Listen, if she went to the trouble to present as female and undergo hormone replacement to become female, you should have the decency and respect to refer to her as "her."

Tuyop deserves no such respect, as he is a wretched excuse of a man who can't even compete against my fiancee in BitTower despite having a VERY noticeable head start in the game.

47 floors to your 35 son, get with it!

Edit: Does she want out of the whole waitressing gig eventually? If so, okay, that's fair enough. If not, drop her like a hot rock.

Yngwie Mangosteen
Aug 23, 2007

xthnru posted:

Edit: Does she want out of the whole waitressing gig eventually? If so, okay, that's fair enough. If not, drop her like a hot rock.

Uh, bro, she's going to be making carpenter money. carpenter money.

Old Man Fancington
Jul 24, 2007

by T. Mascis

nucleicmaxid posted:

Uh, bro, she's going to be making carpenter money. carpenter money.

If she actually lands that job, it'll probably be the first wood she's worked since she started seeing Tuyop. Oh hey :gay:

xthnru
Apr 6, 2007

FUCK YOU GUYS. I'm out.
We love you, tuyop, really. But seriously, :wtc:

Chronojam
Feb 20, 2006

This is me on vacation in Amsterdam :)
Never be afraid of being yourself!


Can we all admit this girl is a worse idea than high voltage DC lines strewn across all of Canada and the United States?

Yngwie Mangosteen
Aug 23, 2007

Chronojam posted:

Can we all admit this girl is a worse idea than high voltage DC lines strewn across all of Canada and the United States?

Tuyop is the problem. Not the girl.

Evoq
Jul 2, 2007
I was gonna say that your life sucks, but then I realized that I was saying that, and I started laughing hysterically.

RandomPauI
Nov 24, 2006


Grimey Drawer
Tuyop, can you or she look into any additional streams of revenue? Selling things on Etsy, pizza delivery driver, etc?

Old Man Fancington
Jul 24, 2007

by T. Mascis

A student posted:

Tuyop, can you or she look into any additional streams of revenue? Selling things on Etsy, pizza delivery driver, etc?

:frogout:

He can't get a job because he used to guard a switch and then he left to go eat pasta with sugar and a dude touched the switch and he got fired.

edit:
:lol: you are at a point where Berkut is offering you valid advice on improving your life.
\/\/\/\/\/\/

Old Man Fancington fucked around with this message at 11:06 on Jul 28, 2011

Berkut
Jun 20, 2009

by Ozmaugh
Question: Are we sure it's a girl this time?

Also, 72 for a cell phone? I'm going to guess you're locked in a contract. Otherwise/when it's over get a 20$ crap phone and prepaid minutes and use it in moderation.

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

Every second that we're not growing BASIL is a second wasted

Fun Shoe
Well hey, guys.

What's wrong with someone leaving their job and moving and finding another? Canada is doing a bit better in this recession than the US. I don't see why the girl is bad news.

And tiny tower is a terrible soulless button pushing simulator. I dropped that poo poo after two days.

Also, what the gently caress?

tuyop fucked around with this message at 12:21 on Jul 28, 2011

Old Man Fancington
Jul 24, 2007

by T. Mascis

tuyop posted:

Also, what the gently caress guys?

I'll always find you.

lament.cfg
Dec 28, 2006

we have such posts
to show you




Side note, the guy at the bank who told you that putting pennies in your savings account will improve your credit rating is wrong, and also your credit will end up poo poo enough when this debt gets defaulted on that $200 in your savings account won't save you.

EDIT: You're in Canada so maybe I'm wrong, but I doubt it.

CornHolio
May 20, 2001

Toilet Rascal

Chronojam posted:

Do you remember us questioning all of your poor decisions?


Does this guy have some kind of history in this forum?

lament.cfg
Dec 28, 2006

we have such posts
to show you




CornHolio posted:

Does this guy have some kind of history in this forum?

I think they're all friends in real life (or online and are sadly close to eachother) and have WaCkY iNsIdE jOkEs like 'pasta with sugar' and 'tuyop hosed a tranny or something'.

CornHolio
May 20, 2001

Toilet Rascal

traveling midget posted:

I think they're all friends in real life (or online and are sadly close to eachother) and have WaCkY iNsIdE jOkEs like 'pasta with sugar' and 'tuyop hosed a tranny or something'.

That's... kind of sad, really.

At least when I go out with my friends most of them don't know I have a thread on these forums where I'm called worse than a child molester.

Suave Fedora
Jun 10, 2004
Pay off highest interest rate debt first. This is step #1 that will take you years to complete. The less you spend now the shorter that timeframe will be.

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

Every second that we're not growing BASIL is a second wasted

Fun Shoe
Yeah I'm sorry for that, they're forum friends and we hang out in an irc channel.

As an aside, what's wrong with you that makes you think having sexual relations with transexuals makes you "worse than a child molester"? That's really hosed up!

Am I at risk for defaulting on these loans? I'm well ahead of making my minimum payments, have never missed one, and have several hundred dollars a month to throw at the debt while accounting for medium emergencies with a buffer in my checking and savings account. I also have one of the most secure jobs in the country, complete, free healthcare as well as other benefits, and the guarantee of a significant raise in the midterm. I understand that my situation is pretty lovely, but is it a dire emergency?

The bank dude said that some of the popular credit score agencies had changed their scoring criteria to reflect savings, due to some sort of initiative from the federal government to increase savings for macroeconomic stability. I can stop the automatic 50 bucks a month if you guys think it puts me at some sort of increased risk. I'm years away from needing a good credit score, and mine isn't that bad anyway, so it's not a big deal to me.

Edit:

I finally got hold of someone at Dell.

The computer financing started November 24 2008 (seems much older than that), and ends nov 24 2012.
The interest rate is 21.99 and the balance is 502.42.
If I keep making the payment until the end of the term, i'll pay 576 instead of 502.

tuyop fucked around with this message at 15:24 on Jul 28, 2011

KarmaCandy
Jan 14, 2006
Your debt is actually $56,702 if you add up all your numbers that you posted.

You should definitely sell the stuff that you don't use. You don't seem to have any real concept of money. You say "That's depressing for me and I don't know how much it really helps my situation." but if you got $3,000 - $4,000, you would be able to pay off your highest interest credit card in full and you'd be free of things you don't use much.

What is wrong with your current laptop where you need a new one before you're even done paying off the first one? Do you pay interest on it? If not, when does the 0% interest rate end? You have all this debt and no savings, how would you pay for a new laptop? Start backing up your computer regularly and just use it until it dies. I can't imagine you're going to get a ton of money by selling a 3 year old laptop that you don't even own in full and that you apparently need to replace soon.

$240/month in spending money is actually quite a lot. When we see threads like this, most people have around $50 - $150 in spending money for the month so that is definitely one area where you can cut down. You don't need to be spending $8/day on fun stuff.

You cell phone is another area that can easily be cut down to almost nothing. You definitely don't need an iphone to survive. Again, get rid of the bank fees. What are these fees from? If your bank is charging you fees, switch banks - there are plenty of banks that don't charge you anything for their services, unless you're overdrawing, in which case, you shouldn't be doing that anymore since you're on a budget nwo.

Have you shopped around with your car insurance? It seems like you should be able to do better than $202 as well, although a current speeding ticket is a bad sign. That should definitely come out of your spending money.

Edit: On the laptop: You're paying 21% interest on the laptop currently? Can you just put all your extra money towards the laptop and pay it off already, its a low balance and you'll have one debt paid off in full which will feel good.

KarmaCandy fucked around with this message at 15:31 on Jul 28, 2011

Suave Fedora
Jun 10, 2004
If you can pay the Dell off now you'll save $110. nice chunk of change.

A friend of my wife is interested in the camera and accessories. If you're possibly selling it, can you provide details? Make, model, price. She asked something about it being a Tamron 18-200mm lens but I don't know what this is I dont speak Cameralese.

Eggplant Wizard
Jul 8, 2005


i loev catte

KarmaCandy posted:

$240/month in spending money is actually quite a lot. When we see threads like this, most people have around $50 - $150 in spending money for the month so that is definitely one area where you can cut down. You don't need to be spending $8/day on fun stuff.

This was my impression too. $90 a week? And you use your cards for other "fun" stuff, too? Try making it, say, $20 a week and stop buying toys, going on trips, justifying to yourself that you need x & y to do your job or whatever... Make use of freecycle & kijiji if you need things before you go and buy them new.

Throughout your post you seem vaguely apologetic about spending money on stuff like a pedometer, but you need to realize that it's not us you need to apologize to. YOU ARE loving YOURSELF OVER. Every time you go to buy something, force yourself to think, "Do I NEED this?" Better yet, don't buy stuff. Forget about it for a week and see if you still want it, without going into the store or on amazon. Chances are you won't.

Pay more attention to how much you spend on groceries, etc., too. It looks like you just aren't living within your means. Buy store brand when you can. Go in with a list and don't deviate from it. And Karma is absolutely right that you do not need an iPhone.

Eggplant Wizard fucked around with this message at 15:46 on Jul 28, 2011

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

Every second that we're not growing BASIL is a second wasted

Fun Shoe
You can tell your girlfriend that it's a canon 40D ($400)
I have a tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 ($375)
Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro ($350)
Canon ex480 speedlight ($125)
A canon tamrac bag ($10)
One of those blackrapid camera straps ($60)
A slightly used ball-head tripod. ($25)

The whole mess is worth 1345 based on eBay and kijiji estimates.

The iPhone is on a contract. If I back out I'll have to pay 600 in fees.

The 240 is not just fun money. Its also misc money used to cover unexpected expenses. (watch breaks, hydration pack breaks) I do absolutely need both of those for my job by the way, those two things are vital for field work and fireplanning. The pedometer, though a great deal, was unnecessary and I should have gone without. This month I only spent 120 of it on living, basically. 240 was recommended to me by a military financial adviser in June, can I just try to use as little as possible and see how it goes in august?

Groceries are higher than they need to be because of my diet. I buy fresh vegetables and meat and a few supplements. I'm not willing or able to live on beans and rice like you guys recommend, because I have to work out intensely 5-8 times a week. This is very important to me regarding my health and career so it's not going to change.

The current laptop overheats constantly and is literally falling apart. poo poo wasn't built to last. I won't need it very much for the next five months or so, so I don't need to buy one unless it dies. Should I pay off the balance with the buffer from August? Does that push making more than minimum payments on my debt back another month or just eat my chequing balance? I was thinking of using the extra income while on course in the fall (~400 a month) on a new laptop, but won't now. And yeah I pay 21% interest on it. Paying it off just doesnt seem mathematically correct when I have a debt with five times the balance and 75% higher interest. I will do it after the MasterCard.

And I checked today, I can't get to most of the stuff I don't use. The camera and the tv and my desktop are it. So I think that's 2800 in stuff. If I sell the camera I have no use for the desktop, so it'll go except for a harddrive.

I have a clean driving record except for a ticket in 2007 that hosed up my insurance, and the speeding ticket now. Because of the first ticket I'm only eligible for high risk insurance. It won't go down for 2 more years.

KarmaCandy
Jan 14, 2006
Well that's a lot of excuses as to why you can't change anything about your life.

tuyop posted:

The iPhone is on a contract. If I back out I'll have to pay 600 in fees.

How much longer do you have on your contract? Why are your termination fees so much more than the usual iphone fees?

tuyop posted:

The 240 is not just fun money. Its also misc money used to cover unexpected expenses. (watch breaks, hydration pack breaks)

I would break these two things out. Entertainment and then Work Expenses. Cut back on your entertainment category as much as possible and limit your work expenses to only what you absolutely need, thinking realistically as to what gear you need, how often it wears out, and how much replacements cost - I would treat it like maintenance on a car probably, personally. Putting a small set amount aside in an account each month and letting it build up gradually since you won't need to replace things every month, I would assume. You certainly shouldn't be spending $100+/month on work items that need to be replaced.

tuyop posted:

Groceries are higher than they need to be because of my diet. I buy fresh vegetables and meat and a few supplements. I'm not willing or able to live on beans and rice like you guys recommend, because I have to work out intensely 5-8 times a week. This is very important to me regarding my health and career so it's not going to change.

You can cut back without necessarily cutting back in nutrition. Bulk frozen chicken breasts and frozen vegetables are still good for you but are often cheaper and last longer than fresh vegetables and smaller packets of chicken breasts, etc. When vegetables are in season - go for fresh, when they're not - go for frozen.

tuyop posted:

Should I pay off the balance with the buffer from August? Does that push making more than minimum payments on my debt back another month or just eat my chequing balance?

It doesn't push it back. Your laptop is part of your debt. So you would be paying off one of your debts in full. A lot of people find that eliminating a lower balance quickly and in full gives them a lot of satisfaction as they see immediate results. You could either attack the checking account or the laptop - both have pretty high interest rates, and you wouldn't immediately have $37 extra dollars a month to put towards your cards the next month. Its more about motivation.

Zeta Taskforce
Jun 27, 2002

Wow, this tuyop character sounds pretty interesting. Can someone fill me in with the juicy details? Huh? he’s going to reading this? Ok, never mind… :psyduck:

send me a PM

Tuyop, I’m a loan officer and one thing I tend to be reasonably good at is to look at numbers and patterns, and use that to paint a picture. I do this with our members when they apply for a loan, and it leads me to better decisions than if I look only at numbers. Of course if I draw the wrong conclusion, let me know.

The first thing I observe is that you are very impulsive with your spending habits. You have trouble separating needs from wants. I agree with whoever mentioned the Costco membership. I don’t care about the membership fee, I have a Costco membership, I love going there. But my boyfriend calls it the $100 dollar store because he never spends less than $100 when he’s there. It’s great to stock up on toilet paper, it’s dangerous if you are impulsive. Second, when you buy something, you don’t ask can I afford it? Instead you tend to ask can I afford the payment? These are not the same thing. Third, you have a distorted view of credit. You view having good credit as useful because that allows you to finance more stuff with more favorable terms. Put it another way, good credit allows you to buy more rope to hang yourself.

Before you do anything else, I would take out your photo album and enjoy the warm memories of your experiences. You will not be going on vacation for a long time. Maybe frame some of your favorites and that will tide you through the cold dark days of winter.

Next, sell the car. Borrow the difference if you have to. I really don’t care that it is 1.9% and a loan will be 12%. The 1.9% was the bait that caught you in this trap where your only asset is a rapidly depreciating chunk of metal that you drive on salty roads 6 months of the year. You never could afford this car; the 1.9% tricked you into thinking you could. 23 year olds with no money don’t deserve to drive their dream cars. I would rather you drive a paid for beater and owe $6000 instead of owing $25,000. Your insurance will go down too.

Then you need to establish an emergency fund. Its funny, when you look at the numbers in your bank account, or even more so, pull money out of your wallet, it feels different than when you pull out a credit card and it just gets added to your next statement.

Finally, will have to aggressively pay back the debt starting with the Dell. It’s insane that you still owe money on a 4 year old laptop. You are proof that Dell makes more money financing computers than selling computers. Don’t wait until you get a raise. You will never out earn your impulses.

Parting thought. Its cool that you are thinking about your budget through October. And if you have a big thing coming up in a future month, its cool to plan for it and save for it. But when you budget, you need to think about the month at hand, not the generic month from heaven.

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

Every second that we're not growing BASIL is a second wasted

Fun Shoe
Do they really seem like excuses? I just think that there were options to help the situation, I did the leg work to see if they would pan out, and they won't. There is no silver bullet for this debt, I just have to stop spending money.

Well I only recently had this income and set of expenses. And I could have moved into a much nicer place, instead I live in the 500sq foot converted attic of the fight club house with two other people for 162.50 a month.

I've carpooled every day this week, reducing my gas by 60 dollars already for this month. I have to go back to Halifax to help the girlfriend move, but I'm paying for it with rideshares, saving me 120 in gas there.

I called Telus, the contract termination fee is 55 a month and I have 13 months left, so 715 bucks to cancel. I don't know if this is extraordinary, but that's the way it is.

I need a new pair of boots in September as well (this is also necessary), so that's probably 165 of expected work-related poo poo right there.

I don't need a lecture on nutrition or how to eat cheaply. In university I lived on 90 dollars a month in groceries. I also looked like poo poo, felt like poo poo, and ran a 25 minute 5k and couldn't deadlift over 200 pounds. I'm not going to buy frozen or canned chicken breasts because they're full of salt and are garbage. I don't buy chicken breasts anyway because they're expensive. Frozen vegetables have had all the good things sucked out of them. Trust me, I'm not eating like a gourmet, I eat a chunk of meat and a pile of raw vegetables for every single meal. Sometimes I have fruit. I'd rather be bankrupt and living out of a 1980s hatchback than skimp on nutrition. Food, sleep, and fitness are at the top of my priorities right now. Call it an excuse if you want, but I want you to understand that this is not some impulsive decision to eat steak and avocados all the time (I don't, though I miss avocados), it's a carefully researched and prioritized lifestyle decision that I think is critical to my success and wellbeing.

Zeta Taskforce posted:

Wow, this tuyop character sounds pretty interesting. Can someone fill me in with the juicy details? Huh? he’s going to reading this? Ok, never mind… :psyduck:

What? You think I spent almost 60 000 dollars more than I earn being boring? I will tell you a story for 25 dollars!

Zeta Taskforce posted:

The first thing I observe is that you are very impulsive with your spending habits. You have trouble separating needs from wants. I agree with whoever mentioned the Costco membership. I don’t care about the membership fee, I have a Costco membership, I love going there. But my boyfriend calls it the $100 dollar store because he never spends less than $100 when he’s there. It’s great to stock up on toilet paper, it’s dangerous if you are impulsive. Second, when you buy something, you don’t ask can I afford it? Instead you tend to ask can I afford the payment? These are not the same thing. Third, you have a distorted view of credit. You view having good credit as useful because that allows you to finance more stuff with more favorable terms. Put it another way, good credit allows you to buy more rope to hang yourself.

All true. I would go into Costco once with no money, price the meat that I'm going to buy, then go back with only that amount of cash, though. Is that a good strategy? I only thought the good credit rating was good for future large purchases that constitute "good debt". A house mortgage, business loan, things like that. I'm uncomfortable with having a bad credit score, which I don't, because it ties my hands in the future when I don't know what my spouse or family might need. Same with the debt, which is why I'm actually very upset about it.

quote:

Next, sell the car. Borrow the difference if you have to. I really don’t care that it is 1.9% and a loan will be 12%. The 1.9% was the bait that caught you in this trap where your only asset is a rapidly depreciating chunk of metal that you drive on salty roads 6 months of the year. You never could afford this car; the 1.9% tricked you into thinking you could. 23 year olds with no money don’t deserve to drive their dream cars. I would rather you drive a paid for beater and owe $6000 instead of owing $25,000. Your insurance will go down too.

The money simply does not exist in the world for me to sell that car. I would have to save for 12 months making minimum payments in order to break even on the loan so that I could sell it.

I called my father who would be the only person I know with any savings who would be willing to lend me that kind of money. I thought that he might have RRSPs which I would pay the tax and interest rate on as part of the loan and would help him to max his contributions out next year. But it turns out that, since my mom lost her job a few years ago, their savings are all gone, they have a huge tax bill from the nonprofit work, and massive credit card debt of their own. Before you guys start, my mom is actually not a deadbeat like cornholio's relatives, she was an important provincial bureaucrat, then moved to nonprofit communications work which dried up, and now she's a low-tier author who ghostwrites business nonfiction. Her losing her job is the same reason I had to join the military, incidentally.

I'm also not eligible for any kind of credit, at any rate, from any institution that I've checked (my bank, credit union, even another loving card from Capital One) because of my existing debt and payments.

I'm sorry, I really want to do it, but selling the car seems to be completely impossible right now unless you have any other ideas.

quote:

Emergency fund

Does $1847 at the end of August suffice? That's what will be sitting in the chequing account and savings according to the budget. 3-9 months of expenses is insane for me right now. That's 7300-22000 dollars.

How far in advance should I budget? It seems like it's really hard to plan for a lot of things that come up outside of a generic precautionary dollar figure.

Also, should I be losing sleep over this? Because I am. My dad had other things to say though: I'm solvent, I came out on top this month despite spending way too much on poo poo and not prioritizing debt repayment properly, I have a budget in order, I have more income coming at irregular intervals with a huge chunk over the fall, when I get a promotion (this is not a "hope", this is just something that happens in the military) and stick to the budget I'll be even more solvent.

Do I really need to sell things like my camera (the TV is going for sure though), which is a huge source of free entertainment and possible income and make an even larger cut to my lifestyle than I already have? I mean, this apartment sucks and I hate carpooling, and these are not "things that I don't really use much". Most of the value is in objects that let me do things that I find very fulfilling.

Basically, you guys are saying that I can't possibly afford my life as it is, but my friends, coworkers, parents, pretty much everyone, seem way less alarmed when I tell them the numbers.

I can see the response actually, "That's only because they're in debt too!", "You don't deserve to be fulfilled at 23, you sack of poo poo. You have a terrifying amount of debt that is about to swallow you and turn you into a homeless drug addict despite what the numbers say! And also we don't believe you that you're going to stick to this budget." Also probably something about how my parents are deadbeats for having no savings and debt of their own at 47 and 49. And how I probably got this from them I guess. Tough love and all that.

tuyop fucked around with this message at 21:05 on Jul 28, 2011

Zeta Taskforce
Jun 27, 2002

Its not like you shouldn’t plan your budget long range, but at some point you are just extrapolating. As each month approaches, see how you did on the previous month and make adjustments to the one coming up to make sure it conforms to reality.

I’m going to mostly side with you on the food issue. Before I do, “beans and rice” is as much of an expression and philosophy as a recommendation that one eat only rice and beans every meal. That said, beans are a super food, very high in protein, and rice, especially brown rice complements them nutritionally and taste wise. Both are amazingly cheap and can be prepared in so many ways. There is a reason why beans and rice are foundation of many cultures around the world.

Many of your expenses are out of control, your food expenses are not one of them. Food is one thing you always get what you pay for. You don’t have to overpay, and you will save tons of money by sacrificing convenience, (i.e. you have to cook) but I will never sacrifice nutrition. There are things I will always pay extra for. One of those is eggs. I’m not loaded, but I buy my eggs at the fancy natural store where everything is locally grown. They cost between $3.50 and $4.00 a dozen. Go to google, search the term “forced molting” and then go to images, and you might decide that it’s worth spending an extra $0.30 per egg too.

Some ideas to save money. Since you do go to Costco, get those big bags of frozen vegetables. You can get about 6 pounds for $5.00. I put them in the microwave for about 3 minutes, add cheese to the top, and zap for another 20 seconds. Surprisingly good, fast, cheap. Frozen is often more nutritious than fresh if fresh means it was grown on a different continent and harvested 2 weeks ago. Sardines and canned salmon are reasonably cheap and amazing sources of protein and omega-3 fatty acids. Speaking of eggs, you can mix cottage cheese in with scrambled eggs, and you can’t even taste it. They just become higher in protein. You can’t beat oatmeal for a stick to your ribs breakfast. Add a scoop of protein powder if you want. There is a GWS thread about it,

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3309340


tuyop posted:

The money simply does not exist in the world for me to sell that car. I would have to save for 12 months making minimum payments in order to break even on the loan so that I could sell it….

…with a huge chunk over the fall, when I get a promotion (this is not a "hope", this is just something that happens in the military) and stick to the budget I'll be even more solvent.

How much money are we talking about? If you sold a few things, saved between now and then, would you have enough to sell the car?

So your friends are broke too? The point this isn’t to suffer for the sake of suffering. You don’t do it because it’s easy. You do it so at some future point you can do fun things without losing sleep over it when the bill comes.

Zeta Taskforce fucked around with this message at 21:24 on Jul 28, 2011

Eggplant Wizard
Jul 8, 2005


i loev catte

tuyop posted:

Do they really seem like excuses?

Yes, they do.

quote:

There is no silver bullet for this debt, I just have to stop spending money.

And this is what people are trying to help you do by making the suggestions they are. Carpooling & living in a cheap apartment are great steps, and it's awesome that you're taking the initiative to look into other things to fix your situation. But you posted here and that means you are going to get advice, and advice you probably won't like, at that.

quote:

Also, should I be losing sleep over this? Because I am. My dad had other things to say though: I'm solvent, I came out on top this month despite spending way too much on poo poo and not prioritizing debt repayment properly, I have a budget in order, I have more income coming at irregular intervals with a huge chunk over the fall, when I get a promotion (this is not a "hope", this is just something that happens in the military) and stick to the budget I'll be even more solvent.

To the bolded part: no. You can't come out "on top" when you have that much debt. I'm just talking the credit cards here, ignoring the car & the student loan and the laptop. If you mean you managed to earn more than you spent this month, not including debt repayment, I'd still say no, you did not come out on top. If you mean you earned more than you spent including debt repayment, than I can agree that you're certainly on your way up. I might be reading your tables wrong but it looks to me like that isn't true?

quote:

Do I really need to sell things like my camera (the TV is going for sure though), which is a huge source of free entertainment and possible income and make an even larger cut to my lifestyle than I already have?

Yes, if you want to cut down your debt so that you can live a better life in the future. Dragging your feet on it now adds up in terms of interest and stress. You're only 23. You have lots of life ahead of you to buy fancy stuff and live the high life. Or even the medium life.

quote:

Basically, you guys are saying that I can't possibly afford my life as it is,

Yes.

quote:

but my friends, coworkers, parents, pretty much everyone, seem way less alarmed when I tell them the numbers.

I can see the response actually, "That's only because they're in debt too!", "You don't deserve to be fulfilled at 23, you sack of poo poo. You have a terrifying amount of debt that is about to swallow you and turn you into a homeless drug addict despite what the numbers say! And also we don't believe you that you're going to stick to this budget." Also probably something about how my parents are deadbeats for having no savings and debt of their own at 47 and 49. And how I probably got this from them I guess. Tough love and all that.

That is about what I'd say. I explained the bit about being 23 already (And I'm not trying to be an rear end in a top hat: I'm 25 and I make roughly half what you do, and yes, I live like a student. I do this to save, though, and because I don't want to get into debt. One day maybe I can afford a car or nice furniture, but not today.)

You DO have a terrifying amount of debt. By my count, your debt adds up to $56,702. Your income is $51,132. That should scare you.

And no, we do not believe you're going to stick to the budget, because what we get out of your posts is an "I really want to fix this! Awww, do I have to do x? I don't wanna..." We're not trying to be mean. eta: Think of it this way: You're a fitness guy, yeah? Imagine if someone pretty chubby, though not obese, came to you and said, "I want to lose all this weight and get some nice looking muscles." You give them lots of advice and they say, "Do I really have to go to the gym x times a week? What if I just go half that much? And I don't think I can give up my twinkies and french fries, but I'll give up eating doughnuts. Surely I deserve some kind of treat, right?" That is how you are coming off. :\

Your parents have nothing to do with this except inasmuch as all parents should (and most don't, so yours are hardly unique) educate their kids on responsible financial behavior.

Try not to feel attacked. I know we're mean, but this is SA, and you asked for advice. Also, it's a terrifying amount of debt that WILL swallow you if you're not willing to kick its rear end hardcore.

eta: Oh yeah, I forgot. Look into low cost wireless providers and see if you can haggle one into paying all or part of your iPhone cancellation fees. A lot of them will do this. You might also be able to talk to the phone company you're with and see if you can change to a cheaper plan with a cheap phone. They might be willing to do that rather than lose a customer.

Eggplant Wizard fucked around with this message at 21:36 on Jul 28, 2011

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

Every second that we're not growing BASIL is a second wasted

Fun Shoe

Zeta Taskforce posted:

Food.
Thanks, I've been following this diet for two years now, I know what goes on it and what doesn't and how to save money on all of it. It doesn't include rice, beans, or oatmeal, though. :)

quote:

How much money are we talking about? If you sold a few things, saved between now and then, would you have enough to sell the car?

Including the cost for a 500 dollar piece of poo poo if I can find one? 7300 dollars.

If I somehow survive with a bike or something in freezing, butt-gently caress New Brunswick 24 kilometers away from work while having to carry nearly 100 pounds of stuff quite often? 6600 dollars.

Edit: Actually I'd like to try going without a car for awhile just to see if I could. Might just take a bit more planning.

If I sold the camera and TV and desktop, I would be 4800 dollars short. So I could save that in 9 months instead of 12. This is what I mean, it just doesn't seem to make that much of a difference.

quote:

So your friends are broke too? The point this isn’t to suffer for the sake of suffering. You don’t do it because it’s easy. You do it so at some future point you can do fun things without losing sleep over it when the bill comes.

That's the thing, none of these people are broke. They don't think I'm broke. They have 5-30k in debt, make 25-75k a year, they make their payments and pay down stuff slowly. Their lifestyle isn't out of control, but they don't live in the fight club house, sleeping on a mattress salvaged from an apartment fire, and eat whole chickens that are on sale because they're about to expire (this is my situation, by the way).

I guess this is some sort of group-think to get us to tow the party line of spending more than you're making in order to keep the whole North American fake-money financial hegemony working?

I guess I'm just trying to wrap my head around this. Why is it so necessary to wring everything enjoyable out of my life for three more months closer to being without debt? It's 3 months closer to freedom, yes, but the slavery isn't complete or that bad as long as I don't have to spend two years doing nothing but having sex and walking around this horrible loving town.

tuyop fucked around with this message at 21:40 on Jul 28, 2011

Eggplant Wizard
Jul 8, 2005


i loev catte

tuyop posted:

That's the thing, none of these people are broke. They don't think I'm broke. They have 5-30k in debt, make 25-75k a year, they make their payments and pay down stuff slowly. Their lifestyle isn't out of control, but they don't live in the fight club house, sleeping on a mattress salvaged from an apartment fire, and eat whole chickens that are on sale because they're about to expire (this is my situation, by the way).

Part of it is, what would happen to them if there were a sudden change of situation? What if someone lost his or her job? What if they have to travel somewhere suddenly due to a family emergency? What about dental treatment? What if a pet gets sick? What if the car needs serious repairs or you get in an accident and have to pay for the other guy's damage as well? What if one of these things happened to a child, friend, or family member whom you wanted to help out? I don't know quite how good Canadian healthcare is, but presumably a major illness or accident would still be a drain on finances, especially if it meant lost working time.

If you have an emergency fund, these things are mitigated or in many cases made entirely unproblematic if the expense is relatively small, like a couple thousand dollars. If you don't have a fund, but you don't have much debt, either, you at least can draw on your credit for the duration of the emergency without throwing yourself into as many more years of payback.

Then there's that lurking question, which again may not be as big a deal in Canada: one day, you will be old and/or jobless. How will you survive? Are state benefits good enough to keep you in the lifestyle you want? Getting out of debt means it's easier to build up savings so you know that you'll be taken care of when you're too old to work anymore.

tldr: emergencies & retirement

eta: I know you hate your apartment but you gotta quit the martyr complex thing. You have an iPhone and an expensive sporty car. Your lifestyle is not that bad.

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

Every second that we're not growing BASIL is a second wasted

Fun Shoe
/\/\/\ Ah right, it's about risk.

Eggplant Wizard posted:

eta: I know you hate your apartment but you gotta quit the martyr complex thing. You have an iPhone and an expensive sporty car. Your lifestyle is not that bad.

Sorry, I'm just getting defensive because I was pretty proud of mostly mending my ways but people were treating me like I live like a loving oil baron because I have a nice car, nice cell phone, and a couple of grand in things that haven't made it to the auction house.

Cornholio has really thick skin.

Chronojam
Feb 20, 2006

This is me on vacation in Amsterdam :)
Never be afraid of being yourself!


tuyop posted:

The interest rate is 21.99 and the balance is 502.42.
If I keep making the payment until the end of the term, i'll pay 576 instead of 502.

I know others have already touched upon this here, but 22% interest is a huge ripoff! You would have been far, far better off saving up and waiting a few months if you wanted a new computer. With an extra $200/month saved away, you could get yourself a good machine after waiting four to five months.

Patience can be a bitch sometimes, but paying nearly another quarter on top of the original cost is a bad idea especially if it's something that will need an upgrade/replacement before the original term is up; like a computer where you'll want to put more money into or grab a new model a few years later.

Maybe it seems insignificant but it's a bad habit to get used to doing things this way, it's the same mindset that lets you float ever-increasing credit card debt. poo poo adds up.

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Zeta Taskforce
Jun 27, 2002

tuyop posted:

Including the cost for a 500 dollar piece of poo poo if I can find one? 7300 dollars.

If I somehow survive with a bike or something in freezing, butt-gently caress New Brunswick 24 kilometers away from work while having to carry nearly 100 pounds of stuff quite often? 6600 dollars.

Edit: Actually I'd like to try going without a car for awhile just to see if I could. Might just take a bit more planning.

If I sold the camera and TV and desktop, I would be 4800 dollars short. So I could save that in 9 months instead of 12. This is what I mean, it just doesn't seem to make that much of a difference.

I don’t follow your math. Not saying its wrong, I just don’t follow it. How much is your bonus exactly? How much is the shortfall between what you owe and the private party sale of the car?


quote:

That's the thing, none of these people are broke. They don't think I'm broke. They have 5-30k in debt, make 25-75k a year, they make their payments and pay down stuff slowly. Their lifestyle isn't out of control, but they don't live in the fight club house, sleeping on a mattress salvaged from an apartment fire, and eat whole chickens that are on sale because they're about to expire (this is my situation, by the way).

They don’t think you are broke, you don’t think they are broke, how interesting?

quote:

I guess this is some sort of group-think to get us to tow the party line of spending more than you're making in order to keep the whole North American fake-money financial hegemony working?

You might be onto something here.

quote:


I guess I'm just trying to wrap my head around this. Why is it so necessary to wring everything enjoyable out of my life for three more months closer to being without debt? It's 3 months closer to freedom, yes, but the slavery isn't complete or that bad as long as I don't have to spend two years doing nothing but having sex and walking around this horrible loving town.

If you sold the car, got the beater and roughed it for a couple years, you would be debt free. You read the cornholio thread, look what he did in 2 years. And you will be 25, and earning good money. Think how many toys you can buy and vacations you can take? Instead you will be on the multi decade plan and take solace that you have a slave master, but he isn’t that bad. And sex is free and as a sex haver, you are already better off than 2/3 of goons.

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