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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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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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe

Zeta Taskforce posted:

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?

The car value is 18900. Looking at ads, the same car with much fewer kilometers are selling for 20k.
The car loan balance is 25500
The difference is 6600

If I take that and buy a $500 beater, after registration (100), insurance (???), taxes (70) =
670 + ???

I need at least 7300.

Some of this can come from things that I own, but only about 2500 worth, which means 8-10 months of saving, if I sell everything that I own, with only minimum payments on the cards in order to sell the car. If I don't sell everything I own, it's two more months of saving.

I used the CNN debt calculator to work out how much faster this allows me to pay things off. The times are cumulative, so the car would be payed of 44 months from today, not 44 months after the student loan.

With the payments I'm making starting in September, without selling the car, it will take (going in order of largest interest):
Mastercard: 4 months
Laptop: 5 months
Visa: 19 months
Student loan: 32 months
Car: 44 months
Debt free in 44 months. With a car.

If I sell the car I have to wait 8 months. So I've added 8 to all these numbers, but I have an extra 425 to put on everything (Car loan + (.25*insurance)) so 1852 total:

Mastercard: 10 months (2+8)
laptop: 10 months (2+8)
Visa: 18 months (10+8)
Student loan: 26 months (18+8)
Debt free in 26 months. Without a (nice) car.

Does this make it worth it to sell everything I own and start saving now in order to sell the car in 8 months?

Because personally, four years with a bit of quality of life sounds better than two with much less and the time to service the lovely high-interest debt is much longer if I sell everything.

tuyop fucked around with this message at 22:44 on Jul 28, 2011

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe
/\/\ It's buried in my wall-of-text OP.



It's not a bonus, just an increase in pay for... being on course I guess.

I get 24.71 every day I'm in the field. The course runs from mid-September to early-December. There are 32 days of field in there.

I also have to pay for rations and quarters, which are around 500 a month.

But I get incidentals for living on base, which are 17 a day, every day on course. Not sure if they pay at the same time as being in the field, but that's what makes up the "bonus" for the fall.

If the course goes well, I'll be doing that all again in May.

And yes I want to sell THE CAR. I don't want to sell everything I own. I'll make it work I guess.

Eggplant Wizard posted:

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. :\

I meant to address this, it kind of showed me where you guys are coming from, and it seems like a very apt analogy.

Assuming the pretty chubby guy is starting from completely sedentary and starts reading labels, cuts out donuts, but doesn't change his diet much and goes to the gym 3 times a week instead of 5, or 1 instead of 3, he will still improve. He started at 0 after all.

What you guys are telling me just seems like an unfit person being given a program to immediately change their diet and begin a grueling long term program. What if all I want is to lower my cholesterol, lose the spare tire and stop feeling out of breath when I climb the stairs?

You guys seem like the olympic athletes of finance, but nobody wants to be a loving olympic athlete, there's too much sacrifice for questionable gains. Will I die or fail if I just try to take a different route to financial well-being? I know I have to be aggressive, and 1391 dollars a month seems very aggressive to me! I just don't know why it's necessary to thin everything out and be bored for two years.


Wait. Hey, I have a tent, there's this woods behind the old building on base where I lived, it's very private. What if I just take my tent and go live in there? I could sell literally everything I own except for a set of workout gear and my military kit. I'll keep it all under a tarp that I have while I'm not using it. I'll use the shower in the gym and get books from the library and cook my meals in the microwave. I think my expenses will be about 105 a month (groceries, soap, razors, batteries, gas for friends in case I need a ride). It'll take me a year to pay off EVERYTHING, then maybe I'll keep squatting for awhile to build that savings buffer. How does that sound to you guys?

tuyop fucked around with this message at 23:15 on Jul 28, 2011

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe

swenblack posted:

The hyperbole is loving annoying. Stop it.

I'm with you on the car. I also agree with you on the food. Your income is decent, but your debt will crush you if you stay this course. If we carry the fitness analogy further, just like if your calories in are greater than your calories out, you will never get in shape, if your expenses exceed your income, you will never be in good shape financially.

In my opinion, your biggest problem is your ability to rationalize away everything. You need to make a big change in your attitude. Start making your decisions from a balanced perspective instead of trying to figure out how you can justify the decision you've already impulsively made. A one-week moratorium on buying anything over $20 seemed to work for me.

Are you saying the debt will crush me if I stay on the course I stayed on in July? Or if I manage to make the budget in August? I'll be servicing the debt 1391 dollars a month while building savings and maintaining a positive cash flow. That didn't include selling anything, just cutting expenses and using the jar system.

Alright, sorry. I sound like Cornholio.

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe

swenblack posted:

Yes. I think you missed a couple minus signs on your July budget that will reduce your +$99 balance for the month down to -$87.

Actually those positive values (for gas and misc (apt)) are for repayments from people that I either drove places or bought things for with the promise of being repaid. The misc is positive because of a 110 dollar repayment I got for a pressure washer that I bought for my mom in June, who couldn't make it to the store for some reason.

The gas is positive because of ridesharing and friends' portions of gas that came to more than my gas expenses for that week.

This kind of thing is part of the reason that I have cash flow problems, and it's going to stop.

The savings is positive because I had to take it all out in order to break even at the beginning of the month because of the way that moving out is dealt with in the army. I got that money back on the 15th but forgot to include it in the income, I just fixed it. I actually made 3080 this month instead of 2894. :unsmith:

Leperflesh posted:

People are being rough on you because probably 80% or 90% of the people who ask for BFC's advice go on to ignore it, and they think that being rough is the way to overcome that resistance. Especially since they think it worked with CornHolio.

Oh ok!

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe
I already read books on my iphone...

Oh yeah, and I'm in the field next week. So that's an extra 123.55 next month and -160 in groceries, gas, and spending. :)

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe
Yeah, TD has the same option with the whole add a dollar to your purchase and save it thing. I was on that for awhile. My savings account went up to like 13 dollars in two months, then I got off of it because I'd rather control my own savings. They're also of limited use when you use cash to pay for everything.

Alright, so guys. Is the only way to develop some sort of minimal security to sell everything I own and start saving to sell the car? I don't get it. I'm going to have a fairly large (for me) balance in my chequing and savings accounts by the end of August.

I'm not exposed to very much risk. If any of these things happen I can cut spending on my debt and rebuild the balance:

If the car gets broken into I'll have the balance to pay for the glass damage.

If the car gets stolen, good. Insurance will pay off and I'll have less debt and buy a lovely beater.

Flat tire? I have road hazard on my tires.

If the apartment gets broken into? I have a computer and (sometimes) a camera in here. Neither of which would be replaced. For this reason I have no renter's insurance.

All of the big-ticket gear like packs and stuff that I need are military anyway, if they break, they replace them for free. The worse that could happen is I lose some fancy piece of kit like night vision goggles and they garnish my pay. I don't lose poo poo though.

Medical bills are 100% taken care of. I have full dental, vision, physio, massage, drug plan, everything that you can possibly think of. I might buy some new contacts in a couple of months. That's $180 dollars. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

My girlfriend is just that, a girlfriend with her own groceries and finances, until February when we're common-law and she's in the military and has the same medical care as me.

My contract with the military is on until 2023. They literally can't fire me until then unless I murder someone or something. My job is very secure.

Selling the car would get me out of my car payment and student loan more than a year faster. I still don't understand why being debt free on 4.5% and 1.9% loans is some kind of nirvana. All the high-interest stuff will be paid off in the same amount of time or faster without selling the car.

Using this knowledge, is my budget still hopefully optimistic? I'm not some entry-level peon with a wife and kids at a large corporation who could be laid off any day.

I hate how every post turns into this huge wall of text in this thread, so I'm sorry but I talked to a friend last night who is a bank teller and is not in any debt at all. Here's how our conversation went:

:downs:Me: I need to sell my car.
:eng101:Her: Why?
:downs: Well because the goons say that it's ruining me. I'm upside down on the loan 7500 dollars.
:eng101: Well, what the gently caress? Where are you going to get 7500 dollars in order to sell it?
:downs: I would have to sell my camera, computer, TV, et cetera for like 3 grand and then make minimum payments for 8-10 months to build the balance, then sell the car and pay back the loan.
:eng101: THAT IS THE WORST IDEA EVER. So they want you to drop to the minimums on all of your debt for almost a year, in order to pay off your lowest interest, highest-balance loan? Also, you still need a car, which could cost you thousands in repairs if you get a lovely one. This one is under warranty.
:downs: But the goons said... And the math...
:eng101: Maybe the goons aren't right about this. Your car is:
1. In its worst period of depreciation in its lifespan, the first two years after it was bought. Which means you will lose the most amount of money possible if you sell it soon.
2. That 7500 dollars would be way better going on your 29, 21, and 15 percent debt.
3. Getting rid of your car does not put you in a better position relative to your debt, or your assets. You'll end up with an unreliable POS, 25000 less than you had before in assets, savings, or less debt, plus the cost of any repairs that need to happen.
Instead, just put that money on your credit and savings so that you have a buffer and can pay off your horrible high interest poo poo faster.
:downs: Oh.

Is this advice sound? Why not?

Edit: Also, Pay day! Savings go up 125, balance goes up to 980 to pay for things next month. I have adjusted the August budget to reflect this.

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe
/\/\/\ what are you talking about? I TRIED to sell the car, I even called my father and begged for a loan like a bitch. I called to see about a balance transfer credit card but got denied. My bank won't give me a line of credit. I would sell the camera and computer (which is a desktop I parted out and payed cash for last year) immediately if it meant selling the car, but it would only mean saving for a year in order to sell the car and then living like poo poo. I tried to get my apartment full of second-hand furniture in storage in order to sell it but it is impossible for at least another year.

A whole lot of trying, I know, but like I said, the money simply doesn't exist, the options are not open. I can not unmake my car fuckup.

Zeta Taskforce posted:

Perhaps he would be kind enough to cross-post examples of his work, but he posts quite a bit in the dork room. His stuff is beautiful. I was impressed. He captures the passing moments, the mood, everything is sharp, the angels are great, they are visually appealing. Credit must be given where credit is due. No, I don’t think it would be much of a stretch for him to network and get his name out there. His budget is so tight that a few extra hundred dollars would change his world.

Mod edit: It will be a punishable offense if anyone finds and posts pics or posts links to pics that he has not previously shared with the SA community.

That's actually a huge compliment for me, thank you!

I don't have a computer until Monday, and haven't had Internet for awhile, but my flickr feed has stuff that I'm (a little) proud of. You can find me there by looking for DevinWR. That's another $25 a year for pro that a forgot about, oops. The dorkroom is like BFC but for photography so any praise there is hard to come by and I don't think I'm that great because of it.

Weddings are out for me, Chronojam is right. I would need another flash, another lens or two, light stand, probably two more lenses, another body, blah blah blah. Not to mention the time spent editing, networking, an appropriate portfolio, et cetera. Sounds like an excuse, but I have thought of it.

On my flickr you'll notice that I mostly take snapshots in nonprofitable genres. I don't have the gear or the skillset for portraits (yet). Ive noticed some opportunities around, like the nail place down the street has TERRIBLE demo shots, and that might be worth some money to shoot for them. And I'll put some stuff on etsy when I get back from the field. Why not?

Don't mean to make a photography derail, I'll answer other questions later. I HAVE changed my lifestyle. It's been a work in progress to this point since May.

tuyop fucked around with this message at 19:31 on Jul 29, 2011

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe
Yeah, in 2010 I had five months paid vacation. In 09 it was something like 2. I spent nearly all of it abroad, hiking and backpacking. Fun's over I guess. :(

I didn't even have that much debt though until this year. I worked three jobs all through university. The difference isn't income, its the drat car.

\/\/\/ yeah I kept a 92 protege and two 323s running for four years until I was 21 and moved to downtown Halifax. I have most of the tools I need for routine maintenance and small repairs. However, this is all in storage and I don't think buying more tools is wise right now. Also, pricing oil shows me that I only spend like 5 bucks over cost for oil changes. Also, how does that impact warranty? And I can't sell my vacation. It can only be used for vacation.

tuyop fucked around with this message at 23:01 on Jul 29, 2011

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe
I have 16 days of leave left this year. 8 are reserved for Christmas and produce 21 days, IIRC. I'm hoping to pile on the other 8 before that so that I can have a big recovery vacation after this brutal course. This is not a trip, just days spent in my apartment being domestic, sleeping in, and working odd jobs to fill the days and produce money. I have to spend a bit of it with my family in Halifax. Maybe I could fill in at sears or something for their extra holiday hours.

Vacation refills in May when I get 20 more days. My friend wanted to go surfing in Costa Rica before the next course, but there's no loving way now.

I was thinking of applying for part time work at security places because I have a lot of contacts, or any part time work really, but then bam! I got sent to the field for a week. That can happen at any time. I would loving love an extra 800 this month to build up the buffer though.

I have a lot of research and academic writing experience (140 credit arts degree woo) and I'm good at poker. Can I leverage any of that for a bit extra money?

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe
It's the end of the month! Here are some pictures.


Living outside your means.jpg


Pretty big orange slice there. :(


Yeah, gently caress you car.


I am pleased about June and July for spending (a little) less than I made.

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe
I financed a 31000 dollar car for 72 months with 0 down and I'm trying to sell it after a year. I also drove it to Mexico and back. To mazatlan from Halifax, ns if anyone cares to map it. I also drove to Halifax 2-4 times a month which is another 1000 km and 120 in gas return, besides.

Add onto that various forays into Maine to hike, a trip to NYC, a return trip to Montreal for a flight, and normal driving and I put 60 000 km on it last year. And I cracked a plastic running board panel in a parking lot that is a 500 dollar repair that I am in no hurry to do.

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe
Are you joking? June was a budget write-off, July was much better, and with the apartment expenses gone, rent cut in half from July, and 280 bucks already saved from a week of field time, as well as a month of field time and a course coming up in September, I can't see this situation as bankruptcy-worthy. As long as I pay poo poo off and then save for my next vacation, I can't foresee how I'm exposed to enough risk to really throw me into a spiral of ruin and bankruptcy at this point.

This thread wasn't really to ask for how to change my lifestyle. I went to a military financial councillor in June, made lifestyle cuts, hosed up in July, made more cuts and took budgeting more seriously. Then I posted this thread. The reason that I seem unable to change is because a lot of change has already taken place, as much as possible I guess. I was wondering of the Internet had any other ideas that I couldn't get from cornholio's thread but I guess not.

Also, I'm terrified of buying a house. It seems like a trap. I also don't really want kids. I'd be much happier with a nice apartment downtown, nice car, and lots of trips and an interesting life than a wife, 1.5 children, pets, front-loading washing machine, the whole American dream. I'm like the anti-BFC except for right now when my dream lifestyle got me into a ton of trouble.

tuyop fucked around with this message at 17:47 on Jul 30, 2011

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe

Adar posted:

Take a look at Cornholio's first page, where he was just about in the same shape you are, and guess how much credit he could get if he went to a bank. The answer is > $0, yet nobody wants to loan you any money.



Maybe it's harder to get debt in Canada?

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe
I'm probably going to keep one or both of my credit cards even after getting out of this mess. It's comforting for me to have 15000 available if I immediately have to leave the country and never come back or something. It's not like I'm a compulsive spender, a vacation is not exactly something you just pick up from the store.

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe

traveling midget posted:

:negative:

What? Should I just cancel them now then? The MasterCard gives be grocery points!

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe
I put in for secret clearance awhile ago. Lots of stuff about past work, nothing about debt. I might go intelligence if it ever comes up, it's much more up my alley than my current trade, I think.

Don't know about top secret though. I am definitely an espionage risk. For 20k I will tell all, right now!

I'm an untrained officer and I work in a training company as an admin officer. I do maybe an hour of work a week. Mostly photocopying.

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe
Yo Berkut, just an FYI. I'm ignoring you now because I can't stand the fact that someone with absolutely no life experience is giving me advice, not just about finances, but about my responsibilities to my country when you didn't even have the spine to get fit and try out yourself. gently caress you.

Sorry for the derail, I just hate that guy.

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe

CornHolio posted:

You know, for somebody that doesn't really have any long-term life ambitions, you sure do sit on a high horse. Just sayin'.

Yeah I'm pretty proud. Part of the problem, I guess. But I have a lot to be proud of, other than finances obviously.

And I have shitloads of long term life ambitions. Are the only legitimate ambitions about building up larger and larger piles of savings and investments until you die? gently caress that, too.

tuyop fucked around with this message at 17:16 on Jul 31, 2011

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe

Fraternite posted:

Believe it or not, if you have savings and investments you can actually achieve some ambitions instead of just having them remain unfulfilled.

Yes. I understand that money is a means to an end. I am not interested in making it an end in itself. Having an ever compounding number in my web browser is not fulfilling for me. I don't have contempt for people who find that very satisfying, it's just not for me.

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe

swenblack posted:

:psyduck: This just doesn't add up.

Really? Are the only things in your life that you're proud of your net worth and day job?

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe

Saltin posted:

Can we agree that the ideal is (as usual) somewhere in between the two extremes?

Being in serious credit card debt is undesireable, and avoidable. Planning for your future by saving wisely is important - so is enjoying your money. I take my retirement and my child's future education seriously and plan/save appropriately. I also own a brand new $60,000 sport sedan that makes no sense from a purist standpoint, but gently caress do I love it. The difference between me and a guy like the OP is that I can easily afford it, and if I sold it today I wouldnt be anywhere near upside down.

Good financial planning is a ying and yang between the "I want it now" and the "I need security later". It's possible to do both, and ultimately I think that's what this forum should be about. This is the goal we should all strive for.

You don't need to watch every penny you spend if you save appropriately. You also need to be sure you can afford what you do spend. There should be more reason on this board and less "all or nothing" penny pinching.

Exercise does happen to be a good analogy here - if you want to get fit and cut everything you love in life out, you'll never get there. There is a place called "good enough".

We're rational and emotional animals, and the best plans account for both sides of the equation.

OP you are far too offside on the emotional side right now, and the majority of the respondants here are offisde on the rational side. Realize this is a reaction to how emotional your approach is. Look for the middle ground. Look for good enough. Being debt free is part of good enough. Do what it takes, take your lumps and you can get back on track.

Good post. I spent exactly nothing this weekend. Which was hard because a bunch of my old friends were going to our old bar. I think this is a good thing right now.

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe
I made an Etsy shop. I'm going to be uploading poo poo all day because their upload process is the worst thing ever.

There's like 7 shots up now, I'll edit when I'm done putting all 50 of the things I want up.

Here's a coupon code in case you ballers want to decorate your apartment mansion with any of them.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/tuyop

30% off. Enter GOONYOP

Sorry if this is not appropriate for this thread or forum. Let me know and I'll take down the link.

tuyop fucked around with this message at 19:20 on Aug 1, 2011

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe
/\/\/\ Thanks, I changed my post.

Zeta Taskforce posted:

It's cool to post the link here, but if I were you I would start a thread in SA-Mart and link to that instead.

More eyeballs that way.

I'm scared that the Dorkroom folks will find it and ridicule me endlessly for posting technically terrible photos. Like that black and white Mexican girl one. I think someone might like it, but it sure is blurry. I would just DIE if I ended up in the "Post Terrible Photos From Other Photographers" thread.

I've got 20 shots up now. I'm taking a loving break. loving Etsy upload wizard.

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe
Actually we stayed in some Mexican lady's house ($6 a night!) and some motels.

And you're right. Do your worse, Dorkroom!

I posted a thread in SAMart. I feel like such a sham.

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3428626

And my TV just sold. 400 bucks!

Edit: What's the most prudent thing to do with this 400 dollars right now? Should I save it or buy those boots ($165) so I can break them in this month or what? I could use a wireless card for my computer ($30). Or should I just dump it on the Mastercard this month? I was hoping to get the boots with my cash, gas and grocery overflow, if possible.

tuyop fucked around with this message at 00:34 on Aug 2, 2011

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe
I made the mathematically correct choice and put it on the mastercard, so that's down to 1950.

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe
Well, this month has another small bonus.

My field time got bumped up from 5 days to 11 days. So that's 250 in field pay alone.

I sent a pair of boots in for warranty repair last month. ($22 shipping) and they just refunded my money ($245. Got screwed by exchange here, there was a rise in the USD when I bought them so they cost 275, but the USD is down now so I only got 245. :argh:), so that's going towards new boots but the money has already been spent so I'm not considering it as income or expense. Hoping to find a deal and replace them with two new OTBs. Or a set of trail runners (just realized that running in slushy poo poo in my vibram fivefingers this fall is not going to be an option) and combat boots. What do you guys think?

Effectively, this means that I'm living for free for the first two weeks of august. My friend also gave me a shitload of food because he's going away for a few months and can't eat it. That knocked out most of a week's worth of groceries. What this means is $0 spent on gas, groceries, and misc for more than 11 days. So 585 altogether. Again, instead of letting it sit in a buffer I'm going to dump it on the MasterCard. That brings it down to 1365 for when the interest hits and compounds on sept 2.

E/N point. I feel bad for basically abandoning the girlfriend right when she moved in, but she found a job yesterday (working at some kind of sobeys distribution warehouse in the same town I work in) which forces me to carpool because of her hours. All good news!

Looking at last month, I was way under on gas so I think it'll need to be reevaluated. I'm going to try for only 20 a week in spending this month, in preparation for September. Since I'm moving again, I probably won't get an accurate gas number until January or February when I get back from course/leave. Any moneysaving tips for my anticipated 50+ days off in December-January? I guess a ski trip to Maine is out of the question. :(

Wish I could update my spreadsheets out here.

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe

Zeta Taskforce posted:

If I were you, I would reconsider what account you will pay off first, and get rid of Dell, especially if you have decided that you will not be selling the car any time soon. If I recall, the Dell was something like 23% and the Mastercard something like 29%? If that’s the case, you probably will save somewhere around $3 in finance charge by paying Mastercard first. If your goal is to muddle along, then it doesn’t matter. But if you are really interested in attacking your debt, that means cutting back your lifestyle, i.e. there will be parts of your life that will really suck. Pain now, reward later. Knowing in the background that you saved $10 in finance charge doesn’t really excite most people’s internal passions. Probably you especially, since you said that looking at numbers on a computer screen doesn’t do anything for you. You’re not a nerd like cornholio (and you know I mean that affectionately) and for that matter most of BFC. You don’t get boners looking at excel spreadsheets going in the right direction. That’s just how your mind works. You need to score some early victories, and that will see you through the drudgery. Without the victories, you will lose focus, and your behavior won’t change. Next time you get $400 you are likely to buy yourself something nice because that will excite your brain more than the knowledge you saved some finance charge.

The other thing is all debt limits you. Your car is at 1.9%. But your excellent rate means nothing. You are just as trapped in the car. By knocking out the little accounts first, you will give yourself an immediate raise. You have been paying some of these for so long it just feels normal. But pay enough accounts off, you will have noticeably more money, and that is always good.

I saw this and thought of you.

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2011/pf/1108/gallery.extreme_debt/index.html

I just want to get rid of this debt as quickly as possible. It's just one giant amount in my head, and I really don't care about each account. I will feel no sense of satisfaction from having a card or a laptop or whatever balance sitting at 0, it just means that I check a different box in the pay bills section of my online banking. I don't think I'm the kind of person who needs small victories like that to keep me motivated. In my head, the only money that exists for me now is the cash I have in hand, which is a huge difference from thinking about money as basically an amorphous, digital thing that turns into stuff that I like. Maybe I'm not explaining it correctly, but at this rate the MasterCard will be gone next month along with the laptop, so who cares?

If I'm doing the math properly, and I can stick to 20 or even 30 a week for spending in september, ill be spending 0-25 for groceries depending on weekends, and 0 for gas because the gf has the car for work. add to that the additional balance from being on course, and I'll be paying 580 + ~350 + ~1300 in debt reservicing next month and onward. So the mastercard will be gone and the laptop will be gone and I'll double the minimum for my visa. That's obviously not sustainable, but it'll drop the visa to < 6000 by December and total debt to ~46000.

I've been reading a lot about finance since I've been in the field, and i'm actually excited by the amount of savings I could have at retirement if I start now. Given that my remaining debt after the visa is <5% APR, and that should happen by April or May at the latest, should I be refocusing at that point on maxing out my rrsp while building a 3-9 month emergency fund in my tfsa? Aren't I getting close to getting superior interest rates with mutual funds and RRSPs at that point?

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe

Magic Underwear posted:

If you have that many consecutive days off the obvious choice is to get a part-time/seasonal job and put that money toward debt. Put vacations out of your mind right now, it will only make the process harder.

Ok cool, I'll send an email in October to my old boss to see if he has any positions in Fredericton. A lot of places hire more security around Christmas and Boxing Day. I'll update my resume when I get out of the field. I could probably bank 900-1500 depending on my hours during that leave. Sick.

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe
Upcoming expense alert!

I took my car to a bodyshop today for an estimate on some surface scratches and poo poo, and a cracked panel. I just wanted to know if I had to worry about rust from some of the deeper ones. Turns out that the deep scratches and rock chips are not that deep at all, so rust won't be an issue. But I have a cracked plastic panel below my door that will probably fall off this winter if I don't have it fixed before the snow starts. The dealership wanted 550, this shop wants 200. I'm going to shop around since I won't be doing it until October, but that just kind of sucks. :(

I was freaking out a little bit because my bank balance was like 2k, which it never is because I always dump extra money on credit cards, but all my bills are coming out this week.

And I can add two more items to the budget. My internet is $10 a month. I wanted to increase the speed but I can't because this place loving sucks, so I'm stuck with it. My power is about $20 a month and will probably go up as it gets colder.

And my xbox live membership ran out today. $60 more this month. :(

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe
Yeah of course. I'm already 120 dollars under from being in the field for two weeks, and I'm going with 40/wk instead of 60 from now on to see how it goes. You guys are right about the xbox though. I should have thought around it (could have just plugged the computer into the tv for now) instead of just noticing that my live membership was done and upgrading.

Edit: and we've been over the DIY maintenance thing. And the part has to be cemented and all sorts of fancy painting and stuff that I really couldnt do myself. Also, no tools whatsoever outside of storage that I can't get to. Another elective payment is coming up too. I lost a car key somehow so that has to be replaced at some point. The Mazda key fob is ridiculously expensive apparently. I'll probably do that after course.

Edit 2: the Internet is an issue because all three of us want it, so even the fancy fiberoptic version is only $25 a month. Seeing as how I was paying 45 before, and we don't have tv or any of the other home entertainment expenses, it just really sucks. good thing is that we're all stuck paying 10 bucks for the foreseeable future I guess.

tuyop fucked around with this message at 01:56 on Aug 16, 2011

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe
/\/\ I'll post some pictures for you when the weather improves, but I've done a bit of bodywork before and I know that this is beyond my skillset and tools available. The panel attaches from the back with some screw on clips which are fused to the panel. They've broken off and the whole panel has to be removed. Also, if I mess it up I'm going to have to pay for the whole 500 bucks.

coolskillrex remix posted:

It will be interesting to see if a single print sells within the next month.. or ever.

I agree! I did a lot of reading on setting up etsy shops in the last couple of weeks and I have to put up a slightly different set of pictures to appeal to the market, but I am Le busy and etsy takes forever.

tuyop fucked around with this message at 17:18 on Aug 16, 2011

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tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

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

Fun Shoe

Wolfy posted:

I'm not familiar with buying prints but is this actually how much these things cost?

Well Etsy is way cheaper than a store, and my prints are right in line with 5x7s and 8x10s on that site. They're like 10% cheaper than most.

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