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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.

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Berkut
Jun 20, 2009

by Ozmaugh
CJ brings up a good point about the computer.

On that note, don't buy poo poo under $2000 (ie, things that aren't cars or houses) on credit. EVER. That "minimal debts will improve your credit" myth is bullshit and totally not worth it. Not to mention financing on appliances and computers tends to be God-awful. If someone told me they were going to charge me 22% interest on anything, I would have to inquire as to what color of crayons they were smoking.

As for entertainment, you're stuck with your iPhone, aren't you? Enjoy. If by BLESSED MIRACLE you escape the contract and get a reasonable shitphone, books are a cheap and enriching source of entertainment, or so I'm told.

Berkut
Jun 20, 2009

by Ozmaugh
I just remembered this. Kind of embarrassing, I use it everyday. I imagine it is a lot harder on a more stringent budget, so try this at your own discretion.

I get paid somewhere between 1400 and 1500 a check, but I always round down to 1400 when budgeting. Whenever I have a bill, say 112.20, I round up to 120. Rounding up on debits and down on credits. The idea is to trick yourself into thinking you have less money to screw around with and that your debts are more serious than they really are. Then come next check when I check my balance, I find tens or hundreds of dollars I didn't know I had that can be socked into a loan principle.

Wells Fargo has a Way2Save savings account that works on a similar principle: transferring one dollar from your checkings to savings any time you use your debit card, forcing you to reconsider each transaction. Not to mention building a small lump of money you are never 100% aware of.

https://www.wellsfargo.com/savings_cds/way2save?StateCodeSelector=AE

As I said before, these options, I imagine, would be difficult if your payments are down to the wire, but once you've paid of some principle and have a bit of breathing room to play around with, might want to give it a try. It can cause happy accidents when you really need them.

Berkut
Jun 20, 2009

by Ozmaugh
I'm not sure if our "leave" is anything like Army leave, much less Canadian, but are you given the option of 'selling' paid vacation? Like, throwing away your saved up hours for cash payout?

Here, this is seen as a waste of money, but in your case it would probably be helpful since you do NOT need to go on vacation any time soon and will only be encouraged to spend while on vacation.

Honestly, I'm not a fan of selling the car. Given there are plenty of good reasons to do it, but paying it off would net you with what appears to be your only potential chunk of equity. Still, priorities beckon. ._.

Oh another thing, do you do your own routine car maintenance? This saves a poo poo TON if you're willing to learn the basics. A good investment would be a Hayes manual for your model.

Edit: Obviously don't toss out *all* vacation, though; emergencies happen.

Berkut fucked around with this message at 23:07 on Jul 29, 2011

Berkut
Jun 20, 2009

by Ozmaugh
Tuyop, post a drat reply instead of making 'down'(s) edits.

I don't see how having maintenance done by an individual owner familiar with the car and obligated to take care of the POS would knock holes in a warranty. Also, an oil change takes a wrench, pan and a filter tool. Could probably get them for like 15$. Brake disc pads probably aren't that much more expensive.

In fact, I just shopped around and found front brake pads for your car at autozone for 22$. These are probably OVER priced. Cost to have them replaced at a mechanic? ~$100. The front rotor? ~52$. 400 at a mechanic.

Berkut fucked around with this message at 00:55 on Jul 30, 2011

Berkut
Jun 20, 2009

by Ozmaugh

Chronojam posted:

My card automatically pays itself off without intervention, it essentially never floats a balance more than a month :smug:

I reaffirmed my decision to never own a loving credit card. EVER. :slick:

Berkut
Jun 20, 2009

by Ozmaugh

tuyop posted:

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.

There it is. That V-word again. Get the word "vacation" the gently caress out of your vocabulary.

Also, are you loving crazy? You would not have 15k of 'playing around money,' you'd have a readily available "make me a debt-ridden sack of poo poo" button at your disposal. Unless you are no-joke seriously saying you're going to abandon your country as an officer of its armed forces in which case I hope they find your bloated, broke-rear end corpse in a Spanish cistern. How could you have the audacity to think of this?

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Berkut
Jun 20, 2009

by Ozmaugh

tuyop posted:

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)

What can I say, Fleet Support pays better and if a shithead lieutenant tells me to drive him somewhere, I can tell him to gently caress off.

Not to mention I CAN leave the country and never come back; I'm looking into contracts in Germany and Afghanistan which pay even better than my current contract.

PS: I'm getting fit not because my job requires it (it sure as gently caress doesn't), but because I have free time and money available to do it for shits and giggles.

Also, is life experience worth going flat on your rear end broke? Tell me, I've yet to find out because I'm busy taking trips to Panama in my shiny red Camaro. Oh that's right, you can't read this.

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

(USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST)

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