I am literally the worst at making good financial decisions and I need help

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > I am literally the worst at making good financial decisions and I need help

SiGmA_X: May 3, 2004; SiGmA_X

HonorableTB posted:

I really like the cash idea. I'll do that when I get paid on the 31st. It's easier for me to not spend cash since I can see it leaving my wallet.

I'm already looking at ways to save more money; we are cooking at home every night (pasta and $10 worth of ground beef can go a long way!), sandwiches, bringing lunch from home to eat at work, things like that. I'm sorting out the Internet situation right now. What happened was, when I moved two months ago service was disconnected at my old apartment and the account was canceled, and the server was transferred to the new address but the account was never re-opened there. I have to create a new account.

Edit: Internet will be $25/month per person for a year, then $35/month per person after that. That's the service I had before I moved.

I agree that the Walmart and USAA cards are #1 and #2 priority. I still have no idea what to do about the car. I'm afraid to talk to my mother about it because I know all she'll do is spend an hour scolding me for being so irresponsible, so I need to figure it out without getting my family involved. I'm supposed to be the "responsible" one of the children (first through college, first with a real job, highest earner in the family, but apparently that doesn't make you immune from mistakes!)

Have your partner open the Internet account and get in on the cheapest promo. We went from $65 to $35 for the same 50mbps line. If you rent a modem, buy one. PBP is 9 months with Comcast, and my new modem has a 2yr warranty. And my folks Comcast provided last one lasted 5-6yrs...

Henrik Zetterberg posted:

If you just say "I'd like to cancel because I can't afford it," they should put you on a 6 to 12-month promo price. No need to say you're going elsewhere.

Comcast did that for me 6mo ago but refused last month. So I did as listed above. Ftw.

# ¿ Jul 23, 2014 15:51

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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 13:57

SiGmA_X: May 3, 2004; SiGmA_X

Droo posted:

The way you described it, you turned what would have been $19,000 in payments over a few years into $22,000 or so in payments over a few years.

Effectively, you converted a 24% interest rate into a 28.5% rate.

This. Wtf?!? Why would you do this, OP? Why would you sign a 24% loan in the first place if you could get a 4% loan from your bank? Wtf?!

# ¿ Jul 23, 2014 19:34

SiGmA_X: May 3, 2004; SiGmA_X

- Get gap insurance. Jesus.

- Import transactions from your bank. Then categorize them. The categorizing is a mild pain but it will remember what you said the local grocery store is - groceries. It won't split em based on toilet paper (Costco!) vs food, but it's better than nothing.

# ¿ Jul 24, 2014 17:35

SiGmA_X: May 3, 2004; SiGmA_X

Veskit posted:

There's no mass import, and you really should start for June. It'll help a lot with planning.

You can download and import from your bank. I do it every week..

# ¿ Jul 24, 2014 19:58

SiGmA_X: May 3, 2004; SiGmA_X

Veskit posted:

Nevermind I'm an rear end in a top hat and a liar. YNAB does that?

Yep... It's even smart enough to remember which local account you used last time per online account! I wouldn't have bought it otherwise, as I don't want to use the mobile app. I wish it would auto-DL, but it doesn't.

# ¿ Jul 24, 2014 20:31

SiGmA_X: May 3, 2004; SiGmA_X

Shadowhand00 posted:

Having to manually clear charges and going through each item is half the fun though! (and part of why YNAB is pretty effective for actively managing your money)

I manually split and clear every item in Quicken (and YNAB). I just don't waste time going onto my bank websites with Quicken, but I have to with YNAB. Very annoying. Yet I still use YNAB!

# ¿ Jul 25, 2014 06:11

SiGmA_X: May 3, 2004; SiGmA_X

HonorableTB posted:

Who would I talk to for gap insurance? USAA I assume, who also carries my insurance plan?

Yes. It's designed to pay off your note. I've never heard of someone with a new car and loan who didn't have it.

# ¿ Jul 25, 2014 14:21

SiGmA_X: May 3, 2004; SiGmA_X

Omne posted:

Fixed that for you

Fair correction. Cash purchases FTW. Most of the people I know with notes are vastly underwater. Lol. They definitely subscribe to minimal down, longest term possible!!1!

# ¿ Jul 27, 2014 09:24

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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 13:57

SiGmA_X: May 3, 2004; SiGmA_X

HonorableTB posted:

Okay, I finally finished making an Excel list of my June spending. Where can I host it so you guys can look at it? Every transaction is categorized, along with the amount it cost and the running balance.

Make a summary, and then take a screenshot and upload to a host? That's usually the easiest option.

# ¿ Aug 2, 2014 16:20

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > I am literally the worst at making good financial decisions and I need help