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Just read your thread, sorry to hear about your back. How's the GF doing with her training? Let's say hypothetically that you get a lump sum payment for your back injury. Let's say $30k discussed before for other injuries. What would you do with it? This is where I would start: - $5k for emergencies, never to be touched for a trip to XYZ or for the freshest vegetables money can buy ($25k left) - Pay off your dell and mastercard ($24k left?) - Pay a enough of your car off to not be upside-down and sell it, though don't give it away if you can still "afford it" (~$16k left?) - Buy a $4-5k beater ($10-12k left) and continue your carpooling and whatnot to limit wear & tear on your now cheaper car. This alone would save you $500+/mo - Pay for the education you want to pursue without their 3% loan. Apparently you get this money back at some point, so you'd be temporarily out of the $10-13k or whatever it costs. - Keep living cheap as poo poo, only have your visa and student loans to worry about. - Finish your education and get re-imbursed, if things are going well take a small amount and go on a reasonable vacation.
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Dec 2, 2011 20:12
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| # ¿ May 11, 2024 23:33 |
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tuyop posted:The thing to consider is that these things sometimes take nearly three years to pay out, so it's not an immediate concern at all, and to plan for it is kind of premature since chances are I won't get a cent. Yea that's pretty much a given. On the up side, if you keep plugging away at your debt you'll be used to living cheap and hopefully making good progress, if/when that money would come in you could very likely eliminate all your debt and have a bunch left over. By that point we'd hope you'd be responsible enough to be able to handle a big sum of money. But again, you can't count on that money either. It's all about staying motivated and consistently making the right decisions. If nothing else, these hard times (and the constant barrage of people berating you on here) show you exactly why us boring spend-thrifts are always talking about emergency funds and minimizing your risk (debt). Important life lessons ITT. Also, to agree with another poster Re: underwear chat, I too wear the champion C9 moisture wicking boxer briefs, I've never worn the under armor ones but my friend has and he's converted over to the champion stuff as well since it's $9/pair vs. $25-$30. Mesh junk bag, too! I couldn't be happier with them.
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Dec 2, 2011 20:55
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If the seal stuck to your block they were probably using a horrible oil filter and over-tightened it. While an enormous pain, you did save money and in the future it will be easier and probably won't happen again. I've torn a seal on a new oil filter going on because of a precarious filter placement and not being careful trying to get it on there. It's a mistake you only make once! Also you're probably aware buy always lube the seal on the oil filter (I also do the threads for good measure) with oil (new or whatever came off) to get it to make a nice seal.
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Mar 12, 2012 21:19
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What are the downsides of living on base? I assume they're more like dorm rooms than apartments and just general bland/cramped/no proper kitchen kind of thing. But that would save a bunch of money over rent, eh? If I remember correctly you live off base right now, right?
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Apr 4, 2012 13:56
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I dunno dude I'd really think about staying in. It's been a while since I read over your options, but I was optimistically thinking that being an IT grunt in the service would be less military-like than it is now and would feel like more of a job. Yea, maybe it's not what you want to do but financially it may make a lot of sense not digging yourself a deeper hole while working towards what you'd like to do (education). But again, it's your life. We're just the ones that critique it.
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Apr 23, 2012 15:37
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Didn't I read a while back you were supposed to have your appointment with the doctor disability guy on the 24th?
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Oct 25, 2012 20:24
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Leperflesh posted:Make sure you tell whoever is posing you that you have a bad back. This is going to be self explanatory once they see the size of that package HEYO
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Nov 20, 2012 19:05
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CornHolio posted:The hell you can't! I've been doing it for over a decade. It's not as "good" as you might hope, BFC is just really longing for the next you or zaurg or murderknobs to jump all over. Tuyop isn't doing that bad despite his horrible financial luck (especially with vehicles).
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Dec 6, 2012 16:39
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Contrary to the uproar, if it's something you guys want AND it's something you can save for, I see no problems getting/upgrading bikes. Just start putting away money now, by spring you should have a decent amount saved. From a pure monetary perspective it's pretty stupid. You guys are probably going to be lucky to spend $1000 on two bikes and related gear, that will buy a lot of gas - just sayin'. But cycling isn't really about saving money, it's having a healthy hobby that you guys can enjoy and hopefully keep from spending money elsewhere (i.e. I'm bored let's go to the store). Just don't be fooled into thinking that you're in the end saving any money. If it's a hobby, call it a hobby. You guys don't seem to do anything other than sit around and play board games and cook and stuff anyway, so it's ok to have a hobby. You just need to responsibly come up with the money to support it. I think it's been discussed before, but you also shouldn't be treating any "found" money like one-time-blow funds, treat it like your regular monthly income. It doesn't get spent right away on the current yurt/basil garden dream, it gets split up like your normal income for bills/debt servicing/savings. Like when ToeShoes gets posted you guys may have some relocation $$$, and what you're going to do is say "Look $678! We saved this for bikes we're so good at saving money!". If you guys want something, save for it first.
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Dec 18, 2012 14:19
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tuyop posted:Yeah, that's exactly how I feel, but it's complicated because the easiest way to achieve a credit-free life is to use my line of credit as an emergency fund until all the debt is paid off. The reader's question in that link is stupid. It's setup to imply that Dave Ramsey's advice is any different while in debt. Dave Ramsey: Are you in consumer debt? Get a $1000 emergency fund and spend the rest on debt servicing. MMM: Springy debt - throw the money at debt, small emergency savings, lines of credit for larger emergencies. Dave Ramsey's advice is AFTER you're out of consumer debt you then acquire 6 months worth of expenses in an emergency fund. Maybe this is where the MMM advise differs but the "reader's" question specifically asked vs. paying off debt.
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Jan 2, 2013 17:47
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Just chiming in with the cheap-wedding brigade. I don't remember what my wife and I paid but it was probably $3-4k for everything including probably 150ish guests.
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Jan 3, 2013 02:52
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Zeta Taskforce posted:What are your plans with the car? I was always in favor of selling the Mazda. It still represents a huge chunk of debt. At this point is it still over half your debt? The problem you always ran into was that you could never sell it because you owed more than it was worth and you never had the money to pay the difference. I don't remember the numbers but last I looked he was still a significant amount of thousands underwater, if he could even sell it for whatever bluebook value he was using. Maybe something like $5-8k to get out from under it and buy and buy a really cheap car, seemed like a pretty big stretch at the moment.
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Jan 3, 2013 21:03
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tuyop posted:We plan on getting rid of the car in April or May when I get an inheritance, and we get posted together. We'll just pay the balance and sell it, banking the difference. A goal for 2013 is go without a car for as long as possible. gently caress that is a lot of money to be upside down on a car  I'm torn between paying ~$13k to basically be rid of it an buy a crappy cavalier that could easyily be a money pit (because you will buy another car eventually) or just paying $19.5k and have a pretty nice and reliable vehicle to last you a long while.
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Jan 3, 2013 21:55
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Doubleposting: I also thought of a great money making scheme that I'm surprised you haven't thought of yet: Bitcoin mining! You don't have to pay your electric utilities so just get a pallet of computers with crazy GPUs and you'll make all the internet munies!
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Jan 3, 2013 21:56
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tuyop posted:Really, we just need to stop being complacent about the debt and get it in our heads again that it's a loving emergency and we just have to really tighten up for like 11 months (with inheritance) and it'll be gone. 1. I don't know how much this has been said or inferred in this thread but it's worth repeating. It's really important that you stabilize and follow your plan, whatever it may be, before you have "windfall cash inheritance / medical payouts" coming in. Otherwise you'll just continue to make bad decisions and you'll never feel the sting of sweat on your brow from hard budgeting. 2. Personally, regarding your latest and greatest idea of moving to the North Pole because of the "fat stacks" - I think this is a stupid idea. Also, I think leaving the army prematurely, while you hate it, is a really stupid idea if you're going to incur large amount of debt for schooling just because of it. Suck it up with your steady paycheck and get your schooling for free when they release you. Both of these things, separate as they may be, seem like you're really just trying to immediately fix the problem now now now now now. Financial discipline / freedom does not happen overnight / on a whim. Get rich quick does not happen, get rich slowly can happen with planing and execution and income. If you keep jumping from idea to idea re: #2, you will continue to make lovely decisions re: #1. Slow the gently caress down, keep chipping away at your debt. As weird as it sounds the longer (relatively) this process takes, the better for you. You need serious discipline and behavior modification about your money and life decisions. Taking time will help you learn living within your means, being responsible with your money, and hopefully slowing you down to figure out what your really want, not this months basil/yurt/gay4pay/northpole fix-all solution. Here's what I see happening if you continue on your path of doing what you want: You get your inheritance and maybe even a decent medical discharge sum from the army. Horray money! You're rich! You decide to take a nice honeymoon with toeshoes for a few thousand dollars because it's windfall cash money. You pay off some debt, quit the Army, and go to school incurring a bunch of debt that the Army would have paid for if you just waited another year or two for them to discharge you. So all that money you fell into is now gone, and you're +$20k in debt from schooling. You have the brilliant idea to move to the north pole/yettiville to teach and your new wife can't find a job. You're making "huge money", $70k or something, but it costs 5x as much to do anything up there so you're basically living at the poverty level. You decide that sucks so you move somewhere and then buy all new stuff again since you didn't feel like moving it from your igloo incurring more debt and you're not better off than you were when you started. I may be taking some liberties but it seems very reasonable considering what's happened thus far in the thread with your changing ideas. Just some food for thought, we all want to see you succeed. I just don't think your one-solution-to-rule-them-all-of-the-month is going to fix your financial issues if you don't start changing your habbits and approaches to things.
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Feb 8, 2013 18:47
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Requesting (long overdue) shitpost tag
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Mar 5, 2013 17:15
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How's the no-buy month going so far tuyop?
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Mar 21, 2013 14:35
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I miss cornholio
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Apr 2, 2013 13:45
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Are there any bike shops local to you? They might have something used for you. Otherwise if you're going to spend $$$ on a new bike, might as well do it at a local shop so you can try different bikes/fitments. ^^^^ Also, I would seriously consider not having the military move a shiny new bike you bought since they still have your stuff from however many years ago. Maybe suck it up with a super lovely bike until you move, then find a decent bike shop and splurge a bit.
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May 10, 2013 13:42
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Chain looks rusty as poo poo. I don't care if you buy a new bike, but I just don't think relying on the military's "hey we'll get it to you" shipment is a good idea with your track record. Do you have a bike rack for your car?
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May 10, 2013 16:20
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Tuyop here's your monthly reminder that you're doing well and don't sweat the backseat nano-managing of your purchases. Tools are convenient to have AND it was still less than getting a shop to do it. Soooooooooooooo I don't see why that's an issue. Personally I think you should have just got the nice bike at the LBS but if the hodgepodge machine works for you that's all that matters. Congrats to you and toeshoes on your marriage BTW 
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May 12, 2013 16:34
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Are you just jumping on the next "must buy" thing because toeshoes is away and you're bored/lonely/depressed? A new laptop won't solve that, btw.
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Jun 6, 2013 19:44
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Not to mention since ToeShoes is still in the army you guys could get moved like wherever, whenever.
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Aug 1, 2013 15:33
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This is pretty obvious, but just keep squirreling money away until you find a place you want to live for a long time. i.e. after you finish your schooling and get a teaching job and toeshoes is out of the army. Save save save save. The more you have saved for a down payment, the less effect interest rates factor into your rush to buy a home. There is absolutely nothing wrong with renting. Want to grow some veggies? Make friends with people who do it so you can help with the grunt work and get more than need of the harvest.
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Aug 1, 2013 17:37
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I don't care if you buy a MBA or visit your families for christmas but I would very honestly pick only one of those things. Being financially responsible in the middle class is about picking what big purchases to make and which ones to skip. Either buy the laptop and skype with your families or see your families and buy a $200 used laptop on kijijijijijijijiiii or whatever you northern-folk use when your netbook shits out on you.
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Aug 21, 2013 19:15
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I think one thing to keep in mind for the BFCers reading this thread is that the Macbook Air is the recommended "ultrabook" in the laptop megathread. It's priced surprisingly well considering what you need to spend on competitors to get the same overall package. The recommendations are basically "Get a Thinkpad T430 or if you want something smaller/more portable get a MBA". Both these recommendations are taking all areas into consideration: performance, reliability, cost, durability, support. Can you get something cheaper? Yes. Is it going to last you just as long? Possibly. I see nothing wrong with buying quality vs. buying bargain-basement consumer level stuff if you plan on using it a lot. Arguing about laptops in here is like SHSC telling everyone to just invest in mutual funds and don't worry about the fees. Let the experts do their thing. Tuyop I think one of the problems is that you vomit all these different ideas out in passing in your thread and everyone panics thinking you're a spending machine. You guys have been extremely frugal with your spending it's just your "I'm thinking about buying a laptop/going to cuba/going home for xmas" thinking out loud that gets everyone in a tizzy. I'm the exact same way IRL, "man I'd like to get one of those" or "I've been thinking about XYZ".
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Aug 28, 2013 13:23
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Might want to edit out your names on that last pic if you care. NOW YOUR SECRET IS KNOWN TO ME
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Aug 30, 2013 13:26
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Rudager posted:To me it sounds more like they noticed they had this money and then it started burning a hole in their pocket, hence buying crap like a DS and mediocre TV, but at least it was out of money that was kinda budgeted for that stuff. As long as they're spending money they saved for X purpose, who cares.
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Oct 9, 2013 13:35
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tuyop posted:Can I have a dome greenhouse installed in my new rental instead? That's a pretty big shovel dude, congrats :-)
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Nov 14, 2013 00:30
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That is super cool, what are your financial plans once that's done? Sock it away for a rainy day? Aggressive retirement savings? Doesn't make much sense to buy a house until you're done with school and have a better idea of your future career and where you'll land.
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Dec 6, 2013 01:02
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tuyop posted:I practiced my rear end off and bought a volleyball ($40 sick Nike ball, more like volleyballin, amirite?) to go over the skills with toeshoes for hours on my own time. It didn't matter, though. Pffffft, Molten or go home ya hoser.
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Jan 10, 2014 20:02
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tuyop posted:And gently caress groceries here. gently caress them so hard. Does this make you rethink any "teach in the frozen tundra" plans you had for after school?
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Jan 20, 2014 17:14
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| # ¿ May 11, 2024 23:33 |
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tuyop posted:
Congrats buddy Our debt journey was really similar in terms of $/day and income percentage over that time ($71/day; ~34% of our income over that time). Funny how stuff like that works out
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Jan 21, 2014 20:01
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Debt-Free Today!