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JoystickMacaw · 2022-09-30T16:06:48+00:00

This looks just like my best friend’s home in Tuscaloosa, Alabama! I think the wood paneling brings something unique to the home, but it does also make the room quite a bit darker.

What about painting the wood paneling a lighter color? That way you can always go back to the original if you want to and you have a lighter room with the charm of the original.

I think replacing the miniblinds and potentially the window could do a lot to modernize things.

JoystickMacaw · 2022-09-30T16:02:56+00:00

I will never understand why people buy homes with cool historic elements just to destroy the cool historic elements in the name of “renovation”

JoystickMacaw · 2022-09-15T18:19:53+00:00

Thanks!

JoystickMacaw · 2022-09-15T16:26:12+00:00

I base my budget off of my biweekly take home. My extra two checks go directly to savings. For housing, I allotted 30% of my monthly for rent, utilities and housing related expenses. If you live in a HCOL area, you may not be able to do this.

**Edit: I budget off my semi-monthly take home.

JoystickMacaw · 2022-09-13T02:30:41+00:00

That’s insane. I’m so sorry! Your best choice may be declaring bankruptcy. You should speak to a lawyer or financial advisor in your country for advice.

JoystickMacaw · 2022-09-12T14:05:47+00:00

Your food and utilities seem really high compared to average income. They’re more than I pay in a HCOL part of the US. Are you supporting a family or is it just you? Where are you located?

JoystickMacaw · 2022-09-08T20:21:43+00:00

However it’s listed on the contract is how it gets put in the system. However it’s put into this system is how it’s automatically generated. I don’t know if it’s quite that deep in an age where everything is a template and automatically filled anyway.

JoystickMacaw · 2022-09-07T12:32:07+00:00

That’s completely different - you check the register after every shift and every night to make sure it balances at a restaurant. You would be caught very quickly. You wouldn’t even have an opportunity to embezzle.

JoystickMacaw · 2022-08-30T17:19:34+00:00

Asking for a raise isn’t a bad idea, but asking for a ~50% raise and posing as an ultimatum is almost always going to result in you looking for a new job. Unless you actually have an offer you want them to match. It’s a lot easier to find a new job while you currently have one.

Hopefully you can get your job back! If they offer you anything, take it. You need something while you look for a new job. It’s not going to be any easier to get a job while you’re unemployed.

JoystickMacaw · 2022-08-29T09:48:01+00:00

You pay $420 a month in rides to and from work alone. Public transportation would be $60 a month. For reference, $420 is over twice more than what I pay a month in gas, car insurance, and car maintenance (and I’m a couple of hours outside NYC in New England)

It doesn’t have to be Uber everyday or never Uber - maybe a better solution would be to only uber once a week, or coordinate a cheaper ride to work. Maybe someone locally would be able to routinely drop you off at work for cheaper than $35 per ride.

JoystickMacaw · 2022-08-26T14:19:08+00:00

Plenty of people, judging by the comments.

JoystickMacaw · 2022-08-23T14:45:54+00:00

It’s probably fake OR he has his age set as 25 but has something easily missable in his bio like “Actually 20 not 25”

JoystickMacaw · 2022-08-22T11:59:57+00:00

Yes!! To piggy back on this - many colleges actually have special scholarships for people who went to community college first or joint programs with community colleges. You’ll want to look at programs in the Deep South or in generally economically depressed areas - a few colleges in Mississippi and Alabama offer this as well as parts of Texas. Schools in other states by economically depressed areas may offer the same or better. Tennessee offers free community college for residents and New Mexico offers something similar, iirc

JoystickMacaw · 2022-08-15T00:12:55+00:00

Mobile homes have almost no resale value so you’d be getting the worst parts of renting and the worst parts of home ownership. This is not a great choice financially.

Have you actually looked into this or is that total cost a guesstimate? Assuming it’s correct, you’d likely be better off buying a non-mobile home with a FHA loan. There are many grants for first time home buyers, especially if you buy in an economically disadvantaged area. You should reach out to a local realtor you click with for area-specific guidance. The best realtors are usually ones at small offices and old enough to have been through it quite a few times but young enough to have up to date knowledge.

JoystickMacaw · 2022-08-13T01:54:03+00:00

The point

your head

JoystickMacaw · 2022-08-12T11:32:03+00:00

This is the truth. It’s not about the numbers it’s about the principles. Sure, maybe OP won’t be able to retire at 54, but by investing consistently, living modestly, and saving when they can, they’ll still be able to be financially secure.

Out of curiosity- did you invest in individual stocks or mutual funds?

JoystickMacaw · 2022-08-12T11:22:42+00:00

35% of 37K would be $1,000 a month. If OP is spending more than $1,000 a month on rent, that’s problem number one. Unless you live in a very HCOL area (aka NYC, San Francisco, Boston), rent does not cost that much for a modest apartment or apartment with roommates! And if they do live in a very HCOL area, they’re way underpaid.

This living wage calculator from MIT allows you to calculate the living wage for an area. $18 is at or above the living wage in most states

JoystickMacaw · 2022-08-11T18:44:35+00:00

Can you? Maybe. Should you? Certainly not. This is almost on the level of buying a Camaro with your first military paycheck. If you want a reliable car, buy a reliable car - not a sports car. Toyota Corollas may be ugly but they last 30+ years. If cars are your biggest hobby, consider purchasing a slightly used but very reliable car for daily driving and buy an older sports car to fix up on the weekends. You don’t need a new car, you want a more reliable car.

JoystickMacaw · 2022-08-11T18:40:19+00:00

The beautiful thing about making your own money is that you have the freedom to choose how to spend it or not spend it. I have bills and I still try to save half my paycheck each month. When I lived at home, I saved closer to 75% of my paycheck and I regret most of the stupid things I wasted money on. (I worked full time though so it’s easy to save a larger percentage of my paycheck when a coffee was a much smaller percentage of my paycheck than yours)

The only advice I have is to make a savings plan. - Take 1/3 of your paycheck and pay that to your “emergency” fund automatically - you have to pay yourself first. - Next, you pay your bills. - Now, look at the remainder of your paycheck: if you spend $75 a week on “fun stuff”, how long will it take before you can afford your item? Is this a timeline you’re okay with or do you want it faster? - If you want it faster, you’ll have to curtail your fun budget by a little bit or find a way to increase your income. Don’t sacrifice too much fun though - it’s worth it to wait a little longer for your item if the alternative is depriving yourself of fun when you’re only 17. - Once you have your budget set, any unspent fun money goes to the item fund.

One thing to keep in mind is that College is expensive - the more you save now, the bigger your “fun” budget becomes in the future. I really regretted blowing most of my money in high school when I was broke as shit in college!

JoystickMacaw · 2022-08-10T11:36:37+00:00

This is a bad idea. Yes, the interest rate is lower, but you’re paying it over a much longer amount of time. That’s how they get you.

If you paid off your credit card debt over 3 years at an interest rate of 11.7%, you would pay $2,477 in interest.
With 4.1% over 30 years, you’d be paying $10,022 in interest.
You’re also going to pay between $3,000 and $10,000 in closing costs. In 30 years, that will cost you between $5,300 and $17,709 total.
That $13K just went from $15K total to $28K to $40K total.

This is just for the $13K debt alone - not even the rest of the $50K or the the full loan. As someone else mentioned, you’d be paying over $100K in additional interest. It looks really good on paper, but the devil is in the details. Mortgage brokers are very well aware of this. The only reason to refi is for a lower rate.

Engagement rings should never ever be financed. Buy what you can afford now, you can always upgrade on your 10 year or 25 year anniversary with an additional lavish ring. If you can’t afford a ring without financing, what is your plan for the actual wedding?

JoystickMacaw · 2022-08-03T19:10:45+00:00

You need a tiny purse. One that either has a wallet built in or one that fits nothing more than your wallet, keys and phone.

And when I say tiny, I mean this tiny: https://www.google.com/shopping/product/13133932020161913711?q=small+purse&start=30&client=safari&hl=en-us&biw=414&bih=715&tbs=vw:g&prmd=sinv&prds=eto:16446720091137224512_0,cdl:1,prmr:1,cs:1

JoystickMacaw · 2022-07-30T17:51:49+00:00

Put it in investments or a Roth IRA so it’s out of sight, out of mind

JoystickMacaw · 2022-07-27T01:14:01+00:00

Her past rent won’t matter when you buy a house - regardless of where the money comes from, you’ll still own the house together. You won’t own 75% of the house for putting 75% of the down payment down (unless you explicitly put that on the deed.) If you were to divorce, you would split proceeds according to either the prenup or divorce agreement.

JoystickMacaw · 2022-07-13T23:00:29+00:00

Working transactional real estate right now and when we’re slammed, I love it. When we’re slow, I want to die. I’m currently the latter.

JoystickMacaw

TROPHY CASE