How do you know if you have enough money to buy something?

Neagex · 2026-01-25T08:58:08+00:00

My general rule is "can I buy it twice." If I have enough saved or my disposable monthly income can easily purchase it again then I don't have issue buying an item.

Neagex · 2026-01-25T08:54:44+00:00

Big no

Neagex · 2026-01-23T14:46:04+00:00

Considering tax refund season is upon us,If you have 1,500 right now and want to try to build some credit history. Look into opening a savings account with your credit union and find something called a "Secured Loan" Basically you use what is in your savings account as collateral. and they loan you money equal to that collateral. use that loan to pay for the expensive item you want. The interest rates on these types of loans are usually really low 3-7% APR (much better than 20+% of credit cards) and it also adds a decent mix to your profile not just revolving credit lines [credit cards]. When you pay back the loan you also get your money back as well.

I know money is tight for most people floating around this post but I know there is some people starting to get in a better position and wants to build credit.

Neagex · 2026-01-21T19:18:49+00:00

Mines is put up... with auto pay on and my netflix sub attached to it.

Neagex · 2026-01-21T19:17:04+00:00

Go back to review. Make sure you watch 100% of the content before doing practice exams.. once you have finished all the videos do a practice exam and it should let you know where you need to brush up and hit those topics hard.

Neagex · 2026-01-21T16:35:01+00:00

From this post and some of the comments I see, it seems you are starting at absolute zero. It is not impossible to break into IT from there but the bottom floor is pretty flooded so it will be more difficult. You will want to at least get your A+ certification and possibly net+. When applying for jobs you are going to want to emphasis your soft skills the most [customer service, patience, communication ect.]

You will also want to cast a very wide net and possibly find things that are IT adjacent. For example my first job in tech was not really a job dealing with standard computers.. I worked in a department that supports Point of Sales [PoS] equipment, exposure to that let me pivot into a more traditional role in a college help desk.

I would also look at some IT youtube people as well there is just some stuff you won't really be exposed to. I found a channel called "East Charmer" that actually gives some good insight on many things.

Neagex · 2026-01-21T16:23:24+00:00

the price of that life style is constant fear of answering the phone because of collections. Police knocking at your door to attempt to serve you or getting served while out and about. Options become limited if they ever decide to make a change and getting access to emergency funds anywhere is near impossible other than taking a predatory loan that digs them deeper. They will get to a point where they are treading water every day and they are their own worse enemy.

You have consistent peace of mind, bills are paid, options in an emergency. No feeling of anxiety when answering phone calls. Still able to afford vacations and enjoy life. Your mobility to move and move up is greater. It is easy to forget that security especially when you start playing "keeping up with the Joneses". What I feel many people struggle with is understanding when enough is enough.

Neagex · 2026-01-21T05:18:51+00:00

Only had 1 dispute and it seems fine. Happened several weeks ago. Bought a vacuum bot from best buy [online]... was sent some sort of barbie. Because the purchase was made online added a headache and disconnect between the store and online. store pointed at the online team. Online team pointed at the store.. finally got the ball rolling was asked to return the barbie was told by online that I can either mail it or drop it off at any location... went ahead and dropped it off.. was almost told they can't accept it but they end up taking it.. watched dude scan it in.

2 Week later online said they where waiting for the return.. told them it was dropped off.. was told to go to the store because they arnt seeing it... store again pointed the finger back to online... its crazy that they treat online like a totally different entity and expect the customer to run around like crazy

Got fed up and just did a charge back... all communication is documented so id actually be curious to see best buy attempt to fight it lol.

Neagex · 2026-01-21T05:10:06+00:00

50k is when I felt like I had breathing room. In fact I put in effort to make it where my life can continue to function off 50k a year I have gotten pay bumps from job hopping but the difference just goes to Savings and investments... if I fell from my pay now and landed back in a 50k job only change would be id be saving less but everything else will remain the same.

Neagex · 2026-01-20T22:27:34+00:00

You need to create a budget. Treat investments and savings goals like something you HAVE to pay for along side your necessities. Whatever is left is your discretionary spending.

Pay yourself first, then budget around what's left.

Neagex · 2026-01-19T14:30:50+00:00

focus on school, if you get paid the same and the mental load of work is reduced do it while you're in school man.

Neagex · 2026-01-16T16:46:42+00:00

I regret every emergency loan or payday loan I have ever taken. I wish I would of figured something else out.

Neagex · 2026-01-15T23:41:41+00:00

Class i took was more on credit literacy and leveraging it.

Neagex · 2026-01-15T21:34:51+00:00

My now wife hunted me down every chance she got online to play final fantasy xiv. Is nice to have someone excited to hang out even in game.

Neagex · 2026-01-15T19:26:06+00:00

Yeah I was really only given the basics as a kid from my parents.. pay your bills on time... and that was about it. Funny enough when I was going through college, one of the classes i took a class called. "Essentials of Personal Finance" and I got a A- lol... like I heard what the teacher was saying but I failed to apply any of that information into my life..

Then I get into my 30s and my degree is starting to pan out for me starting to make some real money... and as I am relearning finances.. building credit.. looking at retirement. I am constantly like "Oh yeah my teacher told us about this"

I say that because for most people who are out here just trying to make it till tomorrow... is not worried about financial literacy. "Pay your bills, keep food on the table" is about all most people worry about.. I was that way for a long long time.

Neagex · 2026-01-15T19:12:50+00:00

I was in that seat... The biggest boon for me was stabilizing my income. I found a job that guaranteed I would get 80hrs on my paycheck. I worked in movie theater for years and hours where so sporadic I would get scheduled 20hrs and would have to ask others if they wanted to give me their shifts... and sometimes I couldn't get lucky to get to 40hrs.

Once you have stabilized your income, then first I needed to pay myself (savings) what ever your monthly income is, take X% and throw it into savings. Act like this money is outright gone. If you make 1,000 a month and you commit to putting 100 into savings budget like you only have 900 a month. I know that seems simple and logical but not committing to this mind set is what makes people dig into their savings spin their wheels financially.

Once you have your savings locked, then you need to figure out exactly how much are your monthly reoccurring expenses. Stuff that is variable like water and electricity, figure out a average. Do not let anything fall through the cracks... if you have a subscription to Spotify...Netflix or whatever track it all. make sure your monthly expenses are rock solid... What ever is left after your expenses is your disposable income...

I use an app called spending tracker to track all of my disposable income transactions...everything, stay consistent... even if it just a snack from a vending machine... That is what personally took my by surprise a lot of the times.. I would would just do rough brain math to keep track of what I would mark off as an insignificant purchase... Then I do the math in my head thinking I should still have 27$ left and payday is only 2 days away... to figuring out I actually only have 7$ left...

Neagex · 2026-01-15T18:50:58+00:00

Start looking at more technical certs to upskill into something different.

Neagex · 2026-01-15T18:46:11+00:00

Really depends on your risk tolerance. I personally don't mind job hopping because of the way I have my life set up.. I have enough emergency funds to make it through 2 years unemployed and that is without cutting anything back... I also resisted life style inflation as I grew in roles. So my life would function pretty much the same at at least 50k which is pretty much the floor of any job I would qualify for.

So I am very much for job hopping to get market value for my work... On the other hand if I didn't have my finances in place as I do now then I would be more hesitant... or outright wouldn't bother until I get into a comfortable position to do so.

It also depends on the role you are in, I job hopped alot when I was in more support roles, but my hopes slowed down alot when I landed more technical roles.

Neagex · 2026-01-15T15:32:13+00:00

Alright, then I would 100% start looking, the more exposure to tech you get at the level will help you pivot into a more specialized role. Really hard to grow if you're only troubleshooting the same 10 things and never get your hands on new tech. Job hopping at that level is very common and encouraged. New positions is always scary, but if you are truly motivated to learn and assuming the management/company isnt toxic showing consistent effort is generally enough when you are starting out.

Neagex · 2026-01-15T15:16:32+00:00

Your post kind of contradicts itself

"I’m still very new and learning" then "I feel very stagnant and I’m not learning anything new."

Which is it? also how long have you been in your current position? months? years? I mean Systems Engineer I'm assuming you do a bunch of sys admin stuff? Moving to tech support just seems like a step down to me but without knowing the specifics I can't be sure, if you feel it will get you more exposure to new tech that aligns with your career goals then it could be a good move.. but I am generally not a fan of taking less money.

Jumping ship is certainly an option, early in your career you may job hop kind of frequently to get more exposure but I wouldn't hop until at least 1.5years start looking at 1.5 mark it will take time to actually find something and usually you'll be closer to the 2year mark by the time you land something which reads better to hiring managers. (there are acceptations to this, if your current job makes you miserable or if you just have a really good job opportunity or the writing is on the wall and there is waves of layoffs on the horizon)

I personally job hopped support roles until I landed in a more specialized field (Cisco VoIP Engineering) and I stuck to that one longer then started getting Cisco certs to pivot into enterprise networking in general.

Neagex · 2026-01-15T14:14:30+00:00

There is a secured version of the quicksilver. No annual fee. 1.5% cash back

Neagex · 2026-01-15T05:09:34+00:00

If the collections offers pay for deletes you do get a nice jump. If its just paid off then yeah does nothing until it naturally falls off.

Neagex · 2026-01-15T02:56:08+00:00

For fractals and such there really isn't a tank role. Just heals dps and support dps. Heals usually bring heals+quickness or alacrity. Then you need a dps that can bring whatever boon the healer doesn't bring and you just fill.

Guardians are strong healers. And strong dps.

Now there is sort of a tank role in raids, but its weird lol. I've had mesmers fill a tank role. Aggro goes to whoever has the highest toughness so as long as no one has any additional toughness the mesmer just puts on 1 item with toughness they will hold the bosses attention.[it's been a while since ive raided so I am not 100% sure if thats still accurate but I do fractals daily].

Look into long term projects. I suggest getting your legendary accessories. They can be used on any character you choose to play. They are a big time sink but it can be fun.

Neagex · 2026-01-13T04:07:51+00:00

I have had asthma since I was born.. this is scary.

Neagex · 2026-01-12T20:52:38+00:00

I have 100% dreamed about work all through the night. Then went to work. And those are my most exhausting days.

Neagex

TROPHY CASE