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Avoid having more than one large loan at at time ($10000 or more). Pay off your loans early by paying to principal. Pay off your credit card(s) every month. Drive slowly to spend less on gas. Buy goods in solid form, no liquids, to save money. Ditch fast foods, do meal prep instead. Eat less meat, like maybe once or twice a week.
Also instead of savings, put the money into a no fee index fund. Something that tracks the market like vtsax or similar.
Instructions unclear: Dying of dehydration.
I really wish there was a personal finance community on Lemmy. Then reading that would be a good lpt.
I almost created one but I do not have the time or temperment to moderate a community that will likely get very big
If we could get 3 or 4 other people to agree to mod, I’m game
I was mod of a large personal finance community on reddit. I know very little about non US personal finance though.
USA edition:
If you’re a billionaire: vote Republican.
If you’re not a billionaire: vote Democrat.
And either way, you still get to be poor. Great system we have here.
Pop quiz! What was cumulative inflation for the last 4 years, and what was the change in working class wages?
Basically what I’m asking is, did people get more poor, or less poor? Were there any specific government actions that led to this outcome?
Unfortunately the official inflation number doesn’t represent real world price increases on necessary goods, which often outpace inflation.
At least you get to be poor with some basic human rights
Me, LGBT: hahahahaha… oh you were serious? HAHAHAHAHA no.
What are you on about? Gay marriage was literally legalized by democrats.
(rant in general, not directed at you)
Straight, cis people: “you can do one thing, isn’t that enough? why do you have to be in the spotlight all the time?”
Me, standing with my trans+enby friends, after being fired for who we fuck and what we look like, and regularly treated like dogshit in public: “…”
Marriage is a decent start, but especially bullshit like “right to work” states where employers can sack you for literally anything, and LGBT not being a universally protected thing, is shit. Yeah yeah “sex” is by law but I direct you to the first half of that sentence, and you’ll see the issue. Progress, yeah, but being the solution to our many issues, marriage is just a piece of the pie.
Hell, my best friend had to go through some gymnastic-bureaucratic bullshit because the state they live(d) in was putting up unnecessary requirements just to change their sex on their drivers license. This was after months of them seeing a therapist, hrt, physical changes, etc - but still wasn’t good enough for the state. So it was easier to get their transition accepted via their birth state (I think by altering the birth record? Not totally sure, I didn’t want to pry), where they had much more sane requirements, and then come back to the state they live(d) in with a ‘see here bitch, now change my shit’. Took a month or so all-told, but they got it done.
Plus things like raising a family (adoption especially), being passed up for employment or promotions, denied housing… but we have marriage, so it’s all good, right?
(*) may not apply in elections where the Republican wants to start a profit-conflagarating civil war
We didn’t need that.
For bills that are due on a regular basis but not monthly (car registration, oil changes, pet’s annual check up, HVAC check ups if you own a home, etc) - figure out how much each costs per year, add them all up, divide by 12, and set up an auto-transfer to a savings account for that amount every month. Don’t forget to include that amount in your monthly budget too.
This x100. I literally never worry about bills anymore.
Actually it’s x12
For me it’s a matter of my mentality. I have tried to get away from the spending mentality. As soon as you get money you start thinking of ways to spend it. You should be thinking of ways to save it. I usually try to think of something that is important to me. For me I like to go out and see the world. That means buying gas. If I spend $5 on a cup of coffee that’s about 20 mi I can’t drive. As others have stated you got all these streaming media sites and stuff. If you add that all up over a years time is quite a bit of money. You should get rid of anything you don’t need. There are two ways to have more money: Make more or spend less.
Got some bad marks on your credit, even a 30-day late ding? Dispute them, even if they’re legit.
Americans can request a free credit report every year, from all 3 credit reporting agencies. Mark everything negative as, “wasn’t me”. The debtor has 30-days to respond, if they don’t, fuck 'em, it’s off your record.
Worst case? They come back and say the challenge was verified as false. Oh well.
Have no social life, it’s much cheaper.
But in all seriousness, if you have to have a social life, limit your spending on that stuff. Restaurant and bar tabs can add up quickly. Budget, limit your drinking, and if you don’t wanna limit your drinking, at least do some cheap drinking at home first.
Invest in tennis balls. They have a high rate of return.
Serious version. Probably mostly US-centric:
Credit cards are a tool. Just like any other tool, they can be useful or they can cause damage when improperly used. Educate yourself on how to wield a credit card effectively.
Credit cards are a tool. Just like any other tool, they can be useful or they can cause damage when improperly used. Educate yourself on how to wield a credit card effectively.
What he’s trying to say is, learn to use them like ninja stars - shuriken. They’re sharp and deadly if scaled properly.
When I worked at Barnes&Noble as a teen (~2007-2008), my coworker and I would just whip gift cards around at each other. Was a good three months.
Make a budget, each month.
Write down your expected expenses. Keep it simple. Use paper and a calculator.
Rewrite the list, in order of priority, to you.
I’ve met so many people who are scared to do this, yet would be pleased if they did.
If you can afford this…
…Whenever you’re at the store and make a debit card purchase with the option for cash back, get some back. $5, $10, $20…whatever. And put this into a rainy-day fund. You never know when you might need some quick cash or it’d be the make-or-break for a quick splurge.
Granted, I learned of this method from a friend of the family who used this method to hide money from her husband so take it with a grain of salt.
Spending money on higher quality products makes more sense than having to buy the lower quality product multiple times in the same span. But also don’t assume just because it’s more expensive that it’s higher quality.
I was spending $80-120 each year on lower quality hiking boots. About 10 years ago I finally spent $250 on high quality Merrells, haven’t needed to buy a new pair since. I hope the quality is still the same when I need to buy a new pair in 2035.
Learn about taxes and get a good tax guy. There’s a lot of “hacks” you could use to significantly reduce the amount you need to pay to the tax office. Best case scenario - you own an investment property which means you can write off all expenses, including mortgage interests.
Before buying a house, learn about home loans. Get yourself an offset account and for investment property get an interest only loan. Refinance your loan every time there’s a better deal.
Put all your payments, bills, rent, etc. on a credit card that earns you some points. Over time you will get free stuff just for paying your bills.
If you can afford it, put away 10% of all your income to a savings account. If 10% is too much put away as much as possible.
If you’re into risk, invest into stocks. I would recommend long term investments in well established companies that will give a nice return in 5-10 years. If you’re a dare devil, look into penny stocks with large dividends.
Stay away from crypto and “lucky shots”. If it’s too good to be true it’s not worth it.
Look up how cumulative interest works, then start investing in ETFs or index funds that follow MSCI World or S&P 500 for example. Then wait.
It’s been 4 hours. What’s supposed to happen?
You’re supposed to learn how to check back in a few decades instead of hours.
Line go up
To add to this, also research ETF and mutual fund fees! Sooooo many are more than willing to charge a “small” 1% fee that will cost you thousands of dollars or more. Others are bold and charge even more. Look for fees in the 0.01% - 0.03% range for your trusty index and targeted retirement funds. Some even have 0%, though those harder to come by.
If you want to increase your credit score and are financially responsible, switch over to using a credit card.
Diversify your portfolio: Instead of putting everything into savings, split some of it into stocks and shares.
I’ve heard that they amount you should be putting into your pension is a percent of your income equal to half the age you were when you started saving. Not sure how accurate that is.
If you do happen to be well off and/or have a good job, spend your money on things you like rather than hoarding it.
Donating to charity and supporting small businesses is usually morally correct. If you have the means, tip your instance admin or developers of software you use.
Be careful when buying things that the seller can remove from you at any time. But don’t use that as an excuse to not buy things you’ll enjoy while you have them.
VoIP is cheaper than cell service.
Vinegar is a good cleaning agent.
A hard drive at home is way cheaper than cloud storage.
Tailgating burns more gas.
VoIP
Yes, but then you have no service when you’re out and about since you need a WiFi connection.
I have a data only plan which kicks in automatically when WiFi isn’t available.
Thank you for that information. This whole thing is fascinating to me.
Do you still have a conventional phone number? I have family that are too old/tech incompetent to use something like Signal but who must be able to get a hold of me if they need to.
What happens if you go over your data cap?
Why is it so cheap? Do they sell your personal data or something?
I have so many questions!
I have two numbers, both VoIP. Anyone can call or text me, they don’t need to do anything other than dial the number. I even get texts from my bank.
The data cap auto renews and doesn’t expire. For me, 1gb lasts 2 or 3 months. I don’t recall what it costs but it’s dirt cheap.
VoIP is cheap because it uses the internet instead of the cell network. There is almost no costs to operate the device.
As for privacy, VoIP is a little more private than cell service. I had to disclose my ID and cc but that happens with most cell service. I’m not being triangulated by cell towers. My texts are being set to my email and deleted off the VoIP servers.
Jmpchat is a VoIP service with a lot more privacy but it’s currently out of my price range.
I’m happy to answer more questions.
How does the last one work?
If you’re tailgating you have less time to respond to the car in front of you braking or decelerating and therefore you need to slam the breaks more
slam the breaks more
Not to mention the brakes too.
