Bought a car for $500, drove it for a year, sold it for $500.
My mom bought a car in my home country for 1.4 million local currency, sold it 2 years and an accident later for 1.6 million because Japanese imports stopped.
A lot of people are against credit cards which is understandable. But I use them almost exclusively and pay them in full every month.
As long as I don’t go over whatever I have in cash, these credit cards help me in building credit score as well as provide a layer of protection should some person or site try to over charge me later.
It’s not for everyone, but it worked for me.
This is what I do. I don’t use a debit card, but instead use a “credit condom” so that if someone steals my cc and uses it, I’m not liable. I also pay in full so I don’t have to carry cash and keep a healthy / active credit history.
My credit score is about as good as it can get, and I have no problems buying anything big ticket.
While not always too significant, many credit cards also offer points or cash back. I do the same as you (use my credit card for practically everything and always pay it off), and can use whatever points I get to make small mortgage prepayments, buy gift cards, etc.
It’s a tie between getting rid of my car and learning to stop “trading”. Cars are just the worst in terms of finances, and you can save bank if you’re able to move somewhere walkable. Only buy stocks you’re happy to hold for five years or more. A good test is “if the price crashes, would I be excited to buy more?”
Coincidentally, having cars as a hobby has been the worst financial decision of my life lol.
Hobbies aren’t supposed to be about whether they’re a good financial consideration, they’re about passion, self fulfillment and looking after yourself.
This is of course true, but sometimes what you’re getting out of a hobby is not worth the resources you put in.
Then it’s a shit hobby, or the wrong time in your life for that particular hobby. Hobbies aren’t meant to be financially sound investments, and the best hobbies aren’t cheap.
I think, at least for non-savvy people, that buying individual stocks is not a great idea anyway. If you’re investing to have long term capital gains something like the MSCI World ETF would probably be the better choice. If you invested in that specific index fund in 2016 you’d have doubled your money by now, even during this economic downturn. Sure, you can make more money in a shorter time day trading but that shit is damn near a full time job and more risky unless you heavily diversify your portfolio (which you should do anyway).
Another poster mentioned stocks of the company he works for. My company for example distributes a good amount of their yearly profits to their employees. Meaning that once a year you can choose between a couple hundred bucks one-time payout or get a bunch of company stocks for a heavily discounted price, but they’re trade-locked for two years. At the beginning of 2020 I chose the stock option and the shares got bought right at the beginning of the covid dip. When 2022 rolled around I had essentially quintupled my initial investment in the discounted stocks. So that’s another great tip, provided you company offers similar plans.
Counterpoint to company stock is, if the company has trouble, your stock is likely to plummet at the same time as you lose your job. Definitely go for discounted shares/options, but consider dumping them (ie, diversifying) as soon as you can.
I joined a hotel company a couple of years ago where they offered stock options, which is good and I appreciated it. But there were a lot of people that had worked there for decades just because they felt invested in the company. Meanwhile, working conditions were absolutely awful and the culture was the worst I’ve ever experienced. And I kept thinking how crazy it must have been during COVID as the stock tanked and everyone was staring down the barrel of layoffs. Like, if your employer is your entire retirement plan then you could be in huge trouble all at once.
I took a lower-paying job that I was more competent to do.
Due to lower stress levels, somehow I spend less money and my finances are way better. For the record we’re talking about making $110k then vs making $45k now.
My finances are in better shape. I have cognitive surplus at the end of the day, and I think maybe that’s translating to less escape-seeking.
Also, this year I made a new year’s resolution: I am going to have $5k in the bank, come hell or high water. I’ve lived my whole life without a buffer and life without a buffer sucks so hard.
Just having that goal — $5k in the bank — has changed my whole relationship to money. I haven’t even hit the $5k. I’m at $3k and even that feels amazing. It doesn’t matter if my paycheck is late. I can just pay my rent. Moving into a new apartment and the agent was like “are you prepared to pay a deposit and first month today?” and I was like “yup”.
In the past I’d always answer like “Well my next paycheck is on such and such date and can I maybe pay you half then, then the other half two weeks after that?” I was always relying on the flexibility and mercy of financial gatekeepers.
I’m amazed how such a small amount of money (compared to the total flow) being held onto has changed my perception of myself. I feel like a “legit” person now. I feel like a stakeholder in society. I feel like an adult, instead of a boy in a man’s body. I don’t even know when my paydays are any more.
And my income didn’t really increase between the time I had no buffer and the time I did. I just made the resolution, and then started putting money away.
I think your experience that your finances are better on $45k than $110k is quite mysterious and could do with some further elucidation
Like I said I have cognitive surplus. I don’t have to mainline takeout, drugs, and impulse purchases to feel safe.
Drugs like prescription and over the counter stuff to deal with burnout, or drugs like street variety, risk your life to forget your troubles drugs?
Yeah, these three categories explain the difference to me. Good for you, getting your life in order and starting to budget/manage money!
For me, mostly pot, but also prescription drugs to get to sleep, to try and focus, etc. I did adderall for a while, ritalin, modafinil, microdosed with LSD, I did neurofeedback training.
And I ate out like crazy.
I mean, I might be able to handle a dev job now. I had some health issues going on before that job, and my housing situation was unstable, so I never really had a moment when I was just waking up, going to work, coming home, and being alone.
Now Im doing a job that’s so relatively easy (and hourly meaning I can just turn it off when I come home) that even living with a roommate and rarely getting that alone time, Im okay.
I forgot I also would get a hotel room or airbnb occasionally just to have alone time, I did bodywork and float sessions. I spent a lot of money managing my brittle brain.
Actually my intention is to go back to something like that. But the goal was to first learn to manage money, before I got the big salary again. Because I learned that I can earn six figures and still be paycheck to paycheck, so it’s pointless for me to take on all that stress if at the end of two years I’m still gonna be broke due to bad financial habits.
However, more fundamental than financial habits was self care habits. When moment to moment consciousness is comfortable, you don’t need much to be happy.
So for that, the men’s group is a really big factor. AND doing a job so far within my sphere of competence that I have no question of being able to perform.
What a crazy life. I don’t think you have a fragile mind, I think you had a series of impossible goals and incredible pressure to achieve them all. Together with some questionable to bad coping mechanisms, you were on a dark path. I’m so glad you’re on a better path, with goals for the future and a better grasp of what is important in life.
Not sure how much income taxes are for you but the gross difference is $65k and I’ll assume you take home at least half of that. So $32k. Just curious like which specific categories of items were costing you tens of thousands of dollars that you were able to cut out? Is this the famous American medical expenses mainly? Just trying to be able to understand
Not OP, but… I took a pay cut years ago not as dramatic of a cut about 104k to 72k. I no longer had to drive to work but took a bus so I saved 90 miles (145 km) a day in driving. So I had a big savings on gas, and car, and with the time savings I could switch my kid to a regular daycare because I no longer needed extended hours. I had more free time to cook all of our meals so I had a big savings on food versus take out all the time. I also had the time to do work on my house versus hiring out. I cut back on vacation budgets but we had time to get out of the house and play at the parks and trails nearby every day. All and all a cut in income but a big increase in enjoyment in life. For savings I was able to save about the same between the two jobs.
Easy to believe that you improved quality of life and achieved some savings, but the other poster specifically cited improvements in financial health after >50% cut which has me puzzled
I bought an electric car.
Now when I drive by the gas station I couldn’t care less how much gas costs!
I’ve never tasted such freedom.
I’ve owned one for 3 years now. My only maintenance costs were a $10 tire rotation and filling up wiper fluid. Even better, the park by my house where I walk my dog has free solar charging!
Nice. How do you like charging at home / at stations? Are charging stations sometimes a pain? I haven’t seen many but I’m also not actively looking out for them but from what I’ve heard it’s all expanding nicely.
I’m looking to trade in aTacoma for a Ford F150 lightning or some other electric pickup since 99.9% of the time it’s just used to drive around town.
I’ve been having some issues getting the plug installed. I’ve gotten estimates across the board from 1600 bucks to 8k! But I’ll get it taken care of eventually.
I live in Georgia USA and there are plenty of dead areas for chargers unlike California where you can’t spit without getting it on a fast charger.
If you get a level 2 charger installed in your house it is completely possible to charge only at your house.
Chevy is releasing the Silverado and Suburban fully electric along with the Equinox. It’s worth a consideration.
Do you have any range issues? Forget to charge it?
I have to be very proactive about where super chargers are.
I live in Georgia USA and there’s a bunch of dead zones without chargers still. But there hasn’t been any single time where I was unable to charge and I drive A LOT!
I haven’t forgotten to charge, at least not yet!
What I have had an issue with is installing a home charger. Electricians have given me estimates estimates ranging from 2500 to 10,000. Like wtf!
Definitely the house we bought. Bought just before COVID. There was a bloody ton of houses on the market. Got my house for 70,000 under asking with them paying for half the cost of a new roof(inspector said it was fine for a few more years but we tossed it in to see if they’d bite).
Haven’t done anything to the house other than paint and the new roof, we stand to profit well over 100,000 now. Considering, we’re potentially moving to the city I grew up in to raise a few tykes, it will come in handy.
I have two:
- Maxing out employer matching retirement plans
- Investing in college savings accounts from the day my kids were born
I did both decades ago, now I am set to retire early without worrying about paying big college bills for the kids
I dumped most of my life savings into buying stocks after COVID happened. I had just started investing and took a massive hit in March of 2020. Rather than pulling my money, I waited a month for the market to stop falling. Then I put a lot of money into US oil, and a few Casino/resort stocks.
I didn’t have a ton of money, but those investments have more than doubled. I still can’t fully pay of my house, but im getting close.
I buy my rolling papers in bulk, boxes of 24. Each pack costs around £1 instead of £2. I get those Connoisseur Packs with the included roach cards. Saves me a lot of money, as I do smoke a lot of spliffs if I’m honest.
another genius revelation from jaden smith
The house I bought in 2012 because I was mad my landlord was raising my rent… I wasn’t trying to be smart…it was a fuck it scenario. Damn was housing “cheap” back then. Houses around me are renting for damn near 3x what my mortgage + insurance is. And selling for as much.
Am a devops engineer. Started working in my home country (in Europe) making 1.2k€ a month. It wasn’t the money I wanted, so last year changed my linkedin location to the Netherlands. Offers just poured in. Now I make 4k (liquid) a month being a JUNIOR devops engineer. Insane how just changing linkedin locations changed my life so much
But did you move? And where are you from?
I did endup moving (for tax reasonsand because I always wanted to live abroad), but I could stay in my home country if I wanted, as the job is fully remote. I’m from Portugal
I went for a 5 year mortgage rather than a 2 year at my last renewal. With how much rates have increased by recently, I think this will have saved me about £15k by the end of the 5 years.
Started cooking at home.
Working from home helped a lot with this. Saving money on transportation, plus the lunches out and after work drinks, made a huge impact on my finances.
I bought a little town house 12 years ago. I didn’t really want to. My wife talked me into it. I was worried that I’d never pay it off. With the cost of housing now I couldn’t possibly afford to buy. I have a house, and a nice nest egg for retirement one day. Thanks wife!
Paying off all our credit cards and cancelling them and living off cheque / savings accounts rather than credit.
We did this about 5 years ago before COVID uncertainty and the current cost of living crisis and I’m just so relieved we don’t have to worry about paying anything off.
