The Personal Finance Thread

[boingyman]

Just wanted to start a thread where we can discuss personal finance. Whether you're looking for advice or give advice about getting out of debt, budgeting, building wealth, money management, investing, saving, giving/donating, personal beliefs, etc, I think it can be healthy to talk about with others.

Wherever any of us are in terms of personal finance lets all elevate our game this year.

 

[TheRash]

I earn around 90k a year (Power Lineman by trade), and my wife earns 40k a year as a teacher. We have 2 kids, and decided a 3 years ago to use her entire paycheck on our debt, and live on mine.

We have about 2 years to go, and we'll be debt free. We both drive newer vehicles, live in a 3 year old house on a small ranch. It's not hard, we aren't rich, we just have a plan and stick with it.

 

[Phr3121]

I earn around 90k a year (Power Lineman by trade), and my wife earns 40k a year as a teacher.

Ok, that is fucked up. Teachers need to earn more than $40,000 a year. Your wife should be earning close to what you make. ...and don't get me started on those 'fucktard' actors from Hollywood and their $1,000,000+ yearly salary for acting, or those 'fucktard' professional athletes who also make $1,000,000+ for throwing or catching a ball. A one star General in the military makes $137.000. How did things get so fucked up in 50+ years? But, you are doing well. Good job. Factor in 401K Plan (retirement), Social Security, any stocks, and any inheritance money.

 

[FierceRedBelt]

Ok, that is fucked up. Teachers need to earn more than $40,000 a year. Your wife should be earning close to what you make. ...and don't get me started on those 'fucktard' actors from Hollywood and their $1,000,000+ yearly salary for acting, or those 'fucktard' professional athletes who also make $1,000,000+ for throwing or catching a ball. A one star General in the military makes $137.000. How did things get so fucked up in 50+ years? But, you are doing well. Good job. Factor in 401K Plan (retirement), Social Security, any stocks, and any inheritance money.

Boycott sporting events and teach your children to admire people who've made true contributions to the human race.

Stop going to movies and they'll stop paying actors.

I'd rather an athlete get paid well for the business he brings in than the promoter pocketing all the money.

 

[Tycho- Taylor's Version]

Mint is love, Mint is life.

 

[boingyman]

I earn around 90k a year (Power Lineman by trade), and my wife earns 40k a year as a teacher. We have 2 kids, and decided a 3 years ago to use her entire paycheck on our debt, and live on mine.

We have about 2 years to go, and we'll be debt free. We both drive newer vehicles, live in a 3 year old house on a small ranch. It's not hard, we aren't rich, we just have a plan and stick with it.

Keep it up! I cringe when people are in significant debt, especially high interest debt and do nothing about it.

Mint is love, Mint is life.

Mint is great. I definitely recommend it for most, but sometimes I feel a nice manual excel spreadsheet for people that are oblivious to budgeting is a much better choice. YNAB I hear is pretty good too. I also recommend Personal Capital to track investments.

 

[kahiljabroni]

IT'S NOT ABOUT WHAT YOU MAKE ITS ABOUT WHAT YOU SPEND!


I had this philosophy when I was poor and now that my wife and I make 200k I still have it.

Have a 5 year plan. ...a 10 year plan. ... and so on.

 

[SammyPops]

My mortgage term is up in around 7 months, so I can start negotiating a new rate in a couple weeks.

Fuckign hell rates sure have went up, more than 100bps from my current rate. I know those are posted rates but man, I think I'm going to pay more to keep the same going onto the principal each payment.

Mortgage free in 9ish years!

 

[iThrillhouse]

I put a decent payment towards my line of credit the other day

later that day I took my car to the vet cause it felt funny, they then said the right wheel was fucked and my exhaust system was hooped. Estimate $1500...

the grind sucks when you barely make anything

 

[PG29 red0 Jr]

My 30 year mortgage makes me cringe just thinking about it. I pay an extra $125 a month against principal. It amount of principal being paid off in the first few years is painful with how the interest is front loaded. Ughhhhhh

 

[CWMMA]

Spend less. Eat at home. Figure out a way to save 1/5 of your paycheck. And then toss that out and find a way to save twice that.

 

[DC23]

Struggling to pay of the loan for a 10k car gang checking in.

 

[Teppodama]

Right now, any budget I have is in flux due to in-laws borrowing money because they either don't make enough, anything at all and have no emergency fund. It's the 16th of January and we've already dished out $400 between two different houses. December it was $300 I think. Plumber, car and food for one house and food for the other.

Don't really think a month has gone by since the beginning of summer 2017 that we haven't passed on at least a hundred for something or another. We've recouped some of it, but not nearly what we've given out.

 

[My name is]

I purchase rental properties. when i was 22 i purchased a duplex rented out one side to cover my mortgage. I saved my money like i was paying a mortgage i did this for a little over 7 years. I'd get all my income tax money and invest in stocks. Never got real good at it but it paid off. I took a big chunk of my savings and started buying other single family homes and started renting them out. I now have 3 units i own free and clear and the original duplex will be paid off soon for a total of 5 units . now I'm saving that money to buy future properties.as i go the process should start happening faster. I'm 33 now i often bounce around the idea of borrowing money off my properties to buy more or just stick with the plan of saving the rent collected and buying future properties as the money and oppertunities become available

 

[TSO]

I'm debt free and semi retired at 37. If I stay within my means I never have to.work again, but most of my hobbies make money so I'm only semi retired.

 

[Teppodama]

I'm debt free and semi retired at 37. If I stay within my means I never have to.work again, but most of my hobbies make money so I'm only semi retired.

And those hobbies are?

 

[Protectandserve]

I'm working at knocking out the 6k in credit card debt I accumulated in the last year or two. After that, its building back up my savings accounts.

Should be getting a pay bump and approaching top step finally after damn near 10 years as a cop. Stupid pay freeze my first 5 years fucked me big time. Some rookies are making almost what I am with only 2 years on.

I need to start meal planning better for work because I spend way too much money on food while I am working.

 

[Pure Peace]

i know way too many people that purchase the most expensive home they could get a mortgage approval for

a married couple making $250K combined purchasing a $1+ million dollar home with insane taxes, just because they were able to get approved for a $900K mortgage

one spouse gets sick and out of work, or a divorce happens, the first thing in trouble is the house bc they cant make mortgage payments


according to the mortgage people i "could" have purchased a very expensive home (with a mortgage), instead i bought a home that was 4 times less than my max mortgage approval amount and its cost was LESS than my yearly Gross pay to be safe

i like to take risks on certain things, like business ventures, stock market, real estate investment, etc. but my main home is something i am NOT willing to have lots of risk on

i might be jaded because I am a very high earner compared to most of my friends and neighbors, though
but the one thing I do notice about personal wealth mismanagement is people stretching themselves thin when buying their home

 

[My name is]

I'm working at knocking out the 6k in credit card debt I accumulated in the last year or two. After that, its building back up my savings accounts.

Should be getting a pay bump and approaching top step finally after damn near 10 years as a cop. Stupid pay freeze my first 5 years fucked me big time. Some rookies are making almost what I am with only 2 years on.

I need to start meal planning better for work because I spend way too much money on food while I am working.

spending money on food was/is my biggest issue

 

[Pure Peace]

I purchase rental properties. when i was 22 i purchased a duplex rented out one side to cover my mortgage. I saved my money like i was paying a mortgage i did this for a little over 7 years. I'd get all my income tax money and invest in stocks. Never got real good at it but it paid off. I took a big chunk of my savings and started buying other single family homes and started renting them out. I now have 3 units i own free and clear and the original duplex will be paid off soon for a total of 5 units . now I'm saving that money to buy future properties.as i go the process should start happening faster. I'm 33 now i often bounce around the idea of borrowing money off my properties to buy more or just stick with the plan of saving the rent collected and buying future properties as the money and oppertunities become available

im a couple years older than you, but I have the same experience, except after i bought my first duplex, i just ended up buying condos/apartments (out of state) instead of houses bc of my own personal preference

like you, the cycle just kept going and I was able to buy units with straight cash......i pondered the same thing about taking lines of credit against my fully paid for properties and was hesitant at first, but ended up taking small LOCs, but only when I didnt have the cash on hand for when a desirable property unexpectedly went up for sale
otherwise, my portfolio has become a self financing vehicle where the vast majority of the $ invested came from the properties

my particular portfolio relies on the rental income instead of looking to flip for a profit since im focused on apartments

basic real estate investing, nothing complicated or crazy

im hoping to get into some commercial stuff soon and have my eye on a couple of small strip malls with great tenants in "up and coming areas"

EDIT: re: borrowing money against your properties

my good friend who works in commercial real estate educated me on how real estate pros look at their return. they'll look at "cash on cash" return....or the return you get on the ACTUAL amount of cash put down and payout during the lifetime of the properties' mortgages
instead of looking at the total return using the net rental income against the total purchase price (standard ROI)

since i focus on rental income return, i dont use Cash on Cash too much, but figured you might be able to use the info since you deal with houses (assuming you dont already know this)

of course you have to weigh the costs associated with the HELOC you may get.....but basically if your cash on cash % is high enough to justify the interest you'd pay on the HELOC,, then go for it!

here is a useful link
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cashoncashreturn.asp