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I have a brother and a cousin who are both single, in their mid 20's, and struggling somewhat with finances. My brother makes $22/hour and he also works some overtime, so his income is around $50K. He also has incredibly cheap rent because he is staying in my deceased grandmother's old house to keep an eye on the property until the family gets it ready to sell. He essentially just pays the taxes and utilities, which is around $300/month. He also has a work truck paid for by his company, so his personal auto expenses are minimal. Still, he is perpetually broke because he has no impulse control and any money he accumulates he spends as soon as something catches his interest. He buys a lot of DVD's, expensive shoes, and home shopping network type junk. He never cooks and he eats out nearly every meal. He also buys gold bars and buries them in the woods behind my parents' house, but that might work out in his favor someday so I won't be too critical.
On the other hand, my cousin is a social worker who teaches disabled people and she makes $22K a year. She cooks every meal herself using basic ingredients, and she shops at secondhand stores. She lived with a roommate for 5 years and they shared a beater car, which was possible because they both biked to work. She just bought a small house this past September, and she was able to put 30% down. She is planning on living alone eventually, but her old roommate is paying her to rent a room until she finds a new place, which could take a while. Compared to my brother, my cousin is in much better financial shape at the same age, despite making less than half of what he does.
I know that this is just an anecdote, but it does show that personal spending patterns can make a big impact on financial security, and that it is possibly to be struggling financially even with an above average income in an inexpensive region of the country with very little housing, health, or transportation expenses.
You said something important--"if you don't believe". That was part of the problem. I just assumed I would never be able to own anything.
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Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801
I also think it goes beyond just the horse refusing to drink. The horse believes the water is only for other horses and not available to them. Too often we get weighed down by our childhoods or our experiences that told us we are not as good as everyone else and that we can't live the lives other people live. We are imprisoning ourselves with our own minds while fully believing it is external forces keeping us down.
That's why it helps to base decisions on careful research and mathematics. Most people think in terms of general ideas, experiences in their lives and advice from other instead of doing the former. If you can be purely logical, do good research and know how to apply mathematics to a situation its scary how well you can make a situation turn out. I have been applying those principles so strictly that's its almost as if I have been predicting my future for the last decade. Meaning I have hit every achievement, savings target, investment target etc. that I planned out years ago around the exact time I planned for. With the internet its easier then ever to teach yourself so you can get ahead in life.
For example, just last month I thought I'd try to teach myself how to cut my hair (the same way my barber does). It took me a total of 3 hours to learn and $17 to buy the clipper kit. Now I can cut my hair in the same time it takes me to go to the barber (meaning I'm not trading extra time in exchange for cutting my own hair). Now I will be saving $20 every 3 weeks for life!
How did you determine your risk aversion for the storage facility? What has been the net result for the past few years? (Amount paid for rent, amount sold less selling expenses & taxes)
Just curious, I thought you said you were selling on ebay and had $1200 saved up? But then you say you haven't been.
I sell from time to time when I can use a friend's scanner, of course this is dependent on his schedule.
When I was younger and spending whatever I made, I could not understand the point of saving money. Why put it in the bank when you can buy what you need now? Of course, some of those needs were wants. EVER being able to save enough for a down payment on a home seemed out of reach. Most people I knew who could buy a house got help from parents, or got an inheritance, and one guy was in an accident and won a lawsuit and bought his house that way. I could not fathom ever being able to save enough money for a home, so there seemed to be no point.
When I did finally get to buy a condo in my 50s, I did a 3.5 down payment FHA with money borrowed from my pension fund. I paid it back with the first-time homebuyer's tax credit.
We have had many tenants whose salary income was greater than my salary income. We were able to buy apartment complexes, while they were not able to buy anything.
Then we had rental income that paid all expenses of owning those properties and we gained Net Worth. While those renters paid rent and gained nothing.
Those renters also paid income taxes, while we did not.
The primary difference is mindset.
If you say that you can not 'X' then even if I drag you along kicking and screaming, you can not 'X'. This has no bearing on your income or debt ratio or hair style.
If a horse refuses to drink, you can not force it to drink.
I sell from time to time when I can use a friend's scanner, of course this is dependent on his schedule.
Why haven't you bought a scanner? Of course, once you have your smartphone, you won't need it. Just wondering why you would pay for storage for years but not for a scanner or smartphone to sell it all.
Why haven't you bought a scanner? Of course, once you have your smartphone, you won't need it. Just wondering why you would pay for storage for years but not for a scanner or smartphone to sell it all.
Cramped small room, bed leaves little space, no other furniture in room.
Cramped small room, bed leaves little space, no other furniture in room.
So there is no space in the room for a smartphone. It simply will not fit through the door. You would have no choice but to leave it in the hallway, where it would be subject to theft or vandalism. Got it. Just leave it in your storage space then.
Years ago, I worked on a project for a baby Bell. Our job was to analyze buying patterns of all their various services such as Caller ID, Voicemail, and the ilk. We found that the demographic most apt to load up on those features were actually the poorer households. The same kind of conspicuous consumption is true for clothing and cars.
My wife and I call ourselves 'honorary old money.' Not because we are wealthy, but because many of our friends and acquaintances are. The thing I've noticed is that those folks tend to not worry about having the most opulent homes or the most stylish luxury cars. And if you meet them out in public, their clothes will be kind of nondescript.
The only things they tend to splurge on are a) vacations, b) education for their kids, and c) entertainment. Everything else, they tend to stress long-term value over showy bling.
I cannot give you my stories/examples of people I know personally who have good jobs and good wages but blow any chance at real wealth or proper financial stewardship.
Sorry.
The Internet would run out of room.
Then again, this could be an opportunity to crash Skynet.
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