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Mathjak, you are absolutely correct. I have never been house poor but I know people that are. I have always driven my cars until they are too expensive to repair. I have never bought the most house I could afford. It’s no fun being broke.
Mathjak, you are absolutely correct. I have never been house poor but I know people that are. I have always driven my cars until they are too expensive to repair. I have never bought the most house I could afford. It’s no fun being broke.
One does not even have to be broke …many try to live frugally and save more but the fact is a lot of what they spew is peeing in the ocean compared to where the big dollars are really spent .
I also know people who are always clipping coupons and will reuse tea bags , etc who cherish the dollar so much they won’t invest ….
They give up the most powerful force in the personal finance world , namely compounding and so while a penny saved is a penny earned , it is always going to be less then a penny .
So there is a lot of foolishness and busy work with little gain that goes on too
No matter how many lattes you stop buying;or how many less avocado toasts you consume or if you stop eating out...if you're stuck in debt for life like myself;nothing is going to help you thrive financially and save/invest. As I've mentioned before;over 50% of my take home pay goes to minimum payments on my debt...at this point in my life only a windfall or a bankruptcy will help me.
Of course;being able to control your housing expenses is the next thing.But unfortunately;after some time that also becomes extremely hard and almost impossible.Where is one going to go if rents are up everywhere?
At present; only 27% of my take home goes to rent..which by current Miami standards is a bargain..,some people down here have to spend 40-50% of their pay in housing. I've lived here for 55 years...At my age and physical condition I'm also
stuck here. I'm expecting a rent increase any minute,maybe to $1600 from the current $1200...and I will still be paying under market rent.
Is definitely the big things...don't sweat the small things that just makes one neurotic.
Mathjak, you are absolutely correct. I have never been house poor but I know people that are. I have always driven my cars until they are too expensive to repair. I have never bought the most house I could afford. It’s no fun being broke.
I agree. It's good to have a spouse on the same page. That's number one. Then make sure your housing and vehicles are affordable. That could mean living in a more affordable location. And part of choosing that location is looking at what your utility costs and property taxes will be.
One thing I found helpful years ago was looking at how much I spent per month on certain grocery/food items then compare it to your overall budget to see if it's worth it. Let's say you spend $3 a day on soft drinks or coffee. That's $90 a month. Or if you're a smoker spending $5 a day on cigarettes, that's $150 a month. You can decide if it's worth it to consume those things at all, not just cut down a little.
When my children were young, my ex wanted to eat out all the time. I made a rule that everyone drank water and that saved a huge portion of the cost.
We worked hard and paid off the mortgage 6 years back. We also have all our vehicles paid off along with only monthly CC debt which we pay off every month. Now we just have taxes and homeowner's insurance we have to pay every year and with us both being 65 we got a $200 discount on our taxes
With 3 different grocery stores in my area, I shop at any of them for their sales and use their reward cards every time I shop and their digital coupons.
I just got our 12 pound Easter ham this morning for free by saving reward points. It was a $53 ham
If something we eat is on BOGO, I buy as many as allowed for the savings and I know it'll be eaten.
I make meals from cheaper cuts of meat by using a slow cooker and making casseroles, soups and stir fries with it to stretch it
I make enough food at supper time for planned leftovers to eat another day
Last week was the first time we ate out at a diner ever since the "pandemic" lockdowns happened. It was my birthday, so we gave it a try. It was nothing to write home about. I make better breakfasts at home every morning. I buy a store's brand of "light" english muffins (which have 11 grams of fiber each!) and make us bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches.
The only reason my husband drinks any coffee not made at home is because he can get it for free because he's a veteran.
When we both worked, we took our lunches and our coffees from home. Much cheaper than eating out every day. Healthier too.
Through a combination of stupidity,greed,self-loathing,insecurity.depression,ocd...etc. during the course of 20 years or so...and I'm still at it to some degree. The damage is so massive there is no point in even trying;specially now that I've become almost physically disabled. As I often say...when the toothpaste is out of the tube...it can't be put back in.
Through a combination of stupidity,greed,self-loathing,insecurity.depression,ocd...etc. during the course of 20 years or so...and I'm still at it to some degree. The damage is so massive there is no point in even trying;specially now that I've become almost physically disabled. As I often say...when the toothpaste is out of the tube...it can't be put back in.
Tks for asking.
Wow! Just file for BK and be done with it! Then don't use credit cards again for the above reasons! If you are disabled, get whatever benefits you qualify for.....sometimes you just have to bite the bullet.
Mathjak, you are absolutely correct. I have never been house poor but I know people that are. I have always driven my cars until they are too expensive to repair. I have never bought the most house I could afford. It’s no fun being broke.
Same here. I was broke for much of my life because I had a bad marriage and ended up having to raise a child on my own, but eventually I was able to buy a place (one-story, two-bedroom condo in a townhouse complex) of my own. I bought something I could afford to pay for in retirement, while I could have afforded a much bigger place on my salary. My mortgage/taxes/insurance are less than the last rent I paid.
My brother is a painter, and he does a lot of work in an affluent town nearby and tells me of these five, six, seven-bedroom houses where a number of the rooms are empty and never used. What is the point of that? To show what a big fancy house you have on the outside? I don't get it.
My car is a 2010 Toyota that I bought in 2012. I am going to keep it running until it doesn't run anymore. Not trying to impress anyone.
So yeah, because of those big things, I can live better in other ways. Not going to save teabags, for Pete's sake, or "make pizza at home!" to save $2.
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