Personal Finance 30-Day Challenge #8: Cook more often! (August, 2018) |
- 30-Day Challenge #8: Cook more often! (August, 2018)
- Is there a way to ask to be laid off in my situation?
- Fidelity to offer 0% expense ratio index funds.
- Found out I am getting $150 a month for commuting expenses. I ride my bike to work daily. Is this going to bite me in the ass or is this an $1800 bonus?
- Parents of my deceased BF want to gift me 35K for schooling. I live pretty close to paycheck to paycheck and have no idea where to start, or what to do with this money. Please help?
- My parents opened loans and bank cards in my name
- Is this a scam? help! I'm in the negative!
- Pay Down PMI vs Save
- How to know what you’re worth at your job?
- Survived a layoff, but extremely terrified.
- Need EpiPens for my 2.5 y/o and insurance is saying they cost ~$400 each - any suggestions?
- Saving for retirement while saving for a house
- A company put someone else name on my account, now 8 years later they are showing up on my credit report
- Promotion to a mid-level Management Position - Do the responsibilities and my experience match the benefits, should I accept?
- Girlfriend's Father needs health insurance, need help with what to do.
- Insurance is trying to charge me 10x more than my normal copay for a doctors office since I haven’t hit my deductible yet.
- Anyone use those websites that pay you to advertise on your car?
- New job with less money but better personal life
- Paying For The School Of Life
- Need dental work but cannot afford it
- Old 401k: roll over to 403b or IRA?
- 25 years old/33k debt/50k salary-Audit My Budget
- Applying for an Apartment for Dummies
- Doctor made a recommendation mistake that cost me $600-$800
- Daughter made iTunes purchases with wife’s card, and lied about it when we got fraud alerts from our bank about iTunes purchases.
| 30-Day Challenge #8: Cook more often! (August, 2018) Posted: 01 Aug 2018 06:08 AM PDT 30-day challengesWe are pleased to continue our 30-day challenge series. Past challenges can be found here. This month's 30-day challenge is to Cook more often! Two of the biggest budget-killers we see in this subreddit are lots of "wasted" money on eating out and spending too much on groceries. While everyone's situation is different, we want to highlight some steps to help you get started:
Challenge success criteriaYou've successfully completed this challenge once you've done one or more of the following things:
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| Is there a way to ask to be laid off in my situation? Posted: 01 Aug 2018 05:10 AM PDT So I found out yesterday that my company is doing layoffs again (yay ag economy) and I think I would like to ask to be laid off. In the last rounds of layoffs generous severance packages have been offered (from what I've heard at least) and I have a job offer already for another company/industry. I was planning to submit my resignation sometime in the next week to a month depending on my official start date. Do you think it is possible to swing for the severance? [link] [comments]  |
| Fidelity to offer 0% expense ratio index funds. Posted: 01 Aug 2018 12:27 PM PDT https://www.wsj.com/articles/fidelity-index-fund-fees-tumble-to-zero-1533141096 "Fidelity Investments launched Wednesday two new stock-index funds with no fees." "Fidelity also said it slashed fees on existing index-based stock and bond funds by an average of 35% and did away with investment minimums, a move that puts additional pressure on other low-cost rivals." Seems like a pretty big move. The expense ratio on their 500 index FUSEX is now .015%, which is really dang low. They also removed the minimum investment for both the standard and premium index funds, functionally erasing the difference between the two. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Aug 2018 01:38 PM PDT |
| Posted: 01 Aug 2018 08:18 AM PDT I don't post often, so I apologize if this is the wrong place for this post, and for any errors in the jumble I have here... I live in Southern California and I have a BA in Liberal Studies, with a concentration in Language and Literacy. The plan was to become a teacher. Due to complications in life and family issues, I was unable to progress further than my BA. It took me about seven or so years to dig myself out of a hole and things to settle down. Worked odd jobs throughout that time. I have been working hard the past few years with a clean slate. For the past four years I have been juggling three jobs, and my average work week is about 100 hours. Full time nanny for one family, substitute teacher, and a babysitter for various other families...I gross anywhere between $2500-$3500 a month. After all of my bills, I am left with anywhere between $500-$700 a month that I put away into savings. I have about $4k in savings, and $2k in an IRA I just started this year. My main expenses are rent and health insurance, but I have no debt. I'm no spring chicken at 37, and have made peace with the fact that I'll probably work until I die. BF passed away last month suddenly. I unfortunately lost my nanny position (main source of income) because I needed to travel abroad and be with him. I am currently in Australia, living with his family. They hate the fact that I, in their words, struggle so much for so little. And have very graciously offered $35k for me to finish schooling and hopefully start a career. My issue is, I have kept my head down and working for peanuts for so long, that I really have no idea where to begin when I now have a moment of wiggle room and maybe a few options. To be honest, I just want to use this money in a way where I don't have to run myself ragged with three jobs. I just want to put it towards something sustainable. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. I'm sorry if I left out info that should have been obvious. I am still grieving and my head just isn't in the game. EDIT: Follow up question. What is the best way to receive this money with minimal implications? Theyre Australian, and I am an American. [link] [comments]  |
| My parents opened loans and bank cards in my name Posted: 01 Aug 2018 10:30 AM PDT I'll start this by saying I'm a 20 year old college student in central Texas, USA who does not know much about finance or really any of my options going forward with this. Here's the story: Yesterday I received a call from a Discover employee telling me I had a bill from my Discover card that needed to be paid. I told him I did not have a Discover card. He responded with "So this isn't (my name) who lives at (my parents address)?" I told him I'd call him back. At the time, I was assuming it was a scam, but he'd given me the last 4 digits of the card and didn't ask for any of my personal information. After a few minutes of thinking about it, suspicion started to sink in so I decided to call my mother. I described the call and my confusion to her expecting to get the "it was just a scam, ignore it." response she would normally give me. She sounded very strange when she told me to just give her the number and she would look into it and straighten everything out for me. I got even more skeptical of the situation after I ended the call, so I called my older sister who is not on good terms with my mother. She told me to go on credit karma and look at what all is in my name. While making the account, they asked me a bunch of verification questions like "Your credit file indicates you have a mortgage loan opened in or around August 2013. Who is the credit provider for this account?" It also included an auto loan, installment loan, the bank card and my student loans. My sister told me some of those might be fake questions, and since I didn't know the answer to most of them, I went on experian and signed up there. They had similar verification questions, but did not have any questions about the monthly payment amount. One of them included the bank card and auto loan question, so I answered the only options that had been on both sites for each. I was able to sign up successfully. The Discover card is definitely in my name, however Experian did not show the auto loan or any of the other loans besides my student loans. I have a bank manager friend looking further into my credit file to see if those loans are real. I was completely blindsided by all of this. Some of the more recent loans and the Discover card were opened in 2017, which means I was 19 and no longer a minor. I don't know if I need to press charges against them. I haven't been on the best terms with my mom and her husband since I was about 16. Any advice would be very much appreciated. I'm very scared right now and trying my best to think rationally and clearly. I understand that I'm not actually responsible for any of the loans taken out or the bank card, but I still feel like I'm about to lose my parents who have been somewhat supporting me through school. I don't understand why my mother would lie to me about the card if it was just a normal thing parents do. I'm not asking for relationship advice. I know this is not the place for that, and I need to decide what to do about my mother on my own. Any financial advice about what to do if that relationship goes wrong due to this would be appreciated! [link] [comments]  |
| Is this a scam? help! I'm in the negative! Posted: 31 Jul 2018 11:03 PM PDT A potential roommate contacted me to rent a room in my apartment. She agreed to send a holder fee, 400$ (first-month rent), via a check to have the place reserved for her next month when she moves down. She said her financier "accidentally" send her tuition money + rent to me, about 2400. Please note, this woman does not have a bank account. Her finance is being handled by someone else. Conveniently, after sending the check, the financier went on vacation and was out of contact. Being a nice person, I agree to help her out. I deposit the check (it passed) and forward the money (via Zelle) to the person she said will pay her her tuition. I kept the rest (holder fee). Suddenly, she texted me saying she wasn't interested in the place. She agrees to lose her holder fee, then a few days later BofA claimed the check bounced, and now my account is in the negative. What can I do? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Aug 2018 07:26 PM PDT Hi Reddit, My current 4% 30 year mortgage balance is ~$135k which has a monthly PMI payment of ~$70. The lender says I need to get my mortgage balance down to ~$120k to remove the PMI. Monthly payment is $1310 (230 principal; 450 interest; 630 escrow for taxes and insurance). This leaves about 5.5 years of paying PMI or about $4,560 in total PMI payments. I have the $15k required to get my balance down to $120k today. But, I've set aside that money as a down payment on my next house (purchase in about ~3-5yrs). Based on some online mortgage calculators, I'd save an estimated $200/mo on my next mortgage payment if I have that additional $15k as part of a down payment. Excel Present Value calculator tells me that a savings of $200/mo at 4% over 360 mo is $5,000 today. So, am I saving more money my nuking the PMI today and removing 5.5 years of PMI? Or am I saving more money by having that $15k as additional down payment on my next house (which will theoretically save me principal and interest on the next mortgage)? Based on my math above, it pays to save but what am I missing? Let me know if you need more information to solve. [link] [comments]  |
| How to know what you’re worth at your job? Posted: 01 Aug 2018 02:23 PM PDT I like where I work with but feel I'm pretty underpaid based on my performance. I can attribute an increase of $500k of net profit a year to the business over the past 12 months which will be residual income. I did this while cutting costs in the marketing budget and focusing on SEO. My title is Marketing Director and I'm being paid a salary of $65k. I don't even think I'm paid on par with people in my line of work let alone with the results I've produced. I can't begin to describe how much respect and admiration I have for the owner of the business that I work closely with. He's a wonderful boss and an even better person. However when the subject comes to finances or how great the business is doing the conversation always shifts to talk of mo money mo problems or other cliches that paint money in a negative light or about how our expenses go up when we sell more. It's kind of like a restaurant complaining about food costs because they're tables are always full. I have my annual review coming up and mixed feelings about how to handle it. I don't want to come off as greedy but feel I should be paid in line for the results I produce. Hoping someone on here might provide some insights. [link] [comments]  |
| Survived a layoff, but extremely terrified. Posted: 01 Aug 2018 08:25 PM PDT So I just started a job with a small company (less than 15 people) as an engineer about three months ago. Until today, everything seemed fine, even though we were always busy. However, about a fourth of my office just got laid off because we weren't selling nearly as many projects as my boss predicted we would. I was on a team with two other engineers and both of them got canned, so now it's just me and my supervisor. I was told they chose to keep me over the other two (who had been there a year) because I was learning fast and doing a better job than them, but I'm now concerned that a.) I now have to take on the work of three people, and b.) if there's another "miscalculation" by my boss, I'll be next on the chopping block. I should also mention that I'm still relatively young and somewhat fresh out of school. This is the third job I've had after graduating; the first was a 6-month temp, and the second was a permanent job that I got fired from after about nine months. Given this track record, being let go from another job would not look good, but neither would quitting said job in such a short amount of time. Should I maybe consider looking for another job just in case shit hits the fan again? [link] [comments]  |
| Need EpiPens for my 2.5 y/o and insurance is saying they cost ~$400 each - any suggestions? Posted: 01 Aug 2018 11:46 AM PDT I don't know if it is that I have crappy insurance (Cigna) or if it is a deductible thing but I can't afford $800 out of pocket for 2 mini-EpiPens. 1.) Is this my insurance being crappy? 2.) Any suggestions on how to get cheaper EpiPens? edit: Thank you for all the suggestions so far. I should have probably said that I need the EpiPens that are for small children and not the regular ones - apparently it's the smaller dosage ones. Sorry for not being more clear. [link] [comments]  |
| Saving for retirement while saving for a house Posted: 01 Aug 2018 03:48 PM PDT I'm one year into a five year seller financing home loan. In other words, the former owner of the home is my lender until I get a mortgage in 4 years. I am debt free and have a rainy day fund (4 month's worth) in place. Now we are wanting to focus on saving for the down payment of our home as well as retirement. We only have 6k saved up for the down payment so far and only 1k I retirement (we are 27 years old with two kids). Should I be splitting my savings 50/50 between retirement and the house? My employer does not have a 401k set up yet so I just have that set up in a betterment account. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Aug 2018 06:22 AM PDT So 8 years ago , I moved and sold my house The new owner used the same cable company that I had used but instead of creating a new account for him, they simply added his name to my account. So, last week we went in to get a mortgage to buy a new house and there is a $3500 lien against a car that I don't own. I checked my credit report with Transunion and nothing bad shows up except under "Also known as" it shows his name. Turns out when the mortgage company did a search during my application process, they get my credit report and saw that name and did a search for that name and the old address, voila, I now have a bad mark on my credit. So , folks , check your credit report at least once a year. I hope this helps someone. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Aug 2018 04:54 PM PDT The situation is that I recently was offered a position for a Customer Service Manager. Our company is growing and we had one person with several responsibilities and we are creating a new position to spread the load. It's been offered to me. I work for a small technology company, under 20 people, we are growing and just recently acquired another company, so we now have two products that are similar that we support. The current support team needs to learn that second program. The calls we receive do not always have clear-cut answers or procedures to follow and require a lot of technical knowledge and creative solutions. I will be managing and enforcing our support procedures, managing our support team of 5 people, managing our support forums, and assisting upper management in additional training and hiring. I will not have set hours and I need to be flexible, be available for long days, early hours, and weekends. This position was offered at a range that will go up over the course of 18 months, from 32.5k to 45k. Currently the company has a 401k Plan that I'm enrolled in, they do not match however do have a profit-sharing plan. Additionally they offer healthcare which I take advantage of. I have been with the company for under two years and do not have any college degrees so this feel like an opportunity for me but also feels like an extended workload for the pay rate. My current position is a CSR and I have expressed interest in growing and currently know the most about both products and our procedures so I'm perfect for the position. I do enjoy working for the company but I feel like I'm quite below market value, but I'm also only 2.5-3 years of customer service experience and no degrees so maybe I'm mistaken on that fact. Do I continue to press the subject of my value to the company by asking for either a higher value or accelerated range by proving facts about why I'm worth more while risking some backlash from the current management or take the offer in hope of future growth, which I do expect to see. What is the recommendation for my situation? [link] [comments]  |
| Girlfriend's Father needs health insurance, need help with what to do. Posted: 01 Aug 2018 05:25 PM PDT He's 69. He's been a permanent resident for 3.5 years. He's not eligible for Medicaid because he's over 65. He's not eligible for Medicare because he has not worked "legally" for ten years. Even though he did pay taxes with an ETIN number for 11 years. He's not eligible to buy into Medicare because he has not been a permanent resident for 5 years. He's not eligible through his spouse because, again, he has not been a resident for 5 years. He needs a knee surgery and we're not sure what to do. Please help. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Aug 2018 02:49 PM PDT About a month ago I had to go into my doctors office to get a medical form for my work. The doctor went over it with me and signed me off, it was maybe about 30 minutes. I had paid my copay and didn't think anything of it. Apparently the doctor had billed me for an "extended amount of time" for a doctors appointment. They sent a large bill to my insurance. My insurance covered about 20% of the bill and left the rest for me. This is an in-network doctor. But the thing was, I knew exactly what I needed. It should have been a 5 minute appointment. I had scheduled just a normal doctors visit and ultimately just had to get the work form signed which was the only thing that happened besides me again repeating symptoms I had and the doctor kept asking me questions. My insurance said that since I'm still in my deductible phase that my normal office visit copay doesn't apply. This doesn't seem right. Any advice? [link] [comments]  |
| Anyone use those websites that pay you to advertise on your car? Posted: 01 Aug 2018 02:07 PM PDT Looking for website recommendations or success stories of doing this. Wouldn't mind getting paid 1-200$ a month just to put some decals on my car. I've heard it can be a legitimate thing. Looking for all experiences, and many thanks. [link] [comments]  |
| New job with less money but better personal life Posted: 01 Aug 2018 06:31 PM PDT So im currently 23 years old, working and making between 140k-190 annually. Its not uncommon for me to for 10-12 hour days and weekends. I have bought a house already and have found myself in a rut with work. Not very happy and feel like im not challenging myself any more. Just ultimately unhappy to come to work. I have been offered a new job that would be Monday-Friday partly working from home and partly mobile. My work day wouldn't normally go past 3-4pm and I would get more holidays off. The pay would be 95-105k annually. I currently live in a city that is very expensive to live in (equivalent to SF) so im worried that although I might be happier, I will regret the drop in pay. Any advise on budgeting for a drop approx 50k annually and still feel comfortable? Am I making the wrong decision for someone my age? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Aug 2018 01:18 PM PDT I am a 28 year old male, currently have about 40k in debt. I started my second job last month and along with my main day job I am now making 5K a month after taxes and health insurance. I have accumulated this debt starting when I was 20. This includes: 2 Credit cards 10k (now closed, but balance is outstanding) . 2 Cars 19k ( truck was repocessed, but can still get it back - balance is 15k) 2 Unsecured loans 10k 4 payday loans 5k. - ace cash, advanced cash, check n go, first Cash (I am not making payments on these and closed the bank accounts associated with them) 2 tickets $800.00 (currently in warrant status) This month [August 2018] I paid for another payday loan that was 1.2k and settled for $600.00 I caught up on one of my car payments [ balance is 4K] I am determined to be debt free by next year. I am married and have two daughters [1 and 3]. We rent a mobile home in a nice neighborhood. We have health care and blessed with good health. I share this to get some advice on which things to pay first? Should I let my truck repossession go through? My credit is the least important thing to me at this point. I also hope that some 20 year old reads this and thinks twice about the financial decisions he or she makes. I will post monthly updates. [link] [comments]  |
| Need dental work but cannot afford it Posted: 01 Aug 2018 02:08 AM PDT Hey reddit, thought i could try asking here since my teeth are keeping me up. Im 20 and living in texas if that matters. I am in need of possibly 3 root canals and crowns for each one, on top of who knows what else. Is there any insurance that would soften the blow since i know this will be extremely expensive. [link] [comments]  |
| Old 401k: roll over to 403b or IRA? Posted: 01 Aug 2018 07:20 PM PDT I recently moved from an corporate employer to a non-profit employer, and have about 200k in my 401k. I have an option to roll it over to a 402b or an IRA, or both. I'm currently thinking of rolling over 100k to the 402b (so that I can take 403b loans out of it), and the rest into an IRA (so that I can take 10k out of that for a home downpayment). The disadvantage of the IRA that I know of is the late age cutoff for accessing it, and the disadvantage of the 403b seems to be higher fees than an IRA. Are there any hidden advantages or disadvantages that I'm missing? [link] [comments]  |
| 25 years old/33k debt/50k salary-Audit My Budget Posted: 01 Aug 2018 06:05 AM PDT Hey PF! I'm 25 years old and discovered PF the hard way...from being pretty bad with money. In college, I used high interest credit cards to pay for some basic living expenses I couldn't afford, and then a few grad classes when I couldn't get student loans in time (dumb, dumb, dumb). Doing this has had an negative impact on my finances to this day. At this age, I would love to have some decent savings in the bank, but can never seem to get my savings above 3k. I also feel like I have so many bills/money going out. Budget: Rent: $650 CC payments: $600 (more than minimum) Retirement: $450 Groceries: $250 Student loan: $200 (minimum payment) Auto loan: $200 (minumum payment) Utilities & gas: $150 Health insurance: $150 Auto insurance: $130 Cell: $30 Gym: $10 Leftover-$360/month which I use for gifts, yearly expenses, unexpected expenses, travel, and honestly being young, dumb, and having fun with friends. Debt is as follows: 🎓 $14600 (originally 18k, public loan, interest 3.4-6.8%) 🚗 $11300 (interest rate 3.4%) 💳 $7100 (originally 14k, currently on 0% card) So, that's a lot of money out. I need to get my finances in order because there are so many things I want to do (finish my master's which would allow me to be more competitive in a higher-paying district, one day own a home, continue travel goals) that require me to fix my habits. Specifically, does anyone have any advice for how to work on saving habits? Additionally, please be critical of how I can reduce my basic monthly expenses. THANK YOU! [link] [comments]  |
| Applying for an Apartment for Dummies Posted: 01 Aug 2018 03:20 PM PDT My boyfriend and I are looking to move into our very own quarters for our first time by the fall/winter, Just as the title states i am seeking advice to find out what will make both of us look squeaky clean on paper and in financial record. I am currently working part time-year round on a salary basis. I'm on the verge of pulling for a raise to get (literally) moving. I just got my first credit card this april, to present day my credit score is in the 700s. As soon as i'm able to apply for another card at the 6 month mark i plan on doing so in hopes to better my score. However the case for me- my boyfriend is a bartender, no credit history and my biggest concern is of course he makes plenty of cash on hand but his pay stubs for example show a very small margin for what he really has. I'm heavily considering he just financially does what i say and have him build his credit for our wellbeing. Both of us have yet to "move out" from home and have no rental history for show, i'm positive we aren't the first people on the face of the earth to leave the nest and apply for a lease. We would both appreciate some guidance toward our future, Additional questions are welcome! TLDR; Dumb down a path towards a lease agreement belonging to financial newborns. [link] [comments]  |
| Doctor made a recommendation mistake that cost me $600-$800 Posted: 01 Aug 2018 03:19 PM PDT Last week I talked to my doctor about pain I was having in my leg and he advised me to get an ultra sound done to make sure I did not have a blood clot. He recommended I go to a hospital instead of a stand alone Radiology facility because the hospital would be cheaper, about $100-$300 (I have a high deductible plan so I have to pay for this out of pocket). Luckily I did not have a blood clot and it was just a varicose vein mixed with a strained muscle. However, I received my bill today and it was a bit more than $900. I looked it up and found out that it would have actually been $100-$300 to have this done at a stand alone facility and my doctor had mixed the two up. I assume that I am stuck with this bill and a lesson learned, but do I have any recourse here? The hospital has already filed a claim against my insurance so I don't think I will be able to call and negotiate a lower bill, but any advice is appreciated. Thank you! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Aug 2018 06:46 PM PDT We only found out she lied a month later when her iTunes account was disabled because she made fraudulent purchases. This is after we disputed the charges and the bank reimbursed us for it. Do we call up the bank and explain the situation and offer to pay them back? [link] [comments]  |
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