Personal Finance 30-Day Challenge #9: Track all spending! (September, 2018) |
- 30-Day Challenge #9: Track all spending! (September, 2018)
- my boss told me to put in my two weeks or face termination.
- [Budgeting] Grocery Shopping vs Eating Out
- Insurance today sent me a claim for my ex-husbands medical bill from July 2013!
- Let's talk about the subreddit, our stance on advertising, and hear your feedback
- Is My Property Manager Cheating Me?
- Renewal is up on my lease, rent will increase by 10%. Other places are advertising for cheaper rent. When does it make sense to stay somewhere versus move?
- 31 years old. Zero debt, but only $650 in savings
- I paid $180 for cengage unlimited (a college textbook resource) but cengage hasnt given it to me. It's been almost a month, I still can't access the books I need to for my classes, and cengage is fuck all worthless when it comes to the matter. Is there a way for me to undue the charge to my account?
- So my bank wont take its money back... what do I do?
- Best way to sell jewelry
- Can you live off $12.50/hour?
- [Identity Theft] Bank says I'm unable to remove my name as an authorized user on a potentially fraudulent credit card unless the credit owner gives that demand
- Sell rental property?
- 23 year old about to start his first big job. Confused on how 401k, how company stocks work, and how to save.
- What’s the best way to get rid of an upside down car?
- Job offer coming in; they asked me to provide estimates for moving expenses. What do I need to be sure to include?? What might I overlook?
- Any advantages of cell phone payment plans vs. paying in full?
- Best way to pay off student loans? Please help, I'm a 1st gen grad who has no idea what to do...
- Not making a lot but I'm happy. Not sure what my next step is.
- Should I Pay off Student Loan Early ($46k @ 5%) or Invest extra?
- Person at work is going to get me hurt or fired.
- Should I cancel my long term disability insurance?
- Tips for making your credit card work for you
- Question about broker fees vs price of stock.
| 30-Day Challenge #9: Track all spending! (September, 2018) Posted: 01 Sep 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 Track all spending! It is important to track your spending to avoid having lifestyle inflation sneak up on you (even if you are financially comfortable). If you don't know where your money is going, you can't make intelligent choices about spending and allocating your money for maximum benefit. Here are some tips to get you started:
Challenge success criteriaYou've successfully completed this challenge once you've done one or more of the following things:
[link] [comments]  |
| my boss told me to put in my two weeks or face termination. Posted: 06 Sep 2018 11:42 AM PDT After working for a year and using no paid time off. I have over 50 hours of pto, is my employer required to pay out unused pto on the final paycheck? Edit 1:I live in Nebraska. Edit 2 :you all are the best thank you for the help [link] [comments]  |
| [Budgeting] Grocery Shopping vs Eating Out Posted: 06 Sep 2018 08:54 AM PDT I (single, no kids) made the New Year resolution to mostly cut out eating out and making meals from scratch to save money. I just noticed my YTD trend. Congratulations I have spent $400 less on fast food and restaurants from this same time last year. Yay, right? Only no, I have spent a total of $800 more at grocery stores. Meaning I have actually spent MORE on food this year than last year. I don't know why it is up, because I feel like I am careful when I go to the grocery store, and only buy meals that are discounted. My guess is that I am more willing to purchase a soda or treats when at restaurants I only drink water and no dessert and typically make my meals last 2 meals. It's discouraging because I've been trying to be more money conscious and shopping around for the best deals/sales. Does anyone else struggle with grocery shopping budgeting? Is it possible that eating out can be better for your wallet in the long run? Any advice? UPDATE: For those wondering, I don't typically buy prepackaged meals. Along with saving money, another motivation was to eat healthier. I make all my meals from scratch. Typically I make 2 meals during the week, one I make enough for all my lunches that I leave at work. The other I make for all my dinners and leave at home. I only eat out on the weekends. For example, last weeks meals were porkloin and salad for lunch, and chipotle chicken tacos with slaw for dinner. I don't think budgeting for meal prep is my issue. I keep track of average/sale prices of produce and meats and I will only purchase if it is been sold cheaper than what I deem a cheap price. That's what makes me think it is the impulse buying. I've never thought of myself of an impulse buyer, but I have noticed when I go into the store for one ingredient I come out with a bag full. I don't have the urge to buy things I don't need at a restaurant. Another issue is that as a single person that lives alone, a lot of food rots before I get a chance to use it, meaning I rebuy the same item. [link] [comments]  |
| Insurance today sent me a claim for my ex-husbands medical bill from July 2013! Posted: 06 Sep 2018 06:50 PM PDT My ex was on my insurance when we were married. We divorced in December of 2013. Today I received Cigna's claim detail which indicates this is a correction of a previously processed claim. First thought is, am I really responsible for this upcoming bill from services from July 1, 2013? Is there a maximum timeframe where I am no longer responsible for their screw up? I live in CT. Second thought is if I don't pay it, I could be sent to collections, so not worth fighting. I'm so upset. I'm getting married in a month and this feels like a sucker punch from the ex. It looks like it's just $60.73. It's more about the frustration than the money. [link] [comments]  |
| Let's talk about the subreddit, our stance on advertising, and hear your feedback Posted: 06 Sep 2018 07:45 PM PDT Due to "moderator error" (don't accidentally delete your own post, kids), I am reposting this. All of the previous discussion is still readable on the original post. Hello /r/personalfinance! The moderation team would like to update everyone on a few things, answer any questions, and listen to your feedback. We're looking for new moderators!If you're either a frequent participant on /r/personalfinance or an experienced moderator, please consider applying. You can submit an application here. The wikiSince our last meta post, we've added some new pages:
We've also continue to maintain the entire wiki and updated pages including: Reading List, "How to handle $", Investing, and Roth or Traditional. Think something is missing and willing to write it? Let us know! Rules changesWe haven't changed the rules significantly since our last major update when success stories and victory posts started being redirected to the weekend thread, but we have made a few clarifications to the rules including:
How should we handle success stories?We're thinking about allowing success stories to be posted on the weekday thread rather than just the weekend thread so that people who have a victory post removed are able to immediately repost. What do you think? 30-Day Challenge SeriesIf you haven't stopped by our 30-day challenge series lately, please check it out. If you have any suggestions for topics you would like to see us cover and you're willing to write it up, please let us know. Please welcome our newest moderators!AmNotLost, Econ0mist, T__Fish, chocolate_soymilk, kylejack, mail323, mormengil, slalomz, StarKiller99, IShouldBeDoingSmthin, wolfofone, and 431026! AdvertisementsOne of the core principles that's very important to us is that we want to keep PF as free as possible from advertising, soliciting, and other shenanigans to make money off of the subreddit. Over time, we've had to make the subreddit rules increasingly strict (e.g., disallowing PM requests) because certain people have come up with progressively more creative ways to work around the rules. Simply put, we want advice to be given without conflicts of interest and because people want to help others, not because it financially benefits the person giving the advice. Of course, Reddit runs advertisements that run on /r/personalfinance, and that hasn't been an issue as long as those advertisements are clearly advertisements and don't look like normal posts, and we absolutely want Reddit to be successful as a company. The moderation team would like to ask everyone for some help. Specifically:
Any other feedback or questions for the moderation team?Are there any changes or improvements would you like to see? Are there things we could be doing differently or better? We'll do our best to answer any questions you have about the subreddit and moderating it so please ask away. [link] [comments]  |
| Is My Property Manager Cheating Me? Posted: 06 Sep 2018 11:27 AM PDT TLDR: I have a home I am renting out, I feel like the property manager is making my payments and statements very hard to follow to cheat me out of money. Details: Ever since getting stationed overseas and not being able to easily contact them, they have recently been failing to send me statements until I email and call multiple times, they are doing thousand dollar repairs without consulting me, they don't return phone calls, and have just all around been giving me a shady vibe. I recently made an excel sheet with all my recent statements and they don't seem to add up. Here are the dates: 14 Feb - 7 March -- 22 days -- PAID 8 Mar 8 March - 6 Apr -- 30 days -- PAID 9 Apr 7 Apr - 21 May *** 45 days! -- PAID 22 May 22 May - 13 June -- 23 days -- MAID 14 June 14 June - 31 July *** 48 days! -- PAID 1 Aug So what I'm seeing, is with the non-standardized statement and payment dates, they've essentially cheated me out of a month of pay. Before I bring this to their attention/get a lawyer, am I seeing this right or am I missing something. Thanks for taking the time to read! Edit: Thanks everyone for the replies! I posted shortly before bed and heading to work so I'll get back to you all with more info when I can! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 06 Sep 2018 11:41 AM PDT I'm fairly new to the rental marketplace, but I know unless you go somewhere with rent control (i.e. it will still go up in price every year, but a set percentage like 5%), I'm guaranteed to have my rent go up anywhere from 8-12%. I'm lucky it was only 10% this time. However, when I look online at other places, I see places charging either same as what I currently pay or in the same ball park. When is it ever a good idea to look at moving about versus staying put? Current situation: 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom around 750 sq ft. Rent is $2,110 monthly shared half with my boyfriend. Utilities are usually $80 for water and garbage and $100 for pge. I pay for a parking spot for $75 and he pays for a garage at $115. (any where you go, parking won't be free) Lease renewal is adding $245 a month at their cheapest option of renewing for a 10 month lease (11 months adds another $35 on top). Moving in itself is a pain in the ass (changing address, boxing everything, hiring movers to move furniture, shopping for a place in a good area, etc.) Edit - it went up more than 10% Edit 2 - I just looked up our apartment complex online and pricing for our unit is going for $2,195. WTF? [link] [comments]  |
| 31 years old. Zero debt, but only $650 in savings Posted: 06 Sep 2018 08:26 PM PDT Hi PF!!! I'm turning 31 in October and have been thinking about my personal finances. I have zero debt, but due to my constant want for traveling I also have almost no savings. My question is what is the best way to start a savings. I looked into a 401k at work, but they don't match. Would you recommend that I just continue to put money into my savings account or put my money into something else. Thank you in advance! Monthly Expenses: $1,050.01 Monthly income after taxes $3,300 [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 06 Sep 2018 10:32 AM PDT Cengage just gives me the run around when I call them and they don't reply to my emails. I have Navy Federal as my bank account, is there anyway I can undue the charge on my credit card? [link] [comments]  |
| So my bank wont take its money back... what do I do? Posted: 06 Sep 2018 08:10 AM PDT Backstory: Someone got access to my bank account last month (long story... I was dumb...) and they approved a credit card advance for $2500 and then tried to wire $4000 out of my checking. Luckily I caught it while it was going on and was able to stop the wire from going out. The bank immediately returned the $4k and the wirefee and a few days later they credited the $2.5k and cash advance fees back to my creditcard. So, the issue I'm having is that they never took back the 2.5k. I've called them 4 times over the last month asking them when the money is going to be taken from the account and everytime I get something along the lines of, "oh, thats strange. They should have already taken that back because the investigation is showing all actions complete. Let me make a note on your account. It should be out tomorrow". I opened a new checking account the day after I got scammed and have moved everything but the 2.5k over to that account. I want to close the old account (because the individual who accessed my account surely took down my acct/routing numbers) but I can't because their money is still sitting there... Should I move the money over to my new checking and just pay them when they inevitably ask for it? Would that look shady? What if months go by and they haven't taken it back? Could I get in trouble for spending it - I know its not legally mine but is there a statue of limitations here? I've never had to convince a bank to take their money before. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 06 Sep 2018 05:10 PM PDT I don't know if I am in the right place for this but I figure you all can point me in the right direction. My mom is short on money and she wants to sell her ring that was appraised at $36k. She had been offered $20k and turned it down, which I told her was probably the best offer she would get. Well, recently, someone said they would give her almost full value but, of course, they backed out. The original offer is no longer on the table and now she is looking for somewhere to sell it. So I guess my question is, what is a good avenue for selling valuable jewelry? I know a pawn shop is not even worth trying, but I have no idea who else would buy used jewelry. Thanks in advance for all of your help. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 06 Sep 2018 04:31 PM PDT I'm posting this with a throwaway question and would just like some help. I'm a 21 yr old finally getting out of the minimum wage jobs - I start a new job Monday that's $12.50/hour with available overtime and raises. Could someone, if saved up carefully, live off this? I still live at home - $150 phone bill a month, $520 car insurance every 4 months - and then with saving money and using it on necessary things such as food and clothing, and fun, can one live with this hourly wage without worrying about going broke? I always struggled with my minimum wage jobs - didn't help that I was reckless with my money too but I know better now. Any advice and comments are appreciated. Thanks Edit: am from New Jersey if that helps Edit 2: 40 hour work weeks [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 06 Sep 2018 05:30 PM PDT Someone please help me. I went nuclear on a service rep today from this lunacy. So long story short, I noticed questionable action through credit karma. A $300 limit credit card showed up on my TransUnion and Equifax report from Capital One. Called Cap One today, they told me the account was in someone else's name but I was added as an authorized user. They were protective of the owners information but I eventually got a last name out of them. I immediately knew the name and said their full name. I also chuckled because this person was my college roommate almost 10 years ago and has been in prison for nearly 8 years now. I tell this to the service rep and they find that odd as well. Cut to multiple holds, and service tier escalations and the 'highest available service rep' told me there was absolutely no way for my to remove my name off this account. The only person who could do that is the owner... The one in prison who I haven't talked to in 10 years. I blew a fucking fuse at multiple people during this call. What are my options here? This card is on my credit report. Even if I'm not liable for the balance, it's information is reported to the credit bureau. I'd like to file a complaint against Capital One and I'd like to force them to remove my name. I'm not jumping through hoops to contact someone from my past for this. I also want the card off my credit report. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 06 Sep 2018 11:14 AM PDT I got divorced last year and got a condo in the agreement. I own it outright, no mortgage. I was getting $800/mo in rent but the tenant moved out. I am considering selling it. I could get 40% more than what we paid, which would be enough to pay off all my debt, including a defaulted student loan. I never wanted to be a landlord anyway. Am I making a huge mistake if I sell? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 06 Sep 2018 04:02 PM PDT I just accepted a new job today where I'll be making about $35k/year and the company offers health insurance, 100 shares in the company stock, and they match 4% of my 401k. I am confused as to how 401k works, I read the 18-25 tips on the sidebar and it says I should take the match, but what exactly does that mean? Should I put 4% of my paycheck every time towards my 401k? Do they do that automatically if I tell them to or is that something I do on my own? What do I do with the company stocks? Is that something I just hold onto for a while in hopes it one day is worth a lot or do you trade or i don't know I have no idea how stocks work. Lastly, what's the best way to start saving money? I'm looking to get my own studio apartment by July 2019 when I have to move out of my current place. Thanks in advance! [link] [comments]  |
| What’s the best way to get rid of an upside down car? Posted: 06 Sep 2018 06:03 PM PDT My wife and I have an Audi that is currently worth about $1,000-$3,500 less than what we owe on it. The payment is over $500 and we would like to be about half of that with the next vehicle we replace it with. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 06 Sep 2018 07:26 PM PDT Job offer coming in on Monday. They asked me to provide a couple estimates from local moving companies for what it would take for us to move out there. What should i be sure to include? So far I'm thinking of all-encompassing things like: packing, loading, moving, shipping the car, unloading, unpacking; flights to look at homes; flights to move there; 30 day temporary housing for close on home; taxes... what else? Have a wife and two young kids. [link] [comments]  |
| Any advantages of cell phone payment plans vs. paying in full? Posted: 06 Sep 2018 04:39 PM PDT I need a new iPhone. I am likely going to make the purchase after the next generation phones begin to sell. I'm assuming the iPhone 8 will be discounted so I'll go with that version. I know the major carriers either require you to pay monthly toward the new phone or buy it at full retail price. The monthly payments are typically 0% financing and depending on your credit, may require a down payment. Is there any advantage to going the monthly payment route? My preference is to buy the phone because if it breaks I'm not stuck paying a monthly fee for a phone I'd no longer use. I'm probably overthinking it, but there may be an advantage I'm not aware of. Any knowledge would be appreciated! [link] [comments]  |
| Best way to pay off student loans? Please help, I'm a 1st gen grad who has no idea what to do... Posted: 06 Sep 2018 07:33 AM PDT Hi Reddit, I'm a recent college graduate who very luckily got an ok paying job right after graduation. Salary of 45k. Making around $2,800 monthly w/ taxes deducted, have been religiously saving 2k every month since May. I still live at home with the birthgivers, so I am very lucky regarding the rest of my finances. I'm trying to hoard my money for the time being. My loans are currently around 22k, with $1,300 already accrued. My interest accumulates daily. Interest rate is around 4.5%. My first loan payment is due this January and the minimum payment for me to pay it off in 10 years is around $260 monthly. This is doable but I do not want to spend the next 10 years paying off my loans. By December (accounting for Christmas gifts, possible unforeseen car issues, etc), I should have about 14k in my savings. Should I bite the bullet and put anywhere between 5-7k to my loans or up my monthly payment by $350-$450? I'm the first to graduate in my family, and the first to acquire student loans. Neither my family or friends have any experience in what to do...I would really appreciate any kind of advice. Thank you in advance! So nervous/excited. Edit: Forgot "or" [link] [comments]  |
| Not making a lot but I'm happy. Not sure what my next step is. Posted: 06 Sep 2018 06:38 PM PDT MONTHLY INCOME: Total (low end): $2056 before taxes, split between two jobs. MONTHLY EXPENSES: Rent/Utilities: ~$240/month I live with three other guys in a college town on a shared lease because I'm single. My rent situation may not be so fortuitous if a couple of them decide to leave, but I can cover it with at least one other roommate, one of which is staying for the long term currently, so I'm not super concerned here. Gas: $20 I don't have a car and my job is in walking distance, but I help my roommate out with gas since he gives me convenience rides to work daily. Health/Dental/Vision plus supplemental health insurance: $149.60 Groceries: $150 Supplements: $25.50 Charitable donation: $205.60 This goes to my church. DEBT: Student loans minimum payment: $86.64 I have three subsidized federal student loans left to pay off from my bachelor's, and they each have interest ranging from 3.86% to 4.3% if I remember correctly. The total amount owed between all four at this point is ~$7800. The good news is I graduated last year with ~$14,000 in debt and I've gotten it down this far in a year plus a few months. SAVINGS: Roth IRA from job 1: $102.64 or 6%, employer matches 3%, which is maximum. HSA: $100 I also have an emergency fund sitting at ~$2000. CREDIT ACCOUNTS: No debt! I have an Amazon Rewards card through Chase (opened since 2016) I use like a debit card and another card through an old bank that I never really use (opened since 2013). All of this leaves me with a remainder of $653.82 per month, and I'm not totally sure what to do with it. Should I save for a (cheap) car? Should I pump my IRA up to 10% or even 12%? Should I put more into my HSA? Should I be slamming down my loans with this wonderful bounty I've been blessed with? Should I let my debt ride so it can help build my credit? The possibilities are endless. Should I open a new credit card? Did I forget about anything crazy? Help Reddit, please help. Side note: I need to get renter's insurance and I'm not positive how to go about shopping for it. [link] [comments]  |
| Should I Pay off Student Loan Early ($46k @ 5%) or Invest extra? Posted: 06 Sep 2018 05:01 PM PDT Greetings, 28M nurse here on the east coast in a major city. I currently make $88K baseline but pick up overtime opportunities frequently and am expected to make $100-105K this year. I am currently pretty frugal and with extra monthly income, have already been putting 15% of my paycheck towards a Vanguard 403(B) plan (50/50 between VOO and 2055 fund), currently at $34k balance. In addition, I am making monthly contributions towards a Roth IRA with Vanguard as well to max it out by the end of the year. For my current student loans, I recently refinanced the loan amount for a five year fixed rate plan at 5% with a fixed payment of $927 through SoFi loans. After speaking to SoFi today and going over the details of my loan agreement, there is no penalty for paying off my loan early, which was a surprise to me. With this new information, I now realize I have the option to pay off my loan early. Given this circumstance, what guidance can you give me? I can reduce the contributions towards retirement to help pay the loan off faster, but given the aggressive nature of my portfolio for retirement, my returns have far outperformed my loan rate (avg. 15% for the past two years). I realize 15% is extremely good and not an indicator of the long term market by any means. TL;DR - Should I keep putting money towards retirement or wipe out my student loans at 5% rate? [link] [comments]  |
| Person at work is going to get me hurt or fired. Posted: 06 Sep 2018 10:34 AM PDT Don't know where to go for this.i thought pf might help . My co worker, who I have to partner up with, does not care about anything. He doesn't pull his weight and doesn't know anything. Hes just generally lazy too. He also was never held accountable for his actions. He just started on the same shift as me last year. He almost got us both fired by not bringing up a problem that could have became an emergency. He also is the type of guy to flip breakers on when I work, drop a heavy peices of equipment on me and not give any concern to safety. I am guilty of association when he messes up. I'm not sure what to do. I'm thinking about trying to move to a different shift or looking for another job. [link] [comments]  |
| Should I cancel my long term disability insurance? Posted: 06 Sep 2018 06:28 PM PDT 33 year old single male. I have an individual disability insurance policy through Standard Insurance. It costs me $300 a month. The benefit is for $4250 a month to age 67. Being a year round motorcyclist in San Francisco and in a physically arduous career, I like the peace of mind that comes from having such a policy. However, I'm having a difficult time saving money. Feels like I've just been treading water for years. Should I cancel my policy with Standard? Should I get a cheaper policy (from a different company) instead? Do I really need disability insurance? Does it actually function as advertised? Here's the breakdown on a month: $1600 rent $43.95 life insurance $300 family support $43 dues $2 account activity transfers $297.92 standard insurance $156.76 motorcycle loan $50 internet $121.93 motorcycle insurance Fixed expenses = $2,615.56 Income = $3577.62 Remainder = $962.06 $962 sounds like a lot to my friends out of state, but in the bay area that goes quick. Food, gas, vehicle repairs, work related clothing and equipment, etc. Additionally, family stuff keeps popping up. I just shelled out $4k to go visit family overseas before they die. Things like that. Thanks for reading. [link] [comments]  |
| Tips for making your credit card work for you Posted: 06 Sep 2018 08:03 PM PDT In the past I have only opened up credit cards that have limited uses (I.e. health and retail). I know that some cc companies have special perks such as free cash for opening up an account with them. Yet Interest free time frames would also be beneficial. I doubt that the two perks are ever combined though... I feel that there are so many options when it comes to choosing a credit card that it becomes a bit overwhelming. Any suggestions? What do you use and why, in retrospect do you wish you could have done anything differently that could have helped your credit? [link] [comments]  |
| Question about broker fees vs price of stock. Posted: 06 Sep 2018 05:51 PM PDT What's the general advice from this sub as to the lowest dollar amount it makes sense for a single stock trade due to the cost of brokerage fees for the trade. I know it could vary based on many things just curious what the general consensus was. For example say there's $5 trade fees. ($5 buy + $5 sell) [link] [comments]  |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Personal Finance. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
No comments:
Post a Comment