Personal Finance When buying a used car, always get a prepurchase inspection! |
- When buying a used car, always get a prepurchase inspection!
- After years of struggling to even pay the bills I was just able to buy my dad and I tickets to the Final Four (something on his bucket list)!
- first-time fraud victim
- Hit 10,000 miles of bike commuting, here's my personal cost breakdown.
- How aggressive should I pay off my student loan?
- 24 years old should I refuse employer health insurance and stay on parent's plan
- Parents have $1M in IRA and are still working... How to avoid tons of taxes?
- Anyone have an excel budget template they swear by?
- Tenant wants to buy my house
- Good place for a debt consolidation loan?
- Should I pay of my debts to fix my credit to take out a car loan or should I save for my car?
- Dad nearing retirement age with struggling business and no savings
- Different Checkings, Savings, CC accounts
- Drowning in debt
- Think I'm due a very large pay rise: how much is too much to ask for?
- Nearly $50k debt — is bankruptcy my best option?
- Isn't it better to max out a Roth 401k vs traditional 401k?
- Accidentally sent a stranger my SSN and other personal details.
- Underemployed, living with relatives and helping to support them financially. Want to move out, but not sure what to do.
- My mortgage went up 600 dollars and I'm freaking out a bit
- Discover It card works wonders!
- What are some tips for a first-time home buyer? What are some things I could take advantage of?
- Time to buy again, wait until our credit builds up and wait till we can save for a down payment?
- Does it make sense to trade in my 2017 RAV4 for a lower payment?
| When buying a used car, always get a prepurchase inspection! Posted: 24 Mar 2019 04:59 AM PDT For the last few years I've been driving a 2009 Nissan Versa hatchback. It's been a great little car, but it was old and starting to fall apart, and then I found that it was burning oil at an alarming rate. So for the past month or so I've been hunting around to see what I can find. I found a 2014 Ford Focus SE hatchback that had all the options I would get had I bought it new; leather interior, fog lamps, sport package (you get rear disc brakes with this, very important) and a manual transmission. Focus' are super good deals right now IF you get the manual, because the automatic transmissions were absolute garbage and brought down the value of the car across the board, but the rest of the car is well made. The car was advertised around $7500 with around 71k miles, both KBB and Edmunds valued the car around $8k if it was in "excellent" condition. So I put a deposit down on the car on the condition I could get a prepurchase inspection. On a car this old with this many miles, I didn't expect anything too crazy, and from the outside it looked and drove fine. Well guess what, it needs about $1100 of suspension work! I go back to the dealer and say "I want to buy this car today, and I'm fine with the price it's at, but not the work it needs. To sell me this car, you can either a) fix what needs to be fixed or b) knock $1100 of the price and I'll have it fixed." Well they decided to knock the price of the repairs off the price, and I drove off in my car. ALWAYS get a prepurchase inspection on used cars, no matter how nice they look or good they drive! [link] [comments]  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 24 Mar 2019 02:19 PM PDT | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 24 Mar 2019 05:16 PM PDT I feel distraught, paranoid and like the biggest idiot in the world for how this happened. I have a capital one account and received a call from a "representative in the fraud department". She goes in great detail about how someone was using my card and wanted to confirm charges. She gained access to my account by confirming details and would put me on hold back and forth, come to find out she was going back and forth with capital one and handing over the info to them. After the call, I get an email saying money was transferred to my checking and an amount of $1000 was withdrawn in $20 increments. I just returned home from a trip and I am out of it. I'm not sure but I might have told this person my ss number. Do I change my ss number? I called my 2 financial institutions, started a claim, changed all passwords and called credit card companies to request new cards. I feel like shit after this and violated. If anyone ever calls you from your financial institution hang up and call the main number on their website. [link] [comments]  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Hit 10,000 miles of bike commuting, here's my personal cost breakdown. Posted: 24 Mar 2019 10:35 AM PDT This last week I hit 10,000 commuting miles since I moved, bought a new bike, and started tracking things and figured I'd do a quick breakdown of costs involved, I'll add details at the end. All costs rounded up to the nearest dollar.
So basic cost to get everything set up was $1,420 and maintenance was $147 for my 10,000 miles of commuting. I owned all the tools to work on my bike and have that experience, so initial cost would have been a bit higher, as would maintenance if I didn't do it myself. I also could have cut costs drastically by buying cheaper stuff, but I simply didn't want to. If I added the stuff I previously owned (flat kit, clothes, helmet, etc) I'd probably add on an extra $250 as well. December 2016 I got a new job in Phoenix Az and after getting settled here I decided to sell my car (2006 Subaru Outback) and go full time bike commuting. I bought this bike in January 2017 and have used it as my daily commuter since. When I did I decided to put together a little spreadsheet to track my total costs. [link] [comments]  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| How aggressive should I pay off my student loan? Posted: 24 Mar 2019 07:12 PM PDT So I just graduated college in December it took me 5.5 years because I was a transfer student. I got a job and started mid February I gross 65k a year as an hourly employee getting paid bi weekly. My take home pay per pay period after taxes is $1821 so my total yearly net pay after taxes would be about 47,000 . I have about 35,000 dollars in student loans divided into about 5 separate loans I think they all have about 4 to 5 percent interest rates and no other major debt (Thanks Mom and Dad). I had to move to a new city as the job offer was located there and my monthly rent is $1250, I'm also spending about $40 dollars a month on internet. I don't know what the utilities will be yet because I haven't been here for a whole month. I still need to procure renters insurance per the lease agreement. 47,000 - 15,000 (rent) = 32,000 total yearly after rent. I have about 1800 dollars in savings and my student loan is still in grace period. I have a car (econo box nothing fancy) that I am responsible for maintenance which I do myself and gas as I am still on my parents insurance company which I use as my daily driver and then I also have a beater car that I use to move stuff its a station wagon. (Also on my parents insurance). My question here is how aggressive should I pay back my student loans? I do want to reward myself with a purchase of a motorcycle (budget < $1000). I could pay probably about 1300 dollars a month into the student loans and continue to live like a broke college student and pay off the entire loan in about 2.5 years. I also would like to not burden my parents on there insurance anymore but they haven't brought up the topic yet. I also should be getting a decent tax return this year ~$800 or so. And I also need to purchase some more dress clothes as I only have about 3ish dress appropriate clothes for work. This would only entail another pair of dress pants as we can wear jeans on Friday and a polo shirt which I think I can swing. I spent the first couple of pay checks that I had on past CC debt and the initial fees with acquiring the rental property. I still want to enjoy life but a solid year of living like a monk is also acceptable in my book. Any help would be appreciated as I don't know what I am doing. [link] [comments]  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 24 years old should I refuse employer health insurance and stay on parent's plan Posted: 24 Mar 2019 04:57 PM PDT Hello I have the option to stay on my parent's union's free health insurance for two more years, or to switch to my employer's plan I believe both plans are from the same health insurance company. If going with my employer's plan I would most likely choose the high deductible plan to be eligible to open an HSA as a retirement vehicle. (They also offer an HRA) 1) is it possible to refuse my employer's plan and accept their HRA while staying on my parent's plan? 2) Is staying on my parent's plan worth giving up two years of HSA contributions? I feel like I'm missing something and would like some help, thanks! [link] [comments]  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Parents have $1M in IRA and are still working... How to avoid tons of taxes? Posted: 24 Mar 2019 04:22 PM PDT Hi all, My parents are in a bit of a unique situation and want some advice. My parents have saved roughly $1M in their IRAs and they're rapidly approaching the 70.5 mark where they'll be required to start taking distributions. The interesting thing is that they have no need to use any of the funds in their IRAs... My father is still working, they have a ton of money saved outside of their IRAs, and their children can support them wholly. Given that, the number 1 priority for me is to figure out how to reduce the incurred taxes on these required distributions. The second priority (perhaps lower) is to figure out how to intelligently estate plan to pass along their savings to their children. Some thoughts: - Doing a reverse rollover from IRA into my father's 401K plan to defer required distributions until he's retired and in a lower tax bracket - Somehow get these funds into a Roth IRA where they won't need to take the required distributions and, if they pass away, their children inherit tax-advantaged accounts (for at least 5 years). - Anything else? [link] [comments]  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Anyone have an excel budget template they swear by? Posted: 24 Mar 2019 11:40 AM PDT Looking to make a comprehensive budget to start tracking my spending and saving. Could start working on my own sheet, but just curious if anyone here has a template they really like that's worked for them that others (myself included) could utilize! [link] [comments]  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 24 Mar 2019 08:01 AM PDT I own a second house, inherited from my mother. Fully paid for. I've been renting it to the same tenant for the last 12 years. They've been very reliable -- have never missed a payment, and generally take care of the place. They made me an offer on the house and proposed a private, seller-financed sale and I'm trying to figure out if that's a good move for me. The offer: 675K with 175K down, rate: TBD, term: TBD. it's on Zillow for 721K (but trending down a little) Lot's of questions!
Thank you for any and all help. I'm new to all this. If there's anything else I should be aware of, please let me know! [link] [comments]  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Good place for a debt consolidation loan? Posted: 24 Mar 2019 08:01 PM PDT Have a little of 10k in debt across 5 cards, interest rates are a little ridiculous are 2 of them, looking to raise my credit score and the high utilization is killing it. Dont have 10k laying around currently but can afford to pay 400-500 a month on a loan. Is a 10k loan even possible? Waiting on my 2100 tax return and 1800 bonus I get in June and that 3900 would go right back on the loan. Done with the cards once theyre paid off Thanks [link] [comments]  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Should I pay of my debts to fix my credit to take out a car loan or should I save for my car? Posted: 24 Mar 2019 04:51 PM PDT As the title says. I currently have a $3000 credit card debt and another $5000 miscellaneous debt from other sources. I am looking to get my first car. I need one as I carpool with a coworker but he at times is unreliable. I can take public transport (uber) but that is costing me about an extra >$100 a week. I bank with NAB (National Australia Bank), today I will get my credit checked. Last time I checked it wasn't good and was refused a $1000 credit added to my card. What should I do? [link] [comments]  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Dad nearing retirement age with struggling business and no savings Posted: 24 Mar 2019 04:12 PM PDT My dad (early 60's) has owned his own business for around 20 years and it has never been very successful. He had to declare bankruptcy around 8 years ago, and has gone to his brother for money a few times, who has now sworn off helping him any more. Finally, my dad has now come to me for help. I sent him a small amount of money for now, but I have already started expressing to him that I'm uncomfortable contributing large amounts of my savings to him when he continues to choose to run a business that has only ever seemed to bleed money. He isn't a frivolous spender in the traditional sense, but is very stubborn about continuing with the business and I think makes very poor choices with it. I am confident that any money I give him will be wasted on sustaining a poor business and won't really help him in the long run. Knowing that he will likely continue to need financial help, I have started to come up with a loose plan in order to help him the most long-term, while also setting boundaries from the start.
Does this seem like a good plan? Can anyone think of other questions I may ask him or considerations I haven't expressed here? [link] [comments]  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Different Checkings, Savings, CC accounts Posted: 24 Mar 2019 04:09 PM PDT I'm thinking of leaving my current bank (WF) and opening up a checkings account with a local credit union (OCCU), a savings account with Ally, and a CC with Chase (Freedom). Any thoughts? Also, I have a good credit score but I'm new to all of this - this may be silly to ask but do I need a checking account with Chase to open a CC with them? Any advice or thoughts on any of these decisions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Edit: Thank you all so much! Feeling confident with these decisions now. [link] [comments]  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 24 Mar 2019 05:13 PM PDT The title pretty much explains it all. In about 100k of credit card debt and personal loan debt and I feel like there is no way to get ahead. I've thought about declaring bankruptcy to wipe it all out but I'm not sure if I qualify for chapter 7 or 13. Looked into debt relief and I just don't seem comfortable with that route. The wife and I gross 7k a month but after rent, car lease payments, basic bills and then the minimums on cards we essentially barely have enough left over to start paying down a card. I'm honestly at a loss of what to do. [link] [comments]  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Think I'm due a very large pay rise: how much is too much to ask for? Posted: 24 Mar 2019 07:42 PM PDT Hey all, So I'm soon to be having a huge discussion with the big boss regarding me taking on multiple extra responsibilities, and in the 'pre-meeting' it was more or less confirmed that this would be coming with a pay rise, details to be worked out once we have the proper discussion. I'm planning to ask for quite a significant increase, due to a few factors:
With all of these being the case, is it justified to ask for a significant increase; in the area of 40-50%? I sincerely believe I can be of that much value to the company with my new and currently unused skills, but I'm wondering if such a huge jump is something people consider. [link] [comments]  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Nearly $50k debt — is bankruptcy my best option? Posted: 24 Mar 2019 03:56 PM PDT So, last year I left an emotional and financial abusive/manipulative relationship. This person convinced me to add them as a user on one of my cards, and they ended up racking up 10k in debt that they never repaid. I spent another few thousand in attorney fees, a few thousand as a deposit on a lease (ofc they promised to pay back and didn't), a few thousand covering their portion of rent which they never paid back, covering their half of food and household expenses etc, losing income from not working due to court and distress etc. I was in some debt before this, but it was manageable and something I could have paid off in a year ($10k) I am self employed and my income changes month to month, but my profit is around $40k/year before taxes and insurance. I struggle with depression and anxiety and don't think I could hold down a full time job successfully where I could make a lot more. Some days are better than others, but the thought alone gives me heaps of fear and anxiety. My debt is either consolidation loans or credit cards. I don't own anything and no assets. Just $1800 in a Roth and $500 in a savings account which I keep for quarterly tax payments. My minimums on this debt is at least $1600, and with putting every extra dollar to the debt/snowball that's around $2700 in payments I try to make monthly. But at the end of the day I still make less than what I spend. Being self employed I have to cover my own benefits/insurance etc. I have really cut back on anything frivolous or unimportant etc. just incredibly overwhelmed by the payments and huge numbers. Would bankruptcy be a good idea? Note: I don't own any assets really but I'm looking to moving to a cheaper state (lease) and buying a cheap car as I'm just crashing with family but in an expensive state Debts are as follows:
I also added up all of my expenses before food/rent. Between business software/services, self employment tax, insurance, doctor visits (necessary) and debt payments its $2900/month just to stay afloat. BEFORE living expenses. [link] [comments]  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Isn't it better to max out a Roth 401k vs traditional 401k? Posted: 24 Mar 2019 07:30 PM PDT I understand the difference between traditional and Roth 401k-s. I understand that it is better to put money into Roth while you're at a lower bracket, and slowly switch to traditional as your income rises. What I don't understand is, if you're always going to be maxing out your 401k, isn't it better to always do Roth? This way, the growth is tax-free! For example take two people, Josh and Carl. Josh maxes out his traditional 401k every year for 30 years. On the other hand, Carl maxes out his ROTH 401k for 30 years. Let's assume the growth is 7% per year average, over the 30 years. This results in a total of $1.95 million in each person's account. Let's keep in mind that by putting in pre-tax money into the 401k, Josh ends up with an extra $8000 or so, which Carl had to pay as tax. If Josh was to invest this as well, he would end up with $800k taxable. So in the end we have:
So is it a wash? Am I missing something? [link] [comments]  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Accidentally sent a stranger my SSN and other personal details. Posted: 24 Mar 2019 05:48 PM PDT My dad was trying to let me know that he received one of my W2 forms at their address instead of mine and texted me a picture of it. However he accidentally mistyped a digit and it sent to a stranger, who now has a ton of my personal info including SSN. Has anyone ever experienced anything similar to this, and would you have any recommendations on what I should do now? [link] [comments]  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 24 Mar 2019 03:34 PM PDT Hello there! I am college graduate living in the San Diego area. I moved from North Carolina to SD about 2.5 years ago. I finished my classes online, and interned before finishing my degree. While I was still waiting for my degree, I worked at McDonald's to pay my bills. I had worked at McDonald's in NC, so it was a good job to get off my feet. Right now I still work at McDonald's, write freelance on the side, and have worked part-time for a local film festival. I am really trying to look for a decent job that allows me enough money to move out. I live with my aunt and uncle, and right now they are struggling financially. I pay rent, and they recently asked for more money because of their circumstances. A lot of my remaining money is swallowed up from commuting to work, paying student loans, and additional bills, leaving me little money to save. My freelance income is irregular, and not enough to help out a whole lot. I am really trying to find a better job. I'm in a weird place where I am too qualified for many other service jobs, and I am under-qualified for several degree-requiring jobs. I've worked with recruiters, but I never seem to be qualified enough. For those jobs, I remove my McDonald's experience (at the recommendation of a recruiter). But how am I supposed to gain more relevant experience if no one will hire me? I can't afford to intern, volunteer, or work for free anymore. At this point, I'm not sure what to do. I came to California for more opportunity, but I am having trouble finding it...at least opportunities that pay. I'm at the point where I've considered leaving, but now I can't afford to do that right now either. [link] [comments]  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| My mortgage went up 600 dollars and I'm freaking out a bit Posted: 24 Mar 2019 06:11 AM PDT Edit 2: I'm feel MUCH better reading all of your comments and talking through it. Thanks again so much! I'm pumped! I'm hopping off of reddit for a bit, so I won't be as responsive anymore. Saving all advice that's helpful! Edit: Only an hour posted and I've already seen so many helpful comments. My takeaway:
I think we can do this without giving up our home so I'm gonna do as much as I can before considering listing the home or going bankrupt. I appreciate all of your advice! I'm much more hopeful and am shifting my priorities with credit card debt obliteration as a top one! When I logged into my mortgage account and saw the increase, I immediately phoned my mortgage servicer to see what happened and it turns out they under-charged us for escrow for the entire first year of our mortgage and now we're making up for the shortage. I'm used to maintaining a daily budget for family expenses (about 100/day)and this increase in mortgage brings us down to about 60/day which makes me feel very uneasy. We also have over 40k in credit card debt, we both have student loans and are finishing paying my car as well. This pushes us in an even tighter corner and is going to keep me from making additional payments to help pay down our credit card debt. My wife is afraid we may need to consider downsizing, but that's a tough option because houses are sitting on the market for months in our city and area now (DFW, TX). Without having to consider selling, what would be some of my options to help relieve some of the pressure and drastic change in expenses immediately? Could I technically contribute a daily amount to my escrow to help relieve the shortage they've described to me? Is bankruptcy chapter 13 or 7 an option if I'm not too concerned with damaging my credit for a bit? What would these options mean for my mortgage if I want to keep paying the mortgage off and keep my home? Is that even possible with bankruptcy? Sorry if this seems like a silly problem, I'm just looking for a little bit of guidance as we feel a little lost when we're so used to having our finances in order :/ [link] [comments]  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Discover It card works wonders! Posted: 24 Mar 2019 07:17 AM PDT About 6 months ago I put $200 down to secure a discover it card and I have probably used and paid $350 in the 6 months. I just did a credit check and it says my credit score is 759. My credit is already better than my parents and I'm only 19, this is great! [link] [comments]  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| What are some tips for a first-time home buyer? What are some things I could take advantage of? Posted: 24 Mar 2019 06:52 PM PDT Any and all advice is welcomed. What are some particular things I can take advantage of ONLY as a first-time buyer? What are the implications/limitations of those things? Anything NJ-specific? I plan on buying a house in northern NJ. [link] [comments]  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Time to buy again, wait until our credit builds up and wait till we can save for a down payment? Posted: 24 Mar 2019 08:19 PM PDT My wife and I relocated cities and out credit took a turn for the worst after losing over $6k on our last house we owned. Our credit scores are around the 580 mark and we're renting right now, but our landlord just told us he's selling the property and unless we let him raise our rent, he has to sell at the end of our lease. I absolutely hate renting and the only reason we did it was because we had to move for my job all within 2 weeks of learning of my promotion. And as the title says, I'm trying to decide on if we should go for it and figure out a way to buy a house at the end of our lease (with down payment assistance) or if we should just suck it up for another year and save up the 10k for a down payment, and use the time build our credit. P.S. if there is another subreddit to post to, please inform me Edit:we are in the St Louis area in Missouri, if that helps. [link] [comments]  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Does it make sense to trade in my 2017 RAV4 for a lower payment? Posted: 24 Mar 2019 08:04 PM PDT Good evening everyone, I received a letter in the mail from my local Toyota dealership from whom I purchased my 2017 RAV4 (new). They are offering to trade it in, pay off the existing loan, and offer a new, lower payment on a new car. They provide a URL with a link for me to figure out the trade in value. At first I was skeptical but some things have recently changed for me financially that make me want to hear them out. I am going through a divorce and bought this car under different financial circumstances. I was expecting a partner's help with other bills to make the high payments worth it and we also wanted to start a family. Well, no family yet. Just the divorce. Now that my situation is changed, I'm open to ways to lessen my monthly expenses. Here are the facts: Car: 2017 Toyota RAV4 Limited FWD with all the trimmings (safety features, leather, sun roof, two tone leather, the works). Owe 22K presently. Monthly payments are $560 but I round up to $600. Interest is 0% for a 60 month term. I had gap insurance up until October when I cancelled it because it no longer made sense. I have 70k miles on it; unfortunately I have a long commute everyday. The vehicle itself is in great condition; regularly serviced. I followed the link provided in the letter and the "calculator" claimed it was a 17-21k value trade in but they'll throw another 3-4k bonus on top of that. Very skeptical they'd actually give me this. I'm sure they'll make up some hooey about condition etc. Has anyone done this? Is it a good idea? It sounds good to me except that the new car would have interest and I try to avoid paying it when I can. The lowest quote (for a corolla) on the letter is 0.9% so not bad. A camry is 1.9%. I like the RAV4 but I don't necessarily need a crossover. A Prius actually sounds nice to me. [link] [comments]  |
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