Personal Finance Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of August 09, 2019 |
- Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of August 09, 2019
- How to get a live person at the IRS (pretty easy)
- Ally Bank wants me to send a picture of my social security card to an unsecured email address. Am I the weird one here?
- I’m 16 and make 12$/hr at a job at a gelato shop. What do I do with the money?
- My parents can see all of my transactions in my checking account and scrutinize every purchase I make. How do I open my own bank account w/ only my name w/o them knowing?
- I Have an addiction to spending money
- is a car payment always a bad idea?
- Can I owe debt to a collector but not their client?
- Is there an advantage to taking out a car loan when one has the ability to just buy a car in full?
- any tips for undergrad student loans?
- 18 years old with $8,500 balance on one credit card. Please help us.
- Made horrible financial decisions in my early 20's and now I need some serious help.
- Should I get a credit card and let it sit?
- Social Security: Changing Direct Deposit
- How safe is a money market account compared to a high yield savings account?
- Worth buying a 2000 Nissan Maxima for $950?
- Urgent question - air ambulance and bankruptcy
- I am 29, live with my parents, have debt and need to get on with my life.
- 20 and have 26k in savings. What should I do with it?
- Just got laid off. What should I do?
- $500 lesson I will never forgot
- I use a cash-back credit card to pay my every day expenses and pay the balance each month. How do I factor this into an every-dollar budget?
- Beware of booking hotel through 3rd party website
- Safe way to store retirement savings?
| Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of August 09, 2019 Posted: 09 Aug 2019 02:05 PM PDT If you need help, please check the PF Wiki to see if your question might be answered there.This thread is for personal finance questions, discussions, and sharing your success stories:
A big thank you to the many PFers who take time to answer other people's questions! [link] [comments]  |
| How to get a live person at the IRS (pretty easy) Posted: 09 Aug 2019 08:54 AM PDT I'm an accountant and I pass this on to all my customers about how to get someone live on the phone at the IRS: Call 1-800-829-1040 Press 1 to confirm English if you speak English. When you get past choosing a language, in the first menu of prompts, press 2. When it gets to the next menu with prompts, press 1. When it gets to the next menu with prompts, press 3. When it gets to the next menu with prompts, press 2. The next menu will ask you to enter your SSN, it will then ask you to confirm you entered a SSN, then it will read back the number and ask you to confirm that it is the right number. After this, it will take you to a menu with a bunch more options. Ignore them all, let the computer talk itself out and when you don't enter any more numbers, you'll be entered in a hold line for a live person! I recommend calling on Wednesdays or Thursdays as they seem to be the least busy, and don't call around lunch time. Mainly made this post after seeing a post with a lot of comments from people having trouble reaching the IRS and a live person. Hope this helps! Edit: If you want to check that the number is real, you can check at irs.gov [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 09 Aug 2019 07:07 PM PDT I went through the process of applying for a high yield savings account - filled out forms, uploaded a copy of my driver's license, uploaded a utility bill, etc - and they got back to me after a couple days. They said everything looked good but I needed to send them a copy of my social security card. I said "wait, what? I already gave you my SSN and you've run my credit so why do you need to see the card?" First guy said it was because we've run out of social security numbers so some people have the same numbers and for that reason they need to see the card. My face when. Then he said I could just email a photo of the card to newaccounts@ally.com. I said great, thanks and ended the call. I called back to someone else thinking there's no way this is right. This person confirmed they needed a photo of my SS card and that emailing it to newaccounts@ally.com was my best option. I asked whether this was a secured email address and she said "no, but we're very careful with your data and haven't had any problems". Long story short she said I could send it there, fax it, or send it via USPS. I said thanks, left the call and am now planning to cancel my application. Who's the weird one here? Ally Bank or me? TL;DR: Ally Bank wants me to email them a copy of my social security card to a general unsecured address. This feels sketchy as hell to me, but is it? [link] [comments]  |
| I’m 16 and make 12$/hr at a job at a gelato shop. What do I do with the money? Posted: 09 Aug 2019 07:16 AM PDT I'll be making about 800 bucks per month and only spending a max of a 100 per month. I know the instinct is just to tell me to save and create a budget stuff. But where do I save, should I invest in the market, open a CD, etc. I'm really looking for detailed advice, thanks in advance. Edit: Thanks for the advice guys I've always learned about investing you're money right when you get a job but I guess I'll ride the high of getting a biweekly paycheck and spending on fun! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 09 Aug 2019 03:33 PM PDT When I opened my bank account at Wells Fargo, I was 17 and so my parents' names had to be added to it. I have since turned 18, and I have a considerable amount of money in my checking account already; enough that a $5 or $10 purchase is not too much of a big deal as long as I don't overdo it. I am getting a part-time job very soon. However, my parents can still see all of my transactions, and interrogate me about what I've been spending on. When I try to talk to them about how it's making me feel and that it's making me scared to spend even $5, I receive in return "Do you want [us] to kick you out?! This world is harder than you think it is, don't test me, because I'll make you see!" So... talking to them about it is a lost cause. I want to open my own account without my parents' names on it, but how do I do it without them knowing until the very end when I transfer my money? [link] [comments]  |
| I Have an addiction to spending money Posted: 09 Aug 2019 04:57 PM PDT I seem to get a thrill from placing an order online, waiting for it to arrive and then opening whatever it is and being obsessed by it for a week before moving on. Whenever I get money I always feel the need to spend it and spend hours searching amazon to find things to buy that I dont need. I often regret purchases but end up stuck with what I've bought anyway. I know I need to save my money but am struggling on finding a way to do this. [link] [comments]  |
| is a car payment always a bad idea? Posted: 09 Aug 2019 05:26 AM PDT I am a PhD student in SoCal. I make about 45k a year (I have a side job). Until recently, I drove a paid off 03 Camry - until some idiot ran into me on the 5. I'm fine, but the car's a goner. I got about 5k in settlement for the car. My parents have offered another 5k if i get a new or off-lease (more reliable, safer) car. I am thinking about taking a 5-7k car loan for a 2016 or so Civic or Mazda 3. Is this reasonable? I'm a bit uncomfortable with a car payment, but also a 2016 with 30k mikes will last a lot longer than a 05 with 120k miles. I have good credit and my local credit union offers ~3.5% loans. I can fairly easily afford the payment; according to my spreadsheet, I can still put aside about $1100 a month ($500 to Roth, $300 to travel, $300 to emergency fund). But also: depreciation, cars are a terrible asset, etc. Is it worth $250/month for four years for a 2016 Civic??? Or should I get another older Japanese car I can just pay for? Is my parents' 5k incentive worth taking on more car? [link] [comments]  |
| Can I owe debt to a collector but not their client? Posted: 09 Aug 2019 05:23 PM PDT This is a bit of a confusing situation so I apologize and I hope that this all makes sense. A year ago I went to the ER and ended up incurring a charge of ~1500 dollars. It did take me a while to pay since I just kept putting it off (not good I know). After a while they send me a letter asking me to pay or they will give the debt to a debt collector. After that I went in and made my last payment. I did very much miss the deadline by two weeks or so, but I did pay back every cent the website said I owed. A month later I get a bill from the debt collection agency claiming that I still owed ~600 to the hospital. I called the hospital at this time and they told me I didn't owe them anything and they ALSO said that they didn't have any record of the debt being handed to the collection agency. I figure this is the end of it, either thinking this is a scam or a mistake, and let it go again. Fast forward to now which is about 4 months later. I get another letter from the same debt collection agency. I'm a little worried now so I look up the agency's name on google (United Consumers) and it seems to be a legit company so now I don't know what to think. By paying the last bit of payment to the hospital too late, have I screwed myself into a double-charge? Am I obligated to pay this debt to the agency? I haven't talked to the agency yet, since I am unprepared and was hoping to get advice before they bully me into paying something I might not need to. [link] [comments]  |
| Is there an advantage to taking out a car loan when one has the ability to just buy a car in full? Posted: 09 Aug 2019 08:41 AM PDT A few years back, I purchased a car for 12k without a loan. I needed a car and I wasn't stretching myself and had my emergency fund intact. On a later date, I had a discussion with the 401(k) rep at my company while planning my retirement funds and mentioned that I had bought my car outright. He told me that it was a mistake to buy it the way that I did and that I should have financed it, but did not elaborate much since it was not the purpose of our meeting. This has stuck in my mind, and I did a small amount of research, but I haven't found any evidence to back his claim up. I could maybe see his point if he thought that the money I used upfront could make more on the stock market than the interest of the loan, but that seems risky and unlikely to me. What do you intelligent people think about this? [link] [comments]  |
| any tips for undergrad student loans? Posted: 09 Aug 2019 04:10 PM PDT *I'm sure this is an overdone topic so I apologize but money issues have been swirling around my head for months. (tiny backstory) I'm 18 and about to enter college in a couple of weeks as an out of state resident. thankfully I'm not spending an arm and leg on housing, but the residence I'm living in instead is about $250 a week. I took out about 38k in loans to start, which should cover my first two years. however, I'm gonna try and pursue the option of becoming a NY state resident to help lower the cost of tuition which should hopefully help me avoid having to borrow any more exorbitant amounts. I guess what I'm asking is where should I go from here? New York obviously has tons of job ops, and I considered working at the bookstore in my college, but should I pursue some other job? I've heard about paying interest while in school... is that doable if I work a min wage job? Any tips for saving money while in college in general? Thank you for any possible advice! [link] [comments]  |
| 18 years old with $8,500 balance on one credit card. Please help us. Posted: 09 Aug 2019 01:23 PM PDT Hi everyone! Warning; this is gonna be a bit long! My Husband currently has a balance of $8,500 on one USAA credit card. His APR is currently 14%. He's been in the Air Force for just over a year now, and his balance is due to us being stationed in a new state, and then his pay being screwed up for two months. It was racked up over rent, furniture (we went for the cheapest, at least!) and other costs of living. There were no big, irresponsible purchases. [Edit: Part of it also comes from an emergency when our dog suddenly got very sick. He's okay now, though! I'd do it all over again just for him to be better.] Right now he's being paid once a month, at $2,800. I make on average around $120-140 on a week from my stay-at-home job, as I'm also a full-time online college student. (No debt from that!) Our current expenses are: -$860 (Rent) -$95 (Mattress) -$90-180 (Credit card min is $90- we try to pay around $180 at least) -$170 (Auto and Property Bill) -$160 (Auto Loan) -$80 (Phone Bill) -$70 (Internet + Cable + fees) -$200 (Food) -$40 (Dog/Cat Food + Litter) -$15 (My medications) We're basically left with $1,125... (This is a loose budget estimate! I'm not sure how accurate it is, but we've downloaded Mint to figure that out.) ...which is usually spent over the course of the month if we need to replenish food, my 'sanitary' products, any small purchases, clothes, cleaning products... You get the point. And we usually have about 2 dates a month. (Nothing extravagant! Usually just dinner & a movie.) My own credit card balance is $280, down from $390 last month. Once I get my balance below $100, I'm going to start helping him to pay his off. I don't make much money, though, and I do occasionally have to take a day or a week off due to my mental health issues (Bipolar Disorder + ADHD) so my income is a bit unstable. Is there anything we should do differently?? I know some people will split the balance up between different credit cards, but I don't know much about the risks associated or anything like that. We're both 18. We married young, but we're very much in love! I don't want money issues to tear us apart. Any advice would be super duper appreciated!! :) EDIT: Guys, I know that this was most likely avoidable. I don't know at this moment what we could have done differently. We both thought we were doing what was right in the moment. But the damage is done, now we need advice going forward & tackling this debt. I also realize I was being defensive and using our age as an excuse. I apologize for that! I came here for help, and I really appreciate everybody leaving helpful comments. :) [link] [comments]  |
| Made horrible financial decisions in my early 20's and now I need some serious help. Posted: 09 Aug 2019 08:02 PM PDT So, I've gotten to the point that I really don't know the best course of action to take with regard to my finances. I made some horrible decisions money wise in the past couple of years and now I'm paying for it. I have since learned my lesson the hard way and am asking for genuine advice from the lovely people of Reddit. A bit about my situation: I'm a 26 year old who is finishing up her last class for her Bachelors in Math. I had a lot of problems with my health throughout the years so my student loan debt is pretty high (~$95,000) considering I was taking classes when I probably shouldn't have. On top of that, I have accrued about ~$15,000 in credit card debt from irresponsible use. I'm currently on a DMP (debt management plan) because last fall, I severely fell behind on payments and I had no other option but to lower my interest rates and consolidate my payments. However, because of this, my credit score is at a solid 600. I don't qualify for any refinancing because my credit history is abysmal and I calculated that I'll be paying about $1,100 a month just on student loans. However, there is one shred of good news, which is on September 16th, I'll be starting a new job with a starting salary of $71,000 (plus half-time rate for any hours worked over the standard 40). So here are some goals I want to achieve with that new income. Goals:
I'll be honest, I feel like I'm fighting an uphill battle. I feel so foolish for not learning the value of good finances earlier, but I was naive. If anyone has any advice whatsoever on the best course of action to relieve some of this financial stress, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance. Edit: For now I live at home, so I'm rent free. [link] [comments]  |
| Should I get a credit card and let it sit? Posted: 09 Aug 2019 07:57 PM PDT I am turning 18 this fall and will be heading off to college fall of 2020. Could I sign up for a credit card with no annual fee, spend a few dollars every month, and let it raise my credit score? I'm inexperienced with credit scores, so I'm not sure if they let you do this. [link] [comments]  |
| Social Security: Changing Direct Deposit Posted: 09 Aug 2019 07:56 PM PDT Hi, so my mom is 75 and not in the best of health. She has a separate checking account where her social security is deposited; in discussing it with my dad, he thought we should move her direct deposit to their joint account. She really has no need for a separate checking account at this point and it makes sense to consolidate their finances somewhat (trying to get their finances organized has been a nightmare). I read you could change direct deposit online if you set up a "My Social Security" online account, so I sat down with her and we jumped through the hoops and set it up. But when I went to the direct deposit page, it does not offer any option to make a change, just "call us to update your direct deposit information." So I called the number and answered the preliminary questions, and it turns out it's at least 2 hours on hold to reach a person to help with this. I couldn't stay that long so I hung up. Does anyone know: 1) Is the fact that the My SS account is new the reason we can't update this online? If so, does anyone know how long the wait is before we will have the option? 2) Is there a form we can mail in or some alternative way to do this? It seems crazy that we have to keep this checking account open forever because we can't change the direct deposit information. I just do not have hours to hang out at their house and wait on hold. Thank you for any help. [link] [comments]  |
| How safe is a money market account compared to a high yield savings account? Posted: 09 Aug 2019 03:58 PM PDT I know (or think I know) that HYSAs are actual FDIC insured bank accounts and that Money Market accounts have a hypothetical risk of losing value. But instead of opening a HYSA with Ally and then a taxable trading account with Fidelity or Vanguard I like the idea of opening one account with Fidelity or Vanguard and using a Money Market Account as a high yield savings account. But before I'm comfortable doing that I need to understand what risk I'm really facing here. If an FDIC saving's account is a 1 on the 1-10 scale of risk, where does a money market account fall and why? [link] [comments]  |
| Worth buying a 2000 Nissan Maxima for $950? Posted: 09 Aug 2019 05:14 PM PDT I am a student and desperately need a car for groceries and moving around my area. I am on a very tight budget for a car. Recently, one of my friend told me that his boss wants to sell his used car which is a 2000 Nissan Maxima. The car has 110k miles on it. From the exterior, the car looks fine. It has a bruise/ dent on the right side. However, the car looks fine because of the caring and single owner of the vehicle. From the inside, however, the seat covers are torn out and it's very dirty because it hasn't been used for a year or so. Will it be a good deal if I buy the car ? I want to do some basic maintenance like changing the seat cover and making the interior look usable. Since I am on a tight budget, I will have around $1000 for the car and another $500 to repair the interior and some parts change. Given that this Nissan Maxima has 110k miles on it and is used by a single owner with no reported accidents, is it worth buying this car ? I will show pictures through this link: Please help me make this decision. Thanks. [link] [comments]  |
| Urgent question - air ambulance and bankruptcy Posted: 09 Aug 2019 08:56 PM PDT US citizen and resident of Utah. I was saving up for leanfire and was 12 years away from leanfiring in Sri Lanka or Thailand. I received a bill in the mail today. Driving distance to the hospital is about an hour. But the air ambulance has charged me $651,310 that the insurance wouldn't pay. I plan to declare bankruptcy. My total assets -
I don't want my dream of saying goodbye to work and leanfiring in 12 years disappear because of this air ambulance bill. Question - Can I declare bankruptcy and still keep my 187k? Edit one more question - If they will be taking everything, can I start a LLC or something to protect my assets [link] [comments]  |
| I am 29, live with my parents, have debt and need to get on with my life. Posted: 09 Aug 2019 01:19 PM PDT Alright, here are the details that I imagine people would need to know to give me the best help possible:
I've moved out before, twice, but I've never been able to sustain it for long.The first time the people I moved in with allowed their friends in the house that were in trouble with the Law and I moved myself out after an incident with US Marshals happened. And the last time wasn't ideal since I was with my brother and he was pretty lax about things until the Owner sold the house and we were unable to renew the lease. (Wasn't a big deal, since we lost our jobs and were moving anyway.) The Gas Companies, Chesapeak, Nomac, etc. Have moved into this area about 5 years ago, which hiked up prices for rent and everything else. So Rent for a 1 Bedroom Apartment ends up being $700-800 or higher, rather than the $500-600 it used to be. And last night I was thinking in bed, that since I don't have the best healthy habits that I have maybe 25 to 30 years left on this Earth if I'm lucky. So I'd rather get things sorted sooner than later. Since the last 5 years have gone by super quickly. Today for Instance, I got a $561 paycheck for 2 weeks worth of work. And I paid my bills which are just cellphone and RAC, which came to about $160. The rest of the money went to food, gas, birthday presents (for newphews), and necessities I needed like Shampoo, etc. I currently have $115 left. I'm just worried I'll never be able to get out of the hole I'm in and into a good spot. And if you can help me, I'm more than willing to give you any info you need. [link] [comments]  |
| 20 and have 26k in savings. What should I do with it? Posted: 09 Aug 2019 06:36 PM PDT First off I live in Ontario. Ive been working since 16 and save my money pretty well. My only expenses are gas and car insurance which total 350 a month. What should I do with my money instead of it sitting in my bank account? [link] [comments]  |
| Just got laid off. What should I do? Posted: 09 Aug 2019 08:29 AM PDT Literally just got off the phone with my boss. This is a job I started at the beginning of 2019. They offered me one months pay as severance and they are paying me for my existing vacation days but that's not much if I can't find a job soon. I was told that my health coverage ends today as well unless I transfer the coverage to COBRA - not sure what this means exactly. They also are willing to pay up to 1500 to a recruiting firm to help place me elsewhere If I elect to use them. Not sure what steps to take next. Please help. [link] [comments]  |
| $500 lesson I will never forgot Posted: 09 Aug 2019 04:37 PM PDT A month ago I lent money ($500) to a friend who I've known for several year. He never asked for it before and was desperately needing it. He even swore on his own mother's life that he will return it in 2 weeks. Now it's a month later, not a single dollar returned, each time I ask there will be another excuse. What's annoying is the fact he swore on his mother's life but also his istagram shows him eating out at Nobu and other expensive resturant which easily cost over 300 each time. The lesson I have learned is, never lend to friends, especially those who swore on the family lives. I've put down that $500 as a loss until I see it, won't be asking for it anymore. But I'm not sure if this person should be someone I should associate with? He have helped me in the past (not monetary) but with advice on job interviews, how to update resume, general life problem I guess. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 09 Aug 2019 06:01 PM PDT In the past my budget has been prospective. I'd get a huge chunk of money via loan at the beginning of a semester, then I'd estimate costs for categories (gas, food, rent, etc.) each month, project those costs across the semester, and keep projected costs under the maximum I can spend each month to stay within financial aid. I've started getting into personal finance and fixing the big student loan mess I made for myself (no other debt, own my semi-beater car, rent my cheap apartment) mostly through listening to Dave Ramsey, who recommends his Every Dollar budgeting technique. I'd like to try to use it but I'm not sure how to factor in the fact I put everything except rent on my credit card and then pay off the balance each month. And, naturally, Dave has no advice on this since he doesn't support this strategy. Unlike before, I am moving from subsisting on loans to having my grad work funded and actually earning a stipend, and I am beginning some side hustles as well, so semi-variable income will be a thing again. The confusion comes with the fact I budget food, gas, etc. and put them on the card, so then if I budget a credit card payment I think that means that the expense appears in the budget twice, once in the month it's made and once in the month of the CC statement? So do I just *not* put the CC in my every dollar budget and consider that factored in based on the previous month's expense budget? (I'm sorry if I didn't explain the question well, I'm just kind of challenged here . . .) [link] [comments]  |
| Beware of booking hotel through 3rd party website Posted: 09 Aug 2019 02:14 PM PDT I think this topic belongs on this sub since it's about saving money. I routinely book hotels through Priceline or Hotwire's Express deals. After filtering, you can usually whittle down to which hotel you're actually booking by matching the location, star rating and amenities available. This saves a lot of money especially if you're flexible on which hotel to book in a general area. Just be warned that once you book, you can't cancel with this option. So I had a wedding in NJ area and my wife booked the hotel directly with the hotel's website where there was a room block. Seeing as how frugal I am, I searched for better deals. Luckily, Priceline had an Express deal for the exact hotel that we were looking for. I was 90% certain it was the hotel we wanted and it was about $100 (40%ish) less than the price of what my wife booked for 2 nights. So I took a chance and carefully clicked on "Book". Lo and behold, it was the same hotel! I happily cancelled my wife's reservation and proudly told my wife I saved us over $100. All good and cheers to the bride and groom right? Not really. So on the day of the check-in, I get a call around noon from Priceline telling me the hotel's AC doesn't work and told me I can either cancel my reservation or they'll try to find another similar hotel nearby. Seeing that we knew people already booked there, I told the rep I'll call back after checking with them. I called the hotel directly and they told me they had 1 room with AC issue but they already fixed it. However, they told me the hotel is fully booked for the second night of our stay. So I call Priceline again and told them what the hotel rep told me and they finally tell me truth, that the hotel was overbooked for the 2nd night. They again asked if I wanted to book another hotel. Since all the wedding guests were at this hotel, I told them we'll take a chance and just check in for the first night at least. We finally get to the hotel and check in. Front desk person tells me the reservation was cancelled with Priceline but told me there's availability for the first night and asks me for the receipt for the booking. The nice guy at the desk matches the price for the 1st night booking but tells me all he can do is put me on a wait list for the 2nd night since it's overbooked. He tells me that when the hotels overbook, 3rd party bookings are the first to get cancelled and those bookings only guarantee accommodation in the surrounding area based on availability and doesn't guarantee the actual hotel. I had no idea that's how hotel bookings worked for 3rd party websites like Priceline. I never had issues with overbooking with hotels before and I always stayed at the hotel I booked through a 3rd party website so this was news to me. At the end, nothing opened up for the 2nd night since there was another wedding party staying at this hotel and I had to call 3 different hotels for an available room. Finally found a room at Super 8, two miles from where we were staying which was fine, but it was inconvenient traveling with 2 little kids and all the stuff. Plus, we had to work around the check-out and check in times. Lesson of the story: If you need to stay at a certain hotel and there's a chance it could get fully booked for an event like a wedding, book directly through the hotel's website so you don't get kicked off of your reservation. Sure you can save few dollars by booking through 3rd party website but there's a chance they overbook and cancel your reservation. TL;DR - Booked a hotel through a 3rd party website's express deal for a wedding to save some money, the hotel overbooked and I got kicked off the reservation. [link] [comments]  |
| Safe way to store retirement savings? Posted: 09 Aug 2019 07:58 PM PDT My Interactive Brokers account seems to be secured in the same way than my Gmail account (password + 2FA). I'm just wondering, how do really rich people handle this? If Bill Gates dumps a billion dollars of stocks, will he just load it into his Fidelity with password bob123$$? What's more, what risks and insurances apply when holding cash in a brokerage account? I assume the brokerages themselves hold all customer's cash in a bank account with a larger bank, which in turn practices fractional reserve banking on this cash? I'm just wondering what's a safe way to hold retirement savings from a security and counterparty risk perspective. [link] [comments]  |
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