Are you obsessed with money?

[NikolaeVarius]

i think i might be a scrooge.

i live on the same amount of money that i when i had my first job. i rent the cheapest apartment i can find. i drive cars for 10+ years till they die. i only take vacations out of state if work is paying for the flight or if i can buy the ticket with reward points. i let myself eat at a restaurant once per month, but only somewhere i can eat for less than 5$. i let myself go to one or two movies per year. i do all my shopping at aldi and walmart. i only buy clothes that cost less than 20$. i try to save more of my income every year - currently above %50 gross.

but my goal is to be financially independent at 45, so i need to save as much as i can.

That's a bit much. You need to enjoy SOME money when you're young.

I save a ton of money, but 3-4 grand a year for a week or two amazing travel experience won't put much of a dent in my finances and is well worth the money.

 

[mcurphy]

Not obsessed at all with money. I live in a small town (< 2k people) in WI and the richest people around here are the farmers and small business owners. Most people don't care about money, people don't judge, and there is no "keeping up with the Joneses". I make a decent salary and my wife does well also. We live comfortably and have everything we need. Money is just not important in our life or community.

 

[kranky]

I don't spend much but don't want much either. I'm happy with what I have so I save more then others probably do.

On the other hand I have a couple friends who are obsessed with money but not in the usual way. They seem compelled to spend on stuff that they think is a real bargain. If they see an ad in the paper for a $100 SuperWidget at 75% off, they'll buy one.
Did they want a SuperWidget before seeing the ad? No.
Do they have a use for a SuperWidget? Not really.
Do they intend to resell the SuperWidget at a profit? No.

But it's 75% off and they won't ever get the chance to own one for less, so they can't pass it up. They don't understand paying $25 for a $100 item you don't need is not saving $75, it's wasting $25.

 

[rsbennett00]

Bring a wingman!

Or even better bring a wing woman. Have any girls that are just friends? hell a sister?

Shit I would go with you but I would krimp your style since I would have my brood of kids with me.

Bingo. Events like this (opera/plays/ballet/etc) are the best place to pick up chicks. These are the events I've landed the most beautiful women from so I go to everything.

 

[rsbennett00]

I understand wanting to be able to do it, but given the average joe can probably secure a loan for a new car for under 3%, I think paying cash for a car right now is a singularly terrible idea.

Paying 3% is better than paying 0%? I'm so clueless about this crap. It's far easier to just drive someone elses car.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Paying 3% is better than paying 0%? I'm so clueless about this crap. It's far easier to just drive someone elses car.

Except the cash you saved up for the car could have been put in a extremely safe investment account and gotten 5% returns easily. Not to mention the value of the cash decreasing as you save it up due to inflation.

Not all debt is bad.

 

[Jaskalas]

Roof over head...
Food on table...

Yes, I suspect everyone is unless they're sitting on a money tree.

 

[uclaLabrat]

Except the cash you saved up for the could have been put in a extremely safe investment account and gotten 5% returns easily. Not to mention the value of the cash decreasing as you save it up due to inflation.

Not all debt is bad.

Precisely this, opportunity cost is going to be dependent on your available options, but pretty much anyone right now can open an index fund account and be making 7-10% on their money, at least while the stock market is cranking.

A 3% loan is barely keeping up with inflation and debt is extremely cheap right now. For example, I'll use my situation: Say I have the option to take out a car loan for $5000 at 3% APR right now, OR I can take that $5000 and put it towards my company's stock purchase program. Let's say my company's stock earns 15% year over year (this past year it's more like 100% depending on your time frame, it's up 27% since December). If I have a five year time frame, my initial $5000 would be worth $10K if I maxed all that money in the stock program. By contrast, I would have paid $390 in interest expense for the car loan. Net profit to me would be ~$4600, just by letting someone else pay for my car while I take advantage of other options.

I'm a total finance noob, but compounding interest and opportunity cost are something everyone needs to appreciate. Debt is only a tool, sometimes it's the right tool, and sometimes it's the wrong tool, but it shouldn't be the four-letter word that it is (pun intended?)

 

[brianmanahan]

Except the cash you saved up for the car could have been put in a extremely safe investment account and gotten 5% returns easily. Not to mention the value of the cash decreasing as you save it up due to inflation.

Not all debt is bad.

extremely safe, %5? what decade are you living in?

i paid cash for my car because #MINO

 

[MongGrel]

got a dress circle seat! :awe:

don't own a tux though, guess i'll have to rent :hmm:

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

You need to enjoy life now and then.

Work to live, not live to work.

I've been forced to do that latter for awhile now, starting to ease up a bit.

Saving is always great too, but there has to be some balance there.

 

[purbeast0]

what i really really enjoy doing is traveling, and traveling without worrying about how much money i'm goign to spend on vacation so that i can do whatever i want while i'm there. when i go on vacation i am of the mindset "who knows when else i will ever be back here in my life, if at all, so i am going to do anything i want here" so i save a lot of money so i can do just that. go out to $200 dinners, spend $500 on a single excursion, etc.

and to do that i need money. so i wouldn't say i'm obsessed with money, but money is what i need to do what i enjoy most in life.

 

[Blanky]

Sweet, another thread with people sharing their money wisdom. Never seen this before!

 

[brianmanahan]

Sweet, another thread with people sharing their money wisdom. Never seen this before!

says the guy who posted the 2015 gas prices thread

 

[rsbennett00]

Except the cash you saved up for the car could have been put in a extremely safe investment account and gotten 5% returns easily. Not to mention the value of the cash decreasing as you save it up due to inflation.

Not all debt is bad.

Oh, ok, so you are assuming that during the period of time saving up for said car, the purchaser is just collecting dollars in a jar?

Let's assume two people want to buy a new car 5 years from today, Clive and Wexter.

Clive doesn't change anything with regards to his income, expenses, etc.

Wexter sets 1% of his income into his 5% return savings account.

Five years later, both walk into a dealership and buy identical cars. Clive pays nothing out of pocket and gets a 3% loan. Wexter pays cash.

Who was better off?

 

[Kelvrick]

Oh, ok, so you are assuming that during the period of time saving up for said car, the purchaser is just collecting dollars in a jar?

Let's assume two people want to buy a new car 5 years from today, Clive and Wexter.

Clive doesn't change anything with regards to his income, expenses, etc.

Wexter sets 1% of his income into his 5% return savings account.

Five years later, both walk into a dealership and buy identical cars. Clive pays nothing out of pocket and gets a 3% loan. Wexter pays cash.

Who was better off?

Joe, who put 1% of his income into his 5% return savings account, and got a 3% loan on a car while leaving his money in his 5% return savings account.

 

[Nograts]

Joe, who put 1% of his income into his 5% return savings account, and got a 3% loan on a car while leaving his money in his 5% return savings account.

This. Pwned.

 

[rsbennett00]

Joe, who put 1% of his income into his 5% return savings account, and got a 3% loan on a car while leaving his money in his 5% return savings account.

Ahah! I did not see that option.

I've been living almost 50 years debt free because I was misguided to think spending money I didn't have was bad. Obviously I need to re-evaluate things. Perhaps I should buy a car someday.

 

[Kelvrick]

Ahah! I did not see that option.

I've been living almost 50 years debt free because I was misguided to think spending money I didn't have was bad. Obviously I need to re-evaluate things. Perhaps I should buy a car someday.

I understand everyone doing their own thing. Weighing your investments/debts is different from spending what you don't have though. I have debt that I could pay off, but I don't pay them off on purpose. My retirement savings in the market has been gaining ~15% the last few years. Obviously the market cannot be counted on, but I'm not retiring for 20-30 more years. I can ride out crashes and dips. My auto loans, student loans, mortgage, etc all at under 5% get minimum payments because in the long run, paying them off sooner costs me more money.

Different strokes, though. Don't judge just because someone gets debt, it could be for a good reason.

 

[rsbennett00]

I understand everyone doing their own thing. Weighing your investments/debts is different from spending what you don't have though. I have debt that I could pay off, but I don't pay them off on purpose. My retirement savings in the market has been gaining ~15% the last few years. Obviously the market cannot be counted on, but I'm not retiring for 20-30 more years. I can ride out crashes and dips. My auto loans, student loans, mortgage, etc all at under 5% get minimum payments because in the long run, paying them off sooner costs me more money.

Yeah, I'm starting to understand that now with these latest threads.

The hard part now is risk management. Obviously this is the wrong thread so I'll go to the other one but you've really opened my eyes. I'm going to start looking for things I can buy to get some debt.

 

[highland145]

Only when I don't have any.

 

[Jeeebus]

to some extent I suppose so - doesn't help that I account for all my time/billing at the end of each day so I personally see how much I'm ostensibly making (or not making) on a daily basis (assuming it all gets paid of course).

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Nope, I make very low 6 figures and its enough to not have to give much thought to most purchases but not enough to be loaded and spend frivolously.

Im pretty comfortable where I am. Would I turn down more? No, but its not my sole driving force.

 

[rednas]

Yes. I was born into poverty and money (the lack of) dictated much of my youth. Now that I money is not much of an issue I still focus on saving it and making sure that I dont waste it on dumb things. But its not the only factor in my life because even with my decent income I live an extremely simple life and do not need much money to maintain it.

 

[brianmanahan]

just wasted 100$ attending an orchestra concert - it was awesome!

maybe i'll let myself do it once every few years.

 

[rsbennett00]

just wasted 100$ attending an orchestra concert - it was awesome!

maybe i'll let myself do it once every few years.

Good for you! Did you pick up a nice hottie to take home? You should post pics in the babe thread.