Have you been able to make and save money as you imagined?
Aquire houses and cars, or have unexpected expenses got in your way?

1/19/2009 11:48:17 AM

yes
yes to both - no

1/19/2009 11:58:52 AM

yes

yes and yes.

1/19/2009 12:30:05 PM

my income is up ten fold, but my expenses are up just as much, i am horrible with money

1/19/2009 7:56:32 PM

i finally have the ability to acquire houses and cars, but not the risk tolerance associated with larger purchases in today's economic climate. a couple years ago a major injury totally wiped out my savings and i was out of work for ~3 months with no income. now i'm able put over half my monthly income into savings. not sure what i'm ever going to do with it, if anything. i have very much have "what if something happens" mentality.

[Edited on January 19, 2009 at 11:52 PM. Reason : .]

1/19/2009 11:49:11 PM

It was going really well, then the real estate crash caused me to get laid off, but now i work for a local government, so its back to sorta ok. We planned our purchases so if we had only one income we could make it, that strategy saved a great deal of "oh shit" while I was out of work. We bought a modest house ( cheaper than rent) and a two year old truck that was a good deal. Pay cash for everything you can.

[Edited on January 20, 2009 at 12:01 AM. Reason : splurge later with cash instead of credit]

1/19/2009 11:59:13 PM

^^ thats fucking crazy, half??? I am luck to break even each month

hell, student loans alone take up about $500

[Edited on January 20, 2009 at 1:55 AM. Reason : d]

1/20/2009 1:28:32 AM

of course having a company wide 20% pay cut due to the shit economy hasnt helped, and $322 a month in student loans is finally ending after this next payment

1/20/2009 2:38:15 AM

Yes
House
No

1/20/2009 8:48:05 AM

i makes it rain.

1/20/2009 11:39:23 AM

its hard to spend when you are in graduate school on a gra stipend

no big things like cars or houses, but i have been able to weather unexpected expenses very well while continuing to still maintain hobbies and going out (a bit less than before)

1/20/2009 12:16:21 PM

yes yes and yes

ive been able to save more than i expected but also have more expenses than i anticipated but ive also been able to buy a house and take vacations as often as ive wanted (within reason-- gotta save up for the big foreign vacations!)

every now and then i feel the pinch but i have enough to savings to ease a random month or two of "oh yea, i forgot i spent $2000 on plane tickets..."

1/20/2009 1:29:31 PM

first year i was saving 20-30% (10 in 401k, 10-20 in liquid savings) of my salary while still living very comfortably.

started to become bad with money in the second year. basically savings went down to only the 10% in my 401k and i even pulled a bit out of my previous savings for big purchases. not a good year.

i bought a house this year which has helped ground my spending a bit because that shit matters. still got the 10% in 401k each month and hoping to do another 5% or so to get back to where i was.

im sure ill be fine either way.

1/20/2009 1:50:38 PM

make sure you take into account property values when accepting job offers

for instance, the normal items arent much different where i'm at now and raleigh for instance

but housing is through the roof (hopefully they still are and i'm not completely underwater... I realize I likely bought at the peak which is awesome.. but who knows.. if you look at zillow.com the place i bought is still listed at 50k+ purchase price, bought in 03/08... i dont trust zillow for shit though)

having said that,

after 2.5 years full time, i've finally realized i've balled out wayyyy too much, to just purely irresponsible levels.

spontaneous trips, spending upwards of a ~$1500/mo going out and eating out on a sustained basis, and other things

having said that, i've still bought a house, paid off all my debt, and sack away a fairly decent amount for retirement, but I'm not happy with my liquid savings, yet, but that's turning around.

pretty glad now i didnt pull the trigger on that 325i i was looking at

Luckily haven't run into any unexpected expenses that were too drastic, beyond a few car repairs and a ~$1k vet bill


Maybe I'm getting weirded out by the economy, maybe i'm growing up, but it pains me to pay northeast prices in bars now.


or maybe i just need to move to texas where i could buy a ranch for what my condo cost



[Edited on January 20, 2009 at 4:45 PM. Reason : e]

1/20/2009 4:44:15 PM

I haven't bought a house or car, but my income has gone way up.

I am able to save a modest amount, but I still spend too much on clothes and going out. My necessary expenses like rent and utilities are very low compared to my salary, but instead of saving that monthly windfall, I spend it on useless things. After a gluttonous few years, I'm trying to cut back on things I don't need.

I've been fortunate to not have any major unexpected expenses, and am making an effort to build up a savings cushion should something like that happen.

1/20/2009 5:05:44 PM

Quote :

"^^ thats fucking crazy, half??? I am luck to break even each month"

if anything, i feel like i should be doing more to save money. its kind of silly, really. but i live well below my means. i live in a crappy 1 br apartment, drive a 9 year old car, buy my "nice" clothes at target, eat in or eat out cheaply, pretty much never go "out" anymore, don't go on vacations, etc.

that's not to say i don't do any discretionary spending, but i still feel guilty about doing so and will spend months deciding on large ticket items, generally allow myself one per year. (large ticket to me is $500-$1000).

whatever, i live alone and i know there's a lot of people who would not be happy living this very spendthrift lifestyle, but it works for me. besides, i don't really have anyone to fall back on if something happens.

[Edited on January 20, 2009 at 6:10 PM. Reason : .]

1/20/2009 6:09:44 PM

make - yes
save - yes
cars - yes
unexpected expenses - no

i also put about 50% of my monthly income (after contributions to retirement and taxes) in some sort of savings, either an investment or a savings account

1/20/2009 6:28:28 PM

I've been making really good money since graduation, but my standard of living went up almost to match. The past year or so I've been more disciplined about saving (mostly related to job stability fear - saving about $1000 a month), and things are starting to balance out. Since I've graduated I bought a new car and a house, so overall, it's been good.

1/20/2009 6:30:55 PM

^^^ yeah, I have a pretty high quality of life, but it costs me, been out 8 years now and have pretty much nothing in savings but I am a social motherfucker and have a retarded closet

[Edited on January 20, 2009 at 11:02 PM. Reason : e]

1/20/2009 10:55:22 PM

My financial situation is crap and at a bad time.

I'm hoping to get a job soon. Interview tomorrow. Career fair 2 weeks from now. Things aren't all bad but I gotta sell myself pretty well in these interviews I hope to set up.

1/20/2009 10:59:18 PM

Make $ - As an individual, not really. I've mostly worked part time or stayed at home.
Save $ - Yes, but spent it on...
House - Yes.
Cars - Yes.
Unexpected expenses - Son's medical expenses. We teetered a fine line for awhile and thought we may have to sell our home, but I had an offer on some family land that I accepted. It reset everything back to 0 and put more than enough in savings.

1/20/2009 11:17:19 PM

yeah, student loans killed me, came out of college about 45K down and tried to pay them off too fast and that got me in worse trouble.

1/20/2009 11:44:02 PM

^ You also appear to spend a LOT of money on food.

1/21/2009 12:21:13 AM

I do eat well

1/21/2009 12:26:21 AM

Haven't saved as much as I like, but I think that's because my savings goals grew as I got older.
Already gone through buying and selling a townhouse and then buying a new condo.

Surprisingly, no car yet. Trying to milk as much as I can out of my 1998 Toyota Camry.

No unexpected expenses.

1/21/2009 12:37:44 PM

great time to buy a car now.

I bought a house and have done some real estate investing. I have also been able to just now finish paying off my student debts and I have virtually no credit card debt. Because I was funding these things, I havent been able to really "save" much of anything. While I have assets, I lack a money cushion and any substantial 401k (probably a blessing at the moment).

I am looking forward to my fiance' finishing her education and getting a job with a steady income (she is a bartender now). She should be able to make some nice money in her field and neither one of us want kids for a while, so hopefully we will be able to really stash the cash. She has very little credit card debt and no student loans so we should be good to go next year .

[Edited on January 21, 2009 at 4:47 PM. Reason : . ]

1/21/2009 4:46:26 PM

Quote :

"^^^ yeah, I have a pretty high quality of life, but it costs me, been out 8 years now and have pretty much nothing in savings but I am a social motherfucker and have a retarded closet"

hey man, there's nothing wrong with being a social motherfucker. i should probably do more of that myself.

1/21/2009 5:54:10 PM

yeah, i make pretty good money...and living near clemson, sc, means i save a lot of money by default (not much around to tempt me to spend a lot)

no house, and i'm hoping my car stays reliable for another couple years

1/21/2009 7:59:36 PM

Doing better than I could have hoped, not filthy rich, but make enough to save around 25% of my income and support a family without having to be a penny-pinching jew. On our second house, have two good vehicles, and lucky to have no major unexpected expenses. The wife's an anesthesiology resident, so in about 4 years, I probably will be one of those people who works 'to stay busy'

1/22/2009 12:03:37 AM

broker than ever

but I'm in grad school so that makes sense

after this semester my earning potential shoots way up, though

1/22/2009 12:15:27 AM

I spend 25% of my monthly income on living and leisure expenses.

Which means I save 75% every month.

Except that I make monthly payments for my condo, life insurance, and retirement plan.

So I save just 15% (payments are 60% of total salary).

Condo payments will end in a year, and then I will be able to save 50% of my salary. Except that we will have a child in 2 months from now, and so spending will go up by a lot.

No debts, never had it. Never owned a credit card, and never want to have one.

1/22/2009 5:28:17 AM

credit cards have their place. you should look into getting one when you have a child. you never know when you are going to need cash quickly.

1/22/2009 8:22:53 AM

Rewards FTW!

1/22/2009 9:53:01 AM

I make pretty much exactly what I expected, since I could just look at the pay scales and see about what I'd make at each year (assuming promotions along a normal timeline, which are all but a given for the first couple promotions in the military).

i save more than i would've imagined...was doing about 25% of my gross, but my pay has increased since then, while my savings rate has not...but I still save somewhere around 15-18% of my gross, if you count what I put into stocks/retirement accounts AND the little I continually add to cash reserves. Speaking of cash reserves, a combat deployment with essentially no expenses, plus combat pay, will seriously bolster your bank account.

i have not bought a house...i haven't lived in one place more than 2 years, yet (since graduation), although I'm finally now in a position to be in one place for 3-4 years. I might buy a house when I get back from Iraq--I haven't decided yet. I could potentially have as little as 2.5 years left on station, with at LEAST 6 months of that spent deployed again, so I don't know what I'm going to do.

I've owned 6 cars in the slightly less than 5 years I've been out of college, but I've at LEAST broken even on buying and selling them, even with taxes and registration fees, and probably profited a thousand or two. I plan on buying another sports car and a classic Bronco when I get home, and I may very well never buy another car without paying for it in cash, and hopefully I'll continue to spot deals and have my toys not really cost me much of anything in the long run.

the only real unexpected expense I've had has been my daughter, and that's been a huge one. Not my daughter so much as her mother, I should say. I spent $18,000 the first year after she was born on child support and legal expenses (and was only making $40k at the time)...but hey, that's what it took to get visitation rights. Right now, it's $1,012/month for child support. I figure half of that or so is my fair share of what is legitimately spent on my little girl, and is the best few hundred bucks I spend every month by a wide, wide margin. The other half effectively goes into her mother's pockets...or rather, runs through her fingers, and might as well be thrown into a fire.

1/22/2009 2:29:53 PM

i'll probably make less at 30 than i did at 25 (i'm almost 28 now)

and i have a lot more debt than i did then too

tell me again why i went to grad school?

oh thats right because money isn't the only thing in life

1/23/2009 12:28:28 PM

nothing wrong with that at all, as long as you don't bitch about not making more and expecting handouts from the govt.

1/23/2009 12:56:34 PM

yes, alot better than I would of imagined when I graduated.

already have a car and not looking to buy a house at this time. I am career focused and not ready to settle down for another 5 years...I think by then I will have reached where I want to be in my career. I have gotten to where I am now because I am extremely mobile.

1/23/2009 4:14:43 PM

i want a $50 billion handout from the govt.

1/23/2009 6:54:35 PM

i complained more about my salary when it was "good"

1/23/2009 8:30:46 PM

my starting salary sucks, my plan though is to invest a big chunk of it in the stock market and hopefully make big $$ in the short run
buy a house, rent out 1 or 2 rooms until i get married

1/27/2009 11:09:20 PM

Quote :

"my plan though is to invest a big chunk of it in the stock market and hopefully make big $$ in the short run"

this idea.

it is horrible.

you are confusing investing with gambling. You might as well take that big chunk to vegas and bet it all on black.

1/27/2009 11:14:40 PM

^no, i dont like gambling at all,
in fact my trading i have averaged between 3% to 6% per day in day trading
im not going to invest all of my money, only about 40% of it
i think its a wise move, especially in this market

1/27/2009 11:17:52 PM

agreed

1/27/2009 11:18:15 PM

haha

1/28/2009 8:33:37 AM

^^^ Wait, you're basically doubling your money every 34 trading days at 3% per day?!

1/28/2009 5:26:46 PM

3% a day is easy, if you stick to a cautious day trading strategy it is pretty easy
but you cant do this with like $100,000, only smaller amounts, roughly below $30,000 to $40,000

1/28/2009 6:30:46 PM

what does the $$ amount have to do with % gains - not to say anyone believed you before but this doesn't help the idiots that did....

1/28/2009 6:40:48 PM

because day trading requires that you are able to buy and sell stocks usually within a day
if you are trading with a lot of money that makes it that much harder
plus with that much money you are more likely to spead you money around to more stocks which in day trading is not a good idea in my opinion

[Edited on January 28, 2009 at 6:48 PM. Reason : but word of advice, when you try to call someone out, make sure you know what you're talking about]

1/28/2009 6:46:41 PM

i can't even believe i'm going to try to break this down for you like a 3rd grader.....

if you can make 3-6% on average every day with $1,000 - nothing changes with $100,000 except the amount you buy of the same stocks you were going to buy in the first place - the amount of money doesn't mean you have to buy different stocks - just more of the same ones...thus increasing your profit (not % wise)

$100k doesn't slow anything down - do you know how much money is traded by the big day traders? at firms they give 1st yr kids just out of school $100k to play with every day

clearly i have no idea what i'm talking about and you are a balla! dolla dolla bills yo

1/28/2009 6:54:02 PM

hahhaa, the first half of you post completely missed the point, the second half tries to address it but fails miserably

first off in day trading the ability to get into and out of stocks on a moments notice is key, especially when you are looking to keep low percentage gains,
yes blue chip stocks are traded heavily and you shouldnt have too much of a problem getting in and out, but not always
the fact is if you are trying to maintain a daily average percent profits then you have to be able to invest in a wide variety of stock, most of which will not be traded as heavily as stocks such as ibm, bank of america, etc

here's an example
IBM opens at $91.00, you buy $100,000 worth of stock, stock goes up 3%, you try to dump but so are alot of other day traders, and now you're sitting there hoping there are enough buyers at what is likely the peak of the day to buy all of your shares, yes there will be dumb or long term investor who will buy, but is it enough?
more often than now it will not be enough, and hte stock will go down and you will have to sell low to get rid of it

so hopefully that is in enough detail for your brain to grasp it

1/28/2009 7:10:14 PM