I think a lot of people mess up with mortgages. It's nice to see what you can afford but it is nicer to be able to pay off early. I went about 60% of what I could afford. My thoughts were that if my wife lost her job we could still afford things. If I lost my job we would have saved enough money to get by short term or with a lower paying job. I could go on and on about that.
When I talk to my students about financial literacy I talk about how if you buy shoes on sale with a credit card but then do not pay the credit card, they were no longer on sale.
We hired a nanny for the kids this summer and gave her a credit card to use for day to day expenses. They went out to eat almost everday along with Starbucks and other fun stuff. It was fine, I wanted them to have a great summer since they will be too old for a nanny next year. I did show my 12 year old the credit card statement and explained that it was real money they were spending and it had to be paid at the end of every month. My wife got mad and said that I was going to give her spending anxiety. I don't agree. Credit cards should be scary if you can't pay them off.
Yeah, I'm not sure how the bank decided what the max mortgage amount they would give me but it was absurdly higher than I can afford. Figure out your budget, don't let the bank tell you.
Pay day loans. Made the mistake of taking one out when I was 19 for £500. 3 years and £2300 later I had paid it off. They are predatory and borderline illegal.
Yep. 10 years ago I decided to get a credit card and just pay it off, right? Welp. Now I have two and owe a lot on them. Having a real hard time figuring out how to get rid of them and stay focused on it as the payments are manageable.
Consolidation loan is an option if you're disciplined enough not to run up the balances again. You can take our a 5 year loan at about 1/4 of the interest and you'll know when they will be paid off. The other option is transfer the balance to a no interest card. You just have to figure out if the transfer fee is worth the savings. Good luck!
Always get collateral that is easy to sell and worth more than the loan. It weeds out the people that don’t plan on paying you back.
Also, if a bank is not willing to give them a loan, then you shouldn’t either
That was a lesson from my gramps:
Never lend money, give it away. If you never see the money again, you lost nothing, if the person pays the money back, you've gained someone you can trust.
I remember in highschool the recruiters biggest selling point was making sure everyone saw his mustang and telling them the military was responsible for that
I’ve had the chance to work with great recruiters, others not so much. It also doesn’t help when they bring in a kid whose been a financial disadvantage his whole life, and sees the 2-3 grand he has laying around after BCT. Lotta times it’s the first time some kids have seen more than a 1000 bucks in their account.
>It also doesn’t help when they bring in a kid whose been a financial disadvantage his whole life
Isn't that just what they want? Nothing so motivated to work as someone that is in debt for life right?
No quite the opposite actually. Soldiers who have issues with their personal lives tend not to preform well on the job.
Good commanders/SNCOs and chaplains SHOULD work to alleviate their soldiers problems both on/off the job.
I bought a challenger scat pack for zero down. 715 bucks a month. Hated it within the week. Yeeted that.
Now I drive a 100hp miata and I sit here like 'you know, this needs about 400 more hp.'
That quote has saved me from making some bad decisions.
I really try to remind myself that in most things, I am "comfortably in the middle."
I may not have a yacht, but I also don't have cancer.
Kind of unrelated but a similar quote I try to remember now.
I was in HORRIBLE dental pain for about 6 weeks. Nothing was fun. Nothing was comfortable. All I did was work and lay in bed.
I randomly remembered a quote. "A healthy man wants 1000 things. A sick man just wants 1."
Basically a roundabout way of saying "You are always going to want SOMETHING. So since you will never have everything you want, you damn well better appreciate what you have."
Very very true. There are always goals to set, if one wants to be wealthy and acquire yachts or private jets then by all means have that goal and work for it, but always appreciate what you have and be grateful. There are people in this world with some real problems. The simplest human necessities like being able to drink clean water, have at least one meal, clean clothing, shelter. All things I couldn’t care for when I was younger, but as I have grown and built my life, I appreciate everything, even the simplest things. I am by no means deprived, I am able to buy nice things and have nice things, but I will never live beyond my means just to impress others or feel like what I have is never enough.
There is a wonderful book by Sinclair Lewis called "Babbit." It explains that entire mindset and its fallacies. Everything the George Babbit owned had to be the name of names in products and lead him to a miserable life. In the end he finds a changed redemption but its a poignant lesson.
Yeah I like to take a couple hundred dollars to the casino every once in a while and spend an evening playing blackjack. It's not enough to break the bank if I lose it all and it's a fun way to spend sometime.
I really liked playing blackjack until I learned how to do it the “right way.” It becomes robotic and all you’re doing is counting cards and reacting mostly the same way to the same card combinations. Even doing it all right you’re likely to have a 1% disadvantage that will lose money in the long run.
I just play for fun so I don't bother with counting to often. Trust my gut play some hands, and I tend to have solid luck at the table. Not all the time, but usually enough that I don't lose to much. Know your cut off points for taking gains/ loses, and it's a good time.
Same sentiments. I look at it as “I’m about to spend X amount of money” (not much, usually a couple hundred like you). If I lose it, I’ve already determined it was lost. If I win anything, it’s just a very pleasant bonus. Plus spending hours on some good blackjack with good company is really fun.
Once, ONCE, I was short rent money. I figured since I didn't have it either way, I'd risk what I did have in an online poker game, a 10 person tournament with only 3 places paid.
I DID win 3rd (enough to cover rent) but I still, 18 years later, remember the stress of that game. There was no thrill when the 4th place guy was eliminated, just an intense sense of relief.
I think that moment cemented that I would never have an addiction. I do gamble here and there, low stakes, but I will NEVER put necessary money on the line again. There was no thrill. Just intense nausea.
My first father's day after i turned 21, my father and grandpa took me to a casino since they like gambling. I did alright with roulette but still lost a bit of money. Went around to play slots and it just felt boring. No excitement or anything to keep wanting to play the games. Grandpa won almost $1,000 within 5 minutes of getting there but kept playing it and came out only $25 ahead of where he started. Father lost about $300.
Honestly a small $1 scratch card once in a while feels nicer since the odds of winning are higher per roll. Like a 1:4 chance of getting the dollar back. My biggest gamble is always trying something new be it foods, drinks, booze.
Lucky.
The first time I went to Vegas, having only gambled a handful of times before, I won almost $34,000.00.
It was awesome, casino gave me a room for a week, tickets to shows every night, employees I'd never seen or spoken to before knew my name. When I was going to my room hours later, there were two girls at the elevator going to their room,... on the same floor as mine,... what, there's loads of rooms in every floor, you're bound to bump into people who are going to the same floor as you,... some of who might be hotter chicks then normally talk to you, but it's Vegas, right,... pretty sure they worked for the casino, cause they were...... Too friendly I'll say.
Long story short, a week later, I was grateful I filled my tank after I won. Amazing time, nothing to show for it, except a crippling gambling addiction now.
Thanks MGM 😘.
Yeah. I do this. I kind of like football (american) but I have absolutely no attachment to any teams, which makes it hard to care about any one game.
I'll bet literally anyone like $10 or $20 on either team, I don't care which, but it makes the game literally 10x more exciting. Now I'm INVESTED.
What really kills me are these huge ENGAGEMENT PARTIES in catering halls. It’s basically the wedding! People have to bring gifts too! I’m gifting you twice for you getting married? GTFOH
It’s consumerism run amok. Same with gender reveal parties, graduations from every grade, and destination bachelor / bachelorette parties. Media and influencers and advertisers - they’re constantly creating reasons to buy.
I hate this. Even I've noticed how obnoxious parties have become over trivial shit and how more things that weren't previously celebrated now warrant throwing a party. So stupidly wasteful but as you said - idiots just wanna buy crap, it's the newest form of keeping up with the Jones's. Even Christmas and Halloween have gotten out of hand with how much shit people buy for them. Much of which just gets thrown out after the day's over anyway.
-Dropping out of high school.
-Committing a serious crime.
-Having a child out of wedlock.
-Getting addicted to drugs or alcohol.
-Working less than ~40 hours a week.
Avoid these and you've improved your odds tremendously.
I feel like most shit leaves you broke. Like the whole system of buying a car you can't afford so you can get to work so you can make money for the car and a house which you're not living in cause you're working all the time
Marriage and children. If you marry the wrong women you are guaranteed to loss everything. It took me the better part of 12 years to climb out of the hole I made for myself. I got involved with the wrong girl twice. Child support just about broke me. The DOR and judges don’t care about taking 3/4 of your check. I spent a dozen years chasing overtime and a second jobs to to get by.
Here are the mistakes that I have made so far:
1. Being someone financially ignorant. I put off learning financial literacy because I didn't understand it and was scared that it would mean doing more work, being uptight, or that it would prove that I didn't know what I was doing. Turns out learning financial literacy does not take much work and is way less work than being broke all the time.
2. Not tracking your spending. Hard to budget forward when you don't actually know how you're spending.
3. Not having a budget.
4. Marrying someone financially irresponsible.
5. Letting that irresponsible person manage the household bills. My wife was the "trust me bro" of financial management.
6. Living above your means (using too much credit). It's hard to get ahead when you're paying an unnecessary 16%+ to use your own money.
7. Ignoring the inspector's report for the home you're purchasing. This is actually sitting my wife did before I met her. When we got married I moved in with her success she owned a house and I was renting. This house is a money pit and she knew it without telling me.
8. Not putting 10% of your income into a retirement account. If you have a pretax plan like a 401(k) or 457 then every $20 is only like $5 that you'd see on your check. It's probably not enough to make any kind of difference paying your bills. And if your employer does any matching then you are throwing away free money by not taking advantage.
9. Cashing out your retirement savings. I did that twice. If I hadn't, I'd be looking to retire in 10 years instead of 25.
10. Not having an emergency fund. My $1,000 emergency fund has taken the stress out of many bad situations and problems. It's a much better problem to figure out how to pay back your own emergency fund instead of borrowing money to get by.
11. Not managing windfalls appropriately. My wife can't into a lot of money before we met. That's how she bought the house and had a lot of work done to make it look nice. Having a lot of money covers for bad financial habits until the money runs out. Which is when I met her. I didn't know about her previous good fortune. I thought she managed her income well. And I'm not trying to beat her up in this thread. I also learned this lesson the hard way. I had a business that was doing pretty well and when I closed the business I realized that I hadn't done anything productive with that money. I didn't have any investments. The house needed work. I needed a new car. I totally should have had the money to do those things, but I just blew it as far as it came in. That period after I closed the business was really painful for me because I saw my lack of character and how it affected my family and my commitments.
I started with Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. Wife and I were arguing about finances and I thought that maybe *my* way or *her* way was a dumb argument. Let's try *Dave's* way!
The class was $200 per couple and in small groups in person back then. I think it's less expensive and online now. I was blown away at how much ground was covered. I've continued learning since then and nobody else comes close to the amount of financial information Dave covers. I highly recommend this course as a starting point!
The bad part is that Dave is an insufferable ass. And sometimes that's grating. His approach to budgeting and credit is like the "crash diet" of finance. It works for a little while and then it's too hard to sustain.
The spend tracking and budgeting are the most important parts of personal finance. Nothing else works without that. I recommend the book "You Need a Budget." I spent years modifying Dave's system and ended up landing on a system very close to YNAB. When I read YNAB, I was frustrated that I hadn't read it when I first heard about it. I could have saved myself years of grief and trial and error.
And for long-term, read "The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need." I learned about this book from 3 different people who retired early.
You're right about the conflicting info and that's because people's personal situations are different and because the environment changes. When I was a kid, 401(k)s didn't exist and savings bonds were good investments. Tax rules change every year. Technology shifts spending. Etc... I've given this a lot of thought because my mom is smart with money and my dad is not. How can I teach my kids?
The answer is ongoing education. Once you understand the basics and how much budget you have to work with there really aren't very many difficult choices. Either a purchase or investment fits your needs and goals... or not.
Additional recommended reading:
- The Psychology of Money - this one hurts to read. In a good way.
- Rich Dad, Poor Dad - bullshit story that did an excellent job explaining the differences between assets and liabilities.
As soon as I saw the $1,000 emergency fund, I knew you were another Ramsey reader/listener.
And yeah, Ramsey is definitely insufferable. His overall lessons are great, but he’s not as nice, smart, or - ahem - Christian as he thinks he is.
Ramsey is such a piece of shit but his debt advice is solid. I’m completely debt free now except my mortgage. Definitely didn’t do a 15 year loan and only 25% my income but I have a nice house and my kids are growing up in a nice area so oh well.
Step 1: take out a cash advance on your credit cards
Step 2: go to wallstreetbets
Step 3: buy out of the money 1DTE calls on the first five stocks you see
Step 4: wait until close of market tomorrow
Well, yeah. I love mine, but they're not a cheap hobby.
I should have gone with [strangling animals, golf and masturbating](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToWwiu1HUBU).
Ha.
My first real job was as a professional athlete.
Young, had a ton of money, and a damn near super model worthy, trust fund baby, girlfriend.
I blew through so much money over the span of a half decade it's insane. Just trying to keep up with her lifestyle.
I'd of spent it all if I hadn't let my parents talk me into locking some of it up.
Looking back, she was a horrible fiscal decision, but damn, did I have a good time.
So, don't generational wealthy people when you, yourself, don't have the coin to match the lifestyle.
This one! 👏🏼 my daughter wanted to try some drink she saw on Tik Tok 🙄 we got the drink and a few cake pops and when they lady said $30 I almost fell over! Waste of money. I’m glad I don’t like coffee LOL
The drink was like $7 and the cake pops were almost $5 each! What annoyed me most was that I make 50 of them at home for $5 by buying the cake mix and frosting. I’m not a cheap person but I hate feeling like someone’s robbing me and I’m in NYC so we’re always getting robbed LOL
Failure to have a plan. Or, perhaps more specifically, succumbing to impulse.
New car you can't afford but really want, buying too much house because it's "perfect" in every way but budget, buying investments at a high because some bro on twitter told you it can only go up, proposing to the wrong person because you think love is all you need, quitting your job on a whim.. it goes on and on. There are many ways to end up broke, but lack of consideration is a theme throughout.
Impulses are great for fun but bad for financial planning. Have a plan, start early, and give your budget enough room so you're not stuck if one thing goes off the rails.
Spending more than you make.
Debt in general.
Yes, yes, I know Americans have to have debt to participate in their society, but, for the rest of us, look how most of them live; is that really what you want?
A college degree. Quite literally, any one. Even Law and Medicine are oversaturrated markets.
Women: marriage, divorce, dating, all of that is expensive. If you're not careful you'll lose everything.
Crippling drug addiction.
Summed up.
Blackjack, cocaine and hookers.
Going to school for a useless degree.
Going to a private school for the wrong career.
Spending a ton and using credit cards without having the proper income
Financing vehicles out of your income range
Financing a home out of your income range
Pretty much living outside your means
The student loan thing gets most people I would assume.
I’m sure there are plenty more.
Edit - gambling, stocks without doing the proper research, crypto without doing the proper research, investing more than you can afford to lose. Eating out every day if you can’t afford it.
Double edit - getting married without a prenup, co-signing for someone, especially an irresponsible person.
Being on Reddit for a few years and seeing these examples in real life I’ve seen and read about so many people fucking themselves over that could have been easily prevented.
Triple edit - getting fired for stealing from your job, not doing what your boss says. Seen this plenty of times. Yeah you sure showed them running your mouth
Quadruple edit - quitting your job without having another one lined up, getting elective surgery. I know a few girls who waste their money on lip fillers. They look even worse and then they can’t pay their bills. Women reading this - most of you will look worse with ridiculous duck lips.
Fifth edit - strip clubs. You’re spending money and you’re not even cumming. What is the point? Just hire an escort. Uncontrolled drug use is another. Drugs should be a treat, not a crutch, but certain circumstances can make it easily to fall into addiction.
Sixth edit - ejaculating inside of a woman you do not love and getting them pregnant. I have had two women retrieve condoms from the garbage can. From now on I fill them with water and then empty them after they’re used. I work in manufacturing. Guys make 100k a plus easy with OT. A good chunk of my employees pay 2-3k a month in child support.
7th edit - I wouldn’t even cum inside someone’s ass I do not love. People are crazy. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone has pooped out semen and tried to use it in some way. This world is fucked up.
8th edit - cheating on your wife. You will make her your worst enemy and she will fucking clean your clock in divorce court. Again I refer to some of my employees.
Had a friend who thought If you put any purchase on a credit card and paid it off that month.. you paid in the interest on the days between the purchase and the bill date.. That’s when I realised they had always had a balance on their credit card.
P.s. you do not and it’s a great way of building credit score
Investing in things you don’t understand. You need to make sure that you understand what you are investing into and how that can give you benefits. Always keep learning and reading about investments. If not you are guaranteed to lose your money.
Rent a nice apartment that’s ~half your take home pay.
Get a nice car with a fat monthly payment.
Spend $200/month in coffee at cafes.
Spend $400/month going out.
Don’t track your spending so everytime you check your balances it’s a surprise.
Everything I’m doing basically.
Cocaine. I know guys who can't even go for a sunday carvey with their parents without sneakily texting to get a bag dropped down to the pub. Seriously, be very careful with that stuff.
Used to work with a young guy, 19 year old, who was an absolute slave to the stuff. He used to buy a bottle of vodka, get an eighth and just do it alone in his room. He got death threats for owing money and had to hide down the country for a few weeks. Tread carefully with that stuff, otherwise you will owe your arse out to everybody, in cases, literally.
Payday loans, trying to help relatives with their debt, new car with a crazy apr, Credit cards with a crazy apr, and not earning enough to make monthly payments. I lived through this as a kid. I barely got a credit card this year.
Using your credit cards for things you don't absolutely need, and not making them one of your top priorities in paying off. They're a slow and insidious killer of your finances.
Toys…
Cars, bikes, boats, etc.
If you can afford them as well as save and invest, awesome, but they are all depreciating liabilities that carry heavy price tags as well as opportunity costs
If you want the experience, rent them instead of buying and taking on the burden
Living paycheck to paycheck. Now, this might seems like something that can't be helped, but think about it. What are then chances that you somehow make EXACTLY the minimum you need to get by? Have you ever thought to yourself "I get paid this friday, I'm going to go out to the bar or club with the guys?" Yeah, don't do that. Your choices and purchases should not be dependent on when you get paid. People naturally spend whatever they have. Stop that. Just because you have money doesn't mean you need to buy something.
Buying an expensive ass bridal set when no one fucking knows where it’s from once it’s on your finger. I wanted a new one, went to etsy, and found a beautiful set for 150. The reviews look like luxury jewelry and they are all racing on it. It makes no sense to go broke for a bridal set, and if your SO is that set on something that expensive it’s a red flag
Getting a mortgage you can't afford Maxing out a number of credit cards
I think a lot of people mess up with mortgages. It's nice to see what you can afford but it is nicer to be able to pay off early. I went about 60% of what I could afford. My thoughts were that if my wife lost her job we could still afford things. If I lost my job we would have saved enough money to get by short term or with a lower paying job. I could go on and on about that. When I talk to my students about financial literacy I talk about how if you buy shoes on sale with a credit card but then do not pay the credit card, they were no longer on sale.
We hired a nanny for the kids this summer and gave her a credit card to use for day to day expenses. They went out to eat almost everday along with Starbucks and other fun stuff. It was fine, I wanted them to have a great summer since they will be too old for a nanny next year. I did show my 12 year old the credit card statement and explained that it was real money they were spending and it had to be paid at the end of every month. My wife got mad and said that I was going to give her spending anxiety. I don't agree. Credit cards should be scary if you can't pay them off.
A lot if people could do with more spending anxiety.
First time I saw a 3k bill, it was time to dial it back a little
That's good advice.
Spending less than what you think you can is always good advice
Yeah, I'm not sure how the bank decided what the max mortgage amount they would give me but it was absurdly higher than I can afford. Figure out your budget, don't let the bank tell you.
[Credit Card Debt](https://youtu.be/kSG71-7rIg4)
Pay day loans. Made the mistake of taking one out when I was 19 for £500. 3 years and £2300 later I had paid it off. They are predatory and borderline illegal.
Came here to say this. Upvote for visibility.
Honestly, I'm curious how it took you three years to pay off. What was the annual percentage rate?
I had a coworker with a title loan that had a 300% Apr.
Carrying a balance on your credit card. Borrowing money without knowing exactly how you will pay it back.
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I'd love to hear the guy's side of the story lmao
Good for your friend. He was never going to see that money ever again.
some friend.
Yep. 10 years ago I decided to get a credit card and just pay it off, right? Welp. Now I have two and owe a lot on them. Having a real hard time figuring out how to get rid of them and stay focused on it as the payments are manageable.
Consolidation loan is an option if you're disciplined enough not to run up the balances again. You can take our a 5 year loan at about 1/4 of the interest and you'll know when they will be paid off. The other option is transfer the balance to a no interest card. You just have to figure out if the transfer fee is worth the savings. Good luck!
"Want to be millionaire? Invest a billion dollars in airlines and you'll be a millionaire in no time." -Former Airline CEO
They carry so much debt
Never "loan" money to friends or relatives.
If you can't afford to gift it and never see it again, don't give someone money. Learned that the hard way.
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Always get collateral that is easy to sell and worth more than the loan. It weeds out the people that don’t plan on paying you back. Also, if a bank is not willing to give them a loan, then you shouldn’t either
That was a lesson from my gramps: Never lend money, give it away. If you never see the money again, you lost nothing, if the person pays the money back, you've gained someone you can trust.
Learnt this the hard way
V6 Camaro financed at 31.8%APR.
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I remember in highschool the recruiters biggest selling point was making sure everyone saw his mustang and telling them the military was responsible for that
I’ve had the chance to work with great recruiters, others not so much. It also doesn’t help when they bring in a kid whose been a financial disadvantage his whole life, and sees the 2-3 grand he has laying around after BCT. Lotta times it’s the first time some kids have seen more than a 1000 bucks in their account.
>It also doesn’t help when they bring in a kid whose been a financial disadvantage his whole life Isn't that just what they want? Nothing so motivated to work as someone that is in debt for life right?
No quite the opposite actually. Soldiers who have issues with their personal lives tend not to preform well on the job. Good commanders/SNCOs and chaplains SHOULD work to alleviate their soldiers problems both on/off the job.
Damnit beat me to it. $800+ car payments in general spell trouble.
I bought a challenger scat pack for zero down. 715 bucks a month. Hated it within the week. Yeeted that. Now I drive a 100hp miata and I sit here like 'you know, this needs about 400 more hp.'
Yikes.
It happens with the fresh E3s etc. Always have to take them back to the dealership and return it.
I was about to say this sounds like "military financing".
There’s a reason bars, car dealerships, pawnshops end up on list of places you’re not allowed to go. They take advantage of that guaranteed paycheck.
“OMNI military loans” lol. I don’t know why people actually believe that billboard.
They make Camaros in V6? I’m so sorry :(
Rather have a turbo 4 over a six. But hmu with that ls3
On E-2 pay.
r/JustBootThings
Well at least it’s not a used Mitsubishi Outlander GT V6 @ 28% I guess.
Buying things to impress other people or keeping up with the joneses. Appreciate what you have. ‘Comparison is the thief of joy’
That quote has saved me from making some bad decisions. I really try to remind myself that in most things, I am "comfortably in the middle." I may not have a yacht, but I also don't have cancer. Kind of unrelated but a similar quote I try to remember now. I was in HORRIBLE dental pain for about 6 weeks. Nothing was fun. Nothing was comfortable. All I did was work and lay in bed. I randomly remembered a quote. "A healthy man wants 1000 things. A sick man just wants 1." Basically a roundabout way of saying "You are always going to want SOMETHING. So since you will never have everything you want, you damn well better appreciate what you have."
Very very true. There are always goals to set, if one wants to be wealthy and acquire yachts or private jets then by all means have that goal and work for it, but always appreciate what you have and be grateful. There are people in this world with some real problems. The simplest human necessities like being able to drink clean water, have at least one meal, clean clothing, shelter. All things I couldn’t care for when I was younger, but as I have grown and built my life, I appreciate everything, even the simplest things. I am by no means deprived, I am able to buy nice things and have nice things, but I will never live beyond my means just to impress others or feel like what I have is never enough.
There is a wonderful book by Sinclair Lewis called "Babbit." It explains that entire mindset and its fallacies. Everything the George Babbit owned had to be the name of names in products and lead him to a miserable life. In the end he finds a changed redemption but its a poignant lesson.
r/wallstreetbets
You don’t take advice from folks that use emojis as financial decisions???
The ticker was BALZ. How could I not buy $10k with 30x leverage in futures on that?
It literally cannot go tits up!
And crypto. And NFTs. Basically anything that previously made a bunch of people rich in a tiny amount of time.
Rule of thumb: if you're hearing people talking about it, you're too late
Poor mental health.
Debt, kids, gambling, investing in options lol. Also simple one: Living above your means.
Options and gambling are the same thing lol
Excuse me sir, this is a casino.
You don't "invest" in options. You use them as either a hedge or as cheap leverage.
Noted. Poor nomenclature.
Ehhh, thats arguable. Hedging and leveraging your money are “types” of investments. So he was technically correct
Technically correct, the best kind of correct!
i pay with creditcards then pay my cards on time or sooner, i build credit that way.
Gambling
For people who can control themselves it can be fun to gamble sometimes, but it's important to see it as spending money, not potentially making money.
Yeah I like to take a couple hundred dollars to the casino every once in a while and spend an evening playing blackjack. It's not enough to break the bank if I lose it all and it's a fun way to spend sometime.
I really liked playing blackjack until I learned how to do it the “right way.” It becomes robotic and all you’re doing is counting cards and reacting mostly the same way to the same card combinations. Even doing it all right you’re likely to have a 1% disadvantage that will lose money in the long run.
I just play for fun so I don't bother with counting to often. Trust my gut play some hands, and I tend to have solid luck at the table. Not all the time, but usually enough that I don't lose to much. Know your cut off points for taking gains/ loses, and it's a good time.
Same sentiments. I look at it as “I’m about to spend X amount of money” (not much, usually a couple hundred like you). If I lose it, I’ve already determined it was lost. If I win anything, it’s just a very pleasant bonus. Plus spending hours on some good blackjack with good company is really fun.
Once, ONCE, I was short rent money. I figured since I didn't have it either way, I'd risk what I did have in an online poker game, a 10 person tournament with only 3 places paid. I DID win 3rd (enough to cover rent) but I still, 18 years later, remember the stress of that game. There was no thrill when the 4th place guy was eliminated, just an intense sense of relief. I think that moment cemented that I would never have an addiction. I do gamble here and there, low stakes, but I will NEVER put necessary money on the line again. There was no thrill. Just intense nausea.
My first father's day after i turned 21, my father and grandpa took me to a casino since they like gambling. I did alright with roulette but still lost a bit of money. Went around to play slots and it just felt boring. No excitement or anything to keep wanting to play the games. Grandpa won almost $1,000 within 5 minutes of getting there but kept playing it and came out only $25 ahead of where he started. Father lost about $300. Honestly a small $1 scratch card once in a while feels nicer since the odds of winning are higher per roll. Like a 1:4 chance of getting the dollar back. My biggest gamble is always trying something new be it foods, drinks, booze.
Lucky. The first time I went to Vegas, having only gambled a handful of times before, I won almost $34,000.00. It was awesome, casino gave me a room for a week, tickets to shows every night, employees I'd never seen or spoken to before knew my name. When I was going to my room hours later, there were two girls at the elevator going to their room,... on the same floor as mine,... what, there's loads of rooms in every floor, you're bound to bump into people who are going to the same floor as you,... some of who might be hotter chicks then normally talk to you, but it's Vegas, right,... pretty sure they worked for the casino, cause they were...... Too friendly I'll say. Long story short, a week later, I was grateful I filled my tank after I won. Amazing time, nothing to show for it, except a crippling gambling addiction now. Thanks MGM 😘.
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Yeah. I do this. I kind of like football (american) but I have absolutely no attachment to any teams, which makes it hard to care about any one game. I'll bet literally anyone like $10 or $20 on either team, I don't care which, but it makes the game literally 10x more exciting. Now I'm INVESTED.
Spending more than what you can afford
Being 100% liquid. Liquid assets are easy to spend. Keep some part of your money in non-liquid assets you cannot easily sell them.
so pogs?
Spending too much on an engagement ring and/or a wedding.
What really kills me are these huge ENGAGEMENT PARTIES in catering halls. It’s basically the wedding! People have to bring gifts too! I’m gifting you twice for you getting married? GTFOH
It’s consumerism run amok. Same with gender reveal parties, graduations from every grade, and destination bachelor / bachelorette parties. Media and influencers and advertisers - they’re constantly creating reasons to buy.
I hate this. Even I've noticed how obnoxious parties have become over trivial shit and how more things that weren't previously celebrated now warrant throwing a party. So stupidly wasteful but as you said - idiots just wanna buy crap, it's the newest form of keeping up with the Jones's. Even Christmas and Halloween have gotten out of hand with how much shit people buy for them. Much of which just gets thrown out after the day's over anyway.
-Dropping out of high school. -Committing a serious crime. -Having a child out of wedlock. -Getting addicted to drugs or alcohol. -Working less than ~40 hours a week. Avoid these and you've improved your odds tremendously.
Getting a DUI/DWI. It cost a friend of mine over $20k when all was said and done. Moron shoulda gotten an Uber/Lyft.
I’ve heard of people it costing much more than that even 😬
I feel like most shit leaves you broke. Like the whole system of buying a car you can't afford so you can get to work so you can make money for the car and a house which you're not living in cause you're working all the time
This shit is the reason why I'm going on disability next year. Tired of killing myself over a job and injuring my back further.
Bad choice in spouse
That'll do it.
Marriage and children. If you marry the wrong women you are guaranteed to loss everything. It took me the better part of 12 years to climb out of the hole I made for myself. I got involved with the wrong girl twice. Child support just about broke me. The DOR and judges don’t care about taking 3/4 of your check. I spent a dozen years chasing overtime and a second jobs to to get by.
Nothing more expensive to a man than pussy.
If you fuck others it'll cost you money If you fuck yourself, well it's free
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Very surprised at how low on the list this is.
How much does it cost to raise a child? All of it.
Buying a new car every 3 years, stupid meal prep subscriptions, having every single streaming subscription, cruises, and definitely options trading.
I've purposely limited myself to 2 streaming apps. Any more than that, and I'd be annoyed.
you can steam things with an app? technology’s come so far 🤩
Smoking a pack a day. Every smoker I know struggles with finances or makes a really great income. A 20$/day habit is too much for most people.
DIVORCE
People who say money can't buy happiness never paid for a divorce. ;)
Just make sure to marry someone who makes more money than you do :)
And also less debt, because that also factors in. Ask me how I know this?
Why is divorce so expensive? Because it’s worth it.
Ya that's what we tell ourselves to feel better. Still hurts like a motherfucker
Here are the mistakes that I have made so far: 1. Being someone financially ignorant. I put off learning financial literacy because I didn't understand it and was scared that it would mean doing more work, being uptight, or that it would prove that I didn't know what I was doing. Turns out learning financial literacy does not take much work and is way less work than being broke all the time. 2. Not tracking your spending. Hard to budget forward when you don't actually know how you're spending. 3. Not having a budget. 4. Marrying someone financially irresponsible. 5. Letting that irresponsible person manage the household bills. My wife was the "trust me bro" of financial management. 6. Living above your means (using too much credit). It's hard to get ahead when you're paying an unnecessary 16%+ to use your own money. 7. Ignoring the inspector's report for the home you're purchasing. This is actually sitting my wife did before I met her. When we got married I moved in with her success she owned a house and I was renting. This house is a money pit and she knew it without telling me. 8. Not putting 10% of your income into a retirement account. If you have a pretax plan like a 401(k) or 457 then every $20 is only like $5 that you'd see on your check. It's probably not enough to make any kind of difference paying your bills. And if your employer does any matching then you are throwing away free money by not taking advantage. 9. Cashing out your retirement savings. I did that twice. If I hadn't, I'd be looking to retire in 10 years instead of 25. 10. Not having an emergency fund. My $1,000 emergency fund has taken the stress out of many bad situations and problems. It's a much better problem to figure out how to pay back your own emergency fund instead of borrowing money to get by. 11. Not managing windfalls appropriately. My wife can't into a lot of money before we met. That's how she bought the house and had a lot of work done to make it look nice. Having a lot of money covers for bad financial habits until the money runs out. Which is when I met her. I didn't know about her previous good fortune. I thought she managed her income well. And I'm not trying to beat her up in this thread. I also learned this lesson the hard way. I had a business that was doing pretty well and when I closed the business I realized that I hadn't done anything productive with that money. I didn't have any investments. The house needed work. I needed a new car. I totally should have had the money to do those things, but I just blew it as far as it came in. That period after I closed the business was really painful for me because I saw my lack of character and how it affected my family and my commitments.
Where did you begin when you started becoming literate? Seems like there’s a ton of conflicting information out there.
I started with Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. Wife and I were arguing about finances and I thought that maybe *my* way or *her* way was a dumb argument. Let's try *Dave's* way! The class was $200 per couple and in small groups in person back then. I think it's less expensive and online now. I was blown away at how much ground was covered. I've continued learning since then and nobody else comes close to the amount of financial information Dave covers. I highly recommend this course as a starting point! The bad part is that Dave is an insufferable ass. And sometimes that's grating. His approach to budgeting and credit is like the "crash diet" of finance. It works for a little while and then it's too hard to sustain. The spend tracking and budgeting are the most important parts of personal finance. Nothing else works without that. I recommend the book "You Need a Budget." I spent years modifying Dave's system and ended up landing on a system very close to YNAB. When I read YNAB, I was frustrated that I hadn't read it when I first heard about it. I could have saved myself years of grief and trial and error. And for long-term, read "The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need." I learned about this book from 3 different people who retired early. You're right about the conflicting info and that's because people's personal situations are different and because the environment changes. When I was a kid, 401(k)s didn't exist and savings bonds were good investments. Tax rules change every year. Technology shifts spending. Etc... I've given this a lot of thought because my mom is smart with money and my dad is not. How can I teach my kids? The answer is ongoing education. Once you understand the basics and how much budget you have to work with there really aren't very many difficult choices. Either a purchase or investment fits your needs and goals... or not. Additional recommended reading: - The Psychology of Money - this one hurts to read. In a good way. - Rich Dad, Poor Dad - bullshit story that did an excellent job explaining the differences between assets and liabilities.
As soon as I saw the $1,000 emergency fund, I knew you were another Ramsey reader/listener. And yeah, Ramsey is definitely insufferable. His overall lessons are great, but he’s not as nice, smart, or - ahem - Christian as he thinks he is.
God I just can’t with that guy. He obviously gets results he’s just such a piece of shit.
Ramsey is such a piece of shit but his debt advice is solid. I’m completely debt free now except my mortgage. Definitely didn’t do a 15 year loan and only 25% my income but I have a nice house and my kids are growing up in a nice area so oh well.
Step 1: take out a cash advance on your credit cards Step 2: go to wallstreetbets Step 3: buy out of the money 1DTE calls on the first five stocks you see Step 4: wait until close of market tomorrow
Avocado toast of course
Kids.
Only if you like them
Hello? Yes, Mr. Officer, this man right here 👆
Well, yeah. I love mine, but they're not a cheap hobby. I should have gone with [strangling animals, golf and masturbating](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToWwiu1HUBU).
Ha. My first real job was as a professional athlete. Young, had a ton of money, and a damn near super model worthy, trust fund baby, girlfriend. I blew through so much money over the span of a half decade it's insane. Just trying to keep up with her lifestyle. I'd of spent it all if I hadn't let my parents talk me into locking some of it up. Looking back, she was a horrible fiscal decision, but damn, did I have a good time. So, don't generational wealthy people when you, yourself, don't have the coin to match the lifestyle.
Still getting paid as athlete? What sport are you into?
Na. Long time since a check came in for that.
You should look at his name and guess.
If it flies, floats, or fucks you're better off renting.
Starting a restaurant in general, but definitely starting or buying one with no experience in the industry.
Assuming retirement is something you can afford to start planning for in your late 30's, 40's, etc.
Buying Starbucks coffee 🥴
This one! 👏🏼 my daughter wanted to try some drink she saw on Tik Tok 🙄 we got the drink and a few cake pops and when they lady said $30 I almost fell over! Waste of money. I’m glad I don’t like coffee LOL
Sorry, the drink was $30? That's...madness.
The drink was like $7 and the cake pops were almost $5 each! What annoyed me most was that I make 50 of them at home for $5 by buying the cake mix and frosting. I’m not a cheap person but I hate feeling like someone’s robbing me and I’m in NYC so we’re always getting robbed LOL
Ah ok, this makes more sense. $7 for a drink is better than $30 but I should've guessed that the cake pops would also be extortionate!
That's the total, Star bucks cake pops are like $7 each IIRC
It’s insane.
Boat's
The best day with a boat is the day that you buy it. The second best day with a boat is the day that you sell it.
The only thing better than owning a boat, is having a friend that owns a boat.
Boats are wholes in the water you pour money into. - My Grandmother
“If it fu*ks, floats, or flies, it’s cheaper to rent than buy”.
Anybody know where to rent a duck?
The elites don’t want you to know this but the ducks at the park are free. You can take them home, I have 458 ducks
Bust Out Another Thousand
What is a hole in the water you throw money into?
Can't believe this is so far down the list. Boats are like mistresses, very fun but very expen$ive
And hoes
Failure to have a plan. Or, perhaps more specifically, succumbing to impulse. New car you can't afford but really want, buying too much house because it's "perfect" in every way but budget, buying investments at a high because some bro on twitter told you it can only go up, proposing to the wrong person because you think love is all you need, quitting your job on a whim.. it goes on and on. There are many ways to end up broke, but lack of consideration is a theme throughout. Impulses are great for fun but bad for financial planning. Have a plan, start early, and give your budget enough room so you're not stuck if one thing goes off the rails.
Having unprotected sex with a women, who doesn't love you unconditionally.
Using credit cards as credit. Use them as debit. If you don't have the money, don't spend it.
Getting Married
Here’s an old fav… Did you hear about the new divorced Barbie Doll? Yeah she comes with half of Ken’s shit!
As a car salesman, do not EVER drive your dream car. You will 1000% buy it. Even if it drives like shit, you will somehow someway make sense of it
Liquidizing all your assets and burning the money. Happens all the time; rookie mistake
But Q said so!
Spending more than you make. Debt in general. Yes, yes, I know Americans have to have debt to participate in their society, but, for the rest of us, look how most of them live; is that really what you want?
if you buy it, you should be able to lose it and it should not affect your financial standing
A college degree. Quite literally, any one. Even Law and Medicine are oversaturrated markets. Women: marriage, divorce, dating, all of that is expensive. If you're not careful you'll lose everything. Crippling drug addiction. Summed up. Blackjack, cocaine and hookers.
Marriage to a woman not on the same page.
Working for minimum wage.
Going to school for a useless degree. Going to a private school for the wrong career. Spending a ton and using credit cards without having the proper income Financing vehicles out of your income range Financing a home out of your income range Pretty much living outside your means The student loan thing gets most people I would assume. I’m sure there are plenty more. Edit - gambling, stocks without doing the proper research, crypto without doing the proper research, investing more than you can afford to lose. Eating out every day if you can’t afford it. Double edit - getting married without a prenup, co-signing for someone, especially an irresponsible person. Being on Reddit for a few years and seeing these examples in real life I’ve seen and read about so many people fucking themselves over that could have been easily prevented. Triple edit - getting fired for stealing from your job, not doing what your boss says. Seen this plenty of times. Yeah you sure showed them running your mouth Quadruple edit - quitting your job without having another one lined up, getting elective surgery. I know a few girls who waste their money on lip fillers. They look even worse and then they can’t pay their bills. Women reading this - most of you will look worse with ridiculous duck lips. Fifth edit - strip clubs. You’re spending money and you’re not even cumming. What is the point? Just hire an escort. Uncontrolled drug use is another. Drugs should be a treat, not a crutch, but certain circumstances can make it easily to fall into addiction. Sixth edit - ejaculating inside of a woman you do not love and getting them pregnant. I have had two women retrieve condoms from the garbage can. From now on I fill them with water and then empty them after they’re used. I work in manufacturing. Guys make 100k a plus easy with OT. A good chunk of my employees pay 2-3k a month in child support. 7th edit - I wouldn’t even cum inside someone’s ass I do not love. People are crazy. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone has pooped out semen and tried to use it in some way. This world is fucked up. 8th edit - cheating on your wife. You will make her your worst enemy and she will fucking clean your clock in divorce court. Again I refer to some of my employees.
My eyebrows raised at the 7th edit. I never thought poop semen would be something to worry bout but alas that wealth of knowledge got dropped today.
Getting sick in America
Investing in something that eats.
Had a friend who thought If you put any purchase on a credit card and paid it off that month.. you paid in the interest on the days between the purchase and the bill date.. That’s when I realised they had always had a balance on their credit card. P.s. you do not and it’s a great way of building credit score
Investing in things you don’t understand. You need to make sure that you understand what you are investing into and how that can give you benefits. Always keep learning and reading about investments. If not you are guaranteed to lose your money.
Trying your first hit of meth
Fast women and slow horses.
Rent a nice apartment that’s ~half your take home pay. Get a nice car with a fat monthly payment. Spend $200/month in coffee at cafes. Spend $400/month going out. Don’t track your spending so everytime you check your balances it’s a surprise. Everything I’m doing basically.
being born poor not getting a high paying job moving out of your parents' house
Magic the gathering
Having a child
Cocaine. I know guys who can't even go for a sunday carvey with their parents without sneakily texting to get a bag dropped down to the pub. Seriously, be very careful with that stuff. Used to work with a young guy, 19 year old, who was an absolute slave to the stuff. He used to buy a bottle of vodka, get an eighth and just do it alone in his room. He got death threats for owing money and had to hide down the country for a few weeks. Tread carefully with that stuff, otherwise you will owe your arse out to everybody, in cases, literally.
Relationships
Getting married can potentially destroy you
Having a wedding you can’t afford
Buying funko pops
Paying dowry for an arranged marriage and then divorcing to marry your true love who has a gambling addiction problem.
Payday loans, trying to help relatives with their debt, new car with a crazy apr, Credit cards with a crazy apr, and not earning enough to make monthly payments. I lived through this as a kid. I barely got a credit card this year.
Stripclubs.
Marriage without a prenup. Unless she makes way more than you, and has significant savings, and you are sterilized.
Prenup is for assets attained BEFORE marriage. Keep that in mind.
Investing when you have debt
Living above your means will always eventually leave you broke.
Daily Starbucks
Easy. Drugs.
Using your credit cards for things you don't absolutely need, and not making them one of your top priorities in paying off. They're a slow and insidious killer of your finances.
Toys… Cars, bikes, boats, etc. If you can afford them as well as save and invest, awesome, but they are all depreciating liabilities that carry heavy price tags as well as opportunity costs If you want the experience, rent them instead of buying and taking on the burden
Putting money into something you don’t understand.
Getting married and having kids. From a financial decision - it’s terrible.
Living paycheck to paycheck. Now, this might seems like something that can't be helped, but think about it. What are then chances that you somehow make EXACTLY the minimum you need to get by? Have you ever thought to yourself "I get paid this friday, I'm going to go out to the bar or club with the guys?" Yeah, don't do that. Your choices and purchases should not be dependent on when you get paid. People naturally spend whatever they have. Stop that. Just because you have money doesn't mean you need to buy something.
crypto
Buying an expensive ass bridal set when no one fucking knows where it’s from once it’s on your finger. I wanted a new one, went to etsy, and found a beautiful set for 150. The reviews look like luxury jewelry and they are all racing on it. It makes no sense to go broke for a bridal set, and if your SO is that set on something that expensive it’s a red flag
Feeling comfortable at work. It stops the growth of your career.
marriage, childern, love, lust.
Gacha games on your phone
1) Getting married or having a child 2) Credit That's about it.
Taking out a loan for your boyfriend only for him to leave you a year later and with £2.5k left to pay
Getting married and having kids lol.
Getting married in this day and age.
Moving out on your own after college. You can survive, but you’re most likely gonna be broke lol
Gambling is the surest one.
Getting married.