Overheard conversation!!!!

[Code54]

Reading everyones posts made me think of mentioning this.
We use a credit card for EVERYTHING - if I can use the card and not pay extra to do it, I put it on there. I pay it all off and just get a lot of points for our normal spending. The other advantage I didn't see mentioned is that a lot of the "better" cards offer warranty extensions - some cases doubling an items warranty if purchased using the card. You also have the ability of disputing a charge if you have a problem in the future and the company wont help. I had to only do it once in 20 years but it allowed me to get my money back on a several 100 dollar item that was defective that the company would not stand behind. If I paid cash or with a check I would have had a real problem and never got my money back.
If you use credit cards properly (well too your advantage) they are a great way to make purchases and even help you make a little extra every year.....

 

[Redlands Okie]

I wouldn't say ALL the younger generation. My wife and I are nearly the opposite. Not quite to the extreme of a Dave Ramsey, but we are the "if I do a couple extra side jobs and bust a few more hours, I can pick up that junker on the side of the road and drive it till there is nothing left of it" or "I can buy that broke don car and fix it and drive it for a while and sell it for something with a/c." We are still young, but I refuse to open a credit card. She finally talked me into it and I set a limit to where I can pay it off in one pay check if something happens. Finally getting it through to her that a great credit score just means you are good at being in debt.

Keep in mind that quite often now your insurance rates for car, home, even some health policies, etc is affected by your credit score. Type of billing and deposits amounts required (prepay or pay at end of month) for your utilities are often affected by your credit score. Lots of things are affected by your credit score.

 

[goeduck]

Keep in mind that quite often now your insurance rates for car, home, even some health policies, etc is affected by your credit score. Type of billing and deposits amounts required (prepay or pay at end of month) for your utilities are often affected by your credit score. Lots of things are affected by your credit score.

Such a shame. I pay cash for everything and to think that I pay MORE for my insurance because I don’t have a credit score is nuts. Not disagreeing that it might be this way, but that is nuts.

 

[MossRoad]

This is how we handle ours, too. One credit card is strictly for auto-related stuff (fuel, repairs, etc.), and the other is for general stuff. Both get paid off monthly. One is through Amazon, so we earn reward points there as well with it's use anywhere.

Yup, not rocket science at all. Just don't buy what you can't afford.

The only financial advice my folks gave me was don't spend more than you make. :laughing:

 

[MossRoad]

....but they always turn out better if the owner is there to make decisions, adjust the details and oversee the work.....

Uh, no! Changes during the construction are the bane of most contractors. They add considerable costs, time, and most home owners don't know doo-doo about home construction.

 

[Raspy]

Uh, no! Changes during the construction are the bane of most contractors. They add considerable costs, time, and most home owners don't know doo-doo about home construction.

Yeah, you're right. But in this case there were a number of mistakes that were fairly serious and I caught them. And since the contractors were working by the hour, the additional cost was always on me.

My house has a heavy red iron steel frame. After I found the footings set incorrectly I sent my contractor on his way and hired the next guy. We worked together to adapt the design to conventional framing and finish it out. A great project and a very rugged house. It's built roof first, then slab and then finished from the top down.

I would never just hand a contractor a set of plans and then come back when the house was done. That is a recipe for disaster, or at least, you end up with what someone else thought was right. This is not about someone getting done as quickly or as cheaply as possible. And as I stated before, a contractor must get paid for their work, so no, this is definitely not a problem for them. It only is if they give a finished price and the owner wants extras for free.

I've been a contractor for 40 years and know the process. But building this house took more than the usual techniques.

 

[Bird]

Reading everyones posts made me think of mentioning this.
We use a credit card for EVERYTHING - if I can use the card and not pay extra to do it, I put it on there. I pay it all off and just get a lot of points for our normal spending. The other advantage I didn't see mentioned is that a lot of the "better" cards offer warranty extensions - some cases doubling an items warranty if purchased using the card. You also have the ability of disputing a charge if you have a problem in the future and the company wont help. I had to only do it once in 20 years but it allowed me to get my money back on a several 100 dollar item that was defective that the company would not stand behind. If I paid cash or with a check I would have had a real problem and never got my money back.
If you use credit cards properly (well too your advantage) they are a great way to make purchases and even help you make a little extra every year.....

That's the same thing we do, and have been doing for several years. But we have an 88 year old neighbor next door, barely gets around with a walker, and I take him to Walmart about once a month to do his grocery shopping and he's the exact opposite; has no credit cards and doesn't want any; pays cash for everything. I know he has a bank account because I've taken him there more than once to the drive in window to make a deposit or to withdraw cash.

 

[ultrarunner]

Oldest daughter is a teacher. Last year the people from the state came around talking to each school's staff about retirement planning and 401Ks. Said the little guy got her in the office and got her numbers while going thru his sales pitch. As her information came up he stopped and said something like 'Holy Smokes'. He sat there and looked at her information a little more then asked her, 'Most people your age have no savings at all and yet you have invested enough that you will have a great retirement even without your pension. How come you started saving for retirement as soon as you started work?' My 35-year old daughter said she didn't miss a beat and told him, "My Daddy made me!"

One of my prouder moments.

I preached to my daughters about the miracle or compounding interest and saving as soon as they were old enough to understand anything about money. I have a set speech that I gave to all their friends thru high school and college. I still give it to some of the kids at church when I can. Simple, if a 401K is available get in it. If your employer matches any of it max it out. If not put in at least 6%. If no 401K available put 4-6% yearly in an IRA in growth mutual funds. Do this and you can retire before 60. Don't do this and you may never retire.

RSKY

I got my nieces and nephews set up with the credit union which offered 7% special interest for minors on the first $1000 plus incentives for regular deposits...

The kids were 6 to 11 at the time and the 6 year old had no problem grasping interest and saving... she said they are paying me rent on my money... OK... she was almost 7 at the time.

3 of the 5 are little saving machines... and the other 2 are not bad either.

As a side benefit the account comes with full credit union membership and they actually look forward to seeing their savings grow.

 

[ultrarunner]

Oh, Man - if I have to "tiptoe thru the tulips" with Tiny Tim one more time - I'm 'a gonna puke.........

I met Tim once... he was as strange in person as you would imagine... did get a free Tiptoe through the Tulips Album ;-)

 

[ultrarunner]

You got all that cash back, but you'll never get your time back trying to explain it! :laughing:

The old adage about leading a horse to water comes to mind.

My wife and I purchase pretty much everything on our card, yet carry no balance, so never pay interest on it, and reap the rewards.

Some of these folks seem to think you should have carried that $75K in your pocket to pay for that stuff. You lose cash, and its gone forever. There's protection with a credit card.

We just think of ours as a plastic check book. No different. If you can balance a checkbook, you can use a credit card responsibly. Save up the money to purchase things, pay with the credit card, get the perks of travel points or cash back, and pay it off before the bill comes due. It isn't rocket science.

I see a common theme here which does not fit the typical consumer mold... TBN posters use plastic but abhor carrying debt...

 

[Bird]

I met Tim once... he was as strange in person as you would imagine... did get a free Tiptoe through the Tulips Album ;-)

Was he as bad a Phyllis Diller? I reckon she was the worst I ever met.:laughing:

 

[smstonypoint]

I met Tim once... he was as strange in person as you would imagine... did get a free Tiptoe through the Tulips Album ;-)

I didn't meet Tiny Tim, but I was once just behind him in a checkout line at a supermarket in Clemson. This was in the early 1980s, well after his 15 minutes of fame, and he was giving a show that afternoon -- on July 4 at the Y-Beach if memory serves. I remember that he was overweight and his grocery purchases consisted of potato chips and other snacks.

Checking his bio at Tiny Tim (musician) - Wikipedia, he suffered from diabetes and heart disease. I'm guessing that his diet didn't help matters.

Steve

 

[ultrarunner]

I was a teen but Tim seemed to be stoned... and his voice is something I would never forget... strangest person I had ever met.

Phyllis Diller, a SF Bay Area original, through a combination of circumstance and quirky on stage personality had quite a life... 40 movies, radio, TV and could be quite normal in private...

I never met her but one of my Grandmother's friends knew her and said Phyllis could be quite a riot with an audience once they connected... she just wouldn't stop as long as the laughs kept coming and was very self deprecating...

Self-deprecating to a fault, a typical Diller joke had her running after a garbage truck pulling away from her curb. "Am I too late for the trash?" she'd yell. The driver's reply: "No, jump right in!"

Phyllis Diller - Wikipedia

 

[PJSprog]

Never met either of them, but always enjoyed Phyllis' humor. When I first started dating my Wife, she told me her Grandmother thought I looked like Tiny Tim. I told her I was going to buy a ukulele and an ugly jacket and sing the song for her ... which she talked me out of.

 

[RSKY]

One other story about 'financial consultants'. One of my sisters was thinking about going to this guy who had a very successful financial services company. I kinda knew the guy and he seemed okay BUT...... his wife taught school with my wife. She would run up huge credit card debts and somehow pay one card off with another each month and kept her debt supposedly interest free. Wife came in telling about ***** laughing about her $20,000+ of debt. I am sure her husband knew what she was doing and helped her. They were part of the local country club set, always drove new Cadillacs, and partied a LOT.

Would you want to trust your retirement future to somebody who handled their own family finances in this way?

I talked my sister out of letting him handle her money.

RSKY

 

[3930dave]

Needless to say it didn't work. They ended up with over $30,000 on credit cards besides the huge house payment on their McMansion. Then it was discovered that one or both also had other credit cards with balances on them that the other spouse did not know about.

Can you say d-i-v-o-r-c-e?

I don't know who got stuck with the bill from all their foolishness. And I always thought they were both fairly smart people. Professionals with good educations, but no common sense.

RSKY

Not uncommon. Know a couple with a similar dynamic - mostly was a competition to see who could spend the most money - he had to have a new 5 series BMW (2 y/o Maxima just wouldn't do....) so she had to blow even more money than that on a kitchen reno..... Divorced some time ago.

A lot of people succumb to the heavy and insidious Must Have Now marketing that our world has become. One of the best things my parents taught me was basic money responsibility.

Around tax season one year, the Globe and Mail had an article about "Going broke on 650k a year". The title came from a tax advisor in Vancouver - he had a couple that came in every year, both needing complete loans to max out their RRSP contributions (our 401k). Household income was $650k/yr, but they didn't have two cents in their pocket....

What you make matters, but what matters more is how you manage it.....

Rgds, D.

 

[ultrarunner]

The advisors would come in and make their presentations... however, whenever the markets went down "Assigned" advisor would be re-assigned... same with the Bank Investment Advisor.

I mentioned this to someone I know that is a compliance auditor and he said it is standard practice to re-shuffle the deck and nothing illegal about it.

Often thought it would level the field if the client/investor/employee knew as much about the Advisor as the Advisor knows about them.

One meeting a year is mandatory... they often ask me questions and I give them my story... not that I know anything about equity markets, Wall Street, etc... but how at a young age working a regular job managed to have paid for Real Estate and Rental Income in Commercial, Residential and Institutional Sectors.

Realize SF Bay Area real estate may vary from other areas but few "Advisors" own their homes let alone free and clear.

I tend to see them as Sales people just like someone selling a car or insurance... neither bad or good.

 

[ultrarunner]

Not uncommon. Know a couple with a similar dynamic - mostly was a competition to see who could spend the most money - he had to have a new 5 series BMW (2 y/o Maxima just wouldn't do....) so she had to blow even more money than that on a kitchen reno..... Divorced some time ago.

A lot of people succumb to the heavy and insidious Must Have Now marketing that our world has become. One of the best things my parents taught me was basic money responsibility.

Around tax season one year, the Globe and Mail had an article about "Going broke on 650k a year". The title came from a tax advisor in Vancouver - he had a couple that came in every year, both needing complete loans to max out their RRSP contributions (our 401k). Household income was $650k/yr, but they didn't have two cents in their pocket....

What you make matters, but what matters more is how you manage it.....

Rgds, D.

Growing up we had what we needed but the wants were a different story... hand me downs were a way of life and making do was standard operating practice... however, when the decision was to go ahead with a major purchase the emphasis was on buying once so quality/value counted..

Having frugal parents Dad did not skimp on materials... best shingles, quality paint regular oil changes and Mom often drove a car where a new set of tires equaled the value of the car because the car was old... but not worn out.

I do think the current crop of young kids is more in tune with finance than kids have been for awhile... they experienced the Real Estate meltdown and know people that lost their homes... had cars picked up... makes it real when you know people having gone through it.

 

[RSKY]

Worked with a young lady who went thru a divorce right after I started at that place. About a year and a half later we were talking and she mentioned that she and her ex still owned a lake house together. Of course having been thru about a hundred divorces (none my own) over more than thirty years as a supervisor I knew that the first rule was to separate ALL finances. Gosh I could tell disaster stories. Anyway, they were underwater on the loan and holding on to the house together until the housing market came back and they could sell it for a big price. I advised her that even though it wasn't my business she better get her name off the title.

Yep, the secretary that the ex-husband had been fooling around with to cause the divorce was embezzling money from him. The first he know about it was when checks started bouncing. He had to declare bankruptcy, secretary arrested, and the creditors that owned the loan for the lake house came to the factory and picked the girls car up while she was at work.

Life is tough, it is even tougher when you are stupid.

The girl couldn't even purchase another car without it being seized. She had to have a vehicle to drive to work so she sold/pawned everything she had and got a junker and put it in her mother's name.

She has since moved out of the area, remarried, and is doing well. But she is fifteen years behind what others her age are in getting financially secure to plan for retirement.

RSKY

 

[dmccarty]

...

What you make matters, but what matters more is how you manage it.....

Rgds, D.

Recently, I read a quote from a character in a Charles Dickens story. The quote uses English money, and it is from a couple of centuries ago, but it is still the truth/reality.

Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen [pounds] nineteen [shillings] and six [pence], result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.

Later,
Dan