TheGreatBuzz Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 We don't save as much as some say we should. But like the above post showed, my return would suck. We do put money in a 401K and we try to keep about $15k in savings for emergencies but the rest of our pay goes to making extra payments on debt (house and truck are only debt right now). I have a brand new $50k truck that will be paid off probably in the next 6 months. To me, it makes more sense to NOT pay someone at a rate higher than I would make. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chipwhich Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 This thread is reminding me of a Kanye West song lol You know white people get money, don't spend itOr maybe they get money, buy a businessI rather buy 80 gold chains and go ign'antI know Spike Lee gon' kill me, but let me finish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tshile Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 This is of course correct! Toughest thing is to get started. Because all of that sacrifice sucks when you look at your savings balance and realize you only saved $1200. The trick is to be disciplined month in and month out for years... Yup. Keep in mind as much as that sucks, it's an awesome feeling when <insert random life catastrophe> happens and you can say to yourself... I hate how much this costs, but this is why I saved and I can fix this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Genius Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 To me, it makes more sense to NOT pay someone at a rate higher than I would make. Me too. Although with the home loan, I have to remember to discount that interest rate some because of the interest deduction you get when you file income taxes each year. We've been putting almost an extra 1/2 payment each month for the last few years and have really seen the principal come down (especially compared to what the amort tables showed originally). Hell, even an extra $50 a month towards that principal takes like 32 months off a brand new $200k 30 year loan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vilandil Tasardur Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 We don't save as much as some say we should. But like the above post showed, my return would suck. We do put money in a 401K and we try to keep about $15k in savings for emergencies but the rest of our pay goes to making extra payments on debt (house and truck are only debt right now). I have a brand new $50k truck that will be paid off probably in the next 6 months. To me, it makes more sense to NOT pay someone at a rate higher than I would make. This is exactly how we feel as well. The savings account has somewhere between 20-30k at any given moment, and we try to grow it somewhat in case we decide to buy our next home without selling the current one, but we are not prioritizing the savings. The ROI is pennies. I'd much rather hurry up and stop paying interest on my mortgage. Then I can keep that 800 a month I'm spending now and really watch that savings account grow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zguy28 Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 When I bought my house in Southern Maryland in 2003, I paid $160,000 and we only had $50k combined salary. Now I make ~$90K and the wife doesn't work outside the home (3 kids are plenty.of work). I'm making it with a car payment, mortgage, giving 12% of gross to charity, and going to college 1 class a semester. It can be done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PleaseBlitz Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 When I bought my house in Southern Maryland in 2003, I paid $160,000 and we only had $50k combined salary. Now I make ~$90K and the wife doesn't work outside the home (3 kids are plenty.of work). I'm making it with a car payment, mortgage, giving 12% of gross to charity, and going to college 1 class a semester. It can be done. Yea, just live in the middle of nowhere and have an $800/mo housing payment (I did the math on your mortgage). Easy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve09ru Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Yea, just live in the middle of nowhere and have an $800/mo housing payment (I did the math on your mortgage). Easy! His take home is still ~5000 after charity. Just got to budget right and minimize debts. He could afford double his current mortgage. Mortgage 1600, food 500-600, car 300, electric 175, tv/net 150, cell 150, not sure what other expenses but after the items listed he'd still be sitting at 2875 and then a college class. Not out of the question at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoodBits Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 His take home is still ~5000 after charity. Just got to budget right and minimize debts. He could afford double his current mortgage. . Well that's good because housing prices have practically doubled since 2003. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve09ru Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Well that's good because housing prices have practically doubled since 2003. that was in response to the 'you only pay 800 in mortgage, of course it's easy' comments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PleaseBlitz Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 His take home is still ~5000 after charity. Just got to budget right and minimize debts. He could afford double his current mortgage. Mortgage 1600, food 500-600, car 300, electric 175, tv/net 150, cell 150, not sure what other expenses but after the items listed he'd still be sitting at 2875 and then a college class. Not out of the question at all. You only pay $1600 in mortgage, of course it's easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbear Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 "**** savings. That's like 1% return at best right now (that is if it's an online bank), right???"... There are better deals out there. When Bank of America started charging for everything under the sun, I left for Consumers Credit Union. I like making 3% on my checking account and having all ATMs be free to use. Every time I see or hear a commercial from a bank touting we've got the most ATMs, I just chuckle and say, "thanks." I'll grant you it makes less than that when over 10k is in there, but still more than the 1% I've seen others mention which is high compared to many savings accounts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve09ru Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 You only pay $1600 in mortgage, of course it's easy. with 2875 he'd be able to throw in another $1000 for a $2600 mortgage and still have ~1800 left over. you're talking $425k house at that point. I'm not sure I'm getting your point here. You show sarcasm with "Yea, just live in the middle of nowhere and have an $800/mo housing payment (I did the math on your mortgage). Easy!" I'm sorry, what would be hard for him to get by on? What would you like to see? Him in a house out of his means at 550k-600k? Just an old run of the mill dump at that price right? You can't tell me that it'd be hard to get a decent place for 300k-400k. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOF44 Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 At least your toll lanes are cheap DaGoonie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PleaseBlitz Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 with 2875 he'd be able to throw in another $1000 for a $2600 mortgage and still have ~1800 left over. you're talking $425k house at that point. I'm not sure I'm getting your point here. You show sarcasm with "Yea, just live in the middle of nowhere and have an $800/mo housing payment (I did the math on your mortgage). Easy!" I'm sorry, what would be hard for him to get by on? What would you like to see? Him in a house out of his means at 550k-600k? Just an old run of the mill dump at that price right? You can't tell me that it'd be hard to get a decent place for 300k-400k. Couple of points. #1, I always here similar arguments from people that bought houses when they were extremely cheap or where they live in cheap areas (for instance 2003 in southern Maryland), like their personal situation has any bearing on every other person. $300k near my townhouse gets you a one bedroom in a shady building. Sure, you can live there. I wouldn't want to though. Maybe if I had a time machine, things would be better. #2, people always seem to budget for like 5 things, housing, food, utilities, TV/internet/phone, and a car (just like you did above). That really doesn't cover a person's monthly outlay unless they live an EXTREMELY spartan and lonely existence. For instance above, you budgeted $300 for a car. That's great, now add insurance, and gas, and maintenance. If you ever go out to eat (or god forbid drinking), you probably just blew your food budget. Hope you don't have any student debt. Or a girlfriend. Or a pet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOF44 Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 I gotta budge at least $500 a month for bourbon! Don't always use it, but I have it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve09ru Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Couple of points. #1, I always here similar arguments from people that bought houses when they were extremely cheap or where they live in cheap areas (for instance 2003 in southern Maryland), like their personal situation has any bearing on every other person. $300k near my townhouse gets you a one bedroom in a shady building. Sure, you can live there. I wouldn't want to though. Maybe if I had a time machine, things would be better. #2, people always seem to budget for like 5 things, housing, food, utilities, TV/internet/phone, and a car (just like you did above). That really doesn't cover a person's monthly outlay unless they live an EXTREMELY spartan and lonely existence. For instance above, you budgeted $300 for a car. That's great, now add insurance, and gas, and maintenance. If you ever go out to eat (or god forbid drinking), you probably just blew your food budget. Hope you don't have any student debt. Or a girlfriend. Or a pet. No I get that, just saying if you're not making that much and spending that a lot on a place, you have the ability to move. Living in a place that costs that much, to me, hints at living out of your means if you want to live a comfortable life and not check to check or drowning in debt. That was kind of my point of everything in that, you (not you personally) can choose to live in an area where it's not reasonable or you can choose to move outside to a different area but still close for much 'easier' living. Richmond is similar, I could move into Short Pump and pay twice the amount or I could move 5-10 miles outside and save half the costs on mortgage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PleaseBlitz Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 No I get that, just saying if you're not making that much and spending that a lot on a place, you have the ability to move. Living in a place that costs that much, to me, hints at living out of your means if you want to live a comfortable life and not check to check or drowning in debt. That was kind of my point of everything in that, you (not you personally) can choose to live in an area where it's not reasonable or you can choose to move outside to a different area but still close for much 'easier' living. Richmond is similar, I could move into Short Pump and pay twice the amount or I could move 5-10 miles outside and save half the costs on mortgage. I get it. Your point is that you should live in a place that you can afford, which I totally agree with. My point is that, for a lot of people, they can't afford anything in the area they need to live in (for whatever reason, probably their job). My original point was that $800 in 2003 money in southern maryland gets you jack **** in 2015 anywhere near DC (where the most jobs are). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PokerPacker Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 I get it. Your point is that you should live in a place that you can afford, which I totally agree with. My point is that, for a lot of people, they can't afford anything in the area they need to live in (for whatever reason, probably their job). My original point was that $800 in 2003 money in southern maryland gets you jack **** in 2015 anywhere near DC (where the most jobs are).I guess that depends on what you consider to be near DC. What about Manassas or Sterling? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PleaseBlitz Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 I guess that depends on what you consider to be near DC. What about Manassas or Sterling? Haha, I grew up in Sterling. So no. Kidding to an extent, it's all relative and depends on what you do. If you are a used car salesman, then there are plenty of jobs in Manassas for you. But if a younger person just graduated from college, or even HS, and wanted to come to the DC AREA, the job-centers are largely inside the beltway (and Reston). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PokerPacker Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Haha, I grew up in Sterling. So no. Kidding to an extent, it's all relative and depends on what you do. If you are a used car salesman, then there are plenty of jobs in Manassas for you. But if a younger person just graduated from college, or even HS, and wanted to come to the DC AREA, the job-centers are largely inside the beltway (and Reston). no, I don't mean jobs in those cities (which there are), but I mean being a place that you can live and commute to a job in DC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PleaseBlitz Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 no, I don't mean jobs in those cities (which there are), but I mean being a place that you can live and commute to a job in DC. Like I said, I grew up in Sterling. I don't know a single person that lives there and commutes downtown. I'm sure there are people that do, but there are also people that don't eat meat. Just because a few people do it doesn't mean it's not stupid and miserable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PokerPacker Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Like I said, I grew up in Sterling. I don't know a single person that lives there and commutes downtown. I'm sure there are people that do, but there are also people that don't eat meat. Just because a few people do it doesn't mean it's not stupid and miserable.Just saying that there are definitely affordable places in the DC area. They may not allow for the best commute, but people do it. My parents commute all the way from Fairfax to New Carrollton and have been doing so for a couple decades or so. Also, I don't eat meat, and I'm quite not-miserable (at least as far as my diet pertains) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PleaseBlitz Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 I went from FFX to Union Station for a year. It was not fun, but doable. Sterling and Manassas are significantly further out. Manassas you have to deal with 66 which is HOV and a disaster generally. Sterling you'd have to take 7, which would take forever, or pay for the toll road twice a day. The gas and tolls would seriously eat into whatever money you saved by living in the exurbs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcsluggo Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 people that live in lower cost areas really dont internalixe how big the difference in cost on EVERYTHING is. my house is pretty modest (basically every house like mine that sells in my neighborhood is now a "tear-down"), but still my annual property tax alone is getting close to $10,000. that is about what i paid in rent when i lived in Davis, CA (which isn't a particularly low-cost area) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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