^ That's satire, right? It had me going until I got to the avocado toast bit - it was too obvious, too early.

It's a pretty brilliant piece of satire.  It's well above my writing ability...aside from the fact that you actually have to live some of that in order to write about it. 

 

I have socialized with these sorts of people a few times in a few different areas, and money just...leaves.  Like, just flies out of your wallet. 

 

I recall going on a boat rental ride off Santa Monica, CA, with about 8 people, then stepping into some small place near the dock with a patio afterward.  I didn't even order anything and these people managed to ring up a $140 bill in an hour...before we then went to dinner. 

It's a pretty brilliant piece of satire.  It's well above my writing ability...aside from the fact that you actually have to live some of that in order to write about it. 

 

I have socialized with these sorts of people a few times in a few different areas, and money just...leaves.  Like, just flies out of your wallet. 

 

I recall going on a boat rental ride off Santa Monica, CA, with about 8 people, then stepping into some small place near the dock with a patio afterward.  I didn't even order anything and these people managed to ring up a $140 bill in an hour...before we then went to dinner. 

 

Oh, and I forgot about my brother's girlfriend inviting me to her birthday party in the Hollywood Hills this past February.  She rented a house in the hills just to throw the party (they live in a nondescript complex in Santa Monica) and told me that I could crash at the house.  Aside from the flight I knew that the party was going to somehow end up costing me $1,000+ so I told her maybe next year.  Plus, everyone in Ohio gets out of shape in February and I didn't want to be the pudgy Ohio guy in the infinity pool! 

 

 

https://www.refinery29.com/money-diary-new-york-city-marketing-intern-income

 

I can't.

 

this girl needs to join the real world. My wife has a cousin like this, completely clueless

Smaller cars are a lot cheaper used.  You can get a 2015 or 2016 Ford Focus with 30,000 miles on it for like $12,000.

 

True.  And if you go a year or two older or higher mileage the price drops drastically.  That's my sweet spot. YMMV

 

 

Bought a 2016 Chevy Cruze, 24,000 miles for 12,000. Not a bad car but slow on acceleration but when you get it to speed can easily go 80 MPH without realizing it. When the AC is on can really slow acceleration and mess with transmission a bit but I happy with it and feel it was a responsible purchase.

 

 

 

https://www.refinery29.com/money-diary-new-york-city-marketing-intern-income

 

I can't.

 

this girl needs to join the real world. My wife has a cousin like this, completely clueless

 

She does perfectly encapsulate, satirically, why adults roll their eyes at the way early-20s girls explain their relationships with their boyfriends

My bank account was hacked and while the bank is being helpful in recovering the money, they apparently undertake no effort to pursue the criminal(s).  Lesson to me: don't keep more than a working cash balance in any account open to wire transactions.  Lesson for others:  pay attention, it can happen to you.

My bank account was hacked and while the bank is being helpful in recovering the money, they apparently undertake no effort to pursue the criminal(s).  Lesson to me: don't keep more than a working cash balance in any account open to wire transactions.  Lesson for others:  pay attention, it can happen to you.

 

You are quite literally the clientele I represent.

 

The criminals will not be held responsible. But the bank may depending on the availability of warning signs.

Can you do wire transfers to and from a standard savings account?  I think I bought my house with a cashier's check or something, I can't remember. 

Whoa:

 

This girl calls up and says she's nearly $1 million in debt, but isn't even close.  They actually have $550,000 in credit card, personal, and car loans.  They owe $210,000 on a condo that is ostensibly worth $300k, so that doesn't count.  Then it's revealed that they're living in mom's house and renting that condo.  So they'll probably get $50k when they sell the condo, meaning their actual student loan and consumer debt is $500k. 

 

If the couple is actually making $200k and living in mom's house they can easily pay that off in 3 years, so it's not quite the desperate situation it seems, but obviously they can't have kids. 

 

 

 

My bank account was hacked and while the bank is being helpful in recovering the money, they apparently undertake no effort to pursue the criminal(s).  Lesson to me: don't keep more than a working cash balance in any account open to wire transactions.  Lesson for others:  pay attention, it can happen to you.

 

Aren't all accounts open to wire transfers in/out?  Or do you mean accounts accessible via the web?

My bank account was hacked and while the bank is being helpful in recovering the money, they apparently undertake no effort to pursue the criminal(s).  Lesson to me: don't keep more than a working cash balance in any account open to wire transactions.  Lesson for others:  pay attention, it can happen to you.

 

Aren't all accounts open to wire transfers in/out?  Or do you mean accounts accessible via the web?

 

The bank says I can specify limits on wire transactions. So I'll keep a working account with minimal free balance to pay bills electronically and move any extra cash to a "safe" account, if there is such a thing. I should add that so far the bank has recovered 1/4 of my loss.

Does anyone here have any experience with crowdfund real estate investment? I am thinking about looking into investing here: https://www.smallchange.com/.  I am not an accredited investor and just looking to move a small amount into some real estate.  If anyone has an experience or advice, I'd appreciate it. 

Just now, freefourur said:

Does anyone here have any experience with crowdfund real estate investment? I am thinking about looking into investing here: https://www.smallchange.com/.  I am not an accredited investor and just looking to move a small amount into some real estate.  If anyone has an experience or advice, I'd appreciate it. 

 

I invested $1,000 into FundRise a few years ago just to try it out.  It pays quarterly returns/dividends.  As first, it would send me the money, but they changed and let you reinvest it now.  I just checked the account... I invested the $1,000 in Dec 2015.  All-time dividends paid are $272, with YTD 2018 of $93.  So really, decent % returns.  I would put more into it, but I've been more focused on direct real estate investing.  FundRise essentially acts as an online REIT.

 

That said, I don't know about smallchange, but FundRise is not very liquid.  I can't just cash my entire balance out. 

CNBC posted this hilarious sample budget for a 25 year old making $100,000/year:

 

There is no part of this that is realistic in any way. The cheapest home internet plan that's offered at my address is Cincinnati Bell DSL for $25/month (+ taxes and fees) and it's only 5 Mbps which is barely usable for streaming video from services like Netflix. Republic Wireless offers a $40/month cell phone plan that give you "unlimited minutes and text messages, plus 1GB of data", which is not enough to do any amount of real web browsing. It is highly unlikely that you're only paying $825/month in rent if you live in a metro area where you're making $100k/year as a 25-year-old. And who the $@#* is spending $615/month on "donations"? This also doesn't factor in any payments going towards student loan debt, which is almost certainly a factor for someone at that income level.

^ Also house cleaner for $30?  We pay $20 per hour. 

1 minute ago, freefourur said:

^ Also house cleaner for $30?  We pay $20 per hour. 

 

a house cleaner? how bourgeois ?

1 minute ago, eastvillagedon said:

 

a house cleaner? how bourgeois ?

 

No, cleaning the house before the house cleaner comes... that's bourgeois

$400 a month on groceries? $250 on eating out I could maybe see, but if this is just some single coding bro I doubt he buys that many groceries. I'm lucky to spend $100 a month on groceries, and I eat most of my meals at home. 

Of course, expanding all those other categories to realistic numbers probably shrinks the $615/mo. "donations" pool.

 

BigDipper: I'd check your budget, you might be spending more than you think.  We routinely see budgets of well above $300 for food (counting both grocery and dining out) budgets even for people even in bankruptcy.  For a comparison, here are some official figures that play a role in whether the government looks more closely at someone in bankruptcy for living on an excessive budget:

 

https://www.justice.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/20181101/bci_data/national_expense_standards.htm

 

https://www.justice.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/20181101/bci_data/IRS_Trans_Exp_Stds_MW.htm

 

https://www.justice.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/20181101/bci_data/housing_charts/irs_housing_charts_OH.htm

 

Those aren't a comprehensive set of every budget line item someone could have, of course (especially healthcare expenses).  But just to pull one item out of the set, the one you mentioned, a single individual in bankruptcy would need to spend more than $334/mo. on food before that category would raise any real red flags (and even then, over-budget items happen all the time).  It's kind of complicated, but baked into all those numbers (and the statutes that reference them) is the assumption that someone spending that level isn't particularly problematic even by the standards of people presumed to be financially struggling.

 

EDIT: With four in our household, our grocery bills for the month routinely top $1200, though of course "groceries" is more than just "food."

here's one way to save money on food

 

 

If you own a house, you need to add at minimum $200/mo (or roughly $20,000 per decade) for unexpected and long-term repairs.

If you own a car, even if it's paid off, you need to add at minimum $200/mo (Or roughly $20,000 per decade) for unexpected repairs and its eventual replacement.

If you are alive, you need to add $500/mo ($50,000) to save for unplanned expenses of all kinds -- medical, legal situations, travel to weddings, travel to funerals, time/off travel to help ill relatives.

If you are under 65, you need to add $1,000/mo at minimum for saving for retirement.

 

So most of these online budget items are ridiculous because they don't come close acknowledging how expensive non-monthly expenses are.  Instead of saving to attempt to pay cash for this stuff, people just borrow as these things come along.  So if your actual monthly expenses as a single person are $2,000, you really need to be budgeting another $2,000. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

I pay less than $30/month with Google' cell service.  And we - 2 of us - spend ~$400/month on groceries, but some of that is not actually groceries.

 

Also the dude makes $100k but spends $0 on traveling?

1 hour ago, eastvillagedon said:

 

a house cleaner? how bourgeois ?

 

we are very frugal in most areas so that we can afford some simple luxuries. 

1 minute ago, jmecklenborg said:

If you own a house, you need to add at minimum $200/mo (or roughly $20,000 per decade) for unexpected and long-term repairs.

If you own a car, even if it's paid off, you need to add at minimum $200/mo (Or roughly $20,000 per decade) for unexpected repairs and its eventual replacement.

If you are alive, you need to add $500/mo ($50,000) to save for unplanned expenses of all kinds -- medical, legal situations, travel to weddings, travel to funerals, time/off travel to help ill relatives.

If you are under 65, you need to add $1,000/mo at minimum for saving for retirement.

 

So most of these online budget items are ridiculous because they don't come close acknowledging how expensive non-monthly expenses are.  Instead of saving to attempt to pay cash for this stuff, people just borrow as these things come along.  So if your actual monthly expenses as a single person are $2,000, you really need to be budgeting another $2,000. 

 

This is supposedly what some random Boston bro spends.  It also says he saved about $43,000 in his IRA and brokerage account - about $20,000 of he estimates is liquid.

Just now, freefourur said:

 

we are very frugal in most areas so that we can afford some simple luxuries. 

 

We just bought a robot vac (on the low end) and spend less than $150 out on food each month.  The robot vac is bringing us so much more joy and value than constantly eating out.

Just now, DarkandStormy said:

 

We just bought a robot vac (on the low end) and spend less than $150 out on food each month.  The robot vac is bringing us so much more joy and value than constantly eating out.

A house cleaner brings me so much happiness. She comes every week and frees up our schedules on the weekend from doing deep cleaning.  

This piece illustrates the tremendous risk in abandoning a steady career to start a business:

 

This piece doesn't get into specifics, but it looks like she took a loan on her retirement to start the retail business, which was a huge mistake.  Unfortunately, all sorts of people pressure others into doing this.  For example, I have seen the Bigger Pockets guys encourage people to take loans on their retirement accounts to buy rental properties. 

 

Why Americans are suddenly paying $550 per month for new cars

 

 

The average price of vehicles hit an all-time high of more than $36,000 in 2018, according to Kelley Blue Book – and with interest rates rising, car shoppers are now borrowing more than ever and extending their loans to record lengths.

New-car buyers agreed to pay an average of $551 per month for 69 months in January, according to car-buying advice site Edmunds. That’s nearly 10 percent more per month than three years earlier.

 

Another tip: If you can’t afford a midsize SUV, for example, consider a midsize car. The price difference between the average midsize SUV and the average midsize car in January was $38,744 to $25,930, according to Kelley Blue Book.

 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2019/03/01/care-payments/3001818002/

 

 

Gee, I wonder why the automakers and car salespeople are so pushy with these SUVs that almost no one needs and are considered totally uncool by everyone except other SUV owners.

Edited March 7, 20196 yr by GCrites80s

Interesting piece which says inverted yield curves aren't good predictors of recessions. In fact they can be good times to invest....

 

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4251345-yield-curve-inversion-suggests-new-time-highs-stocks

32 minutes ago, KJP said:

Interesting piece which says inverted yield curves aren't good predictors of recessions. In fact they can be good times to invest....

 

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4251345-yield-curve-inversion-suggests-new-time-highs-stocks

 

I was also referencing consumer confidence indexes dropping for the 3rd or 4th time in as many months

^I say that Trump ruined retail by making foot traffic dry up in retail environments. It's too much uncertainty and a distraction to the general public. I remember that right around the 2016 election that all of a sudden there wasn't anyone in the malls. The foot traffic never recovered. 2013 to early 2016 were actually very strong times for B&M retail as compared to the previous 5 years and out of nowhere it was over. 

58 minutes ago, YABO713 said:

 

I was also referencing consumer confidence indexes dropping for the 3rd or 4th time in as many months

i saw that the other week too. It had been teetering that direction for a while. It pretty much falls in line with projections from back in 2016 where it said that approx 3rd/4th qtr 2019 we should start to see this and then a recession sometime in 2020.

On 3/7/2019 at 11:19 AM, GCrites80s said:

Why Americans are suddenly paying $550 per month for new cars

 

 

The average price of vehicles hit an all-time high of more than $36,000 in 2018, according to Kelley Blue Book – and with interest rates rising, car shoppers are now borrowing more than ever and extending their loans to record lengths.

New-car buyers agreed to pay an average of $551 per month for 69 months in January, according to car-buying advice site Edmunds. That’s nearly 10 percent more per month than three years earlier.

 

Another tip: If you can’t afford a midsize SUV, for example, consider a midsize car. The price difference between the average midsize SUV and the average midsize car in January was $38,744 to $25,930, according to Kelley Blue Book.

 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2019/03/01/care-payments/3001818002/

 

 

Gee, I wonder why the automakers and car salespeople are so pushy with these SUVs that almost no one needs and are considered totally uncool by everyone except other SUV owners.

 

 

I just saw a 2016 Ford Focus with 35,000 miles listed for $12,000.  That's basically a brand-new car, for 1/3 what an SUV costs. 

 

 

 

I bought a 2016 Civic with a bit fewer miles for 15K about a month ago. I had to pay the Honda Tax, but no more driving a 17mpg Colorado everywhere just because it was free.

ROFL I guess I'm part of that car stat, given what I paid for the Model 3.  The most expensive car I've ever purchased by a factor of 4.

 

On the brick & mortar issue, is this really anything beyond the continued growth of online retail?  Is that trend becoming so obvious that no one even comments on it anymore?

No. Online is still only 10 percent of retail. A decrease of 10 percent would not lead to a total destruction of the physical environment. Instead it's people not buying things at all.

It's really amazing looking at the used car listings.  And by used car, I mean used car, not SUV or crossover or whatever.  A brand-new Fiesta is like $19k, so some idiot just blew over $10,000 on a barely-driven car trading it in for who-knows-what.

 

 

Edited March 28, 20196 yr by jmecklenborg

On 3/7/2019 at 11:19 AM, GCrites80s said:

Why Americans are suddenly paying $550 per month for new cars

 

Yeah, and over 7 MILLION of them are 90 days or more behind on their payments! 4.5% of all car loan holders. I saw this a few weeks ago:

 

http://fortune.com/2019/02/12/americans-late-on-car-payments/

1 hour ago, aderwent said:

 

Yeah, and over 7 MILLION of them are 90 days or more behind on their payments! 4.5% of all car loan holders. I saw this a few weeks ago:

 

http://fortune.com/2019/02/12/americans-late-on-car-payments/

 

Thankfully it won't have the same impact on the economy, but predatory auto loan places have done essentially what the mortgage industry did from 1995-2007. I know of a law firm in Cleveland that has only two clients, both predatory lending dealerships - an office of 4 attorneys netted over $3 million last year alone in collections fees. 

7 hours ago, jmecklenborg said:

It's really amazing looking at the used car listings.  And by used car, I mean used car, not SUV or crossover or whatever.  A brand-new Fiesta is like $19k, so some idiot just blew over $10,000 on a barely-driven car trading it in for who-knows-what.

 

 

If I needed a car, I'd snatch up that Focus and drive it for 15 years.  

After seeing so many articles about how insanely huge the average new car loan was, it's shocking how little you actually have to spend to get a decent car. Like, you can buy a brand new VW Jetta for only $17K (pre tax).

10 minutes ago, StapHanger said:

After seeing so many articles about how insanely huge the average new car loan was, it's shocking how little you actually have to spend to get a decent car. Like, you can buy a brand new VW Jetta for only $17K (pre tax).

But how are you going to navigate the paved suburban and urban roads without a lifted off road SUV?

$70,680.00 Yikes:  https://www.josephchevrolet.com/VehicleDetails/new-2019-Chevrolet-Silverado_2500HD-Crew_Cab_Standard_Box_4_Wheel_Drive_LTZ-Cincinnati-OH/3386103873

 

Now compare that to the white 2500 HD and 3500 HD's (e.g. work trucks)

Edited March 28, 20196 yr by OldBearcat

32 minutes ago, freefourur said:

If I needed a car, I'd snatch up that Focus and drive it for 15 years.  

 

I have a 2012.  I bought it with 45k miles and it got to about 120k before it had any problems aside from replacing the brakes and tires and battery.  I'm now at 144k miles and the only two problems were the bad clutch at 120k and then a radiator hose leak at about 138k.  The hose leak was expensive because of all of the labor needed to take the whole thing apart to get to said hose. 

 

The "new" Focus that came out in 2011 has a manual transmission that is controlled by a computer, not a traditional hydraulic automatic.  That means it saved weight and got better gas mileage but at the expense of the jerky characteristics of a stick shift.  As a result tons of people traded in the car soon after buying them, so there are tons of good used ones on the market. 

 

When the clutch goes out, Ford replaces the shifting computer module as a warranty repair which completely eliminates the jerking characteristics.  It probably gets 1-2 less mpg after the switch. 

 

 

21 minutes ago, OldBearcat said:

$70,680.00 Yikes:  https://www.josephchevrolet.com/VehicleDetails/new-2019-Chevrolet-Silverado_2500HD-Crew_Cab_Standard_Box_4_Wheel_Drive_LTZ-Cincinnati-OH/3386103873

 

Now compare that to the white 2500 HD and 3500 HD's (e.g. work trucks)

 

All the new full-size trucks look like boilers that just drove out of the basement of a 1920s schoolhouse.

10 hours ago, GCrites80s said:

No. Online is still only 10 percent of retail. A decrease of 10 percent would not lead to a total destruction of the physical environment. Instead it's people not buying things at all.

 

Go to Easton (in Columbus) on literally any Saturday.

1 hour ago, freefourur said:

If I needed a car, I'd snatch up that Focus and drive it for 15 years.  

 

If I were planning on driving a car for 15 years it wouldn't be an American car.  YMMV.

Just now, DarkandStormy said:

 

If I were planning on driving a car for 15 years it wouldn't be an American car.  YMMV.

Ford has come a long way in reliability. But I have a foreign car now which is 12 years old and runs great. 

12 hours ago, GCrites80s said:

^I say that Trump ruined retail by making foot traffic dry up in retail environments. It's too much uncertainty and a distraction to the general public. I remember that right around the 2016 election that all of a sudden there wasn't anyone in the malls. The foot traffic never recovered. 2013 to early 2016 were actually very strong times for B&M retail as compared to the previous 5 years and out of nowhere it was over. 

 

I'm not sure I see the correlation (causation even) that Trump ruined retail.

 

I can really only speak to personal experience & observation, but a lot of people I know are buying things online and returning either via UPS or B&M stores instead of going to stores and taking a look at whatever product they're considering.  It's not 100% Amazon either.  It's more of the convenience of clicking a few buttons and having items to try out in a few days.  I don't think that means retail is dead - at least here in Columbus, big suburban malls like Easton and Polaris are seemingly always packed.