Post: #26

Enjoyed reading through this post and everyone's insights.

Suggestion #1 - After you pay your debt down, don't cancel your credit cards because that will mess with your FICO score by lowering your Average Age of Accounts. Just put them in the sockdrawer and let your accounts age to build up good credit. Also, do 100% open up a charge card: its like a credit card but you pay the balance off every month - you get a bunch of travel benefits, extended warranty, refunds, etc. (look at Amex green) It will also prevent you from going into the red because you will know that you need to pay off the bill at the end of the month, and as a result you will always be careful about spending. It will force you to learn to manage your finances. Link the charge card card to pull the balance from your bank account at the end of each billing statement and treat it as a debit card. Then link the charge card up to mint.com to scrutinize your finances. Put all your spending through the card. This will also help you build up your credit which is probably not so great considering you had a lot of debt.

Suggestion #2 - I got into a dumb habit of spending my money on a lot of stuff that I did not need. Stuff that I wanted, but of course, stuff that I did not really NEED (new jeans, new tv, new mouse, plants for my house, food at whole foods instead of costco). To try to solve this problem, I decided that no matter what, I will put 1/3 of my pay check into savings, no discussions! However, I still found that I then pulled money back out of the savings account to pay for stuff. What I did to get back on track was the second that I got my paycheck I took 1/3 and locked that shit down into a CD for a minimum of 1 year. That way, I knew there was no way that I could touch it. Right now I have a LOT of CDs with a LOT of banks, but the amount of money I saved this way is very significant.

Suggestion #3. Join a credit union and stick with them - they will offer you the best rates on loans etc. In the future when you want to buy a car goto the credit union and set up your financing before you goto the dealership. Also note that a lot of credit unions have free counseling for finance management. I have never attended but I think it could be beneficial.

CD I recommend: https://personalsavings.americanexpress....gs-PS000CD (I love amex customer service, I think they are the best compared to all banks as they need to compensate with amazing service because they lack physical branches)

Charge card I recommend: https://www304.americanexpress.com/credit-card/green You may want to cancel this after the first year to avoid being hit by the annual fee, and then by then, once your credit is much better, get a better card.

Post: #27

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Post: #28

Credit cards are useful for point as long as you can manage them.

I use two and take advantage of their points system, pay every single thing on them, pay the bill every week.

That way one doesn't go into debt, you get something out of it, and improve your score.

Annual 80 bucks fee is nothing if you're getting 600-800 in reward per year without paying interest.

Post: #29

Sounds like you're on the right track.

I have a bit of a love hate thing with David Ramsey. Most of his advice is good in a general sense but it's not always well founded and may not suit your particular situation. Check out http://badmoneyadvice.com/2009/04/first-...l#more-182 for a critique of some of his advice.

Post: #30

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Post: #31

Great job man. Really quick turn around.

I need something like Dave Ramsey for people who work online and needing the motivation to wake up early in the morning, get moving and get shit done. I'm fucking up left and right.

Post: #32

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Post: #33

Cut out all shit you don't need. It sounds trivial, cliched and old as the hills, but if you look after the pennies the pounds will look after themselves.

I ride a motorcycle everywhere even though I have three vehicles at work. Why? It's fucking cheap.

I can't remember the last time I bought take-away food. I cook everything (simple shit like fried greens and scrambled eggs) from scratch.

I'd go with the cheapest apartment you can find.

Post: #34

Can the surgery wait or is it mandatory? Thats a bind - ideally you would look for a new job now, and use your sick days to goto interviews and network.

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Post: #36

I'll add that I have a Secret clearance. I know these clearances are valuable but I'm not sure how to leverage it.

Post: #37

Not everywhere needs a lease. Some landlords are just happy to see cash put in their hand the first day of the month, or even the first day of the week. In fact it has a lot of advantages - if the deal isn't working for either of you you can walk away (so both you and the landlord have more incentive to behave), and there is no massive contract bullshit to read through. I assume the landlord also benefits 'for tax reasons'. You can often get good prices too. Look in whatever the classifieds are in your country (craigslist?). There are many people in the reverse situation - i.e. they are going overseas for 2 months and want to cover their rent by re-letting their room, or a landlord is trying to fill a 1 month gap between tenant leases etc.

Post: #38

(04-04-2015 11:02 AM)Checkmat Wrote:  I think I'm going to keep the car. It's a big fat piece of debt ($500/mo) but it will let me continue to drive for Lyft and make a decent wage full-time after the layoff.

That's cool mate, that's a business expense. I only used a motorbike as an example of how to save cash.

I justify everything I buy as a business expense. I always work out where the 'sweet spot' in it's price range is. Everything has a point where it won't depreciate much further and is perfectly useable as it is. Buy stuff at that point and your money will go much further.

Post: #39

https:www.clearancejobs.com

Lots of guys can't get clearances, check them out before they get a chance to dismiss you. I was a PRP manager in another life....

Post: #40

A lot of good info in this thread. Allow me to add these pearls of wisdom:

1. Track your expenses every month, both fixed and variable.
2. Develop a budget for fixed and variable expenses and stick to it.
3. Ditch the car payment, buy a used Honda Accord outright, and use the money you save on monthly payment and insurance to start an emergency fund.
4. Put every extra dollar you have in the emergency fund until you have six months living expenses saved up.

Post: #41

Yeah as a single guy making 60k a year you really shouldn't be in debt but heck we've all done that when were young, I know I did although I was making significantly less than you.

Hindsight 20/20 but I would have waited to buy all that furntire until you were established, I was sleeping on 4" thick ikea pad on the floor for a few years because I knew I shouldn't go buy a 2k bed.

That said the interest is kind of high but I guess will be for a personal loan for a young person probably without a long credit history.

Something you may want to try, it's been years so I forgot how it worked but I bought a CD and then used the CD as collateral on the loan I believe and got a much better rate. I paid off the loan long before the cd came due.

Post: #42

(01-31-2015 08:09 PM)Checkmat Wrote:  I asked my dad for advice, and he told me that I make enough money that I shouldn't be in debt in the first place. Fair enough.

Your old man is right. When I made HALF your income I had no debt. And that's living in expensive ass LA.

If you need to get out of debt fast and you have decent credit here's the solution.

1) Get the Chase Slate card. It's the only major card I'm aware of that offers no balance transfer fee. They also have an introductory zero interest period which I think is 15 months. Transfer all your debt to that card. You then have 15 months to pay it off with ZERO interest.

2) If you can't get the Chase Slate card, go for the Bank of America mastercard. They have a zero interest period that's 18 months. Though they charge a balance transfer fee.

If you are making 80k a year you should be able to pay those debts off well before the zero interest term expires.

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One more thing I forgot to say is that it's always imperative to build a good credit score and keep it at all cost. Once you have good credit, there's no reason you should EVER have to pay interest on credit cards again. My score is over 700 and my mailbox is flooded with credit card offers on a daily basis. These cards will usually have that zero interest for 6 months to 18 months. If you just need to make make consumer purchases try to make them on zero interest cards with a long period of time to pay off before interest kicks in. And when the zero interest period is done, cancel the card and sign up for a new one with zero interest. There's no need for a person with good interest to EVER pay interest on credit cards.

Post: #43

^^^
Canceling credit cards means you bring down your average account age which is an input into your credit score calculation. If you want to get an 800 credit score in your lifetime, don't make it a habit.

I think the verdict is that it's better to cut your cards into pieces and keep the accounts going (as long as no fees are involved)...or, just don't get more cards than you need.

Post: #44

(04-14-2015 03:54 PM)polar Wrote:  ^^^
Canceling credit cards means you bring down your average account age which is an input into your credit score calculation. If you want to get an 800 credit score in your lifetime, don't make it a habit.

I think the verdict is that it's better to cut your cards into pieces and keep the accounts going (as long as no fees are involved)...or, just don't get more cards than you need.

True. But cancelling a card will allow you to sign up again in two years and get that zero interest deal again. So if you have a couple of cards you can rotate like this you can avoid paying interesting for purchases. You can still keep a bunch of other accounts open to boost the credit score.

Post: #45

(04-14-2015 04:30 PM)speakeasy Wrote:  

(04-14-2015 03:54 PM)polar Wrote:  ^^^
Canceling credit cards means you bring down your average account age which is an input into your credit score calculation. If you want to get an 800 credit score in your lifetime, don't make it a habit.

I think the verdict is that it's better to cut your cards into pieces and keep the accounts going (as long as no fees are involved)...or, just don't get more cards than you need.

True. But cancelling a card will allow you to sign up again in two years and get that zero interest deal again. So if you have a couple of cards you can rotate like this you can avoid paying interesting for purchases. You can still keep a bunch of other accounts open to boost the credit score.

Interesting perspective. That being said, per Capital One's credit score monitoring app, that portion of the credit score formula maxes out at an average age of 10 years. Doing that rollover therefore most likely only makes financial sense if 1) you're young and have low average ages on your cards already, 2) you for some reason NEED to live off your credit cards...but if both of these are the case, how likely are you to (re)qualify for such credit card offers in the first place?

It's an interesting idea but needs more research...your mileage may vary.