is in direct alignment with your calculations about income. Is it not better for you to sell MORE $200,000 homes than to sell less $210,000 homes. The extra amount you would presonally get from making a home sell for more money is so small, it's not worth the effort. As Levitt says, better to sell more homes than to sell less homes for slightly more money. Your own math has just proven that I believe. And a lot of real estate these days is selling for way more than $200k. How many homes $400k homes would you need to sell to make a decent wage? Or $550k homes?
We are now in our 23rd year as renters. Just typing that makes me sick. At first, it was because we had a total of five lay-offs in the first seven years we were married. Then, interest rates were at 12-17%. Now, we can afford the interest rates, but housing has doubled or tripled in price and our income has not. Even if we could get a house now--and we can't--, we'd probably be dead before a 30-year mortgage is up. I feel like the biggest idiot/loser on Earth.
I am a Realtor, and I do what is best for my clients. I think it is wrong to make a generalization like this about real estate agents.
If I list a house for a seller, I consult with them up front to find out what their expectations are, as should any good agent. If the market conditions say that their home is worth $225K to $230K and the average days on market to achieve that price is 60, and they want $235K in 30 days, I explain to them how this is not possible, and why. They should choose what is most important in their situation, moving in 30 days, or getting the absolute maximum amount for their home. If they want to sell in 30 days or less, they should price it according to the market. If they don't have a certain timeframe, it might be OK to list at $235K , keeping in mind that if an offer of $225K is made and they turn it down, it may be a long time (or never) until another offer comes along, and there are no guarantees the next offer will be any better. Ever heard the saying "a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush"?
My concern is not with how quickly the home sells, but just that it sells in the timeframe the client expects,and within fair market value. I don't want anyone to give their home away, but I also know that the first few weeks after putting a home on the market are your best chances of getting a sale, as that is when you will get the highest amount of potential buyers looking at the home. The problem you run into when pricing a home too high is that you eventually have to come down if it doesn't sell. When a home has sat on the market for a long period of time is when people will start throwing "low-ball" offers at you.
If a seller wants to "play the market" at 10% higher price than fair market value, and has no motivation to move, I'm not going to list their home. Why? Not because I want "quick" cash, but because I spend a lot of time and money on advertising the home, with no guarantee of a sale. Overpricing the home of an unmotivated seller greatly reduces my chances of recouping my time and money spent. On the typical $200K home here in the Tulsa, OK area, I spend approximately $500-$800 in marketing costs UP FRONT on a listing, not including things like my license fees, MLS key fees, sign costs, insurance, etc. As a business person, you have to spend money to make money, but you also have to choose your opportunities wisely. I don't mind waiting 60, 90, or even 120 days to be paid on the sale if it means making the seller a little more money, but I do eventually want to be paid. Wouldn't you?
While we're on the subject, let me enlighten you as to how much money real estate agents ACTUALLY make on a sale. OK, on a $200K home listed at 5.5% commission (2.5% seller agent, 3% buyer agent) the sales commission is $5000. Sounds like a lot right? OK, from that $5K, if you're on a 60/40 split with the broker (fairly common), now you as an agent have $3000. Still not bad, huh? But, you have to pay taxes/social security on this amount, let's say 20% (low), that leaves around $2400. Oh, then you have the $500-$800 marketing costs mentioned above, let's say $700 for this scenario, leaving you $1700. OK, now factor in all the other costs above (MLS fees, signs, keyboxes, vehicle, gas, insurance, etc.) and you have approx. $1300 left over to take care of your family. If it takes you one month to sell a house, and you net $1300, not so impressive, huh? So, to net just $50,000 in a year, you only have to sell 40 or so $200,000 homes. That should be a cakewalk, right?
Don't get me wrong, I think a lot of agents have put this perception on themselves. I just wish more of the public knew the real story about how much money their agent makes.
Although I do fess up to a multitude of financial mistakes in my 34 years of life… the one that really hurt the worst was leasing a VW Jetta. My husband, graduated from college and after 2 years of working at jobs that were stepping stones to have experience in his field, he was offered a prestigious job in which we needed to move from Louisiana to Colorado. Our 1st car was a paid off 8 year old Honda Civic that still ran well but was a 2 door; which made it hard to buckle our babies in the back seat. On a high from landing what appeared to be a dream job, in a dream location, equipped with a dream salary we leased the Jetta to be able to have a better car than we could in actuality afford… trading in our very paid off… very reliable Civic and gladly accepting an additional $289 month lease.
The job turned out to be the worst ever and caused my husband such horrible mental anguish; in which he was contemplating suicide daily. I had just gotten a job that paid half of what his salary was but convinced him to quit his “nightmare dream” job as I was sure he could get something better soon and we had my pay to fall back on. It took almost a year for him to find another job and my pay wasn’t nearly enough to continue making payments on the lease. We were able to get a clunker to get around in and I called the leasing company advised them of our financial hardship ahead of time and advised they should pick up the car as we were no longer able to afford the lease. They did pick up the car, charged us the price of the car brand new, put it on our credit report as a default and then sold our car to get double $$ on it. We had to pay off the default amount and have it on our credit for over 7 years because they keep it on your report 7 years after your last payment is made… Our credit has been in the toilet because of this bad decision and once you have a serious mark on there like that; it is hard to bring up your score. In hindsight… we should have kept the Civic, after all it was no payments required.
Can you expand please, because I'm lost here. If, as you say, the movie theater makes its money from food and not from tickets, surely it's better to sneak into a movie (which is already a loss leader) than to sneak your own food in (which is where they actually make their money). You're stealing less from the theater in this scenario than in your example.
I second Guest 76's take on the cut-n-buy. Why on earth would I pay for the inedible parts of the produce if I'm being charged by the pound? When you cook asparagus you should snap all the ends off before throwing them in the pot. If I'm cooking the asparagus that night, I'll snap the ends off in the store (if I'm paying by the pound and especially if it's a big-box grocery store). Why should I pay for it?
I have been an FTE once for 2.5 years, and I have been a contractor for the other 16 years of my career, I have so much more fun as a contractor. Although I have to admit that it is not for everyone, there is a lot of uncertanty in the process. People have to decide if it will work for them.
1. Sneak into a movie?
Sneaking into a movie is wrong, sneaking food in is ok.
Movie theatres will say you shouldn't do this because they have cheap tickets as a loss leader, and the food and drink to make profit. In other words they are trying to manipulate you into spending more than you expect. I have little sympathy for them when it backfires
2. Download music online? For free? Is it stealing?
Mainly I download free samples, and then go on to spend a lot more on CDs than I would otherwise.
I think it is ethical (though not legal) to download stuff you couldn't reasonably obtain (mainly I mean out of print stuff. Grossly overpriced stuff - like the one new track on a £15 best of CD - may also apply)
5. Keep the incorrect change?
The last time this happened was a few days after I found a ten pound note on the floor. I gave them back the correct change and thought that if things had happened backwards that would ahve been good karma.
6. Underpay if you are undercharged?
If you notice at the time then tell them. If you have gotten home and aren't intending to go back then you aren't obliged to give your time for their mistake.
8. Scalp tickets?
It's ok to sell the odd pair of unused tickets for a friend (you are saving them money buying them more expensively from a professionla tout, and also taking business away from a professional tout)
9. Accept freebies for listening to a timeshare spiel?
Absolutely. They are paying for your time
10. Expense a non-business dinner?
Not without permission
11. Treat the medicine cabinet at work as your own free pharmacy?
Use what you need at work, but don't take anything home
13. Go grocery sampling?
Fine. It costs the store very little, and overall they make a profit from this
14. Cut-n-buy?
Why not tear the leaves off of the carrots? By selling the carrots by-the-pound with inedible bits they are ripping you off. Don't stand for it
17. Sell your neighbor's garbage?
Don't go through your neighbours rubbish. It's creepy, and the cost to them in terms of feelings of violation is far more than the benefit to you.
It would be ok to take something from a skip though (is this just a UK thing - they tend to be full of furntiure and the like, from a house that is being refurbished or demolished, which is much less personal than normal rubbish)
Gal says 'I guess these all boil down to "are you following the rules of the establishment you're dealing with?" If you are, then it's ok.'
This assumes the establishment is behaving ethically, which isn't usually the case.
This will be quite a long post, because I feel that most financial mistakes are really a series, or process of mistakes, that lead onto each other and compound the ill effects of each.
What follows is the story of the mistakes I made in the first few years of my post-high school life, in the related areas of university, work and lifestyle. I'm only just beginning to fix the damage now, almost ten years after I began sabotaging myself.
(Note: this all takes place in New Zealand, so some specifics my be alien to global readers, but the wider lessons are the same).
1) I finished high school and went straight to university, just like all my friends. The thing is, I didn't really know what I wanted to do, so what I did do (a B.A. in English and Media Studies), I did in a half-assed way, scraping by with Bs and Cs in my first year and a half.
2) I financed this first year and a half with my student loan: fees, books, living costs... not to mention the TV, VCR, skateboard, designer clothes, beer...
3) I also moved out of my parent's home at the first opportunity. I had a great time living independently, but I spent money I didn't have on rent, food, utilities etc.
4) Realizing I hated university, I dropped out and went to work. Not a bad decision in itself, but I now had half a degree and a hefty loan, which was interest free while I was studying, but started ticking over as soon as I left university.
5) I spent the next five years working in a variety of dead end, but enjoyable and reasonably well-paying jobs. I didn't save a cent, but instead got a credit card and maxed that out. CDs and books mostly (many off amazon, which is not a cheap option when you're shipping to New Zealand), and plenty of beer, of course.
6) In addition to my spending, I payed only the compulsory minimum payments on my loan. With the balance I had, this less than the interest and so it continued to grow. With the income I was on I could have paid the loan off in a year or two, but it never even occurred to me. I pretended the loan didn't exist.
So there I was, five years out of high school, with half a degree, a large and growing loan, credit card debt, hyper-consumerist habits, and a willfully ignorant financial outlook.
This was three years ago. Since then I've educated myself in financial matters, reversed my lifestyle from consumerist to frugalist, aggressively paid my debt and started investing, and finished my degree (and finished it well: straight As and scholarships). I'm looking forward to further study in a field I'm excited about (Museum Studies), and with a newfound solid and secure financial outlook.
I owe it all to three things: my fiancee, who inspired me to become a worthwhile husband and future father; my local and university libraries, which provided my financial education; and blogs such as this one, which provide me with ongoing education, inspiration, and assurance that I'm - finally - on the right track.
My worst financial mistake - that I made twice (!) was to buy a timeshare. Yes, we fell for the high pressure sales tactics that are too good to be true and now are stuck paying an ever rising payment each year, that now that we learned to be frugal costs more than we would be spending on a vacation anyway. Plus we can't go to the places we want either because they aren't included or we never reserve them fast enough. Don't ever believe a salesperson who tells you that he will rent your timeshare for you so that you will make up the purchase price in the first year!
I sew a lot and it can definitely save money if you are into the designer look. If you are happy with mega-mart clothes, chances are they will be cheaper than quality fabric.
Any working person today who believes that their job is totally secure is a fool. Even if you own the company, you can be blindsided by competition and regulation. So, it’s important that you be aware of changes in your work relationships and environment.
Many people ignore these signs and they are shocked when the hammer falls.
I wish our local culinary school had a full time restaurant. My family would be frequent visitors. Another thing to watch out for are open houses and special events. Our local school does do both of these. Open houses usually provide a wide selection of appetizers and some local wineries occasionally donate wine for tasting. Our local school only does full meals for special events like fund raisers, but they put on a nice party with some good food at a good price.
I made this one, too-sure wish someone would have explained this to me! My loans were at 3.5% and I came into a lump of cash-put it all on the student loans. Fast forward six years, and after a stint in the workforce I'm in grad school borrowing like I'll never have to pay it back, at 6.8%.
P.S. Everybody keep posting dumb grad school financing mistakes-I love the cold, scared feeling they give me.
but does it have to be just 'yup?' It doesn't have to be a book, just a sentence expanding on your 'yup.' Like "Yup, Richard totally nailed it with points a,b and c. Excellent post."
Here's a question: let's say you read a post, have some observations or responses, and then a comment previous to yours totally nail it - says everything you were thinking and more eloquently than you would have. So as not to beat a dead horse and repeat the points, wouldn't it be preferable to say, "Yup," or "What Steve said," to just nodding to yourself and lurking?
I kind of feel like a chorus of one-word "yes" votes can be welcome and valuable, at the very least so the poster or commenter isn't left hanging, wondering if they were going way out on a limb. Maybe disagreement needs to be explained, but agreement, less so. I think I'd rather get a "Right on, sister" than no acknowledgement. Then again, I travel in low-traffic circles.
Anyway. Fun post. For some reason I found it really funny that you spelled it "Bologna." rather than "Baloney!"
This is a great discussion - all the facets of it - and as the media cover it more I hope it proliferates. I agree with Andrea that a reflexive "buy American" policy is not necessarily the point, but that the question really is one of changing our culture to one that values quality over quantity. The self-esteem movement notwithstanding, it seems like we've moved away from genuine pride in ourselves and respect for one another to some core insecurity which drives this crazy, competitive consumption.
As I mentioned to a friend after coming back from a weekend in a tourist town in Mexico - the place was bursting with useless, soon-to-be-thrown-away souvenir-type crap - the sheer waste of it broke my heart: surely they wouldn't be making the crappy crap if people weren't buying it.
The disrespect the tourists appeared to have of the local culture and local pride saddened me, but the disrespect went both ways: the shopkeepers clearly believed we wanted the junk they were selling.
I'd love to think this mutual disrespect could be replaced by what Andrea alludes to, a renewed sense of national (or simply individual) pride on everyone's part. It's difficult, though, to picture big, corporate manufacturers taking this kind of pride - there's no connection anymore between the management and the product.
The obvious disrespect of importers essentially selling the U.S. poisons and garbage *as food* is chilling and might require more drastic steps, possibly government intervention. (I recently posted a link to an interview with an ex-FDA commissioner and questioned whether at the very least we could mandate food manufacturers to identify the source of their ingredients on their labels.)
But bottom line, perhaps, is for individuals to have a little pride, and to choose not to hang crap on their backs, or to put crap in their mouths; to understand the difference between fashion and style; and to understand how much power we each have in the global economy. (We're just starting to 'get' how much impact we can have individually on the global environment, so maybe the shift is possible.)
I know - easy to say when you have the money to make those choices, but just as somebody's got to buy the first roll of overpriced Recycled Toilet Paper to develop the market for environmentally conscious goods, maybe those among us who can afford to opt for smaller tailors, local produce and all the rest of it can pave the way for these opportunities to become real for everyone.
is in direct alignment with your calculations about income. Is it not better for you to sell MORE $200,000 homes than to sell less $210,000 homes. The extra amount you would presonally get from making a home sell for more money is so small, it's not worth the effort. As Levitt says, better to sell more homes than to sell less homes for slightly more money. Your own math has just proven that I believe. And a lot of real estate these days is selling for way more than $200k. How many homes $400k homes would you need to sell to make a decent wage? Or $550k homes?
We are now in our 23rd year as renters. Just typing that makes me sick. At first, it was because we had a total of five lay-offs in the first seven years we were married. Then, interest rates were at 12-17%. Now, we can afford the interest rates, but housing has doubled or tripled in price and our income has not. Even if we could get a house now--and we can't--, we'd probably be dead before a 30-year mortgage is up. I feel like the biggest idiot/loser on Earth.
I am a Realtor, and I do what is best for my clients. I think it is wrong to make a generalization like this about real estate agents.
If I list a house for a seller, I consult with them up front to find out what their expectations are, as should any good agent. If the market conditions say that their home is worth $225K to $230K and the average days on market to achieve that price is 60, and they want $235K in 30 days, I explain to them how this is not possible, and why. They should choose what is most important in their situation, moving in 30 days, or getting the absolute maximum amount for their home. If they want to sell in 30 days or less, they should price it according to the market. If they don't have a certain timeframe, it might be OK to list at $235K , keeping in mind that if an offer of $225K is made and they turn it down, it may be a long time (or never) until another offer comes along, and there are no guarantees the next offer will be any better. Ever heard the saying "a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush"?
My concern is not with how quickly the home sells, but just that it sells in the timeframe the client expects,and within fair market value. I don't want anyone to give their home away, but I also know that the first few weeks after putting a home on the market are your best chances of getting a sale, as that is when you will get the highest amount of potential buyers looking at the home. The problem you run into when pricing a home too high is that you eventually have to come down if it doesn't sell. When a home has sat on the market for a long period of time is when people will start throwing "low-ball" offers at you.
If a seller wants to "play the market" at 10% higher price than fair market value, and has no motivation to move, I'm not going to list their home. Why? Not because I want "quick" cash, but because I spend a lot of time and money on advertising the home, with no guarantee of a sale. Overpricing the home of an unmotivated seller greatly reduces my chances of recouping my time and money spent. On the typical $200K home here in the Tulsa, OK area, I spend approximately $500-$800 in marketing costs UP FRONT on a listing, not including things like my license fees, MLS key fees, sign costs, insurance, etc. As a business person, you have to spend money to make money, but you also have to choose your opportunities wisely. I don't mind waiting 60, 90, or even 120 days to be paid on the sale if it means making the seller a little more money, but I do eventually want to be paid. Wouldn't you?
While we're on the subject, let me enlighten you as to how much money real estate agents ACTUALLY make on a sale. OK, on a $200K home listed at 5.5% commission (2.5% seller agent, 3% buyer agent) the sales commission is $5000. Sounds like a lot right? OK, from that $5K, if you're on a 60/40 split with the broker (fairly common), now you as an agent have $3000. Still not bad, huh? But, you have to pay taxes/social security on this amount, let's say 20% (low), that leaves around $2400. Oh, then you have the $500-$800 marketing costs mentioned above, let's say $700 for this scenario, leaving you $1700. OK, now factor in all the other costs above (MLS fees, signs, keyboxes, vehicle, gas, insurance, etc.) and you have approx. $1300 left over to take care of your family. If it takes you one month to sell a house, and you net $1300, not so impressive, huh? So, to net just $50,000 in a year, you only have to sell 40 or so $200,000 homes. That should be a cakewalk, right?
Don't get me wrong, I think a lot of agents have put this perception on themselves. I just wish more of the public knew the real story about how much money their agent makes.
For those of us plus-size girls, Lane Bryant has great wedding dress for under $200.
Although I do fess up to a multitude of financial mistakes in my 34 years of life… the one that really hurt the worst was leasing a VW Jetta. My husband, graduated from college and after 2 years of working at jobs that were stepping stones to have experience in his field, he was offered a prestigious job in which we needed to move from Louisiana to Colorado. Our 1st car was a paid off 8 year old Honda Civic that still ran well but was a 2 door; which made it hard to buckle our babies in the back seat. On a high from landing what appeared to be a dream job, in a dream location, equipped with a dream salary we leased the Jetta to be able to have a better car than we could in actuality afford… trading in our very paid off… very reliable Civic and gladly accepting an additional $289 month lease.
The job turned out to be the worst ever and caused my husband such horrible mental anguish; in which he was contemplating suicide daily. I had just gotten a job that paid half of what his salary was but convinced him to quit his “nightmare dream” job as I was sure he could get something better soon and we had my pay to fall back on. It took almost a year for him to find another job and my pay wasn’t nearly enough to continue making payments on the lease. We were able to get a clunker to get around in and I called the leasing company advised them of our financial hardship ahead of time and advised they should pick up the car as we were no longer able to afford the lease. They did pick up the car, charged us the price of the car brand new, put it on our credit report as a default and then sold our car to get double $$ on it. We had to pay off the default amount and have it on our credit for over 7 years because they keep it on your report 7 years after your last payment is made… Our credit has been in the toilet because of this bad decision and once you have a serious mark on there like that; it is hard to bring up your score. In hindsight… we should have kept the Civic, after all it was no payments required.
The last video he touched it with his mouth.
Can you expand please, because I'm lost here. If, as you say, the movie theater makes its money from food and not from tickets, surely it's better to sneak into a movie (which is already a loss leader) than to sneak your own food in (which is where they actually make their money). You're stealing less from the theater in this scenario than in your example.
I second Guest 76's take on the cut-n-buy. Why on earth would I pay for the inedible parts of the produce if I'm being charged by the pound? When you cook asparagus you should snap all the ends off before throwing them in the pot. If I'm cooking the asparagus that night, I'll snap the ends off in the store (if I'm paying by the pound and especially if it's a big-box grocery store). Why should I pay for it?
I have been an FTE once for 2.5 years, and I have been a contractor for the other 16 years of my career, I have so much more fun as a contractor. Although I have to admit that it is not for everyone, there is a lot of uncertanty in the process. People have to decide if it will work for them.
1. Sneak into a movie?
Sneaking into a movie is wrong, sneaking food in is ok.
Movie theatres will say you shouldn't do this because they have cheap tickets as a loss leader, and the food and drink to make profit. In other words they are trying to manipulate you into spending more than you expect. I have little sympathy for them when it backfires
2. Download music online? For free? Is it stealing?
Mainly I download free samples, and then go on to spend a lot more on CDs than I would otherwise.
I think it is ethical (though not legal) to download stuff you couldn't reasonably obtain (mainly I mean out of print stuff. Grossly overpriced stuff - like the one new track on a £15 best of CD - may also apply)
5. Keep the incorrect change?
The last time this happened was a few days after I found a ten pound note on the floor. I gave them back the correct change and thought that if things had happened backwards that would ahve been good karma.
6. Underpay if you are undercharged?
If you notice at the time then tell them. If you have gotten home and aren't intending to go back then you aren't obliged to give your time for their mistake.
8. Scalp tickets?
It's ok to sell the odd pair of unused tickets for a friend (you are saving them money buying them more expensively from a professionla tout, and also taking business away from a professional tout)
9. Accept freebies for listening to a timeshare spiel?
Absolutely. They are paying for your time
10. Expense a non-business dinner?
Not without permission
11. Treat the medicine cabinet at work as your own free pharmacy?
Use what you need at work, but don't take anything home
13. Go grocery sampling?
Fine. It costs the store very little, and overall they make a profit from this
14. Cut-n-buy?
Why not tear the leaves off of the carrots? By selling the carrots by-the-pound with inedible bits they are ripping you off. Don't stand for it
17. Sell your neighbor's garbage?
Don't go through your neighbours rubbish. It's creepy, and the cost to them in terms of feelings of violation is far more than the benefit to you.
It would be ok to take something from a skip though (is this just a UK thing - they tend to be full of furntiure and the like, from a house that is being refurbished or demolished, which is much less personal than normal rubbish)
Gal says 'I guess these all boil down to "are you following the rules of the establishment you're dealing with?" If you are, then it's ok.'
This assumes the establishment is behaving ethically, which isn't usually the case.
I lead a study group and I need to learn a lot about speaking in front of groups. Thanks for the tip!
I was planning on doing an interview with my dad for an upcoming blog post.
This will be quite a long post, because I feel that most financial mistakes are really a series, or process of mistakes, that lead onto each other and compound the ill effects of each.
What follows is the story of the mistakes I made in the first few years of my post-high school life, in the related areas of university, work and lifestyle. I'm only just beginning to fix the damage now, almost ten years after I began sabotaging myself.
(Note: this all takes place in New Zealand, so some specifics my be alien to global readers, but the wider lessons are the same).
1) I finished high school and went straight to university, just like all my friends. The thing is, I didn't really know what I wanted to do, so what I did do (a B.A. in English and Media Studies), I did in a half-assed way, scraping by with Bs and Cs in my first year and a half.
2) I financed this first year and a half with my student loan: fees, books, living costs... not to mention the TV, VCR, skateboard, designer clothes, beer...
3) I also moved out of my parent's home at the first opportunity. I had a great time living independently, but I spent money I didn't have on rent, food, utilities etc.
4) Realizing I hated university, I dropped out and went to work. Not a bad decision in itself, but I now had half a degree and a hefty loan, which was interest free while I was studying, but started ticking over as soon as I left university.
5) I spent the next five years working in a variety of dead end, but enjoyable and reasonably well-paying jobs. I didn't save a cent, but instead got a credit card and maxed that out. CDs and books mostly (many off amazon, which is not a cheap option when you're shipping to New Zealand), and plenty of beer, of course.
6) In addition to my spending, I payed only the compulsory minimum payments on my loan. With the balance I had, this less than the interest and so it continued to grow. With the income I was on I could have paid the loan off in a year or two, but it never even occurred to me. I pretended the loan didn't exist.
So there I was, five years out of high school, with half a degree, a large and growing loan, credit card debt, hyper-consumerist habits, and a willfully ignorant financial outlook.
This was three years ago. Since then I've educated myself in financial matters, reversed my lifestyle from consumerist to frugalist, aggressively paid my debt and started investing, and finished my degree (and finished it well: straight As and scholarships). I'm looking forward to further study in a field I'm excited about (Museum Studies), and with a newfound solid and secure financial outlook.
I owe it all to three things: my fiancee, who inspired me to become a worthwhile husband and future father; my local and university libraries, which provided my financial education; and blogs such as this one, which provide me with ongoing education, inspiration, and assurance that I'm - finally - on the right track.
My worst financial mistake - that I made twice (!) was to buy a timeshare. Yes, we fell for the high pressure sales tactics that are too good to be true and now are stuck paying an ever rising payment each year, that now that we learned to be frugal costs more than we would be spending on a vacation anyway. Plus we can't go to the places we want either because they aren't included or we never reserve them fast enough. Don't ever believe a salesperson who tells you that he will rent your timeshare for you so that you will make up the purchase price in the first year!
I sew a lot and it can definitely save money if you are into the designer look. If you are happy with mega-mart clothes, chances are they will be cheaper than quality fabric.
Any working person today who believes that their job is totally secure is a fool. Even if you own the company, you can be blindsided by competition and regulation. So, it’s important that you be aware of changes in your work relationships and environment.
Many people ignore these signs and they are shocked when the hammer falls.
That's a great idea - I never thought of an interview as being something gift-like, but that would be something to treasure.
I wish our local culinary school had a full time restaurant. My family would be frequent visitors. Another thing to watch out for are open houses and special events. Our local school does do both of these. Open houses usually provide a wide selection of appetizers and some local wineries occasionally donate wine for tasting. Our local school only does full meals for special events like fund raisers, but they put on a nice party with some good food at a good price.
I made this one, too-sure wish someone would have explained this to me! My loans were at 3.5% and I came into a lump of cash-put it all on the student loans. Fast forward six years, and after a stint in the workforce I'm in grad school borrowing like I'll never have to pay it back, at 6.8%.
P.S. Everybody keep posting dumb grad school financing mistakes-I love the cold, scared feeling they give me.
but does it have to be just 'yup?' It doesn't have to be a book, just a sentence expanding on your 'yup.' Like "Yup, Richard totally nailed it with points a,b and c. Excellent post."
Here's a question: let's say you read a post, have some observations or responses, and then a comment previous to yours totally nail it - says everything you were thinking and more eloquently than you would have. So as not to beat a dead horse and repeat the points, wouldn't it be preferable to say, "Yup," or "What Steve said," to just nodding to yourself and lurking?
I kind of feel like a chorus of one-word "yes" votes can be welcome and valuable, at the very least so the poster or commenter isn't left hanging, wondering if they were going way out on a limb. Maybe disagreement needs to be explained, but agreement, less so. I think I'd rather get a "Right on, sister" than no acknowledgement. Then again, I travel in low-traffic circles.
Anyway. Fun post. For some reason I found it really funny that you spelled it "Bologna." rather than "Baloney!"
a cross between A Questioner and A Joker.
Oh damn, and me without my "Andrea, I want to have your babies" placard.
If I had had a nickel for every time someone said that to me... well, I guess I'd have a nickel now.
Will, can you see to it that the 'Andrea... babies' placards are reprinted and handed out?
Thanks for taking the time to share that with us, Yanik. It can be tough to overcome bad money lessons that are drilled into you at a young age.
This is a great discussion - all the facets of it - and as the media cover it more I hope it proliferates. I agree with Andrea that a reflexive "buy American" policy is not necessarily the point, but that the question really is one of changing our culture to one that values quality over quantity. The self-esteem movement notwithstanding, it seems like we've moved away from genuine pride in ourselves and respect for one another to some core insecurity which drives this crazy, competitive consumption.
As I mentioned to a friend after coming back from a weekend in a tourist town in Mexico - the place was bursting with useless, soon-to-be-thrown-away souvenir-type crap - the sheer waste of it broke my heart: surely they wouldn't be making the crappy crap if people weren't buying it.
The disrespect the tourists appeared to have of the local culture and local pride saddened me, but the disrespect went both ways: the shopkeepers clearly believed we wanted the junk they were selling.
I'd love to think this mutual disrespect could be replaced by what Andrea alludes to, a renewed sense of national (or simply individual) pride on everyone's part. It's difficult, though, to picture big, corporate manufacturers taking this kind of pride - there's no connection anymore between the management and the product.
The obvious disrespect of importers essentially selling the U.S. poisons and garbage *as food* is chilling and might require more drastic steps, possibly government intervention. (I recently posted a link to an interview with an ex-FDA commissioner and questioned whether at the very least we could mandate food manufacturers to identify the source of their ingredients on their labels.)
But bottom line, perhaps, is for individuals to have a little pride, and to choose not to hang crap on their backs, or to put crap in their mouths; to understand the difference between fashion and style; and to understand how much power we each have in the global economy. (We're just starting to 'get' how much impact we can have individually on the global environment, so maybe the shift is possible.)
I know - easy to say when you have the money to make those choices, but just as somebody's got to buy the first roll of overpriced Recycled Toilet Paper to develop the market for environmentally conscious goods, maybe those among us who can afford to opt for smaller tailors, local produce and all the rest of it can pave the way for these opportunities to become real for everyone.