I take automatic 401k deductions at a high percent - 15% - and I try to live fairly thriftily (buying food that's on sale, freezing leftovers for future lunches or dinners, bringing lunch to work, not buying coffee when I can make it) but still have enough fun with my social life. I live in what can only be described as a pretty crappy apartment because as a renter I really can't stomach wasting money away on rent. I end up automatically accumulating enough in my savings account that I can comfortably book a vacation or buy myself a big-ticket item (laptop replacement coming soon) when I feel the desire/need. However I'm also privileged enough not to have college loans because my upper middle class parents provided me with a debt-free education or I'd have a harder time saving for luxuries/investing at a high rate in 401k.
You mentioned that socks could be inside the washer, but you did not mention inside the dryer, and that is a very likely spot. Think about the way the dryer often works: The drum turns, but at the end of the drum opposite the door is the back of the drum and it usually does NOT turn. Aha! What does that mean? that there is some sort or gasket between the rotating drum and the fixed back. And, what happens over time is that a gap can develop there. I found this out when I partially dismantled a dryer to replace a different part, and I found a dozen single socks at the bottom of the dryer, under the drum...along with some sexy thongs and panties that had obviously belonged to the former owner of the condo & dryer. The thongs weren't much use to me as I'm not a cross-dresser. But it was lovely to find those socks!
Taking apart a dryer is not that difficult if it is a front loader. It could be little more complicated than taking out some screws and removing the back.
I have two goals currently. First goal is my emergency fund which has to cover 9 months of living expenses in case of a loss and car repairs. Second goal is my retirement fund. I live on a budget and money for each of those goals is included in my monthly budget. I transfer the money at the end of each month into my savings accounts.
Are these people that are complaining about Netspend serious, or is something SERIOUSLY wrong with them? If you received a card in the mail with your NAME on it...big deal! That is NO different than the hundreds of other "offers" you will get in the mail! When some people said they called and were asked for their SS # (or when they tried to sign up), well duh, of course! That's because Netspend does NOT have THAT INFORMATION UNTIL YOU GIVE IT TO THEM TO OPEN YOUR ACCOUNT!
NOTHING is fraud, NOTHING is wrong with what they are doing and NOTHING about Netspend is a scam! The thing that I find MOST troubling is HOW MANY of you people are ready to lynch a company you know NOTHING about...and didn't bother to find out the FACTS BEFORE opening your mouths! Lucky for you that Netspend doesn't SUE all of you for SLANDER...Wow!
See if your bank has a web based function that allows you to budget and allocate your expenses. I could not believe how much I was eating out a little at a time after setting mine up through my bank. I have since that money back into investing and saving for my daughter's education.
I have had 3 in less than a year. Before that, 1 at age 40 and another 10 years later. Thats it. I become a basket case when I get them. I am over vigilant and afraid of spread to myself or spouse. Im not sure how to shower, wash my face or hair and dry, thinking, did the towel just touch it? Washing hands constantly. My bro is on daily acyclovir as preventative. I wanted this but doc said no, but I have used acyclovir 5 times a day with last obe and it cut time to 5 days with nothing blistery I could even see. What I need to know is what is good hygiene without going overboard. I wear no makeup or moisturizer during outbreak, afraid of contamination.
I've had nothing but GREAT experiences with Netspend! I honestly do not see what the big deal is or WHY you are so upset about them sending you a card that is NOT ACTIVE? Like you said yourself, how could someone use it for fraud if THEY would have to put money on it AND Netspend told you that it was NOT active unless YOU activated it?
Netspend cards are a great way for parents to put a set amount on money on a card for a college aged child (with the benefit of being able to monitor it online) among other circumstances. Also, a cardholder need not pay fees for "each" transaction. A low one time monthly fee of $5 (less than most bank account these days) will cover pretty much all transactions (other than ATM fees but you can even avoid these by simply doing "cash back" at POS) so I still do NOT see WHY you are ranting?
There are MUCH bigger problems that are actually that...a problem. Netspend is NOT one of them...in my honest opinion.
I decide on a set amount to save each month, then pay myself first; after that, I pay the rest of my bills. If you begin young enough, over time you can save quite a lot of money by putting away small amounts. I wish I had started younger.
Very good article with sufficient tips. I definitely need to start becoming more productive and efficient in the morning and your tips will really help. There are too many days in which I find myself rushing in the morning and getting my day off to a stressful start. I will work to ensure that the aforementioned routine will become a thing of the past.
It is against the fiduciary duty of the seller agent to do what you said they did in this case and can lose their license. Most wont risk that for a few hundred bucks. I agree with webmasterx, this is phoney.
buyer agents are essentially free to the buyer, and will have market expertise the buyer doesnt have. USE IT!
Quite a few years ago I registered with a temp agency that had only direct deposit, either to a bank account or a card. I don't know if it was similar to the cards discussed here but I remember wondering why someone would go that route instead of a bank account. Now I'm seeing TV ads for prepaid cards and the same question occurred to me, especially since the man in the ad says "my paycheck gets loaded automatically onto my card whenever I get paid so I don't have to stand in line at the check-cashing place." I didn't realize some people couldn't get bank accounts; thanks for that info. I also didn't realize these cards weren't free (what *was* I thinking? :) ) but now that I know that I don't plan to use them for anything. But then I have a checking account.
The thing that concerns me though is, it sounds like the target audience for these cards is lower-income people, and they are exactly the ones who probably won't be able to afford the fees. The commercial I've seen doesn't mention fees; there may be some "fine print" at the end that I'm just not noticing. But I wonder how many people will sign up for these things thinking they don't cost anything. Do you have to qualify for them? Are they easy (or hard) to cancel? And what happens if the fees accumulate and aren't paid? Could that compromise someone's credit rating? This sounds like another creative money-making scheme for the card companies that could be seriously dangerous to a cardholder.
Well-written article and great tips! I'm guilty of sleeping in too often. On the weekends, I sleep until 10:30 a.m. Even when I wake up, I lounge in my bed for a while. I don't really see sleeping in on weekends as a problem, but I have noticed recently that even getting up just 15 minutes earlier during the work week allows me to do a tremendous amount! I like your idea of getting up earlier in small increments. I think this will work best for me, knowing that I'm lazy in the morning.
I prioritize based on the size of the goal. Bigger goals (vacations, car repairs, emergency fund, etc.) get bigger allocations of money from each paycheck than smaller ones (bike repairs, camera equipment, etc.).
Thoughtful public service.
I take automatic 401k deductions at a high percent - 15% - and I try to live fairly thriftily (buying food that's on sale, freezing leftovers for future lunches or dinners, bringing lunch to work, not buying coffee when I can make it) but still have enough fun with my social life. I live in what can only be described as a pretty crappy apartment because as a renter I really can't stomach wasting money away on rent. I end up automatically accumulating enough in my savings account that I can comfortably book a vacation or buy myself a big-ticket item (laptop replacement coming soon) when I feel the desire/need. However I'm also privileged enough not to have college loans because my upper middle class parents provided me with a debt-free education or I'd have a harder time saving for luxuries/investing at a high rate in 401k.
You mentioned that socks could be inside the washer, but you did not mention inside the dryer, and that is a very likely spot. Think about the way the dryer often works: The drum turns, but at the end of the drum opposite the door is the back of the drum and it usually does NOT turn. Aha! What does that mean? that there is some sort or gasket between the rotating drum and the fixed back. And, what happens over time is that a gap can develop there. I found this out when I partially dismantled a dryer to replace a different part, and I found a dozen single socks at the bottom of the dryer, under the drum...along with some sexy thongs and panties that had obviously belonged to the former owner of the condo & dryer. The thongs weren't much use to me as I'm not a cross-dresser. But it was lovely to find those socks!
Taking apart a dryer is not that difficult if it is a front loader. It could be little more complicated than taking out some screws and removing the back.
We do our IRAs first since we can't catch up on them later. Then our moving-out-of the country money comes second :)
I have two goals currently. First goal is my emergency fund which has to cover 9 months of living expenses in case of a loss and car repairs. Second goal is my retirement fund. I live on a budget and money for each of those goals is included in my monthly budget. I transfer the money at the end of each month into my savings accounts.
From all my years of experience, if you want to be a morning person make sure that you go to bed early and cut out caffeine after noon.
Also, get a cat. They're like little biological alarm clocks.
Are these people that are complaining about Netspend serious, or is something SERIOUSLY wrong with them? If you received a card in the mail with your NAME on it...big deal! That is NO different than the hundreds of other "offers" you will get in the mail! When some people said they called and were asked for their SS # (or when they tried to sign up), well duh, of course! That's because Netspend does NOT have THAT INFORMATION UNTIL YOU GIVE IT TO THEM TO OPEN YOUR ACCOUNT!
NOTHING is fraud, NOTHING is wrong with what they are doing and NOTHING about Netspend is a scam! The thing that I find MOST troubling is HOW MANY of you people are ready to lynch a company you know NOTHING about...and didn't bother to find out the FACTS BEFORE opening your mouths! Lucky for you that Netspend doesn't SUE all of you for SLANDER...Wow!
See if your bank has a web based function that allows you to budget and allocate your expenses. I could not believe how much I was eating out a little at a time after setting mine up through my bank. I have since that money back into investing and saving for my daughter's education.
I have had 3 in less than a year. Before that, 1 at age 40 and another 10 years later. Thats it. I become a basket case when I get them. I am over vigilant and afraid of spread to myself or spouse. Im not sure how to shower, wash my face or hair and dry, thinking, did the towel just touch it? Washing hands constantly. My bro is on daily acyclovir as preventative. I wanted this but doc said no, but I have used acyclovir 5 times a day with last obe and it cut time to 5 days with nothing blistery I could even see. What I need to know is what is good hygiene without going overboard. I wear no makeup or moisturizer during outbreak, afraid of contamination.
Does anyone know of a a minimum credit score that is needed to obtain one of these secured credit cards? Thanks.
I've had nothing but GREAT experiences with Netspend! I honestly do not see what the big deal is or WHY you are so upset about them sending you a card that is NOT ACTIVE? Like you said yourself, how could someone use it for fraud if THEY would have to put money on it AND Netspend told you that it was NOT active unless YOU activated it?
Netspend cards are a great way for parents to put a set amount on money on a card for a college aged child (with the benefit of being able to monitor it online) among other circumstances. Also, a cardholder need not pay fees for "each" transaction. A low one time monthly fee of $5 (less than most bank account these days) will cover pretty much all transactions (other than ATM fees but you can even avoid these by simply doing "cash back" at POS) so I still do NOT see WHY you are ranting?
There are MUCH bigger problems that are actually that...a problem. Netspend is NOT one of them...in my honest opinion.
The Credit Monitoring Tip was very timely. I was considering paying for credit monitoring.
I decide on a set amount to save each month, then pay myself first; after that, I pay the rest of my bills. If you begin young enough, over time you can save quite a lot of money by putting away small amounts. I wish I had started younger.
Very good article with sufficient tips. I definitely need to start becoming more productive and efficient in the morning and your tips will really help. There are too many days in which I find myself rushing in the morning and getting my day off to a stressful start. I will work to ensure that the aforementioned routine will become a thing of the past.
Direct deposit to different accounts, I don't have to move the money manually
It is against the fiduciary duty of the seller agent to do what you said they did in this case and can lose their license. Most wont risk that for a few hundred bucks. I agree with webmasterx, this is phoney.
buyer agents are essentially free to the buyer, and will have market expertise the buyer doesnt have. USE IT!
I focus on one goal at a time
Quite a few years ago I registered with a temp agency that had only direct deposit, either to a bank account or a card. I don't know if it was similar to the cards discussed here but I remember wondering why someone would go that route instead of a bank account. Now I'm seeing TV ads for prepaid cards and the same question occurred to me, especially since the man in the ad says "my paycheck gets loaded automatically onto my card whenever I get paid so I don't have to stand in line at the check-cashing place." I didn't realize some people couldn't get bank accounts; thanks for that info. I also didn't realize these cards weren't free (what *was* I thinking? :) ) but now that I know that I don't plan to use them for anything. But then I have a checking account.
The thing that concerns me though is, it sounds like the target audience for these cards is lower-income people, and they are exactly the ones who probably won't be able to afford the fees. The commercial I've seen doesn't mention fees; there may be some "fine print" at the end that I'm just not noticing. But I wonder how many people will sign up for these things thinking they don't cost anything. Do you have to qualify for them? Are they easy (or hard) to cancel? And what happens if the fees accumulate and aren't paid? Could that compromise someone's credit rating? This sounds like another creative money-making scheme for the card companies that could be seriously dangerous to a cardholder.
i'm limiting my unnecessary expenses and saving more. i think balancing your budget continuously is key.
I have the problem where my cats are sock thieves. They'll take them and hide them in odd places.
I divide my savings. I already have an emergency fund, so most goes for retirement but some is set aside for smaller goals, such as a vacation.
Direct Deposit - $X Amount each paycheck.
Well-written article and great tips! I'm guilty of sleeping in too often. On the weekends, I sleep until 10:30 a.m. Even when I wake up, I lounge in my bed for a while. I don't really see sleeping in on weekends as a problem, but I have noticed recently that even getting up just 15 minutes earlier during the work week allows me to do a tremendous amount! I like your idea of getting up earlier in small increments. I think this will work best for me, knowing that I'm lazy in the morning.
We shop and live very frugally, We cook enough food to have left overs, and we garden in the spring and summer, we also recycle
I prioritize based on the size of the goal. Bigger goals (vacations, car repairs, emergency fund, etc.) get bigger allocations of money from each paycheck than smaller ones (bike repairs, camera equipment, etc.).