I've had good luck lending to friends, and i've been very lucky in the past, when I was in tremendous need, to have friends who gave without asking for anything in return - not money but practical help, a place to stay, job referrals, stuff like that.
The one ex friend of mine who would say our friendship was ruined by money - it wasn't, it was ruined by her behavior, she just chose to believe I cared more about money than friendship. I can afford to lose some money (though in the end, she paid me back) - I can't affort to be blamed and lied to when someone is afraid to take responsiblity for herself.
Neither a lender nor a borrower be;
For borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry,
And loan often loses both itself and friend.
- Polonius, from Shakespeare's Hamlet.
Bizarrely, my very frugal (by necessity) partner is the go-to in his family for loans. His policy is fairly simple: make the loan if he can afford it, turn the request down if it's too much, assume it'll never be repaid, and don't lend again to the same person until or unless they repay on time. It's worked fairly well so far.
I used Netspend for 2 months now! I had many problems with them but they never gave me an answer!
On August 20, they hold $100 when I loaded $100 into my card. I checked online I saw the balance is $100 but the available balance is $0.00. I called them, they said they're holding for some transaction that I never made. I could do nothing but waited. A week later they released $100 for me so I was very happy. Then on Sept 3, I loaded $200 more and then the receipt showed that I only had $100 available, they held $100 one more time. I dont know why they'd do that because I'll spend everything I load in next 15' ( I deposit to my online poker account ), how could I overdraft if it's a pre-paid card?
From now on, I dont use it anymore. I wait until I get my $100 back then I get rid of it. Please do not put money on to the netspend card.
Thanks for reading!
outdated and of no relation to Rush Communications which is a PRIVATE not Public Company. Rush Communication/Rush PrePaid Visa Cards. Misinfomation on that. Thank you.
I find it odd that you were sent a card. Did someone sign you up as prank? I wouldn't feel so FIRE ALARM about it though.
For the last 6 months I have been very pleased with my Netspend Prepaid Visa. My friend has a Rush/BabyPhat Prepaid and he loves it. I pay $10 per month and no other fees. His has a cap at $10 per month for fees. The online services with Netspend have improved greatly. Customer service good. Rush/Baby Phat Card reports to Credit Bureaus. I earn 5% APY on Netspend Savings Account. We crashed all credit cards and even closed our bank accounts and are much happier and more self managed with the pp cards. I would actually like to invest in RUSHA which is at $12 a share currently.http://www.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NASDAQ:RUSHA We think pp cards will be a permanent change for many people like us. We are no longer brainwashed to think we must have a regular bank account. We see no reason to have a bank account. Or investments are elsewhere. We are 54 and 55 yrs old.I have a suggestion for your writing.. I know having ONCE lived on the west coast for a few years the word 'hate' or 'I hate" is part of the vernacular. In fact pele thre seem to define themselves by wha the HATe far more oftn than the positive. How about 'dislike' or "do not prefer' instead?
Also how about doing a report on people/families that make less income than you as a story and see how they are weathering the economic situation these days.
All the Best from Chicago.
"Tax breaks which disproportionately benefit the rich"?!?!? The "rich" still pay a disproportionate percentage in taxes!...disproportionately HIGH! Just because someone has found success they should have to pay a larger percentage? Last time I checked there was no evidence that the rich use a larger amount of government resources, why should they keep less of their money? Is it less deserved? Did they work less for it? No. If everyone was taxed the same percent THAT would be fair.
I have been told by people over and over to give my hair to locks of love, i do not believe that they help as many as they "could" so I am selling my hair and splitting the money to a local animal shelter and buying a new TV. I get a lot of dirty looks but I dont see any of these people donating the amount of money I am about to... Thanks for the suggestion.
Rach
I love the wishes idea and the other commenter's remarks! Thanks for the added input. Greg - I don't feel that replacing $6 box of cereal with $2 bargain brand is a terrible idea with little kids who likely have no idea anything tastes different. As parents, we often have to be deceptive to some degree. Saving money so that parents can afford college and other life necessities is what is important. Teaching younger kids frugality is certainly important but there is a limit to what the youngest ones can comprehend and oftentimes the branding geniuses win out. I don't see it so much as a game as I do a tactic to saving money at the store w/o getting grief from the little ones....
Our Costco will not let you split a membership....they ask for proof of the 2nd persons address and it must be the same as yours. Our 2nd card was even delayed until we came in with my boyfriends mail that proved he lived with me.
We get a big bag of hand me down clothes every year from a friend with a son 2 years older than mine. I'm honest w/ my 4 year old and I act excited that, "These are the clothes that used to be Josh's, and now you can wear them! Wasn't that nice of him to give us these cool clothes?" :)
I received a netSpend card too and I was wondering why they sent it. I was expecting a debit card from Office Depot for a rebate and I thought maybe this was the card. However, when I called the toll free number to register the card and it got to the point where it asked for my social security number, I screeched to a halt. Was I crazy? What was I doing? I immediately hung up the phone. Who are these people and what do they want? Is this legal what they are doing and why do they need the social? They ask for the birthdate, SSN and they already have the address. What more do they need to steal your ID? To the shredder it goes.
Another alternative is to travel in a group. Everywhere are group discounts where you get discounts if you get some friends together. If you come to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia you could rent a Serviced Apartment that has 3 or 4 bedrooms, it costs as much as a hotel but you can stay in there with up to 8 finds, when sharing the bill it is less than a youth hostel.
Agreed, "5) Obey the commandments of your faith. Many religions make rituals out of having less in the form of fasting and charity. There are a lot of reasons for this. It can change your perspective on what's important, strengthen bonds within the community, and serve as a form of solidarity with others who have less." Also, thou shalt not covet thy neighbors material things (paraphrasing here) and that is a commandment I struggle with personally. Our American society is much more materialistic than we care to admit.
Just the fact the jewelry send could be stolen, and the whole operation could be used for laundering money, should attract the law's attention. The fact the packages travel across state lines should make it FBI's jurisdiction. Has anyone called the feds yet?
You provide some great ideas that parents should consider. However, with all due respect I have to disagree on the idea of the "Fake Out". What kind of message are you sending your kids if you play these games? It's only a matter of time before they find out.
Wouldn't it be better to just teach your children at a young age the value of frugality?
How in the world is the emergency fund = to down payment for a new house? It would take one accident to ruin the rest of your lives and lose everything.
In my eyes, you have no down payment... you know... which kinda started the situation we're in now.
This is so true, and I like the tips on navigating how on how to handle it. I wrote the same thing on my blog back in May after someone I knew went through the same thing. Luckily, that person got collateral for that loan, and will get something back.
Another thing, studies say we only retain 10% of what we learned in college. Hence, you want to minimize education expenses such as textbooks completely! Just a thought.
I've had good luck lending to friends, and i've been very lucky in the past, when I was in tremendous need, to have friends who gave without asking for anything in return - not money but practical help, a place to stay, job referrals, stuff like that.
The one ex friend of mine who would say our friendship was ruined by money - it wasn't, it was ruined by her behavior, she just chose to believe I cared more about money than friendship. I can afford to lose some money (though in the end, she paid me back) - I can't affort to be blamed and lied to when someone is afraid to take responsiblity for herself.
Neither a lender nor a borrower be;
For borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry,
And loan often loses both itself and friend.
- Polonius, from Shakespeare's Hamlet.
Bizarrely, my very frugal (by necessity) partner is the go-to in his family for loans. His policy is fairly simple: make the loan if he can afford it, turn the request down if it's too much, assume it'll never be repaid, and don't lend again to the same person until or unless they repay on time. It's worked fairly well so far.
I used Netspend for 2 months now! I had many problems with them but they never gave me an answer!
On August 20, they hold $100 when I loaded $100 into my card. I checked online I saw the balance is $100 but the available balance is $0.00. I called them, they said they're holding for some transaction that I never made. I could do nothing but waited. A week later they released $100 for me so I was very happy. Then on Sept 3, I loaded $200 more and then the receipt showed that I only had $100 available, they held $100 one more time. I dont know why they'd do that because I'll spend everything I load in next 15' ( I deposit to my online poker account ), how could I overdraft if it's a pre-paid card?
From now on, I dont use it anymore. I wait until I get my $100 back then I get rid of it. Please do not put money on to the netspend card.
Thanks for reading!
my son goes to College in Florida, we live in Maine, but can got out of boston if necesary. is this spirit worth joining?
outdated and of no relation to Rush Communications which is a PRIVATE not Public Company. Rush Communication/Rush PrePaid Visa Cards. Misinfomation on that. Thank you.
I find it odd that you were sent a card. Did someone sign you up as prank? I wouldn't feel so FIRE ALARM about it though.
For the last 6 months I have been very pleased with my Netspend Prepaid Visa. My friend has a Rush/BabyPhat Prepaid and he loves it. I pay $10 per month and no other fees. His has a cap at $10 per month for fees. The online services with Netspend have improved greatly. Customer service good. Rush/Baby Phat Card reports to Credit Bureaus. I earn 5% APY on Netspend Savings Account. We crashed all credit cards and even closed our bank accounts and are much happier and more self managed with the pp cards. I would actually like to invest in RUSHA which is at $12 a share currently.http://www.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NASDAQ:RUSHA We think pp cards will be a permanent change for many people like us. We are no longer brainwashed to think we must have a regular bank account. We see no reason to have a bank account. Or investments are elsewhere. We are 54 and 55 yrs old.I have a suggestion for your writing.. I know having ONCE lived on the west coast for a few years the word 'hate' or 'I hate" is part of the vernacular. In fact pele thre seem to define themselves by wha the HATe far more oftn than the positive. How about 'dislike' or "do not prefer' instead?
Also how about doing a report on people/families that make less income than you as a story and see how they are weathering the economic situation these days.
All the Best from Chicago.
"Tax breaks which disproportionately benefit the rich"?!?!? The "rich" still pay a disproportionate percentage in taxes!...disproportionately HIGH! Just because someone has found success they should have to pay a larger percentage? Last time I checked there was no evidence that the rich use a larger amount of government resources, why should they keep less of their money? Is it less deserved? Did they work less for it? No. If everyone was taxed the same percent THAT would be fair.
I have been told by people over and over to give my hair to locks of love, i do not believe that they help as many as they "could" so I am selling my hair and splitting the money to a local animal shelter and buying a new TV. I get a lot of dirty looks but I dont see any of these people donating the amount of money I am about to... Thanks for the suggestion.
Rach
As a full-time student I have come up with a way to save money on textbooks. It is called the LIBRARY.
I love the wishes idea and the other commenter's remarks! Thanks for the added input. Greg - I don't feel that replacing $6 box of cereal with $2 bargain brand is a terrible idea with little kids who likely have no idea anything tastes different. As parents, we often have to be deceptive to some degree. Saving money so that parents can afford college and other life necessities is what is important. Teaching younger kids frugality is certainly important but there is a limit to what the youngest ones can comprehend and oftentimes the branding geniuses win out. I don't see it so much as a game as I do a tactic to saving money at the store w/o getting grief from the little ones....
Our Costco will not let you split a membership....they ask for proof of the 2nd persons address and it must be the same as yours. Our 2nd card was even delayed until we came in with my boyfriends mail that proved he lived with me.
We get a big bag of hand me down clothes every year from a friend with a son 2 years older than mine. I'm honest w/ my 4 year old and I act excited that, "These are the clothes that used to be Josh's, and now you can wear them! Wasn't that nice of him to give us these cool clothes?" :)
I received a netSpend card too and I was wondering why they sent it. I was expecting a debit card from Office Depot for a rebate and I thought maybe this was the card. However, when I called the toll free number to register the card and it got to the point where it asked for my social security number, I screeched to a halt. Was I crazy? What was I doing? I immediately hung up the phone. Who are these people and what do they want? Is this legal what they are doing and why do they need the social? They ask for the birthdate, SSN and they already have the address. What more do they need to steal your ID? To the shredder it goes.
Another alternative is to travel in a group. Everywhere are group discounts where you get discounts if you get some friends together. If you come to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia you could rent a Serviced Apartment that has 3 or 4 bedrooms, it costs as much as a hotel but you can stay in there with up to 8 finds, when sharing the bill it is less than a youth hostel.
I have 3 Direct TV reciever boxes w/remotes. They would not take them back when we switched to Verizon FIOS. Is there anyone who takes them?
Digital publishing is absolutely in synch with the author and a person should always check the source before acceptance in a world, battered by frauds
Agreed, "5) Obey the commandments of your faith. Many religions make rituals out of having less in the form of fasting and charity. There are a lot of reasons for this. It can change your perspective on what's important, strengthen bonds within the community, and serve as a form of solidarity with others who have less." Also, thou shalt not covet thy neighbors material things (paraphrasing here) and that is a commandment I struggle with personally. Our American society is much more materialistic than we care to admit.
My goal is to file a class action law suit against this company. Anyone in???
Unless retirement is around the corner any calculation should also factor in the rate of inflation.
Take a look at this inflation calculator http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl
If you were living off of $50,000 in 1979 you would need nearly $150,000 today to maintain the same standard of living.
If you are living on $80,000 today what will you need 30 years from now?
Just the fact the jewelry send could be stolen, and the whole operation could be used for laundering money, should attract the law's attention. The fact the packages travel across state lines should make it FBI's jurisdiction. Has anyone called the feds yet?
Tisha:
You provide some great ideas that parents should consider. However, with all due respect I have to disagree on the idea of the "Fake Out". What kind of message are you sending your kids if you play these games? It's only a matter of time before they find out.
Wouldn't it be better to just teach your children at a young age the value of frugality?
How in the world is the emergency fund = to down payment for a new house? It would take one accident to ruin the rest of your lives and lose everything.
In my eyes, you have no down payment... you know... which kinda started the situation we're in now.
Never thought about using Twitter to find good coupon deals. Thanks for the tips.
This is so true, and I like the tips on navigating how on how to handle it. I wrote the same thing on my blog back in May after someone I knew went through the same thing. Luckily, that person got collateral for that loan, and will get something back.
Another thing, studies say we only retain 10% of what we learned in college. Hence, you want to minimize education expenses such as textbooks completely! Just a thought.