General Adulthood, Planning for the Future: Business, College, Budgeting, Investments, etc! $$$ - General

[QUOTE=PredGD;50464033]high school in the US is part of the mandatory school system right? equivalent to secondary school in Norway? the mandatory part ends (secondary school) after the 10th class at the age 15 / 16 here in Norway which is what I have. I'll definitely try googling that and see what I can find, I imagine there must be something I can find! other than that, I need some advice on setting up a budget. I have little control over my current income and expenses which isn't too fun. is there some program that can make a budget easier to automate / deal with? should I just stick to Excel? I bought YNAB (You Need A Budget) ages ago for some reason so I have something, but I wasn't sure how to really use it.[/QUOTE] High school is part of the mandatory system in the US (it's grades 9 through 12, though I think this sometimes varies a bit depending on area) but you have the option to drop out once you turn 16 I think.

Can anybody recommend some good online study aids? Note taking tools, flash card generators, stuff like that? I just started my licensing classes, and it's been so damn long since I've actually had to study for a test that I've damn near forgotten how.

Anki for flash cards

Quizlet was my college best friend.

[QUOTE=elitehakor;50465122]Anki for flash cards[/QUOTE] Started using Anki this year for medical school, never looked back. That thing is just amazing.

anki saved my life in my japanese classes wish i knew it existed when i was taking spanish in hs

I'll be sure to check out both services! Thanks!

My boyfriend and I are trying to find and move into a studio apartment together very soon. He's lived on his own for the past year or so but I've never lived away from my parents. Any big adult advice you can give us? I'm 21 and he's 20.

Anki is fantastic! I've never had such a smooth time studying. Thanks, dudes! [editline]8th June 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=Trekintosh;50475778]My boyfriend and I are trying to find and move into a studio apartment together very soon. He's lived on his own for the past year or so but I've never lived away from my parents. Any big adult advice you can give us? I'm 21 and he's 20.[/QUOTE] Just some general tips for budgeting and relatively stress-free cohabitation: Try not to rent anything more expensive than could be reasonably afforded on only one income. A lot of people end up in big trouble because they rent or buy property that can only be afforded with the combined income streams of both partners, but unfortunately you've got to be prepared for the possibility that things may not work out between you, or that unexpected things might happen to compromise your income stream. There's no termination clause in a lease for breakups or lost jobs, so you'll still be expected to pay for the remainder of the rent should you two separate, or if one of you loses employment. As an added benefit, during the good times you should have plenty of leftover money during the good times, letting you build up savings accounts, go have fun, etc. If you have very different incomes, you may consider splitting bills and rent based on a percentage of income rather than straight down the middle. For example, if you are making 70% of the combined household income, you may consider a 70/30 split of household expenses. If you go 50/50, the person making less money will pay a significantly higher percentage of their income towards bills. So while the higher earner may be flush with excess cash, the lower earner may not have a dime to his or herself! This could lead to feelings of resentment and ultimately cause problems. A fair split based on income leave both people feeling like they're pulling their fair share. Call your utility companies and ask if they offer budget billing. Energy, gas, and water companies often do. Budget billing will average out your utility bills to a single fixed monthly payment based on the previous years' averaged utility use, rather than a variable payment that adjusts based on usage each month. This is much easier to work with for budgeting purposes. Keep in mind, however, that if you end up using more energy than your budget billing cycle is charging you, it could raise your billing rate for the following year. By the same token, if you're using less, you will be charged less next year. It's prolly smarter to keep your own bank accounts for the bulk of your income, but it might be a good idea to create a seperate, shared bank account that is used exclusively for recurring expenses. Once you've budgeted things out and know, "okay, we have $1200/month in rent, utilities, etc," then you can set up a shared checking account, set up automatic billpay from it, and then automatically withdraw whatever your individual contributions to those expenses are out of each paycheck to deposit into the shard account. So if you split expenses 50/50, and each get paid every two weeks, you can each simply auto-deposit $300 from each paycheck into the shared checking account. Anything left over that goes into your private accounts are for variable expenses, like groceries, gas, dates, and entertainment. Or even just saving up! Just don't forget to check the account and make sure you're putting in enough money to keep up with the bills. Estimate on the high side! [editline]8th June 2016[/editline] Well, shit, this is what worked great for me at least! A different approach might work a bit better for you. I guess, in a nutshell, my advice would be this: Try to make "money" as simple as possible. Know what you owe each month, set it aside early, and always make household financial decisions as a team. If you can eliminate the uncertainty or complexity of money and bills to as large a degree as possible, you can eliminate one of the single biggest factors of stress on a relationship.

Does anyone have any tips for dealing with windows that don't seal very well? My windows are letting out a lot of air and letting a lot of heat in. I'd prefer to replace them but it's an apartment and my landlord doesn't see any reason to get new ones. The outsides of the windows look fine, it's just the window proper that doesn't seal well when it's shut.

[QUOTE=Anderan;50504954]Does anyone have any tips for dealing with windows that don't seal very well? My windows are letting out a lot of air and letting a lot of heat in. I'd prefer to replace them but it's an apartment and my landlord doesn't see any reason to get new ones. The outsides of the windows look fine, it's just the window proper that doesn't seal well when it's shut.[/QUOTE] They make plastic liners that can be placed over windows to help insulate them. Basically a must-have for homes with old single pane windows. [url]https://www.amazon.com/3M-Indoor-Window-Insulator-5-Window/dp/B00002NCJI[/url] They're not very pretty, but they can definitely help a bit with temperature control.

I'm getting really god damn frustrated with looking for a job. I'm applying to work as an English teacher in Korea, but I doubt I'll get that so I'm being more realistic and looking for jobs closer to home. But there's literally nothing. I'm not qualified to do anything. Even fucking Home Depot wouldn't hire me as a cashier. There's no work where I live so I have to move, but I can't afford to move because I don't have a job. My family refuses to help at all beyond my mom allowing me to live in her house. What the fuck do I do?

[QUOTE=Taepodong-2;50510969]I'm getting really god damn frustrated with looking for a job. I'm applying to work as an English teacher in Korea, but I doubt I'll get that so I'm being more realistic and looking for jobs closer to home. But there's literally nothing. I'm not qualified to do anything. Even fucking Home Depot wouldn't hire me as a cashier. There's no work where I live so I have to move, but I can't afford to move because I don't have a job. My family refuses to help at all beyond my mom allowing me to live in her house. What the fuck do I do?[/QUOTE] How old are you/where do you live/what's your education background?

[QUOTE=DanTehMan;50512029]How old are you/where do you live/what's your education background?[/QUOTE] 22 years old, live in a city of 60k people in southern Alberta which is basically the worst job market in Canada at the moment and I have a BA in history, but going back to school for another degree or a master's isn't an option because I can't afford it and don't want even more debt.

[QUOTE=Taepodong-2;50512125]22 years old, live in a city of 60k people in southern Alberta which is basically the worst job market in Canada at the moment and I have a BA in history, but going back to school for another degree or a master's isn't an option because I can't afford it and don't want even more debt.[/QUOTE] And no schools in Korea/China are willing to take you on as a teacher? My best friend just got back from doing that for the better part of 4 years and he found it very rewarding and eye opening. It may seem impossible but maybe keep on trying on that front?

[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;50523155]And no schools in Korea/China are willing to take you on as a teacher? My best friend just got back from doing that for the better part of 4 years and he found it very rewarding and eye opening. It may seem impossible but maybe keep on trying on that front?[/QUOTE] I haven't actually got the job search in Korea completely underway yet. I need to go get a criminal record check from the RCMP, and when that comes in I need to send that and a copy of my degree off to the Korean consulate in Vancouver to get them verified, and then the job search can really begin because the schools want you to have all your documents ready to go before they'll even consider offering you a contract because you need all of that stuff in order (which can take a while) to apply for your work visa, which can also take a while. So I haven't really given up on it, I just feel like it's not realistic that I should rely on that being my main option. And my mom is getting increasingly agitated about me being unemployed and thinks going to Korea isn't something I should rely on, but she's always super negative about anything I want to do. It's mostly a matter of needing to move out of my mom's house as soon as possible that has me betting on Korea because where I live unless you're in the trades, getting on at Mcdonald's means you're lucky.

It's been a bit over a week since I moved out and I'm trying to get an accurate picture on my weekly spending. I've realized some big and small expenses that I didn't expect were going to skew things for the first bit (why are rugs so goddamn expensive) but I think I've got most things covered and can start looking at my actual spending. I'm wondering if anyone has some good tips on food stuff you want to get a shitload of at once, I made the mistake of getting cucumbers and lettuce with no real intention of using it within the week.

Had a good interview, well... a not catastropic interview on Monday for a shoe shop. Managed to answer all the questions without too much panic or hesitation and asked some back (out of curtesy though). But inevitably there's going to be some person that has 400 years experience in the industry and is psychotically devoted to the chain. Won't know either way until the end of July since it's a new location.

[QUOTE=norrec181;50524021]I made the mistake of getting cucumbers and lettuce with no real intention of using it within the week.[/QUOTE] This is not the last time that this will happen. "You know what? It's time to improve the way I eat! Salad fixins! Fruits! Vegetables!" And then a week passes and you haven't had a single bite of any of it and everything has already started to go off so you just throw it away.

[QUOTE=norrec181;50524021]It's been a bit over a week since I moved out and I'm trying to get an accurate picture on my weekly spending. I've realized some big and small expenses that I didn't expect were going to skew things for the first bit (why are rugs so goddamn expensive) but I think I've got most things covered and can start looking at my actual spending. I'm wondering if anyone has some good tips on food stuff you want to get a shitload of at once, I made the mistake of getting cucumbers and lettuce with no real intention of using it within the week.[/QUOTE] Get a vacuum sealer. I go to Wal-Mart every once in a while and get a huge pack of pork chops, chicken breast, ground beef, and other meats, and then vacuum seal them at home in cooking portions and freeze them. Much better than having to run to the store every other day for meat (if you eat meat). I suggest using Amazon (I have prime) for a lot of things because you can get them in bulk. I get things like popcorn, mac-n-cheese, pasta, ect. in (semi) large quantities off of amazon. This applies to anything that isn't going to expire fast. I got 2 containers from Wal-Mart that seal, one for pasta and one for rice. Amazon is also good for getting things like deodorant, cleaners, and other consumables. Basically, the only thing I need to go to the store for now is fresh produce and frozen items which can't be shipped or that need to be used fresh.

For those who saw the thread I had up asking for a little bit of help with my car situation, I was lucky to be able to use my sister's car while she was on maternity leave and the extra time allowed me to actually go to a few dealers to look for something in my price range. The other day we went to a dealer just kind of on a whim and I actually managed to go home with a car! The salesmen weren't pushy and they understood my situation, even when the bank said they only wanted to finance 95% of the car I wanted. But either way, when all was said and done and the dealer gave me $500 off on the car, I managed to snag a nice 2014 Mitsubishi Mirage for $8400. [t]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/7cvbiufik23bpm4/chrome_2016-06-16_11-19-40.jpg?dl=0[/t] It's fairly small, which I wasn't wholly excited for, but everything else about it was great! It was discounted already because of minor hail damage to the top, but other than that, it runs great and is super fuel efficient too. My payment is only $189 a month which is pretty much covered by a $200 stipend I started getting for doing some program organization at a local church so- I'm pretty stoked. Things are looking up and I honestly don't think I would've been able to do it without some of the donations that I got from here which were all super generous.

I'm going to start a new posting segment here called Learn From My Mistakes regarding various things about adult life. Let's start off with housing. Background: I had to move from Louisiana to Georgia for my job. It's going to be a few years, and I will be moving back home. I decided on an apartment instead of renting a camper near the jobsite because I'm going to be here so long. My Mistakes: 1) Didn't look at many apartments online, and didn't look at any in person. I had to move quick and get to work, so I just chose one that looked decent and signed up. It's not bad, but if I would have taken the time to look at several ones, I would have chosen a larger one. 2) Signed the max term lease right-off-the-bat. I wish that, for the first year, I had done the minimum term lease, so that if I got to a point where I decided it wasn't going to work out, i could move quicker without waiting for my lease to end. Now, I've found a room-mate, but my lease isn't up until November. 3) Didn't look at ALL of my options. While I didn't want to rent a camper, I didn't realize I could have rented a house or town home. My current apartment's rent is $900/month for a 1 bed 1 bath. I could have rented a 2 bed 2 bath or 3 bed 2 bath house in my area for the same price, and had more space. So now I'm going back and looking at new places. My place is just way too small, and I'm starting to see it now. I also have a guy that wants to be my room mate because we get along very well and I can help him get on his feet with a new job since my job has per-diem to cover my living expenses. I'm thinking about renting something with a garage since he has a motorcycle and I'm looking at getting a jetski. I'll just have to see how this all works out.

On the hunt for my first real apartment; so much money

[QUOTE=Kite_shugo;50538693]On the hunt for my first real apartment; so much money[/QUOTE] If there is a more "country" area on the outskirts of where you're at, look at foreclosures as well if you plan on staying there long term. For example, my rent is $900/month. There is a half-acre lot with a 2000s model mobile home on it in decent shape, which was foreclosed on, and is now for sale for $23,000. To put this in perspective, for the price I'm paying for my apartment, I could own this property and house in 26 months, and then when my job here ends and I need to relocate, I can sell it and get my money back plus some OR turn it into a rental property and make money. Either way, I would come out ahead versus renting a tiny apartment.

I am way fucking wicked stoked right now. So, I started meeting with a small handful of realtors and brokers at the branch office last week. They get together once a week and discuss strategies for passive income, investing, team building, etc, etc. It's basically a brainstorming session led by a highly successful local property investment broker. While I was there last week, he gave us a homework assignment to create an "action item," a goal capable of having a profound effect on our income that we should take action on by the next meeting. He didn't tell us what that item should be, just that it should be big, and that we should write it down, force ourselves to read it every day, and that we needed to take deliberate action on it before our next meeting (this morning) so that we could report the results or progress. I'm not even licensed yet, okay? Everybody there already has years of experience under their belt, whereas I'm not even officially in the business of real estate. So, at first I was tempted to pass up the exercise. I felt like it wouldn't apply to me, what can I do? BUT, I wanted to participate. I I felt like not even trying would be cheating myself. I thought about what my action item should be for a while, and came up with the boldest goal I could think of. If I failed, I figured, then no big deal. Failure is the same regardless of ambition, but nobody ever achieved exceptional results from trying to be "realistic" in their expectations. My action item was: [I]join the most successful team in the city.[/I] So, I met with my broker after the meeting, and asked him for a list of the top-producing licensees in the city. I got the name of a woman who swept into the scene a few years ago with only a very small team of agents, and has been [I]kicking ass[/I]. While her team does not have the highest total sales volume, it does have the highest total sales volume [I]per member[/I], and by a wide margin. She is outproducing teams ten times her size, and is on track to pull in $70m+ in sales this year! In commission terms, that comes out to an average of about $185,000/month. Teams of comparable size are pulling in a quarter of that, if they're lucky. So, I asked my broker (who I just met for the first time last week) to make the introduction. He sent her a glowing email about me, and gave me her contact info. I rang her later that afternoon and we spoke for about half an hour, and now we're meeting next week to "see how things go!" I got a brief sneak peak of the training and guidance she offers her team members in that phone call, and it's no goddamn wonder that her team has rocketed to success. If I could become a part of her team, gain access to her success model and wealth of knowledge, it would make my career. She only hires brand new agents, because they don't have ineffective strategies and bad habits already drilled into their heads, and she seemed impressed with my willingness to learn and my drive to succeed. So, I think I have a real shot! Sorry! I know it sounds like I'm just bragging, but I'm very excited, and I really think there's a lesson to be learned here! I learned the power of setting high goals and holding myself accountable to them, and more importantly than that, I learned of the incredible leverage that good relationships can bring. Even though I only met him last week, my broker loves me, and he's bending over backwards to tell people that I'm one the most "driven and well-read individuals" he's ever met. People tell you "it's all about who you know," and that's definitely true, but what they don't say is that "knowing the right people" is as easy as introducing yourself to them and arranging to have a chat. So, I want to give you the same homework assignment I got. Create an action item, write it down, check it every day, and report your progress on it next Friday. Make it a big goal, and throw away the assumption that you can't do it. Instead, ask yourself, "[I]how[/I] can I do it?" Then, take action.

I just have no idea what I could even do in that vein. I really truly can't think of a thing I could do that would change my position that quickly, or that I could even work on passively.

Crossposting this in here in case any of you want to know a bit more about the processes behind investing in real estate: [QUOTE=Big Dumb American;50543792]I'm not saying that there isn't money to be made in Cryptocurrency "investing," but it seems to be nothing more than a purely speculative market. It is a gamble based on gut feeling, not hard numbers and analytical models. Actual investors do [I]not[/I] speculate. Investments are [I]not[/I] a gamble. While there is always a certain degree of risk associated with an investment, a good investor can take any particular deal, break it down into raw data, and justify that investment with a strong degree of confidence. If I want to purchase a duplex and convert it into an income-generating rental property, do you think I will make that decision based on gut feelings and baseless assumptions? First I create a breakdown of all the zipcodes in the city on a spreadsheet. This spreadsheet includes the figures for each zip code's crime rate, school ratings, population growth/decline, unemployment rates, property development index, walkscore, average price/rent ratio, average annual vacancy rate, and property tax rates. Each zipcode is then compared to analyze which areas have the highest overall socioeconomic health, so that I can make an informed call on [I]where[/I] I want to invest. Once I know what areas I want to invest in, I begin determining the criteria for the specific property I need. While I can make some general assumptions about what features and amenities are going to pull in the best rent, I of course still call around to property management companies, landlords, and other investors if in an area that I have not invested in before to get an idea about what the demographics of that area of the city seem to value most (and thus, what features will maximize rent), and prioritize those criteria in my search. This allows me to make an informed call on [I]what[/I] I want to invest in. Then, I start actually looking at different properties. On any deal that looks promising, I calculate the Net Operating Income of that property based on my projected income from rent, facilities, and optional amenities like laundry, pool access, whatever versus my operating expenses (property taxes, insurance, upkeep, property management fees, vacancy rates, groundskeeping, utilities, etc -- excluding loan payments, capital expenditures). My net operating income can then be compared to financing options. I will then now exactly what price point I will need to purchase that property at in order to meet my personal investment goals before making the offer. If the offer is accepted, a post-inspection assessment of necessary repairs and renovations and probable upcoming capital expenditures will help me further adjust those numbers. Which is all to say: I can sit down and justify my investment with a series of simple calculations that would prove within all reasonable doubt that I was making a sound and informed financial decision. THAT is what it means to be an investor. Investors do not guess or speculate, they make informed decisions based on a wide variety of available data. So, how can [I]you[/I] justify "investing" in cryptocurrency? What are the models and calculations that [I]you[/I] use to analyze your investments? Or, as it appears, are you simply going with your gut and hoping that whatever short term successes you might see prove long-term economic opportunity?[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;50540850]I just have no idea what I could even do in that vein. I really truly can't think of a thing I could do that would change my position that quickly, or that I could even work on passively.[/QUOTE] Have you tried sales?

It seems as though my job application to Goodwill was ignored. [editline]20th June 2016[/editline] I thought their philosophy was "providing opportunities"

[QUOTE=Qaus;50554489]It seems as though my job application to Goodwill was ignored. [editline]20th June 2016[/editline] I thought their philosophy was "providing opportunities"[/QUOTE] Just keep at it, dude. I know how shit the job market is right now, but you'll land something eventually if you keep plugging away. Don't forget to make followup calls, even send emails! It's not enough today to just put an application in front of somebody, you have to make sure they know who you are. It's easy to forget one piece of paper in a pile, harder to ignore a phone call.