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

[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;49972500]I read that book as well, but I was given it by a person I know who runs an Amway business, and sells amway products through their own web portal. That method that he was using didn't seem like it would fit my life at all, it just seemed like far too much time out and about trying to meet new people and convince them to be clients. How are you using it for real estate and how did you start doing that?[/QUOTE] Rich Dad Poor Dad itself is basically just a gateway book. It offers a philosophy of money and work (admittedly, it gets a bit preachy and political at points, but the overall concepts are solid) more than a solid action plan. Rich Dad Poor Dad piqued my interest in real estate investing, and it was through reading many other books that I started to actually learn the specifics and started putting together an actionable plan. For real estate investing, the four books I would most highly recommend are: 1) [U]Rich Dad Poor Dad (by Robert Kiyosaki)[/U] [I]Like I said, it's a gateway book. Offers a broad look at money and work and the mindset of entrepeneurs and investors and the philosophies of money and work. While there are few specifically actionable plans, this book is essential for building a strong foundation. The followup book "Rich Dad's Guide to Investing" is also a fantastic read that starts focusing more specifically on investments, including stocks and bonds.[/I] 2) [U]The ABC's of Real Estate Investing (By Ken McElroy)[/U] [I]This book builds upon the foundation provided by Rich Dad Poor Dad with some specific information about a variety of important subjects to real estate investors, such as an overview of property analysis, negotiation, minimizing tax obligations, and asset protection. It is fairly broad in scope meaning it doesn't offer many [U]specifically[/U] actionable plans, but understanding the full field of what you need to learn and be aware of as a real estate investor is crucial, and this book is great for that![/I] 3) [U]The Book on Rental Property Investing (by Brandon Turner)[/U] [I]Now we're getting down to the meat and potatoes! This book break down all the specifics of rental property investing, including detailed explanations of all the different kinds of properties, how to do a thorough financial analysis of a property, all the steps of the purchasing process, and even several different outlined strategies for wealth generation on a year-by-year basis. The previous two books build a foundation and a border, this one one erects the structure. To stick with my awkward construction metaphor.[/I] 4) Loopholes of Real Estate (by Garret Sutton) [i]Acquiring properties and generation positive cashflow is the cornerstone of real estate investments, but you must protect your assets! We lived in a highly litigious society, and for any longterm investor it is not a matter of IF you will be sued, but when. "Loopholes of Real Estate" offers a thorough explanation of the various strategies, tools, and legal benefits associated with real estate investing that can be used to help maximize your cashflow, minimize your liability, and protect your assets. Getting into real estate investing without knowing the concepts described in this book is just inviting trouble![/i] I've read about 15 other books on the subject as well, and all of them have offered some fantastic information, but these four are the ones I would say are crucial. However, if you're just looking for a quick explanation of what a rental property investor does and looks for, I can offer a pretty oversimplified explanation: they look for great deals on properties, crunch the numbers to determine whether they can rent it at a wide enough margin compared to the expenses of the property to make it a sound cashflow investment, and the purchase that property and begin finding tenants for it if all looks well. The basic concept is simple enough, but succeeding at it does require a certain degree of education, experience, and preparation. That said, I think damn near anybody could become competent with just a couple months of dedicated self-study.

I purchased a house in December. It's super stressful to know that if my business tanks I have to find a well-paying job within a few months or I get foreclosed on. Definitely don't miss renting an apartment in that regard. It's really nice, though, to know that you aren't just throwing your money into the void when you make a payment.

[QUOTE=Bradyns;49975243]If anyone is struggling to budget, there's a pretty nifty service called [URL="http://www.youneedabudget.com/"]You Need A Budget[/URL] - it's subscription based at a somewhat reasonable cost, but if things are really tight I wouldn't recommend using it. But, if you can spare some change here and there it truly is a godsend - I am awful with my money, even when I am "responsible" - It has plugged the holes in my wallet to the point that I could afford get my new second-hand car and save for bond to move out, all whilst paying off and saving for monthly expenses (phone bill/shopping/private health insurance/board) and yearly expenses (car rego/car repairs) with money saved for a rainy day. Only been using it for a few months but it's changed so much to the point where I've opened up a securities trading account with my bank. You can try the 30-or-so day trial to see if it's for you.[/QUOTE] I've heard about this and might need to check it out. While I'm living comfortably enough at the moment to blow some cash on meals out and such without feeling too guilty about it, I'm always surprised at how much I've actually spent when the month rolls around. I'll be leaving my job in a few months and surviving off my reserve account while I work to establish my new business, si managing my budget will become exceedingly important. I'll take any help I can get! [editline]21st March 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=geel9;49975258]I purchased a house in December. It's super stressful to know that if my business tanks I have to find a well-paying job within a few months or I get foreclosed on. Definitely don't miss renting an apartment in that regard. It's really nice, though, to know that you aren't just throwing your money into the void when you make a payment.[/QUOTE] The very first thing most financial planners will tell you is to make it a very high budgetary priority to set aside six full months of expenses in the event of emergencies such as that. It's not something anybody expects you to have done overnight, but that emergency fund can seriously save your ass when the unexpected comes and demands its due. Obviously that can be extremely difficult, if not impossible, depending on your circumstances, but if you do have any excess money in your budget each month, I would recommend that you open a second savings account and start funneling money into it for emergencies. Once you hit six months, you can just let it sit quietly for a bad day.

Does anyone know how to get rid of a mouse without having to kill the little shit?

[QUOTE=Carlito;49975301]Does anyone know how to get rid of a mouse without having to kill the little shit?[/QUOTE] There's plenty of no kill mouse traps out there.

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;49975272] The very first thing most financial planners will tell you is to make it a very high budgetary priority to set aside six full months of expenses in the event of emergencies such as that. It's not something anybody expects you to have done overnight, but that emergency fund can seriously save your ass when the unexpected comes and demands its due. Obviously that can be extremely difficult, if not impossible, depending on your circumstances, but if you do have any excess money in your budget each month, I would recommend that you open a second savings account and start funneling money into it for emergencies. Once you hit six months, you can just let it sit quietly for a bad day.[/QUOTE] The main dilemma I have right now is that I want to immediately put at least 70k into the house ASAP and then reclassify the loan so that my future payments are lower, thus allowing me more leeway in case my financial situation changes. That of course conflicts with saving 6 months' expenses.

[QUOTE=jbthekid;49975248]You sound a lot like me before I moved out, although I'm not out on my own for the first time. I also deliver pizza and live pretty comfortably in a good house with some friends. We actually all work at pizza places. I make roughly the same as you per month and my monthly rent is ~300. It's actually $313. With my phone bill, utilities, car insurance, and internet my monthly expenses come out to roughly $650. I spend probably the same as you in gas per week at around $40-$45 so about $800 I guess. Then there's groceries, and this all depends on how much you eat out or just eat in general. I eat out a decent bit myself with friends and family. Groceries will run you anywhere between $100-$200 a month, you know, depending on the stuff you like and if you're willing to cook. Moving in will initially cost you a lot more than what you'd spend the rest of the year because you'll need to settle in. This means washer/dryer, bathroom essentials, decor, cleaning supplies, etc. Plus if you've got a pet you'll need to pay for it. (Pet fee and feeding it) I'm 22 and I've lived on my own since I was 19. As long as you have some kind of support like friends and family, although it's likely you'll be fine, it should be smooth sailing. You've got just a little more than me in savings which is great. Hold on to that and keep feeding the account whenever you see fit. It's pulled me out of car trouble due to the strain on my car at work. I've got probably $200 spending money throughout the month with all my expenses and stuff and I'm okay with that.[/QUOTE] ive been told most benefits for me will be cut off the moment i pack my bags and leave, i think they would if i was struggling other expenses wise - right now its Netflix - $12 Spotify - $12 Phone - $50 (might downgrade to $45 depending on how much data i use this month) General food (takeout mostly) - $50-75 Alcohol - $30 Misc. - ~$40 then i have yearly subscriptions so Dropbox - $100 ExpressVPN - $130 Adobe CC Student - $150 these would be charged near the end of the year i think i could do it i just need to buy the car off dad and move work from Ipswich to Brisbane

[QUOTE=fruxodaily;49975576]ive been told most benefits for me will be cut off the moment i pack my bags and leave, i think they would if i was struggling other expenses wise - right now its Netflix - $12 Spotify - $12 Phone - $50 (might downgrade to $45 depending on how much data i use this month) General food (takeout mostly) - $50-75 Alcohol - $30 Misc. - ~$40 then i have yearly subscriptions so Dropbox - $100 ExpressVPN - $130 Adobe CC Student - $150 these would be charged near the end of the year i think i could do it i just need to buy the car off dad and move work from Ipswich to Brisbane[/QUOTE] This might help you, it's an excerpt of my weekly budget: [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/fNLd306.png[/IMG] Bear in mind that I live alone and in St Lucia so my rent is very high. Most of these are over-estimates but note the subtle things like washing and supplies (e.g. toilet paper, floss etc) that are easy to ignore when you've never had to worry about it before.

So I'm not sure if I should remain at my current job that pays fairly little, $11/hr, but lets me get 15 hours of uni a year for completely free or apply for a job that I have a reasonable chance of getting that pays a fair bit more, $18/hr, but would require me to pay for all of my schooling.

[QUOTE=Bradyns;49975243]If anyone is struggling to budget, there's a pretty nifty service called [URL="http://www.youneedabudget.com/"]You Need A Budget[/URL] - it's subscription based at a somewhat reasonable cost, but if things are really tight I wouldn't recommend using it. But, if you can spare some change here and there it truly is a godsend - I am awful with my money, even when I am "responsible" - It has plugged the holes in my wallet to the point that I could afford get my new second-hand car and save for bond to move out, all whilst paying off and saving for monthly expenses (phone bill/shopping/private health insurance/board) and yearly expenses (car rego/car repairs) with money saved for a rainy day. Only been using it for a few months but it's changed so much to the point where I've opened up a securities trading account with my bank. You can try the 30-or-so day trial to see if it's for you.[/QUOTE] Is it possible to change the currency on it? This looks useful and I'd love to try it out but I don't wanna start converting everything to dollarydoos. [editline]21st March 2016[/editline] Nevermind. You can set currency when starting a new budget. Woop!

Fruxo if you get sick at least you won't need to worry about the cost of a GP After a lifetime of good health I've suddenly got bad twitches in one arm. Found out pretty fast that our uni has a students-only clinic at both campuses and it's [I]free[/I]

[QUOTE=RenegadeCop;49974531]So yeah, what do you guys do for stress relief?[/QUOTE] wank myself silly OR if you chafe easily then I would recommend finding somewhere nice locally to go for walks. They're very relaxing, especially if you have quite a hectic life. [img]http://i.imgur.com/iljgyqCm.jpg[/img]

My dad is in court right now finding out whats gonna happen to our house. We may be out this day next week and all the rent people are ignoring us. Between the 3 of us we can afford a 3 double bed penthouse but nobody is returning calls or emails so I'm a little worried. My dad is trying to stall them, the bank that owned the mortgage "Bank of Scotland (Ireland)" Died in 2009 then somehow in 2014 Tanager inherited it somehow so he's gonna try stall it by making them clarify and also they spelled the house name wrong in all their documents. Any advice on how we can stall them or get some replies about renting a new place? For clarification the bank isnt interested in us paying the mortgage they just want us out so they can sell for short term profit.

So I just graduated from college in December. I went through an unpaid internship and just recently secured my first salaried position. At ~40k a year pre-tax it's as good as I would expect for an entry level position in my field (Public Relations). I've moved back in with my parents after school while I was searching for a job, but now that I've found one I need to move out as quickly as possible because this loss of independence is really killing me. Could you folks take a quick look at my budget and let me know of how it looks? It only contains my necessities and I'm trying to find out how much I'll have left to play with in terms of savings/investments after everything is done. Also this budget is kind of a worst case scenario with me overestimating my costs for most of these categories, and yes I am a very lazy eater so most of my meals will be from eating out and fast food until I get a little more emotional stability in my life. [t]http://i.imgur.com/VzUkHZ0.jpg[/t] I actually found this thread while I lay awake at 4 am due to the restlessness that stems from starting my very first day at my new job in just a few hours!

[QUOTE=Chickens!;49976104]My dad is in court right now finding out whats gonna happen to our house. We may be out this day next week and all the rent people are ignoring us. Between the 3 of us we can afford a 3 double bed penthouse but nobody is returning calls or emails so I'm a little worried. My dad is trying to stall them, the bank that owned the mortgage "Bank of Scotland (Ireland)" Died in 2009 then somehow in 2014 Tanager inherited it somehow so he's gonna try stall it by making them clarify and also they spelled the house name wrong in all their documents. Any advice on how we can stall them or get some replies about renting a new place? For clarification the bank isnt interested in us paying the mortgage they just want us out so they can sell for short term profit.[/QUOTE] Get in touch with a property solicitor to look through the paperwork and make sure it's above board. It may be that the mortgage could be invalid or non transferable to another company

[QUOTE=Anderan;49975737]So I'm not sure if I should remain at my current job that pays fairly little, $11/hr, but lets me get 15 hours of uni a year for completely free or apply for a job that I have a reasonable chance of getting that pays a fair bit more, $18/hr, but would require me to pay for all of my schooling.[/QUOTE] I would think that a loss of $7 an hour for a few years would be worth it in comparison to 10k+ in student loan debt

[QUOTE=DanTehMan;49976162]So I just graduated from college in December. I went through an unpaid internship and just recently secured my first salaried position. At ~40k a year pre-tax it's as good as I would expect for an entry level position in my field (Public Relations). I've moved back in with my parents after school while I was searching for a job, but now that I've found one I need to move out as quickly as possible because this loss of independence is really killing me. Could you folks take a quick look at my budget and let me know of how it looks? It only contains my necessities and I'm trying to find out how much I'll have left to play with in terms of savings/investments after everything is done. Also this budget is kind of a worst case scenario with me overestimating my costs for most of these categories, and yes I am a very lazy eater so most of my meals will be from eating out and fast food until I get a little more emotional stability in my life. [t]http://i.imgur.com/VzUkHZ0.jpg[/t] I actually found this thread while I lay awake at 4 am due to the restlessness that stems from starting my very first day at my new job in just a few hours![/QUOTE] It seems pretty thorough at first glance. The gas estimate looks low, but I also need to do a lot more driving than most people so my perception may be a bit skewed there. One thing I couldnt help but notice is that you have no ebtertainment category for things like seeing a movie, buying video games, or having a night out at the bar. You have a bit of disposable income so you don't look to be at major risk of falling flat, but without a budget holding you accountable it can be easy to overspend. Just something to keep in mind! $500/month of spare income is nothing to slouch at, though. That's wiggle room, at least! First thing I'd do is start building up an emergency fund with several months of expenses. I would recommend about $7500-10,000 to start with. It will take quite a while, but could save your ass down the line if tragedy were to happen. I'm talking major car breakdowns, losing your job, medical expenses, etc. Easiest way to do this to to just schedule an automatic deposit for X amount of dollars on each payday. That way, you never see the money yourself. Feels less like losing it. Also, since this is just an entry level position, I assume there's a decent chance of pay raises and promotions and such? If I were you, I would suggest not raising your quality of life to match your new salary when this happens. Not for a good while, at least! It's tempting to go get a better car and a bigger house and such, but I would wait until you reach a level where only about half of your income is dedicated to your all your various bills and living expenses and then trying to keep it at or below that level. That leaves you with a lot of extra income for investments, long term goals, retirement accounts, etc. One of the biggest mistakes people make, in my opinion, is that they are raise their quality of life to match their income the moment their income increases. If you're constantly on the brink of being able to afford what you have, you'll struggle to ever build wealth. That's just me, though!

Oh neat, we needed a thread like this. I'm 4 years out of high school. For the first 3 years I was getting 2 associates degrees in IT from a tech school, and now I'm making 60k a year and still living in my parents' basement. Its not too bad, theyre pretty laid back about stuff, and they're fine with me straying there as long as I'm saving money, so I've got my 401k withdrawals maxed out, and every month I put 800$ into a separate savings account. In two years or so I should have a kick ass down payment for a house. this year, my best fried's dad is having a house built 4 hours away and is leaving his current house to my friend, so Im going to move in with him, pay the bro rate (200-300 a month), and fix up the place some. I never finance if possible, aside from my student loan (only 5 grand). I borrowed the rest of my college money from my grandpa, (30 grand), and Im paying her back currently. Bank of grandma doesn't charge interest. I bought my 2000$ car cash in hand, its a pile of crap sometimes but I love it. Doing my own mechanic work saves [I][B]BUTTLOADS[/B][/I] of money. I've also got a motorcycle I restored, and I'm quite proud of the fact that since I bought it, I am the only person who's worked on it. At work I found myself going out to eat every lunch, 8-10 bucks a day adds right the hell up, so now I mostly eat microwave noodles from the comfort of my secluded cubicle. 2 bucks a day. I think that about wraps it up.

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;49976250]It seems pretty thorough at first glance. The gas estimate looks low, but I also need to do a lot more driving than most people so my perception may be a bit skewed there. One thing I couldnt help but notice is that you have no ebtertainment category for things like seeing a movie, buying video games, or having a night out at the bar. You have a bit of disposable income so you don't look to be at major risk of falling flat, but without a budget holding you accountable it can be easy to overspend. Just something to keep in mind! $500/month of spare income is nothing to slouch at, though. That's wiggle room, at least! First thing I'd do is start building up an emergency fund with several months of expenses. I would recommend about $7500-10,000 to start with. It will take quite a while, but could save your ass down the line if tragedy were to happen. I'm talking major car breakdowns, losing your job, medical expenses, etc. Easiest way to do this to to just schedule an automatic deposit for X amount of dollars on each payday. That way, you never see the money yourself. Feels less like losing it. Also, since this is just an entry level position, I assume there's a decent chance of pay raises and promotions and such? If I were you, I would suggest not raising your quality of life to match your new salary when this happens. Not for a good while, at least! It's tempting to go get a better car and a bigger house and such, but I would wait until you reach a level where only about half of your income is dedicated to your living expenses and then trying to keep it at that level. That leaves you with a lot of extra income for investments, long term goals, retirement accounts, etc. That's just me, though! And hell, I don't know if you have a significant other, but somebody else moving in and helping to divide the finances and add to the income is amazing, once ya'll are at that point in the relationship.[/QUOTE] Cool, this is all very much in line with my own thinking. I would love to buy a condo but I'm not sure if I'll be staying in the same state for more than 2 years so I can't justify that yet. There are so many things I'd like to do with my money, and I'm especially interested in owning my own business In some capacity, but I'm a very impatient person and I know I'll have to work at that goal for a few years at least. And yeah, obviously this is just the beginning of my career so I'm very hopeful to be earning more money as my path continues! I'm really interested in the management path and so I'm hoping that will end up being quite lucrative.

So after looking at your posts full of tables and stuff i feel like i'm doing something wrong, as i have never calculated my income and spendings whatsoever. But as long as i have enough money to get things i need i don't care about this stuff at all, and considering i rarely spend more than like 500$ per month, i guess i have nothing to worry about hehe.

[QUOTE=Birdman101;49976295]Oh neat, we needed a thread like this. I'm 4 years out of high school. For the first 3 years I was getting 2 associates degrees in IT from a tech school, and now I'm making 60k a year and still living in my parents' basement. Its not too bad, theyre pretty laid back about stuff, and they're fine with me straying there as long as I'm saving money, so I've got my 401k withdrawals maxed out, and every month I put 800$ into a separate savings account. In two years or so I should have a kick ass down payment for a house. this year, my best fried's dad is having a house built 4 hours away and is leaving his current house to my friend, so Im going to move in with him, pay the bro rate (200-300 a month), and fix up the place some. I never finance if possible, aside from my student loan (only 5 grand). I borrowed the rest of my college money from my grandpa, (30 grand), and Im paying her back currently. Bank of grandma doesn't charge interest. I bought my 2000$ car cash in hand, its a pile of crap sometimes but I love it. Doing my own mechanic work saves [I][B]BUTTLOADS[/B][/I] of money. I've also got a motorcycle I restored, and I'm quite proud of the fact that since I bought it, I am the only person who's worked on it. At work I found myself going out to eat every lunch, 8-10 bucks a day adds right the hell up, so now I mostly eat microwave noodles from the comfort of my secluded cubicle. 2 bucks a day. I think that about wraps it up.[/QUOTE] Sounds like you're going about this in a very thrifty sort of way. Congrats! At your income level, and with your very low expenses, you should able to save enough for a fat downpayment in no time. Just make sure you choose a home that fits very comfortably into your income once you do eventually buy in, though. With your lack of debt and relatively high income, banks are likely to offer you some very high loans (assuming you have built enough of a credit profile to qualify, at least). Be careful about that, because more often than not the amount that they'll approve you for will be higher than what you could responsibly afford. I don't reckon you'll ever struggle too much with money so long as you always approach big financial decisions this carefully and deliberately, for what it's worth!

Loans are icky and evil Also, if you guys are wondering about a piss easy way to keep track of finances, look at intuit mint. You gotta put min your online banking password, which might dissuade some, but after that, bam, every transfer and purchase from your card gets sorted by category and it's pretty nice IMO.

Hello wallet and mint are better than you need a budget IMO. They can talk to your banks to see your actual spending and auto categorize expenses against your budget. Obviously the downside is that you need to trust them with your financial info. Also hello wallet is a bit pricey.

I vouch for Mint, too. Incredibly helpful tool.

Ever since I got my first job at 16 I've been using Mint, it's pretty great for visualizing your expenses and income.

[QUOTE=thrawn2787;49976615]Hello wallet and mint are better than you need a budget IMO. They can talk to your banks to see your actual spending and auto categorize expenses against your budget. Obviously the downside is that you need to trust them with your financial info. Also hello wallet is a bit pricey.[/QUOTE] Mint is held to the same standards as something like Paypal is as far as accessing your bank accounts is concerned, if they were too shady/risky then banks would deny them access But yes, Mint is great. It will automatically access all of your accounts (If you have lines of credit or checking/savings/investment accounts across different banks) and combines all of your income and expenses into one area where everything is categorized into Entertainment, Groceries, Gas, Fast Food, etc etc. [editline]21st March 2016[/editline] Sometimes you need to set the category of an expense manually, but for instance it automatically sets Steam purchases as Entertainment

Quick question: I'm about to buy my first car. I got about 1900 in the bank and only pay like $100 for rent atm. I wanted a car before I got an apartment, and I'm just now looking into price ranges for a decent car. What do you guys think is a good/decent starter car? I will take a junker, as long as it is reliable and can get me to work and back. I can probably scrounge together some more cash if I needed to. Any recommendations?

All cheap cars break down fairly often. It's pretty much a matter of choosing one that is easy and cheap to fix when it does. I drive an ex-police crown Victoria, and it breaks down every couple of months, but it's always simple and easy stuff like replacing spark plugs and coil packs, rebuilding the floor pan, tie rods, ect. The most difficult thing to do was replacing an axle halfshaft, and even that was pretty simple. Right now the cats are plugged and one of them is rattling itself to death. I've been driving it like this for a few weeks now, it still works fine. When I do decide to fix it, it's 300$ for both cat pipes, no cutting or welding needed, just 8 bolts out and back in. Done. [editline]21st March 2016[/editline] Hop into the automotive addicts thread in GD, they've got some good recommendations.

Went to get my teeth out... and couldn't. Earlier they said they knock me out via iv in the arm. my friends said a gasmask would be used. Turn out, they were gonna use a syringe; I don't like sharp pointy objects, especially near my mouth. The last time I went to the dentist to get some stuff down on my mouth and he jammed the syringe in mouth. It was so painful, a type of painful you don't forget. The dentist also said they were gonna to put me under, but then they said they don't to that at their office either. During all this, my dad is getting really pissed at me, but doesn't understand my Asperger's and I start bawling my head off even though I'm also on some meds to help with my anxiety and fears.

[QUOTE=Birdman101;49976843]All cheap cars break down fairly often. It's pretty much a matter of choosing one that is easy and cheap to fix when it does. I drive an ex-police crown Victoria, and it breaks down every couple of months, but it's always simple and easy stuff like replacing spark plugs and coil packs, rebuilding the floor pan, tie rods, ect. The most difficult thing to do was replacing an axle halfshaft, and even that was pretty simple. Right now the cats are plugged and one of them is rattling itself to death. I've been driving it like this for a few weeks now, it still works fine. When I do decide to fix it, it's 300$ for both cat pipes, no cutting or welding needed, just 8 bolts out and back in. Done. [editline]21st March 2016[/editline] Hop into the automotive addicts thread in GD, they've got some good recommendations.[/QUOTE] Awesome, thanks for the advice!