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Many don't have $2,000 for a rainy day

money.cnn.com

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Re: Many don't have $2,000 for a rainy day

#131

Post by tesseract »

hugh3 wrote: post #127
djcapelis wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One reality show I would really like to see would be about sending entitled people into low income neighborhoods so we can all watch them realize just how hard working some people are and just how well most people manage their money. Maybe then they'd stop saying misinformed stuff like "all that person really needs is someone to help them with a budget." A budget helps you cut excess spending. There's not a lot of sp…

One reality show I would really like to see would be about sending entitled people into low income neighborhoods so we can all watch them realize just how hard working some people are and just how well most people manage their money. That would indeed be interesting if it were true, regardless of your snarkiness. I'd be interested in seeing a show just like that regardless of how it works out.

Secret Millionaire?

Re: Many don't have $2,000 for a rainy day

#132

Post by coffeeaddicted »

nhangen wrote: post #52
billybob wrote: post #6

If you don't have enough money to handle an emergency, you have an emergency. Go ahead and panic. Trade your car for a cheaper one, move into a cheaper apartment, stop eating out, sell your TV, and get an emergency fund . If you're already living on toasted rats in a cardboard box, that's different, but if you've got unnecessary expenditures, you should really cut those out and get an emergency fund. To do otherwise…

It's easy to say that, but the reality is that many of these people probably blew through their savings while enduring job loss, medical bills, increased energy and food costs, etc. Most people aren't programmers, and are at the mercy of the job market, which sucks right now. There are many cases of irresponsible behavior, but I know of far too many responsible people that tried everything they could to right the shi…

Funny you mention freelancing - this was what got me into the deepest trouble so far. One bad contract where I couldn't get out easily and had miscalculated milestones badly. And it is hard to concentrate on coding when you start wondering about stuff like "will I manage to pay rent once more next week or will the bank not accept that I go over the credit limit".

Re: Many don't have $2,000 for a rainy day

#133

Post by [deleted] »

noodle wrote: post #100
mattw wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everybody says this, but I've obtained three different mortgages in my lifetime and never had a credit card. In lieu of credit history, the bank has just asked for other evidence that I pay my bills, like statements from the utility company. Maybe I'm just lucky, but in my opinion, wanting a good credit score is a pretty bad reason to get a credit card.

how long ago were the mortgages and how old were you when you tried to obtain them? i think the climate is different now. i have a friend who is reasonably fresh out of school and tried to buy a place, but got turned down for mortgages due to lack of credit history (and presumably a lack of "other evidence" as well).

[deleted]

Re: Many don't have $2,000 for a rainy day

#134

Post by tricky »

latj wrote: post #119
anonymouser wrote: post #43

I have a question for HN hackers. I make over 6 figure a year. My wife doesn't work. She keeps telling me that we are not middle class, and that I should earn more if I want to afford us a middle class lifestyle, because everything is very expensive now. She also thinks that I'm a bit of an underachiever, professionally, for earning only 120K a year. Am I an underachiever or is she out of touch with Midwestern Americ…

divorce

alimony

Re: Many don't have $2,000 for a rainy day

#135

Post by anonymous246 »

jrockway wrote: post #69
Duff wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Responsibility is not a class issue. The lady who cleans our office is poor by any definition. She works 14 hours a day, every day. She has two kids, no TV, and has cash saved up to buy Christmas presents and school uniforms. The guy in the next office makes $110k/year leases a BMW 5 series, owns a new condo, and goes out of the country on vacation 3 times a year. Who's irresponsible?

Neither? When you get paid a lot of money, it's easier to be less careful with your money and not have anything bad happen. It's easy to contribute the maximum to your 401k, have the best health insurance and flexible spending account, save $1000 a month, and still buy a lot of things. If you lose your job, you'll probably get another one. And banks are more than happy to loan you money to bridge the transition. All…

Umm, I think you misunderstood his point. I guess he was trying to make the point that a 110k salary will barely (if at all) cover the sorts of expenses he described.

Which is actually true, unless you go through contortions like interpreting "foreign vacation" to mean shacking with friends in a different country. Btw, AFAIK, new condos do cost more than older ones.

Re: Many don't have $2,000 for a rainy day

#136

Post by nkassis »

thomasgerbe wrote: post #18
nkassis wrote: post #5

2,000 bucks is a lot, I know the rule of thumbs is like 3 months net salary to keep for bad days but that's just hard for people like most on HN that are young, trying to either bootstrap a business or have a ton of student debt. Not sure what I would do but I think I could sell enough non-essentials to make up the money if it was a really bad situation.

I was paying rent in NY on a below average salary and still managed to save about 10k over a course of a few months to eventually quit and bootstrap. All it took was not going out excessively and not buying superfluous new things.

But you see that 10K you saved shouldn't be the money you use to invest and Bootstrap. That 10K should be the cash you keep around for emergency.

But frankly I'd probably do exactly what you have done personally so take that advice with a grain of salt.

Re: Many don't have $2,000 for a rainy day

#137

Post by rokhayakebe »

anonymouser wrote: post #43

I have a question for HN hackers. I make over 6 figure a year. My wife doesn't work. She keeps telling me that we are not middle class, and that I should earn more if I want to afford us a middle class lifestyle, because everything is very expensive now. She also thinks that I'm a bit of an underachiever, professionally, for earning only 120K a year. Am I an underachiever or is she out of touch with Midwestern Americ…

I suggest you sit her down and talk to her like the person who wears the pants. In other words, grow a pair of hot damn brass balls. Next week she will love you even more for your new unknown-to-her-bad-attitude.

Re: Many don't have $2,000 for a rainy day

#138

Post by pyre »

veyron wrote: post #106
PagingCraig wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On top of an Emergency fund, I find taking money out for KNOWN expenses makes sense. Like putting aside money for car repair, basic home repairs, etc separate from emergency stuff.

Should be the other way around. Money taken out for known expenses should be on par with money for bills.

I took 'on top of an emergency fund' to mean that the money being set aside for those things was not part of the emergency fund.

Re: Many don't have $2,000 for a rainy day

#139

Post by ssharp »

illumin8 wrote: post #67
sosuke wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lottery-linked savings account sounds awesome since I already play low-odds lottery and put money into savings every month. Texas won't give up their lotteries or multi-state lotteries for anything though.

Lottery is just a tax for those that are bad at math. Why would you do both? Putting money into a low yield savings account will get you a statistically better return over your entire lifetime than buying a few powerball tickets every week.

Assuming the prize-linked account providers don't rake the prize pool, it's an even money bet.

Re: Many don't have $2,000 for a rainy day

#140

Post by timsally »

btilly wrote: post #128
djcapelis wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One reality show I would really like to see would be about sending entitled people into low income neighborhoods so we can all watch them realize just how hard working some people are and just how well most people manage their money. Maybe then they'd stop saying misinformed stuff like "all that person really needs is someone to help them with a budget." A budget helps you cut excess spending. There's not a lot of sp…

I know a lot of poor people who work hard and manage their money well. I also know a lot who could save themselves a ton of money with obvious (if not easy) steps like quitting smoking.

Quitting smoking may seem obvious, but it's important to consider the context. Middle class people grow up in homes that are very anti-smoking. In the rare case that a middle class family isn't anti-smoking, middle class schools certainly are. Hell, I was indoctrinated with anti-smoking feelings starting from age 10 in school. Whereas a lot of poor people are probably being given cigarettes at age 10. Combine this with the highly addictive properties of cigarettes and I'm not convinced quitting smoking is a reasonable money management strategy to suggest unless we provide some sort of support program or infrastructure. If there are free programs available to teach how to fight addiction, then sure I'm on board.
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