What are your rules on Money?

[BamaGuy44]

Beware of a SALE!

SALE definition:

something you won't use at a price you can't resist

Reminds of a Dave Ramsey line: “Spending money you don’t have, on stuff you can’t afford, to impress people you don’t like”

 

[MillauFr]

My goal is to die with zero. It is my money so I am going to enjoy it. No need to pass it down.

 

[White Cat]

Reminds of a Dave Ramsey line: “Spending money you don’t have, on stuff you can’t afford, to impress people you don’t like”

And even people they don’t know.

 

[DLgal]

My goal is to die with zero. It is my money so I am going to enjoy it. No need to pass it down.

That's a great way to look at it. I wish my parents were like this, but they are h- bent on leaving us an inheritance to their own detriment while they are still living. Just yesterday, my dad said to me "if our house doesn't have any water damage after this hurricane, I'm going to drop our flood insurance. There is very little chance of me experiencing another storm like this in my lifetime and why continue to waste $600 a year."

For context, they live in Kissimmee and he is 75 years old. His mother lived to age 93. And it's not like bad storms are becoming LESS frequent. I just don't get this mentality AT ALL. Is saving $600 really worth potentially shelling out tens of thousands to repair water damage to your home? They got lucky this time. Their net worth is in the 7 figures. It's not like they are struggling. I can't understand it.

 

[TippyThomas]

To spend reasonably and enjoy life.

 

[White Cat]

That's a great way to look at it. I wish my parents were like this, but they are h- bent on leaving us an inheritance to their own detriment while they are still living. Just yesterday, my dad said to me "if our house doesn't have any water damage after this hurricane, I'm going to drop our flood insurance. There is very little chance of me experiencing another storm like this in my lifetime and why continue to waste $600 a year."

For context, they live in Kissimmee and he is 75 years old. His mother lived to age 93. And it's not like bad storms are becoming LESS frequent. I just don't get this mentality AT ALL. Is saving $600 really worth potentially shelling out tens of thousands to repair water damage to your home? They got lucky this time. Their net worth is in the 7 figures. It's not like they are struggling. I can't understand it.

Parts of Kissimmee are seriously flooded right now.

 

[DLgal]

Parts of Kissimmee are seriously flooded right now.

I know. That's what I don't understand. Flooding is completely unpredictable. Getting lucky this time means nothing.

 

[fla4fun]

Set a budget for the year every January which includes all expenditures/bills, monthly discretionary spending, travel and retirement savings in retirement and taxable accounts. Once the budget is set....we follow zero based budgeting....every dollar has a place to go. The only two categories we track is monthly discretionary and grocery spending. That's it.

If we're under for the month, the excess goes to the emergency fund. If we're slightly over...we'll roll over to the next month, or pull from the emergency fund depending on the expense. It works...we've been doing this for years and years.

I have followed a similar setup for years, from way before there were computers to make it easy. It’s one reason I haven’t had to panic yet about being out of work. One of the categories under savings was a line item called Unemployed, where I saved up money to live on if I lost my job. Every dollar, including any overtime when I was working, was fed into the budget and assigned a spot. I actually have a formula set up in the budget where I plug in the number of hours worked and it calculates the net paycheck after taxes, so I can put the OT in before I get the check. I usually set up my budget for the following year beginning in July, so right now I already have the spreadsheet for 2023 set up and populated with the correct line items and estimated costs. It will be nice when I can also add income to the spreadsheet . . .

As far as rules for money, I save first and buy later, no debt whenever possible. I don’t have any debt right now, and that has been a godsend during long term unemployment. I only use a credit card when necessary, and pay it off at the end of the month. I always cover necessary expenses first, savings second, and discretionary (fun) third. I actually find I have more fun money living on a budget than I did before I started using one, because I am planning ahead instead of playing catch up. I prefer to own, not rent or subscribe. Don’t buy the cheapest, but don’t buy the most expensive either - buy quality goods that are worth their price and will last. Don’t buy in excess of what I need - for example, I have three pair of shoes instead of a closet full and I buy clothes that are classic instead of trendy, so they can be worn for many years without looking dated (and buy at the end of the season on sale if possible). Make a list for grocery shopping using the sale flyer and stick to the list. If I can buy store brand groceries without sacrificing quality, I will (Publix store brand products are generally good, although I don’t like their strawberry jam so I buy Smuckers).

I know it sounds like I am always looking to spend as little as possible, but that’s not completely true. I look to cut costs where it won’t be noticed so I can use that money in other ways, like travel. I don’t have any kids to worry about leaving an inheritance to, so the optimal goal is to live well but within my means.

 

[barkley]

That's a great way to look at it. I wish my parents were like this, but they are h- bent on leaving us an inheritance to their own detriment while they are still living. Just yesterday, my dad said to me "if our house doesn't have any water damage after this hurricane, I'm going to drop our flood insurance. There is very little chance of me experiencing another storm like this in my lifetime and why continue to waste $600 a year."

For context, they live in Kissimmee and he is 75 years old. His mother lived to age 93. And it's not like bad storms are becoming LESS frequent. I just don't get this mentality AT ALL. Is saving $600 really worth potentially shelling out tens of thousands to repair water damage to your home? They got lucky this time. Their net worth is in the 7 figures. It's not like they are struggling. I can't understand it.

your dad is 14 years older than me so i'm guessing part of his upbringing was similar to mine-raised with family members who experienced the depression and had their attitudes about spending and saving shaped by them. my mom didn't go the extent of ever considering cancelling insurance but she would choose to not spend on something that i perceived as so inconsequential cost wise given her income/assets. it's just a mindset that is ingrained and difficult if not impossible to change.

one way you might be able to convince him to retain the insurance if his mindset is hard and fast on leaving you an inheritance is to go about it by telling him that if he cancels then that asset may be greatly devalued if not worthless by the time it passes to you. either through repair costs that exceed the value of the property or by virtue of being uninsurable for a subsequent owner (i saw a news piece this morning on the horrific lack of insurance options in florida-seems like anyone that has it shouldn't risk losing it b/c it could be impossible if not horrendously cost prohibitive to get a new policy for themselves or a subsequent owner).

 

[Lumpy1106]

When DW and I got married we'd been living together for 2 years. We got married in a Catholic church so they made us attend a day-long seminar. Their rule was 1 checking account, 1 person holds the checkbook. We laughed. We'd been doing just fine with separate accounts. Well, it didn't take long, but they were right. Our money was spread out so thinly over separate accounts that we kept getting "stupid" charges for not having enough balance in one account or another or we'd get late charges because we each thought the other person had paid it. That did it; we combined everything. Our rule now is one person holds the checkbook and that person is the one who spends the most - and that's DW by a long shot. She knows how much she can spend because she's holding the checkbook. I can spend whatever I want because I hate shopping and don't spend much of anything. It's worked flawlessly for +26 years - not changing now. YMMV...

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

Life is short. Buy the concert tickets.

 

[DLgal]

your dad is 14 years older than me so i'm guessing part of his upbringing was similar to mine-raised with family members who experienced the depression and had their attitudes about spending and saving shaped by them. my mom didn't go the extent of ever considering cancelling insurance but she would choose to not spend on something that i perceived as so inconsequential cost wise given her income/assets. it's just a mindset that is ingrained and difficult if not impossible to change.

one way you might be able to convince him to retain the insurance if his mindset is hard and fast on leaving you an inheritance is to go about it by telling him that if he cancels then that asset may be greatly devalued if not worthless by the time it passes to you. either through repair costs that exceed the value of the property or by virtue of being uninsurable for a subsequent owner (i saw a news piece this morning on the horrific lack of insurance options in florida-seems like anyone that has it shouldn't risk losing it b/c it could be impossible if not horrendously cost prohibitive to get a new policy for themselves or a subsequent owner).

You are right. His mother was very stingy because of her depression era upbringing.

Unfortunately their home is only a small part of their overall net worth, and it's already worth about 3x what they paid for it. So I don't think he would care too much if some damage cut into the equity. It's still a mortgaged property though, so I wonder if the bank would have something to say about dropping flood insurance.

I am going to try and convince him to keep the dang insurance. It's just a foolish way to save $50 a month.

 

[_19disnA]

My rule is to never discuss money or my financial situation with strangers.

 

[china mom]

Never pay credit card interest.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

With the exception of my house if we don’t have the cash on hand we don’t finance anything and we are probably the only people in America with only one credit card, and it’s my DHs business card. We have zero debt. I also open bank accounts for my kids at early ages snd they get allowances and are taught to budget their $ (25% of allowance to savings and is untouchable and the rest they can spend or save to get something they want) from
an early age. We teach them that it’s important to save but also to be happy, you can’t take it with you.

 

[Miffy]

One of my money tenets is never buy something that a salesperson is hard-selling to me. I absolutely despise being treated like that and in my experience, the hard sell is always for a big-ticket item that needs to be carefully considered and thought over, not purchased under duress and exhaustion.

 

[barkley]

You are right. His mother was very stingy because of her depression era upbringing.

Unfortunately their home is only a small part of their overall net worth, and it's already worth about 3x what they paid for it. So I don't think he would care too much if some damage cut into the equity. It's still a mortgaged property though, so I wonder if the bank would have something to say about dropping flood insurance.

I am going to try and convince him to keep the dang insurance. It's just a foolish way to save $50 a month.

if he has it through the same company he has other policies it might cost him more to drop it-multi policy discounts have prevented us from making what we initially thought might be money saving changes to our coverage. you right on the mortgage though-when we had one we had to keep up certain coverage and i know the folks that live near us that are in a 100 year floodplain are required to have coverage we weren't required to carry (supposedly a selling point for our neighborhood).

 

[ScottOKW2K]

Spend on good whiskey, fast cars and faster women. Then waste the rest .

Actually enjoying #1 , and don't have the inclination for #2 & #3.

 

[Praying Colonel]

--Have an emergency fund

--Have a plan for retirement and execute it

--Have enough breathing room in your budget that you can give some and and save some in addition to what you spend

--Avoid financing depreciating assets whenever possible, and if you have to finance, choke down as much of a monthly payment as you can to pay it off as soon as possible

--I didn't learn this until later, but if I could give Younger Me advice, it would be Less Stuff, More Memories.

 

[wabbott]