Something you do ‘right’ that’s ’wrong’?

[polcat]

@jesussaves7763 Ideally around 6 months for an emergency fund. Anything more than that should be used in an investment vehicle unless there’s a large purchase soon. I don’t have any large purchases in the near future.

 

[milo]

@polcat So what’s your reasoning? Surely the 5% cash rate environment can’t be that attractive. Lol

 

[polcat]

@milo For me, it’s just an irrational fear of losing my job where I need to sustain myself for over a year or having my vehicle totaled, and I need to purchase a vehicle ASAP.

 

[jesussaves7763]

@polcat I was at a point of just throwing a couple hundred a month and any sale items (I buy/sell a lot online). I wasn't even thinking about 6 months emergency but just been enjoying the 5% each month lol

 

[ivyt85]

@jesussaves7763 Spend $500 a month on high quality groceries (minimal eating out). You are what you eat.

 

[jesussaves7763]

@ivyt85 Shoot, my wife has been eating out so much we would save money by doing that!! Wish we would!

 

[onfire1978]

@jesussaves7763 Send my kids to private school. ETA: I live in Lousiana, currently ranked 49th in education.

 

[jesussaves7763]

@onfire1978 We were close doing that to... We wanted our son in this particular charter school if he didn't get in, I was totally going to pay for private school. I hate OT but would have done it.

 

[onfire1978]

@jesussaves7763 Thankfully (and this will send some angry redditors my way), my child support received covers the whole bill. That’s all it covers so all other kid costs are my own, but that’s a-okay with me!

 

[jesussaves7763]

@onfire1978 As a father I would support this.

 

[avawils7]

@jesussaves7763 I bought my current car new instead of going used. I knew I was gonna drive it for a long time. I also knew that cars like it get driven aggressively and I wanted one that hadn't been. It wasn't cheap by any stretch, but it's a really solid machine that I enjoy driving. I've had her for a decade now and plan on keeping her for many more years to come.

 

[smtdds]

@avawils7 Same, new makes sense if you plan to keep it for a long time horizon. I bought a manual sports car recently because they are being discontinued and going electric, wanted to get one while I still had the chance. No regrets!

 

[jesussaves7763]

@avawils7 Did the same, didn't have "plans" on keeping it any certain time but here I am 9yrs later, still driving it with only 70k miles on it and it still feels new to me. Oh and I paid it off within 2yrs so the money part didn't even bother me.

 

[erik111]

@jesussaves7763 When we got our house, we barely qualified. This was the very tail end of 2019. We made like $70k combined and had no down payment (VA loan). We also had somewhere around 30k in consumer debt! The cheapest houses in our area ran for maybe 280k and we somehow qualified for up to 350k. We found a house for 340k and ended up getting it. It cost nearly all of my monthly income, and my husband was responsible for all other bills. So we were very house poor! I also quit my job as soon as we got the house and started a new one- same hourly wage and much more long-term stability and potential for advancement, but a no-no nonetheless!

It ended up paying off for us. We purposely picked a home that had a basement we could rent out to family to help offset the mortgage, but also made sure we could cover the mortgage without renters. I always prioritized the mortgage payment above everything else. We managed to keep our jobs through Covid and I moved up at mine, getting promoted twice in my first year. It’s now been four years and I also received two pay adjustments (one quite sizeable) and annual raises. I have actually doubled my income and can now afford the mortgage on one paycheck. My husband has also recently landed a higher paying job so we are finally feeling somewhat safe. Now we have a property we love that still brings in rent money but that we can afford even without it.

A “wrong” idea we are considering in the future is adding a second story onto the house. Everyone says it makes more sense just to sell and buy the house you want, and we are considering that! But my FIL is a general contractor and it is something we could potentially do in about 5 years, if the conditions were right. We’ll have to see what makes more sense for us at the time.

 

[jesussaves7763]

@erik111 I like this, specially if you have those cheaper rates

 

[erik111]

@jesussaves7763 We do! Our rate is 3.375%. We got very lucky that it all worked out for us- many of our friends are locked out of the market still unfortunately.

 

[jesussaves7763]

@erik111 Yep I have things I hate about our place and we built new, on our land!!! No way I’d sell though, similar rate as yours

 

[mike1g]

@jesussaves7763 Chose not to get my CPA license and I work for the government.

I do not make 6 digits but I work 40 hours a week in a very stable job.

 

[gracewater]

@mike1g I do not have a CPA and I make well into 6 figures and “work” less than 40hrs a week (hybrid). I don’t regret going into the private sector at all. I get the earning potential of it, but my sanity is also very valuable.

 

[twenty15girl]

@jesussaves7763 Putting so much in a Roth even though I’m in a medium high tax bracket.

Also, spelling “financially” wrong in a financial post. It happens