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Post by td on Mar 17, 2015 8:38:22 GMT -5
I recently went to a free class for potential first time home buyers put on by the City. When they talked about budgeting & balancing personal / house expenses, they said that the listing they see most often left out of folks' budgets is clothing. People think that they don't spend much money on clothes or they will stop buying clothes as a way of easily reigning in expenses. Works for some. I don't buy clothes often but looking through my debit card statement history, I certainly spent more on clothing last year than I would have thought. Mostly shoes. I work on my feet & walk all over this town every day so I tend to wear shoes down fairly quickly.
How much do folks typically budget for clothes?
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Phil
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Mar 17, 2015 9:40:13 GMT -5
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Post by Phil on Mar 17, 2015 9:40:13 GMT -5
Nothing. Thankfully I wear a government issued uniform for work and I wear the same thing on weekends cuz fliphairdontcare I spend more money on outdoor clothing, and I usually save for it but don't necessarily budget.
In other news, between my car repair and my insane student loans this month, I managed to spend $2000 in two days. Makes me sad knowing that that is basically a vacation to Australia.
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Post by td on Mar 17, 2015 10:00:38 GMT -5
Nothing. Thankfully I wear a government issued uniform for work and I wear the same thing on weekends cuz fliphairdontcare I spend more money on outdoor clothing, and I usually save for it but don't necessarily budget. In other news, between my car repair and my insane student loans this month, I managed to spend $2000 in two days. Makes me sad knowing that that is basically a vacation to Australia. Lol "fliphairdontcare" I have to keep some clothes a little nicer to wear to my job in the archives. Everything that I wear to the cafe eventually ends up with bleach stains, it seems. f*ck that's a ton of money I imagine its defeating but hopefully you can work on rebuilding the savings soon.
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Finances
Mar 17, 2015 16:11:21 GMT -5
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Post by Bryan on Mar 17, 2015 16:11:21 GMT -5
I barely buy clothes. I buy like maybe $175 to $200 worth of clothes a year and that's mostly just because old clothes get ruined, tattered, ripped, etc. Underwear is a different story tho... I'll splurge on some nice underwear LMAO. In other news I just achieved over $1,000 in my checking account lmao. Which is a lot for me. But I was talking to my friends, none of which have a job, and they're like "Yeah I have $5,000 in my checking account" "Yeah I have $30,000 [she had gotten in a car wreck and a lot of this was settlement money but still]" I was so discouraged... like how do they get to that amount? Like my friend with $5,000 says it was all birthday/Christmas money basically but like... my family isn't that rich lol. I had to work to save up to $1,000 in my checking account. It just sucks because they're all moving out and finding apartments and stuff and there's still no way I can afford rent. Also my parents were gonna help me but my stepdad lost his job recently so now they can't and I'm stuck living at home still
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Post by td on Mar 17, 2015 20:32:46 GMT -5
I barely buy clothes. I buy like maybe $175 to $200 worth of clothes a year and that's mostly just because old clothes get ruined, tattered, ripped, etc. Underwear is a different story tho... I'll splurge on some nice underwear LMAO. In other news I just achieved over $1,000 in my checking account lmao. Which is a lot for me. But I was talking to my friends, none of which have a job, and they're like "Yeah I have $5,000 in my checking account" "Yeah I have $30,000 [she had gotten in a car wreck and a lot of this was settlement money but still]" I was so discouraged... like how do they get to that amount? Like my friend with $5,000 says it was all birthday/Christmas money basically but like... my family isn't that rich lol. I had to work to save up to $1,000 in my checking account. It just sucks because they're all moving out and finding apartments and stuff and there's still no way I can afford rent. Also my parents were gonna help me but my stepdad lost his job recently so now they can't and I'm stuck living at home still $175 / $200 is closer to where I need to be. I've spent too much but I like to have decent clothes to wear to the archives but then they get messed up at the cafe :/ $1,000 in checking is AWESOME! Congrats, Bryan! Its always going to be harder for folks who have to work for their money & support themselves at the same time. I live in my friend's house & her boyfriend basically lives here, too. He works like 5-10 hours a week at the campus cinema but always has a f*ck ton of money to eat out, go to shows, buy clothes and all of the collector stuff that he likes because his parents pay for everything. The other day he said that he makes $4,000 a year & was complaining about it & I was like, "How do you live?!" and he got really embarrassed. I know that he lives off of his parents but it felt like he was complaining about "getting by" in an inauthentic way & I hate when people who are financially supported do that. Yeah, my parents sometimes give me $100 for my birthday but it depends on where they're at financially. Since I'm not close with them, I don't count on it but its a nice surprise when a check shows up. It sounds like you're making good savings progress & even if it feels small, its something. Most of all, saving now can help you take steps toward independence later. If a good, cheap apartment comes up sometime, you'll have the backing to go for it by staying at home & saving now. Its just all ground work for better things.
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Mar 17, 2015 20:44:50 GMT -5
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Post by JC on Mar 17, 2015 20:44:50 GMT -5
I hit the $1000 mark before Christmas... then spent it all on presents lol. So I'm trying to work back up to it again
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Post by td on Mar 17, 2015 20:52:01 GMT -5
Bryan, JC, phil, do y'all wanna set monthly savings goals, too? I've almost finished up my March goal but I'm thinking ahead toward April - May. It would be cool to do it with folks.
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Finances
Mar 17, 2015 20:54:27 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2015 20:54:27 GMT -5
I'm at 1300.. and I get paid Friday. I'm aiming for at least 2.5-3k by the time I move in August tho. I'm not hardcore financing though.. just cutting things here and there.
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Post by td on Mar 17, 2015 20:57:31 GMT -5
I'm at 1300.. and I get paid Friday. I'm aiming for at least 2.5-3k by the time I move in August tho. I'm not hardcore financing though.. just cutting things here and there. Where are you moving from / to?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2015 21:00:00 GMT -5
I'm at 1300.. and I get paid Friday. I'm aiming for at least 2.5-3k by the time I move in August tho. I'm not hardcore financing though.. just cutting things here and there. Where are you moving from / to? I'm moving from Alabama to New Jersey. Basically going from a 7.25 minimum wage state to a 8.38 minimum wage state. I make 8.50 currently so I'm way above minimum, but I know the standard of living and costs up there are going to skyrocket from what I'm used to.
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Post by td on Mar 17, 2015 21:07:47 GMT -5
Where are you moving from / to? I'm moving from Alabama to New Jersey. Basically going from a 7.25 minimum wage state to a 8.38 minimum wage state. I make 8.50 currently so I'm way above minimum, but I know the standard of living and costs up there are going to skyrocket from what I'm used to. Damn, yeah, that's quite a change on a few levels. You moving there for a job or with a job lined up? Saving $3,000 before the move will be super helpful if you can manage it.
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Mar 17, 2015 21:09:08 GMT -5
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Post by JC on Mar 17, 2015 21:09:08 GMT -5
Bryan, JC, phil, do y'all wanna set monthly savings goals, too? I've almost finished up my March goal but I'm thinking ahead toward April - May. It would be cool to do it with folks. My goal is always to save $100 from every paycheck so basically $200 a month. I'm not hardcore saving either, just working on it lol
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2015 21:10:23 GMT -5
I'm moving from Alabama to New Jersey. Basically going from a 7.25 minimum wage state to a 8.38 minimum wage state. I make 8.50 currently so I'm way above minimum, but I know the standard of living and costs up there are going to skyrocket from what I'm used to. Damn, yeah, that's quite a change on a few levels. You moving there for a job or with a job lined up? Saving $3,000 before the move will be super helpful if you can manage it. I'm headed up there for college. I kind of have a job lined up in a sense where I'll be transferring for the company I work for. (Corporate warehouse job with 4 location within 10 miles of where I'll be living) Luckily we're going to be getting a house and splitting it 5 ways so the rent will be about that of a 1 bedroom apartment. It's the first time I'll be 100% on my own with no family to back me up, since they'll all be 16+ hours away. I'd love to have the money saved up for when I go.
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Post by td on Mar 17, 2015 21:25:44 GMT -5
Damn, yeah, that's quite a change on a few levels. You moving there for a job or with a job lined up? Saving $3,000 before the move will be super helpful if you can manage it. I'm headed up there for college. I kind of have a job lined up in a sense where I'll be transferring for the company I work for. (Corporate warehouse job with 4 location within 10 miles of where I'll be living) Luckily we're going to be getting a house and splitting it 5 ways so the rent will be about that of a 1 bedroom apartment. It's the first time I'll be 100% on my own with no family to back me up, since they'll all be 16+ hours away. I'd love to have the money saved up for when I go. Sounds like an exciting, big step. Good luck to you! Cool that your job transfers, too.
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Phil
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Mar 17, 2015 22:20:53 GMT -5
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Post by Phil on Mar 17, 2015 22:20:53 GMT -5
I typically try to put a few hundred away every pay period. I try to keep around 1000 in checking, and whatever doesn't need to be in checking automatically goes into saving. This month wasn't good to me cuz of my car situation, and I had a quarterly student loan payment that is higher than most months. i just got paid yesterday and pretty much my whole check went to immediate expenses lololol. I'm saving up to go to Mexico in the spring 2016 if I have time off from my jobs.
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Phil
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Mar 17, 2015 22:24:33 GMT -5
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Post by Phil on Mar 17, 2015 22:24:33 GMT -5
Oh and I'll definitely get to put in some overtime this week given the cuurent construction schedule for the project I've been assigned to. Later in the summer I might get nighttime pay if they work before 6am and after 6pm. Night Pay and overtime is my dream. Today I worked 6a to 530p, but it's not technically overtime yet. My days are full so I'll probably have to do overtime just to get my daily reports and paperwork done lol. My boss just put in a request to region to get more money to pay us more overtime so please God say yes.
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Post by Dewie890 on Mar 17, 2015 22:50:52 GMT -5
Oh and I'll definitely get to put in some overtime this week given the cuurent construction schedule for the project I've been assigned to. Later in the summer I might get nighttime pay if they work before 6am and after 6pm. Night Pay and overtime is my dream. Today I worked 6a to 530p, but it's not technically overtime yet. My days are full so I'll probably have to do overtime just to get my daily reports and paperwork done lol. My boss just put in a request to region to get more money to pay us more overtime so please God say yes. What do you do?
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Phil
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Mar 17, 2015 22:55:49 GMT -5
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Post by Phil on Mar 17, 2015 22:55:49 GMT -5
I'm a paleontologist for the national park service and I am doing construction monitoring this year. So basically I stand around and make sure the contractors are following the contract, construction plans, park rules and laws, and I monitor their digging to see if they uncover fossils. Then i tell them to get the f*ck out of my way so I can collect whatever they unearth and get them back to work. Basically I'm the big bad fed on the construction job making sure the crew doesn't act like a bunch of dumb f*cks. No just kidding they're good.
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Post by Dewie890 on Mar 17, 2015 22:57:48 GMT -5
O haha ok I was just curious from the construction thing.. since I am in the construction field. Your job sounds a lot more entertaining though, I am stuck in an office for 9 hours a day essentially.
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Phil
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Mar 17, 2015 23:05:18 GMT -5
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Post by Phil on Mar 17, 2015 23:05:18 GMT -5
Ahh gotcha. This is the first time I've ever done this. It actually sucks since all I have to do is watch and take notes and pictures. They probably hate me. Part of my job is to actually just hang out with the crew and get information from them to relay to the other project entities. IIt's kind of political cuz you gotta balance what the government requires for a job and what the contractors need to do to make their money. They're already behind schedule so they're freaking out and it's only gonna get worse. So part of my (unofficial) job is to be there to diffuse situations if they arise. And I get to talk to them about paleontology and teach them about the park and why our fossils are important and why we monitor for them, so that they won't cut corners and accidentally destroy our fossils or geologic formations while digging.
So what do you do in construction?
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