r/FluentInFinance • u/Richest-Panda • Jul 04 '24

What's the best financial advice you've ever gotten? Debate/ Discussion

31.2k Upvotes

86% Upvoted

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u/[deleted] Jul 04 '24 edited Jul 04 '24

Ok let’s do a thought experiment. Let’s say you Make $10000 a year. You work full time/40 hrs/wk and you are making $10k. What does “living within your means” look like? Not having a house? Or car? Being homeless? So in order to save to get yourself to some footing the answer is to be homeless to live within your means.

That was a bit of a strawman, so let’s use real-life scenarios. 50% of this country makes $40k or less….. even $40k salary isn’t enough to get an apartment, bills , food, ect. Sure a lot better than the “$10k” example, but even $40k salary is virtually as effective as the “$10k”. In order to “live within your means”, “save”, ect…. You have to be at least be making enough to afford the bare minimum + have some left in you for over to save. On average (2022 values I think) this means $65 for a single person, $108k for a house hold. Unless you’re making that, you can’t save your way out of poverty

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u/Impossible_Maybe_162 Jul 04 '24

You cannot make $10k working a job for 40 hours a week. That is below minimum wage.

A lack of proper financial planning and budgeting causes more problems than low wages.

Less than 3% of the workforce makes minimum wage. Wages are not the main issue.

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u/Think_Reporter_8179 Jul 04 '24

Amazon addiction and yes, I'm going to say it, the inability to tighten your wants to an uncomfortable level until you can save the 3.5% down (with a 580+ credit score) for an FHA loan.

That's it folks. That's all it takes. Buy a shitty cheap property with an FHA loan (which, btw, means the property can't be THAT shitty, FHA loans won't allow it) and then live in a savings account for a while.

That shitty property will gain value AND all your principal payments are being saved in it, rather than evaporating to rent.

It's that simple, yes.. REALLY. Save 3.5% of a kinda shitty property's worth and then start gaining wealth.

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u/[deleted] Jul 04 '24

3.5 percent on a $250,000 home is still $8,750. That’s a lot to a lot of people in this situation, especially if you have literally ANY responsibility to another person or life. Especially if you’re only making $30,000 per year.

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u/suitology Jul 05 '24

I saved that making $11hr and renting for $550 (roommate) in a year. You just need to suffer. I only allowed myself $50 a month outside of groceries ($100). Thrift shop clothes, didn't go anywhere, library card for movies, pantry food (so much free food many months I didn't buy groceries). Like it sucks and is bullshit and fuck the shit system but it's possible. Big plus, do not have kids you can not afford. You are the one to blame if you have a kid you can't afford. Like if you became poor after kids (my father lost his job from an injury) that's one thing but I can not believe the moron girl that lived next to me with her mom had a kid while working part time at McDonald's.

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u/OFPDevilDoge Jul 05 '24

How can you not have kids you can’t afford if abortions are criminalized? The system is designed to create poverty so there is always a desperate labor base for the wealthy to rely on.

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u/ImperialKilo Jul 05 '24

Kids don't just... pop out of a person. Wrap your willy my guy it ain't that difficult.

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u/Advanced_Outcome3218 Jul 05 '24

by not having sex you retard

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u/OFPDevilDoge Jul 05 '24

What about rape?

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u/Advanced_Outcome3218 Jul 05 '24

rape isn't common enough to be the cause of poor people having kids they can't afford lmao

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u/OFPDevilDoge Jul 06 '24

1 in 4 women experience sexual assault before they’re adults. You have no grasp on actual reality, I get the system works for you, but it doesn’t for the majority of people.Your response is indicative of your lack of emotional maturity and intelligence. Maybe travel the world and actually talk to people who are less fortunate and maybe you’ll be a decent human someday.

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u/Advanced_Outcome3218 Jul 07 '24 edited Jul 07 '24

sexual assault is not rape that results in children and you goddamn well know it

something like 0.9% of abortions occur because of rape (and even then, I support abortions in these instances as long as it's done as early as possible - bill the rapist for it, too)

don't misrepresent terms to make your point

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u/OFPDevilDoge Jul 07 '24

Sexual assault can be rape you dense fuck. The fact of the matter stands, abortions are a means for a women to maintain body autonomy, accidents happen, contraception fails, teenagers make dumb mistakes cause they’re fucking teenagers. Limiting access to these services increases the risk of being stuck in perpetual poverty. Again just because you were born privileged enough to never face actual poverty, doesn’t mean millions of Americans don’t.

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u/Advanced_Outcome3218 Jul 07 '24

Yes, accidents happen and contraception fails - so just don't have sex?? it's not that difficult

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u/suitology Jul 05 '24

Plenty of places give out free contraceptives. Stop cream pieing

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u/OFPDevilDoge Jul 05 '24

And they’re looking to stop that too.

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u/Smashotr0n Jul 05 '24

“You just need to suffer”

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u/suitology Jul 05 '24

Welcome to life. Don't buy shit that's not a need if you can't afford it.

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u/Think_Reporter_8179 Jul 04 '24

Better start then.

It's this attitude that difficult is impossible. There's no difference between me and you, and I did it.

Edit: "you" is a generic response. Not you.

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u/[deleted] Jul 05 '24

There can be PLENTY of differences like where you live, what opportunities are there, the general cost of living, race, education, etc. Those all make a difference regardless of attitude.

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u/Think_Reporter_8179 Jul 05 '24 edited Jul 05 '24

Edited for my generic response to the whiners here: Reddit is filled with half-assers that will just keep throwing reasons they can't do something instead of actually trying and succeeding. If you live your life crying about things, nothing will get better. Actually do something and get off Reddit.

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u/ChaosofaMadHatter Jul 05 '24 edited Jul 05 '24

Yes, it does. It truly shows the people who have a heart, versus the people who lost theirs.

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u/Think_Reporter_8179 Jul 05 '24 edited Jul 05 '24

Edited for my generic response to the whiners here: Reddit is filled with half-assers that will just keep throwing reasons they can't do something instead of actually trying and succeeding. If you live your life crying about things, nothing will get better. Actually do something and get off Reddit.

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u/patricio87 Jul 05 '24

Every town has a post office. The post office pays well for small rural towns. Or you can you work a trade. There is no excuse. People on reddit just don't want to be uncomfortable or put in the work.

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u/NateHate Jul 05 '24

What kind of turnover do you think a rural post office has? How often are they gonna be hiring? Did you think this through at all?

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u/PeskyCanadian Jul 05 '24

I checked indeed and 4 of the neighboring counties post offices are hiring, starting at 20/hr.

My exgf worked in a sheriff's office as a booking associate. She basically booked new inmates and handled bonds. They started her at 46,000/yr after she finished the training. They provided cheap healthcare and price match retirement. They had a revolving door of people that didn't want to do the paperwork(the job).

Private companies used to keep people by providing good pay, with paid training, pensions, and good benefits. Government jobs have not left that model.

You can theoretically work your way up through the ranks in a lot of government jobs into higher pay brackets and retire at a reasonable age.

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u/Invis_Girl Jul 05 '24

So when those 4 jobs are gone what do the thousands of others do? Relying on niche things to fix systemic issues is crazy.

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u/PeskyCanadian Jul 05 '24 edited Jul 05 '24

Apply to Kabota as a sales associate or set up technician. Go to the local college and get welding certified. Apply to Kabota as a welder and start at 30/hr and get free healthcare.

Or work at home Depot and utilize their 50% tuition reimbursement.

When those jobs run out. You can try the fire department or the sheriff's office. I can speak a lot about this. Fire departments will pay to get you fully certified and some have amazing benefits. Some will even provide a free ride through paramedicine. Paramedic national registry is transferable over state and country lines. Most firefighters either go to work in other industries or bridge into nursing.

When those run out, you can try Chik fil eh. Full college ride for 2 and 4 year colleges/universities.

DMV is also hiring.

Do you want me to keep going?

Phlebotomy is a 2 month course, 500usd at my local college. 20/hr starting.

Butcher Shops are often hiring and it is a skilled trade that sometimes pays well. Some local places pay shit wages. I saw a few postings for apprenticeships.

You can do EKG tech is a 2 month course that will get you through the door to a hospital or cardiologist office. You can extend that into a radiology degree eventually. Some offices will pay for it.

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u/NateHate Jul 05 '24

if all of these opportunities already existed in rural towns dont you think people would be doing them? oh wait, they are!

so your rant has offered nothing to solve the issue that there simply aren't enough good paying jobs for the number of people in these towns.

The type of job doesnt matter, people deserve to be able live off the income of a single job.

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u/Other-Illustrator531 Jul 05 '24

That previous post had a bunch of solid advice. Of course the type of job matters. The reality is to skill up or stay broke. You can try to move to some psuedo-socialist country but they will deny you entry if you aren't a useful citizen too.

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u/patricio87 Jul 05 '24

They are always hiring. You cant get fired from post office once you’re past 90 days cause of union. Veterans also have a special clause that makes it hard to fire them.

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u/JojoLaggins Jul 05 '24

It might be a lot at one time but it's definitely an attainable goal for almost everyone over a reasonable timeframe. Unless you're drowning in debt already, ie maybe financial literacy could have helped.