Have you ever made a terrible financial decision? - Page 2

**whatevergirl** · #16 Jun 8, '08, 10:20 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by mommyof4

Does this mean that your family will be out of the house, then?

Hi mommyof4;

Well...the details of that story are in the prayer intentions section...I need some prayers dealing with the realtor that is in the middle of all of this. But, we actually decided to rent for another year before buying. So, yes, we will be out by end of month...the owner is going into shortsale first. Long story why we're not buying this home, though.

OutinChgoburbs · #17 Jun 8, '08, 12:35 pm

I think I am one of the poster children for "stupid tax" and other forms of bad spending in my life.

There was the car when I was in late 30s and should have known better that I bought from a private party WITHOUT having my mechanic check it out. I might as well have flushed the money.

There were some 401(k) loans that were even more dumb.

There is money I spent because "I wanted it" and now could use for other things. The things I purchased, of course, are not here.

We won't talk about the forrays into credit cards.

The good news is with practice and tenacity, one can reform.

Just wondering · #18 Jun 8, '08, 3:21 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by OutinChgoburbs

I think I am one of the poster children for "stupid tax" and other forms of bad spending in my life.

There was the car when I was in late 30s and should have known better that I bought from a private party WITHOUT having my mechanic check it out. I might as well have flushed the money.

The good news is with practice and tenacity, one can reform.

Ahh, yes, the Stupid Tax. I've paid my share into that one. I did the car thing in college - I bought my first car without a mechanic's inspection. My dad looked at the car's engine, and said to me, "Yes, it looks like an engine to me", and on that reassuring note I bought the car. (My dad is in computer programming - cars are not his thing.) It was my first and last car, and it ran for ten days before the engine seized from an undiagnosed oil leak. I vowed to myself that I would not buy another car until I had the money to buy an almost-new one, or the expertise to know what I was buying. It's been ten years, and still no car.

Thankfully for my finances, I'm terrified of debt. I have one credit card with a limit of $500. I use it for ordering things online and for emergency cash shortfalls. I try to pay it off every month. I'm even paying for my Master's degree in cash, because I don't want to go into debt. I've read all sorts of investment guides that say it's better to get low-rate loans for houses and education, and invest your salary elsewhere to pay off the loans, but it strikes me that the market is volatile and life is unpredictable, so I'd rather make most of my purchases in cash.

**jmcrae** · #19 Jun 8, '08, 3:34 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Just wondering

Ahh, yes, the Stupid Tax. I've paid my share into that one. I did the car thing in college - I bought my first car without a mechanic's inspection. My dad looked at the car's engine, and said to me, "Yes, it looks like an engine to me", and on that reassuring note I bought the car. (My dad is in computer programming - cars are not his thing.) It was my first and last car, and it ran for ten days before the engine seized from an undiagnosed oil leak. I vowed to myself that I would not buy another car until I had the money to buy an almost-new one, or the expertise to know what I was buying. It's been ten years, and still no car.

You can join the Motor Association without having to have a car already, and once you're a member, you can get them to inspect the next car that you're interested in buying.

Getting a motor club membership is the best investment I ever made, myself.

Quote:

Thankfully for my finances, I'm terrified of debt. I have one credit card with a limit of $500. I use it for ordering things online and for emergency cash shortfalls. I try to pay it off every month. I'm even paying for my Master's degree in cash, because I don't want to go into debt. I've read all sorts of investment guides that say it's better to get low-rate loans for houses and education, and invest your salary elsewhere to pay off the loans, but it strikes me that the market is volatile and life is unpredictable, so I'd rather make most of my purchases in cash.

That's pretty smart.

**Holly3278** · #20 Jun 10, '08, 4:48 am

Yes, I chose to go ahead and use my check card even though I knew the balance was low on it. I didn't think the transaction would go through if I didn't have enough money in my account because in the past it wouldn't allow the transaction to go through if I didn't have enough money in the checking account. Well, apparently the bank changed their rules and the transaction did go through. I overdrew. I kept ignoring the mailings I was getting from the bank thinking they were routine bank statements only to find out a few weeks later that I owed them almost $200 simply for overdrawing about $5. Needless to say, I canceled my bank account and will only do business online using a prepaid credit card from now on.

**puzzleannie** · #21 Jun 10, '08, 5:00 am

this week? probably not it's only Tuesday
this year, definitely
in my life, you don't want my bio

for instance sold our big expensive house and moved into a doublewide the year before the one-time captital gains tax exemption became available. don't know what else we could have done, but there it is. a mistake is bigger, IMO, when the govt gets a cut of it

GratefulDad · #22 Jun 10, '08, 5:50 am

We have had our share of bad financial decisions too.

DW likes to remind me of them when she gets mad at me. I take it in stride and pray for common sense.

Biblioassistant · #23 Jun 10, '08, 5:59 am

Quote:

I have one credit card with a limit of $500. I use it for ordering things online and for emergency cash shortfalls

Me too. I have two credit cards - one for on-line purchases and one store (Kohls) which I use only if I have a 30% off coupon. And I ALWAYS pay them off at the end of the month.

It takes some discipline, but it's easy to live within your means - barring emergencies of course.

**whatevergirl** · #24 Jun 10, '08, 5:12 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by GratefulDad

We have had our share of bad financial decisions too.

DW likes to remind me of them when she gets mad at me. I take it in stride and pray for common sense.

Aw, it's ok, GD. I used to be the VP of the 'Bad Financial Decision' Club, now I'm just a member who hasn't renewed her membership in a while. We all make mistakes.

RWMorris · #25 Jun 12, '08, 2:49 pm

We had to file bankruptcy six years ago. THAT was stupid...we should have just paid off our creditors slowly following Dave Ramsey's rules, but we had never heard of him at that time.
We did pay as much to our creditors as we possibly could rather than just "wipe the slate clean" approach, which I find morally objectionable. If I had it to do over, I certainly wouldn't have filed bankruptcy. (Our business went down the tubes...

).
But we really learned our lesson, albeit the hard way. We sold our over-priced mini-mansion and settled in a lovely, modest home on one acre and now owe only $64,000 on our place. I have 18 months left to pay on my car and my DH's car is paid for. So we have learned a lot. We live very frugally now and life is much more enjoyable. We even have the money to give to our parish and to a Catholic mission in Mexico, which was unthinkable back when we made $120,000 a year, believe it or not. Now we have a combined income of about $60,000 and we are much happier because we are doing what we love rather than being in some horrible rat-race.

rayne89 · #26 Jun 17, '08, 9:27 pm

Credit cards-ugh.

Ended up in bankruptcy when hubby got laid off and we fell so far behind we could never catch up. The stress was horrible. Even after three years of not using the cards we were no further ahead in paying them off. I have one dept store credit card now. I only have it because I had fogotten about the account and a couple years after our bankruptcy they sent a new card -I hadn't used it in years. We have no other credit cards, I use my debit card. If we ever get another major credit card it will have a low credit limit. I never ever want to fall into that kind of debt again.

And I've also over drawn our account on more than one occasion.

And yes I have gone to confession and asked God for forgiveness.

mike14620 · #27 Jun 25, '08, 9:01 pm

I'm 22 now, but I have had a credit card since I was 18, and have always paid off the balance in full. I think if anything, the credit card makes me spend less, because not only do I feel like I am spending money when I use it, but I get to review my spending at the end of the month as well. For me, it feels like I spend the money twice, and am thus doubly critical of my spending.

Treat a credit card like cash, and it is a beautiful thing.

mommyof4 · #28 Jun 26, '08, 4:07 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by mike14620

I'm 22 now, but I have had a credit card since I was 18, and have always paid off the balance in full. I think if anything, the credit card makes me spend less, because not only do I feel like I am spending money when I use it, but I get to review my spending at the end of the month as well. For me, it feels like I spend the money twice, and am thus doubly critical of my spending.

Treat a credit card like cash, and it is a beautiful thing.

Ah, that we could all be so wise!

Rachel J · #29 Jun 26, '08, 7:38 am

Definitely. Probably made one today. I bought a few things on a credit card and I can't say I needed them all. That in and of itself isn't the problem. The problem is that I'm coming into some money in the next few months and I'm getting a "spend it now" mentality.

Not good, especially since I will have to life off those funds for at least a couple of months.