Update: After taking some drastic measures, the truck is no longer for sale! What I did may screw me over in the long run, but it's worth it for at least the next five years. Besides, I'll get a job this fall to make up for the deficit. After all, spending more money that should really go to other things is my specialty.
feels good doesnt it?
(throwing money at things)
Robbie
SuperDork
4/19/16 10:40 a.m.
G_Body_Man wrote:
What I did may screw me over in the long run, but it's worth it for at least the next five years.
Sounds like you financed something...
In reply to Robbie:
Not quite. I pulled a little money out of my college fund. Not especially wise, but it's a good short-term move in order to keep my sanity.
EvanB
UltimaDork
4/19/16 10:54 a.m.
It's only money, you'll make more.
Dont leave us with a cliff hanger dangit
https://youtu.be/xHTNu5UQvH4
WilD
HalfDork
4/19/16 11:07 a.m.
I'm convinced spending money can solve every problem.
EvanB wrote:
It's only money, you'll make more.
Haha that's what I used to think, it's not a good assumption.
WilD wrote:
I'm convinced spending money can solve every problem.
All of the car related ones anyway.
Robbie
SuperDork
4/19/16 11:26 a.m.
G_Body_Man wrote:
In reply to Robbie:
Not quite. I pulled a little money out of my college fund. Not especially wise, but it's a good short-term move in order to keep my sanity.
Umm, don't want to belittle your problems - but this is worrying. Realize that money-wise, you just financed the X dollars out of your college fund at the rate of whatever the market returns, probably 7-10 percent per year.
but more worrying than the actual cost, is the act. Obviously this is not a rational decision unless the immediate need for money is pretty desperate. I am worried that someone in your position is so desperate for money you have to take that step, and why they are so desperate. Obviously I don't know the situation. But based on what I see so far, I am slightly worried.
In reply to Robbie:
It's actually just a GIC (no idea what you'd call it in the US) that rolled around that I was initially saving for college, but it was only $800 or so, so I decided to put it towards my personal happiness. No loans, no interest rates, no sleeping with the fishes. Just my own askew priorities and the pursuit of happiness.
I completely cashed out my college savings to buy my first car. All $1200 of it.
I don't have that car any more. I never went to college and at 37 I'm making less than I was when I was 18.
Don't be like me.
In reply to Nick (LUCAS) Comstock:
Don't worry, I still have about $5k left in my college fund. It was but a small transfer.
Rupert
Dork
4/19/16 12:17 p.m.
In reply to G_Body_Man: You still have about $5K left in your college fund???? So that will buy some of your books?
pres589
UberDork
4/19/16 12:34 p.m.
So what's going on with the truck?
STM317
Reader
4/19/16 12:36 p.m.
Not sure what tuition is like up yonder, but in the US, $5k MIGHT be enough for 1 semester's tuition at a mid-level public school at the "in-state" rate. If you're lucky. That doesn't include books, lab fees, room/board etc.
Not trying to scare you, but when I hear that there's 5k in a college fund that should be used in the next year that sounds really bad. Hopefully there's more to the story that just hasn't been shared.
pffftt... unless you need an actual degree to do what you want to do when you grow up, just skip college and go straight to work. spend your money on something nice, like one of those cool orange suits and the big cowboy hat from Dumb and Dumber..
college isn't always the answer, skilled trades is a good career also
EvanB wrote:
It's only money, you'll make more.
That's never failed for me.
Just make sure not to spend money that you aren't sure you have yet.
fasted58 wrote:
college isn't always the answer, skilled trades is a good career also
There are a lot of articles about the graying of the automotive service industry... not too many people entering the field. Admittedly it is pretty expensive to get in nowadays, it would be very difficult to show up with a $100 set of tools and a good attitude unless you're some sort of electronic/mechanical savant. (Even after 20 years I still go to 4-8 hours of training a month, just to keep up with emerging tech)
And even then, you'll have a steep learning curve, and $100 will buy you half of a set of wrenches if you get the cheap off-brand stuff...
But they aren't going to be outsourcing the work anytime soon.
Are we dumping on college? I'm an expert there.
Eight bills. Lessee, that's like two books. Maybe.
Dr. Hess wrote:
Are we dumping on college? I'm an expert there.
Eight bills. Lessee, that's like two books. Maybe.
Pfft, learn the tricks of the trade! never go to the school crook store, order from Amazon, look for "international" editions, always shop used, etc.
It was a rare book that was over $300 for me.
Yeah, well, you didn't go to the schools I did. Point being that eight bills is nothing towards a college degree.
And Nick, I wouldn't put your lack of college as a disadvantage. Look at it this way, instead, you could be 37 and have 100K in debt and still working for less than you did when you were 18, and have 4 or 5 of your prime earning years sucked out of your life.
There is a whole lot of online college for free available today. If you want a college degree, that is the way to do it. Otherwise, it's "let's blow a hundred large (plus) on 4 years of PARTY TIME! WOOT!" And that hundred large will cost you closer to two hundred by the time your done, plus the hundred large you didn't earn while you were learning all the ins and outs of advanced lesbian equality studies.
Yeah, I've already accepted the fact that college isn't for me. I figure it's best to invest the meager funds I have into other options. And currently, since transportation will be necessary for a part-time job, I figure that using an extra $500 or so on necessary insurance is investing in opportunities. A while ago, I was asked what I wanted to do after high school. The answer I gave was "be happy." Traditional higher education isn't the only way to make it. Don't worry about me, as I have two rules in life that should see me out the other side okay. If happiness was a fish we could catch, I'm still fishing. But that's okay, as even the worst fishermen will catch at least one fish eventually.