Debt Free In '23 Challenge.

[arakboss]

Why would anybody regret cutting their spending in preparation for retirement?

I could see a situation where somebody decided to live a less expensive lifestyle so they could work part time and then regrets making that choice. I think it happens fairly often in duel income households where one spouse quits working but then decides the lifestyle is too harsh and ends up going back to work.

 

[CLT65]

Some here may say that you share a little too much, but I've got to give you credit for putting yourself out there to face the criticism that may come from it. It sounds like you recognize the need to make changes but struggle with the follow-through. I think that on some level most of us can relate to that.

$27 per day. I was talking to my sister recently, and she asked me if $27 per day meant much to me. My wife has gone through some health issues and one surgery after another, after another over the last ten years. That sucks the life out of you, and drains the resources. Especially in the last couple years, we've gotten into the habit of fast food and careless spending on the little things here and there. As such, we've struggled financially. We have no debt besides the house, and get by on my single blue-collar income, but we can never get ahead. Anyhow, I replied to my sister that $27 on the average day wasn't a big deal to us, what with fast food and such.

She says "Now multiply 27 by 365 day in the year". I'm a math guy, so I really shouldn't have been shocked by the numbers, but I was.
Yes, TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS per year, if you can curtail your spending by $27 per day.
We've decided to make some serious changes ourselves, especially since we have another MRI scheduled for next week, and the distinct possibility of another surgery this year.

As far as retirement, what's that? I'll never retire, not at this rate. I have to admit, I do get a little down when I hear others talk about their retirement savings and plans, and just recently a friend my age retired (quite early) and another is talking about it. We all make the best of what we've got, but it would be a different story for us if my wife had an income and no medical bills. Not everyone can sock away a bunch of money and retire like a king. Just do the best you can.
I tell my teenagers just starting out in life, start saving early and just keep at it, every little bit counts so long as you don't dip into it all the time.
Don't buy junk you don't need; consumerism is ultimately as unhealthy as overeating. It tastes good in the moment, but eventually just drags you down.

 

[Alexx1401]

Goes hand in hand.

YEP! The problem people get into with debt is often when income goes down for some reason and they do not want to slow down spending. Keep spending a lot more than you are taking in and before long? The Rock used to do a show about professional ball players that was really good at showing how so many of them get into huge financial trouble as soon as they are not working. They get used to blowing HUGE sums of cash. Cash stops coming in and they want to keep spending. Many "working class" do the same thing on a smaller scale but still end up in the same spot. Sooner or later those bills have to be paid.

 

[Alexx1401]

Some here may say that you share a little too much, but I've got to give you credit for putting yourself out there to face the criticism that may come from it. It sounds like you recognize the need to make changes but struggle with the follow-through. I think that on some level most of us can relate to that.

$27 per day. I was talking to my sister recently, and she asked me if $27 per day meant much to me. My wife has gone through some health issues and one surgery after another, after another over the last ten years. That sucks the life out of you, and drains the resources. Especially in the last couple years, we've gotten into the habit of fast food and careless spending on the little things here and there. As such, we've struggled financially. We have no debt besides the house, and get by on my single blue-collar income, but we can never get ahead. Anyhow, I replied to my sister that $27 on the average day wasn't a big deal to us, what with fast food and such.

She says "Now multiply 27 by 365 day in the year". I'm a math guy, so I really shouldn't have been shocked by the numbers, but I was.
Yes, TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS per year, if you can curtail your spending by $27 per day.
We've decided to make some serious changes ourselves, especially since we have another MRI scheduled for next week, and the distinct possibility of another surgery this year.

This was how I quit smoking. It was not my health I was after, it was cost. Price got to where (at that time) pack was getting up around a couple bucks. So every time I bought a pack I put the exact amount in a jar on the dresser. End of a month or so I looked in that jar and thought wow. This much money could buy stuff I want a hell of a lot more and I finally was able to ditch the habit. Now when I see people paying $10 or $15 for a pack? I don't know how in the hell anyone still does it.

 

[arakboss]

This was how I quit smoking. It was not my health I was after, it was cost. Price got to where (at that time) pack was getting up around a couple bucks. So every time I bought a pack I put the exact amount in a jar on the dresser. End of a month or so I looked in that jar and thought wow. This much money could buy stuff I want a hell of a lot more and I finally was able to ditch the habit. Now when I see people paying $10 or $15 for a pack? I don't know how in the hell anyone still does it.

If I did that money in the jar trick with firearm purchases, I might not ever buy another.

 

[TTSX]

I'm gonna level with ya here, bud. You and I both have a gun buying addiction. And serious ones. I recently did an inventory of my collection and it's... a big one. The largest contributors are receivers which will never be built, built receivers which will never see an upper and Glocks.

It's gotten to the point where it's negatively affecting my life. And I need to find help with the spending. I'm not in debt like you but my savings are half what they were this time last year. I obsess about the next thing. Then the next thing. Then the next. I've never found that last gun that makes me happy, that last "great deal" that left me feeling warm and fuzzy and full. I spend all of my time outside of work looking at gun stuff online or going to the gun stores for that next instant gratification hit.

You can make plans and goals and challenges all you want. You can post on the internet and get told the same answer you don't want a thousand times. The answer you already knew before you posted. It won't get you anywhere. The road you're going down, the same one I'm going down, leads to a feeling of emptiness and regret. But hey, you'll have your guns, right? So when you've burnt every bridge you've walked across due to your increasing need for dopamine and serotonin regardless of the consequences, you can take all that powder, all those primers and all that loading equipment and make a nice hot round to bury in your own damn skull. Because if you don't get help, and I mean this sincerely, that's going to be your only way out at the end of the line.

I'm here to help. You have to want it. Reach out if you feel the need.

 

[CLT65]

Wow… that's pretty hardcore. It's starting to make sense though, that it really is a literal drug addiction, chasing a high that a new toy brings. It doesn't matter what your obsession is; everyone has their own thing.

This brings to mind an example I remember from a high school economics book (a long time ago).

The subject was the insatiable nature of man. The example (believe it or not) was a gun collector. His first gun as a boy, an inexpensive .22 rifle, was a magical experience that brought him great pleasure. As he got older he accumulated more and more firearms, nicer and more expensive ones as he built his career and became wealthy. Late in life he would seek out and purchase very valuable museum pieces, but they never gave him the same level of enjoyment that he got as a boy with his first rifle.

Our brains learn quickly what brings pleasure, and those neural pathways form and strengthen the more they're used, which can ultimately lead to obsession.

This thread really has me thinking about getting rid of a good half or two thirds of my collection.

 

[arakboss]

I'm gonna level with ya here, bud. You and I both have a gun buying addiction. And serious ones. I recently did an inventory of my collection and it's... a big one. The largest contributors are receivers which will never be built, built receivers which will never see an upper and Glocks.

It's gotten to the point where it's negatively affecting my life. And I need to find help with the spending. I'm not in debt like you but my savings are half what they were this time last year. I obsess about the next thing. Then the next thing. Then the next. I've never found that last gun that makes me happy, that last "great deal" that left me feeling warm and fuzzy and full. I spend all of my time outside of work looking at gun stuff online or going to the gun stores for that next instant gratification hit.

You can make plans and goals and challenges all you want. You can post on the internet and get told the same answer you don't want a thousand times. The answer you already knew before you posted. It won't get you anywhere. The road you're going down, the same one I'm going down, leads to a feeling of emptiness and regret. But hey, you'll have your guns, right? So when you've burnt every bridge you've walked across due to your increasing need for dopamine and serotonin regardless of the consequences, you can take all that powder, all those primers and all that loading equipment and make a nice hot round to bury in your own damn skull. Because if you don't get help, and I mean this sincerely, that's going to be your only way out at the end of the line.

I'm here to help. You have to want it. Reach out if you feel the need.

My "addiction" extends well beyond firearm related spending. The real problem for me is consumerism in general. I am going to focus my recovery efforts on buying much less of everything. I am on day 16 of no firearm purchases.

I apologize in advance to the economy but my frugality is going to get stepped up, big time. Hold my beer.

P.S. The wife isn't going to like it, she already thinks I'm a cheapskate.

 

[arakboss]

Another benefit to degrowth may be a reduction in clutter.

 

[arakboss]

 

[arakboss]

Interesting but very long video on the history of consumerism.

 

[orygun]

I've never been a very good "saver", but have always had some stashed in savings. Just a little over three months ago I found out the shop I work at is going to be closing down (and this looks like the final week/partial week).
Boy! If you want to talk about an incentive to save money! If I had been this thrifty for the last 30-40 years I would be sitting on a gold mine. Of course, now is the time a gun I've waited years for came up for sale...

 

[Jay Walk]

I was a payments guy and non saver most of my life but did a 180 about six years ago.

Paid Dude $350 to replace my garage door springs today, was a good feeling to not sweat the coin or have to watch a video, scrounge parts then try not to kill myself.

Bonus - the guy is a dirtbiker so we BS's the whole time, I told him he looked familiar and maybe he installed the door ten years ago, he didn't think so but when he was done noticed a service sticker by the wall switch with his name on it. Haaa. a great day.

How's it coming along ARAKBOSS?

 

[arakboss]

I was a payments guy and non saver most of my life but did a 180 about six years ago.

Paid Dude $350 to replace my garage door springs today, was a good feeling to not sweat the coin or have to watch a video, scrounge parts then try not to kill myself.

Bonus - the guy is a dirtbiker so we BS's the whole time, I told him he looked familiar and maybe he installed the door ten years ago, he didn't think so but when he was done noticed a service sticker by the wall switch with his name on it. Haaa. a great day.

How's it coming along ARAKBOSS?

I am going to pay off firearm related purchase from NWFA member in total tonight. We had agreed to a payment plan stretching out to June but I decided to get it over with now. That will leave a credit card balance which is at a 2% APR interest rate until Feb 2023. I was planning on paying that off by Sept but now I am thinking about investing some money in my Roth IRA while the markets are down?


I am still detoxing from my consumption addiction but plan on making a $100 magazine bundle purchase tomorrow from a NWFA member. Then I will hop back on the wagon. It's been about 30 days since my last firearm purchase. I have spent very little elsewhere as well.

This long video illustrates how the producers got their hooks in us.

I am going to start advocating for a buy less, use less culture. It won't be popular with the hard-core producer fans but it's crazy how much stuff we buy. I am becoming more awake to this fact as my detox goes on.

 

[Kruel J]

Feb 2023 came and went, might want to check that interest rate.

 

[CLT65]

Seems like there was a guy who wrote a book along these lines a few years back.

The U.S. was smack in the middle of the Industrial Revolution, and the common man had access to having stuff (consumer goods, if you will) for the first time in human history. He was concerned with how all this stuff was complicating our lives, so he spent a couple years living in a rustic shack on a remote lake, writing his book. Simplify, simplify, simplify...

Thank was a few years ago, nearly two centuries.

 

[Longwalkhome]

Got my new gutters on the house today, the men did a fine job at a reasonable cost. I consider it a debt until they send me a bill. I hate owing money so will probably just go to their shop and pay tomorrow.

 

[TTSX]

You need to pay your debts off before buying anything or investing at all.

 

[Kruel J]

I used my credit card a couple weeks ago for the first time in almost two years for the SOLE reason of keeping the account open. Paid it off this morning, $0 interest paid and I'm once again debt free.

I went through a divorce in 2020 and was left with about $25k in CC debt that wasn't mine. Paid that off in 11 months. It was my priority to make it go away so I used self control and a mature financial point of view to make it happen. Was it fun? Hell no. But neither was carrying that balance.

 

[arakboss]

I put together a budget this morning. 41% of take home will be going towards savings and credit card debt. Once child support obligation ends the savings percentage should jump up to around 48% of take home pay.