It's 10 P.M. Do you know where you money is?

Oh yeah, I have a constant tally in my head.

I could tell you what I bought down to the last couple of dollars in the past month, probably.

Usually one or the other of us goes food shopping, the other day we all went to Trader Joe's and bought a TON of stuff -- it's not so close and we tend to stock up. The cashier guy asked us, as he was about a quarter of the way through, how much we thought it'd total. E.G. thought $165. I said no way, more like $235. It was $233. (Cashier guy was impressed.)

That's a different question but I have this hyper-awareness about money and spending it from when I had hardly any that probably won't go away.

Oh and as for so much debt I think:

1.) It's easy.

2.) Widespread sense of entitlement.

3.) People are way worse at predicting the future than they think they are.

I have a vague idea and I don't care too much. i check my statement online, and when it seems I was splurging, I slow down or stop. It comes, it goes.

I can't even remember the last time I used a credit card. My nickname used to be "Cash and carry Mary" (only they used my real name instead of Mary).

I got my first credit card, an American Express, when I travelled for business. I would run up $10,000 each month, turn in an expense report, they would cut me a check, and I would pay the bill. Since the card was under my name and not the company's name I built up amazing credit fast. I used that same card when I had my own business and used it the same way only I had to write the check to myself.

Now I have a dusty Visa card and a debit card. I'm still ole' Cash and carry Mary but I have a line of credit with the bank that I use for big purchases.

interesting dag...what kind of general catagories do your purchases fall into?

Like, various food/drink items you consume during the day?
Movie tickets, or other entertainment?
clothes?

when I think splurge, I ususally think of a fancy food item.

Both of us check our bank accounts at least once per day - we are paying nearly everything with our direct debit bank card or directly online.

I check the Visa account once or twice per month, just to see how much they'll take from the bank account that month.

well, i don't buy clothes often. and i don't go out for movies. so 'splurging' would be eating out more than i should (say, getting a lunch instead of bringing my own)... errr... i guess that's about it.

thought when I DO need clothes, i'll buy about $200 worth of clothing (and I shop in Target or H&M...Love H&M). That way I'm done for 1/2 year.

I 'splurge' on my gym, $70 a month, but that's totally worth it. Sometimes cosmetics - I have a huge drawer full of nail polishes, mascaras, eye shadows... But I go through phases. Right now I'm in a 'i don't care' mode, so I haven't bought anything for myself for a long time. Then again, I don't need to.

I'm paying off a credit card debt (thank you Department of Homeland Security for screwing my life and postponing my plan to buy an apartment by at least five years!) slowly, but surely. I'm sure if I absolutely had to, I'd do some planning. But I don't have to, so I can't be bothered.

oh, but I know when I do splurge big time. When I travel. I will not stop and think about money when I'm in India, Cambodia, Slovakia, Amsterdam, whathaveyou. Then nothing is out of bounds.

I know the amounts pretty close to the dollar. We also have Quicken and watch the trends. Restaurant meals in particular have really gone up in price.

I know pretty much down to the dollar what I spend and I check
my bank account daily.

I chunk my money now.

Certain percentage goes to savings directly. So it's not even thought of by me as money.

Certain amount always goes to bills. Rent. Food. Etc. Debt if I had any or paying off/saving for a large purchase. Always allot a certain amount for food, extra foods (eating out, treats) comes from my Hand Money ..below.

I've finally found what works for me, and that is the "outta sight, outta mind" mentality. If it's in sight; I spend it!

So I have a certain amount of money I give to myself to spend in a week, and that's it. Cash.

I always know how much I spend. Comes from being poor for so long I think.

thanks for bumping this thread mushy

Related to this...

I find it interesting in some of the things people spend money on, that to them it seems worth it, but to others, is a waste, or, at least doesn't make sense.

Involved with that is how MUCH they are willing to spend on one item or service, and be a complete cheapskate on another.

For instance, and this is just my opinion, I think anyone who actually buys anything from a Sharper Image catalogue or store should be shot in the face with a **** gun. That stuff is just the biggest waste of money. It's like "hey, I've got $120 bucks, I could either flush it down the toilet or buy...



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Re: It's 10 P.M. Do you know where you money is?

I am notoriously disorganized, so for most of my life I haven't been keeping track of my spending. Fortunately, I never really needed to, either because my material needs are very modest. On the other hand, my salary as a high-tech professional has been generous for seven years now. As a result, I almost always have money left at the end of the month. When I don't, which happens rarely, it's because I shove too much money from my checking account into my investments -- a problem easily corrected by selling some of those investments.

I'm saying this has been true "for most of my life". It has changed recently, when I moved all of my money management on the internet. As a result I am much better organized now, and even derive some geek pleasures from reading books on accounting portfolio theory and managing my finances almost like a professional would.

Now for the tough question: Why is there so much debt in America? Beats me, to be honest. For all of the last 20 years, I have seen Amererican friends (with surprisingly few exceptions) spend their lives in callous disregard of financial reality. When I discreetly asked them why they're not saving anything, the most frequent answer has been some variation of "prices are just too high / wages are just too low, since those stupid Republicans / those stupid Democrats have taken over.")

But the average American is one of the richest average Anythings on the planet, and most average Anythings manage to save a substantial percentage of their income. That includes the average Chinese, who makes one seventh as much as the average American, is well below the poverty line by American standards, and still saves enough to finance the lending boom in America. Whose inhabitants then whine that they just don't have any money left to save.

American debtors make no sense to me at all.

We go through phases of lots of debt vs. no debt. Right now we have more than we like to carry but we know where it went -- in the house.

As to daily expenses, I use the debit card. I only use credit cards when making purchases on line or in emergencies. I log on to bank account almost daily to make sure that my expenses remain according to budget -- purchases usually post within the hour of making them.

When I used to carry cash and credit cards, I'd find myself using the credit cards more in order to keep the cash in my pocket. When I finally did spend the cash, I'd have a hard time remembering what I spent it on and how much was left. The debit card system combined with the online banking was made for people like me who can't be bothered to enter all of my expenses into home budget programs or spreadsheets. I don't have that kind of time. I find that my bank is already doing that and is nice enough to share that information with me.

I don't do impulse purchases much anymore. I learned a neat mental trick to keep these at bay. Taking advantage of my procrastination skills, I simply tell myself I can buy it later. And of course, I never do.

well, education system and health care system in the U.S. DO draw a lot more money out of people's pockets. I know that my good friend, who has had teaching fellowship for half of the time he was in university, ends the school with a $60,000 debt. And that's nothing compared to those who didn't have the scholarship. The economy encourages debt and makes handsome profit out of it. Credit card industry is nowhere stronger than in the U.S. I don't mean to be apologetic of debt, but it's not just incapable or stupid people that are the cause of it. The debt makes sense to me.
The lack of savings is another subject. That I cannot really talk about, don't know enough about what and how average American deals with that.

That's easy: they don't. The overall American saving rate is pretty exactly zero.

Re: It's 10 P.M. Do you know where you money is?
I know exactly what I spend. One thing I have noticed is with the youth of today. A lot of parents go out and buy what their kids want now. The kids don't have to earn the money to buy things. Parents aren't teaching their kids the value of a dollar.

Yeah, education and housing (to buy a house) is not cheap here either. Or anywhere.

But but but. ...I think there is a unique mentality to debt. Some of it is downright "it is ok to steal bc this economics, not real" sort of thinking.

I live in an apartment bc I don't want to be in debt for the house that I want. I COULD get a cheap little house, or I COULD go in debt for years and years on end to get what I want.

I choose otherwise. I almost see that as stealing. I didn't earn it, I haven't contributed (honestly) enough to level out what it takes to create a big house with all nice things inside.

Most folks don't. They get what they WANT, then blame all the rest.

Well, if you live at what you can afford (even if it is poverty level, such as me for many years, as I chose a lower paying job and line of work for various reasons) ; you can at least bitch with a clean conscience IMHO.

It drives me crazy, because the entitlement is really bad. I mean, really bad.

People dig their own graves, and make it harder on the rest of us too. Jacking the prices up .

I don't think it's stupidity. I think it's conditioning, and not questioning the certain way of living that you are fed.

sorry if this is turning into a rant.