A crown on a tooth. Dental insurance will only cover 1/2 the cost…after the deductible.
New eye glasses.
I articulately hate January and February when I’m trying to meet my RX deductible for Medicare…and HS to pay $400 OOP.
Car repairs…seems like every oil change turns into an ordeal…and expense.
Life happens…you need a shush fund…not consumer debt.
The thing is, lots of kids are dumb. Did I just say that? But yes. The person I know with the 85K in loans spent some of it on pretty dresses and on going out. She does look very nice. She looks back on it with “What the heck was I thinking?” Her own state school (UMass) was “not good enough” for her.
I remember back in college my friend took out an additional 2K loan to go to bum around Europe for a summer. And she ended up having a terrible time and splitting from the person she went with mid trip. So the second half she was just kind of wandering around by herself. I remember trying to talk her out of it but her mind was set in stone.
Hard lessons. Compulsions and obsessions, with status and with other things.
I think that the $2K type of thing can be a right of passage in one’s 20s. I know I made similar financial goofs in my early 20s. Good thing is they are correctable.
I do have sympathy for some young folks going into debt for college. Even with in-state tuition, for someone with zero family support I can envision young people looking to get a 4 year education and racking up some student debt without frivolous expenditures just trying to better themselves.
Our state is naming it easier and cheaper for some kids to get a 4 year degree. You can go to CC and take many/most of your courses there at the lower tuition and then finish off with the extra coursework to get the 4-year degree. Lots of it can be done online, so less commuting as well and they are making it easier for folks who are going to school while working full time as well, with online and night courses.
I’ve been paying my elderly father’s bills for a while now. The other day he announced he borrowed $2,000 from various relatives & family friends, and can’t pay it back. Guess I’ll be wiring $2,000 on Monday…
Send them checks, @katliamom, along with a note not to “lend him” anymore $$.
Katlia, agree that anything owed should be paid directly to the parties involved, and also tell them that Dad can’t pay them back, and you won’t be able to in future, either. I would suggest it may be time to take over guardianship of your dad’s finances before he makes any other poor mistakes.
Sometimes the bank account seems like a bleeding artery. I have known people who spend exactly what they earn each month. No retirement contributions, no savings. Then these unexpected things happen. I don’t know how they come up with the money. I can’t imagine the stress of that kind of lifestyle.
“Yes, I’ve been reading the threads. I’m horrified at the notion of people who currently have no extra funds taking on $80,000 or more in student-loan debt.”
I suppose that there might be a distinction between a parent taking on this debt, versus a newly graduated student.
For the student to take on this debt, the obvious more desirable alternative would be for them to get their own apartment. Living with parents in order to save money to pay off student debts has many obvious drawbacks. The most serious drawback might be the requirement that any job has to be near the parents’ home. It is hard enough to find a job after graduation without severely limiting the physical location where you can accept one.
For the parents to take on this much debt should be a non-starter for an older parent – saving money for retirement is too urgent. For a younger parent it is still much better to save money for retirement than to have to deal with debt – we all will need to retire some day and the earlier we can start saving for it the longer the money has to grow.
House maintenance throws many unexpected/large expenses. Just had to have a retention wall rebuilt. It was originally built with railroad ties by the builder. Now it is stacked stone/brick. $4500
Just paid $$$ to uncle sam and the state.
Planning a family trip for a birthday celebration - $$$$
A young co-worker spent $4k for her new puppy’s vet bill after he swallowed a piece of metal. Probably not enough for a Roth IRA contribution now.
We have two houses (yeah, that’s a choice and a luxury.) Neither was bought new (our “primary” “starter” home is well over a hundred years old and feels it.) This means twice as many opportunities to do repairs and maintenance. In the last year, we’ve replaced the water heater in one ($1100) and the refrigerator in the other ($1450), when each stopped working abruptly. We have a tree guy coming to trim a dangerously overgrown tree in the back of one ($600) this week. Between the two of us, about $5000 in dental the last 12 months, after insurance. Replaced tires twice after hitting debris-- several hundred.
We most likely have a roof replacement coming soon-- no estimates yet, but thinking probably 10K range.
Yeah, I can’t imagine how each of these things feel when a person is living paycheck to paycheck. I think it’s often why people end up in credit trouble–not because of frivolities but because of life.
“Then these unexpected things happen. I don’t know how they come up with the money. I can’t imagine the stress of that kind of lifestyle.”
They put it on credit card. Then only pay the minimum. Rinse and repeat,
Even apparently secure jobs like the fed govt have “bumpy times,” like when pauchecjs are temporarily withheld during budget haggling in Congress. When that happened, Son’s supervisor had to go around to all the employees to talk about their options to get by while waiting for a paycheck. Quite a few employees who live from one paycheck to the next were very anxious during that time, even more so if they had huge debt hanging over their heads.
DH’s root canal and crown was $4k in Feb, aftet insurance.
We need serious tree pruning/removal, as ee have six 80’ oak trees that would land on the house in a storm. Estimates are $10-15k.
Master bath reno-- room is 7x9 – all but one of the estimates were over $50k for replacing tub w/walk-in shower, new toilet, sink, vanity, tile on floor and shower, and linen cabinet. Replacing some studs and putting down new underlayment on the floor, but not moving any pipes. We’ve been mulling this for 4.5 years and just can’t pull the trigger to make it happen.
How do you fix a leaky toilet for only $121? Where I live one have to pay $120 just to get a plumber to your house.
@Iglooo, $100 for the plumber’s services, $21 for parts. I felt very fortunate.
“They put it on credit card. Then only pay the minimum. Rinse and repeat”
Which is a recipe for long term debt.
I mention Dave Ramsey’s “Total Money Makeover” every time one of these threads appears. It really is a step-by-step plan to get out of debt and stay out of debt that works (I know several people who are living proof that it works).
The FIRST part of that plan is an “emergency” fund. “Stuff happens”. You KNOW it’s going to happen so you have to budget for it just like everything else. Using a credit card as an “emergency fund” is a guarantee of staying in debt.
Having 500 bucks (emergency fund grows bigger as you have more money) is a continual life saver.
“Having 500 bucks (emergency fund grows bigger as you have more money) is a continual life saver.”
Washer just broke (badly), and 25 year old dryer looked like it should be replaced at the same time. Fortunately emergency fund was bigger than 500 bucks (and still is, something else will go wrong at some point).
“They put it on credit card. Then only pay the minimum. Rinse and repeat”
Slow and painful road to disaster.
Spend each day as if you are making only 90% of what you actually make. This is a slow road to financial success.
A lot of these posts reconfirm to me that home ownership often seems overrated.