People who made a single terrible financial decision that still haunts you to this day - how did it happen?
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I got together with the wrong person. That woman cost me $15k in 3 months, burned through all of my savings for her amusement and made me take a $6k loan for furniture and a flat.
Lemmings, what’s your sad story?Once fell for a high yield bitcoin scam.
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My finger was hovering over buying about 250$ worth of bitcoins at around 0.20USD a pop. Back then I was pretty broke. I had been unemployed for a bit was burning through savings and struggling to pay rent, so it was hard to justify.
Same here, my paycheck barely covered my expenses and putting down $100 on some "crypto funny money" seemed like throwing money away
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Probably not exactly what you meant, but not going to college with my group of friends that did. They went for computer science because they were interested in it and are now doing very well for themselves. I was never that interested in it and am more "hands on" with physical stuff so I didn't feel like I should "waste" the money on that degree and figured I would spend time trying to figure out what I could do.
I never "found myself" and am currently living in someone's garage making not much money working in a factory that's going to be over 90°F today with 75+% humidity... So in my case the financial mistake was not taking out a loan.
You've probably heard this a million times, but why not learn a trade?
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You've probably heard this a million times, but why not learn a trade?
I tried my hand at HVAC but I absolutely cannot stand not having a schedule, nothing worse than getting home and getting a call that I have to go back out for... that and I live in an overpopulated area so driving in traffic every day was just adding to the stress. I was never more miserable than when working that job.
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Your mistake wasn't the woman.
It was your inability to say no and set boundaries, especially when it involved money.
She would have left of her own accord without damaging the saving account. Boundaries would have made this a self-solving problem.
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They changed it a few years back to default to the Lifecycle fund which matches your retirement date.
This is so much better. Glad they did that.
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Not buying $100 bitcoin when it was $0.00001
Thats just the gen-z version of not investing in apple in the 90s. Missed opportunities are not the same as actual mistakes, they all involve risk and things that blow up like BTC are rare and hard to see before they are take off. Its best to not kick your self over not having a time machine.
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Your mistake wasn't the woman.
It was your inability to say no and set boundaries, especially when it involved money.
That kinda sounds like victim blaming
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I got together with the wrong person. That woman cost me $15k in 3 months, burned through all of my savings for her amusement and made me take a $6k loan for furniture and a flat.
Lemmings, what’s your sad story?I didn't have a prenup drawn up. Bye house.
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Thats just the gen-z version of not investing in apple in the 90s. Missed opportunities are not the same as actual mistakes, they all involve risk and things that blow up like BTC are rare and hard to see before they are take off. Its best to not kick your self over not having a time machine.
Then it would probably be getting credit cards.
Kids, don't get credit cards, sure there are some benefits but unless you are anal about your finances 24/7, you are going to mess up at some point. Instead, just save your money if possible and pay cash for everything. I know housing is super expensive and one can't just save money for a roof so there are some exemptions, but don't let the exceptions become the norm. Also, fuck those loans to buy daily stuff in multiple payments, there should never be a reason for you to need that (hopefully I'm not super disconnected from current financial reality)
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Then it would probably be getting credit cards.
Kids, don't get credit cards, sure there are some benefits but unless you are anal about your finances 24/7, you are going to mess up at some point. Instead, just save your money if possible and pay cash for everything. I know housing is super expensive and one can't just save money for a roof so there are some exemptions, but don't let the exceptions become the norm. Also, fuck those loans to buy daily stuff in multiple payments, there should never be a reason for you to need that (hopefully I'm not super disconnected from current financial reality)
Credit cards are fine if your responsible with them. Don't run balances (unless you have to), use them as a buffer for your checking account, not a loan. Try and find one associated with your main bank, set a low balance limit (less than your savings, and try to get your savings over that limit), has decent rewards and has low fees. They are not in the business of screwing their existing customers, unlike a retail card, which has less of an incentive to behave.
The key adventage if you good at being a boring banking customer is dispute resolution. In the case of debit cards, you have to go after your own money. With credit cards, the bank has to go after its money, and they can put more effort into it than you can. (Plus enough credit card disputes will cause the card processor to drop the vendor, so... You have that card to play).
And your 100% correct on the micro-loan nonsense, thats not finance or credit, they are a scam.
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I tried my hand at HVAC but I absolutely cannot stand not having a schedule, nothing worse than getting home and getting a call that I have to go back out for... that and I live in an overpopulated area so driving in traffic every day was just adding to the stress. I was never more miserable than when working that job.
HVAC isn't the only trade. HVAC is a TON of reactive work due to heating/cooling loss, which has immediate tenant impact that needs to be taken care of ASAP.
Any utility work is likely in the same boat.
Depending on your area you could look into framing, masonry, concrete. If you're detail oriented you can get into cabinetry, tiling. Windows/doors/flooring is good for consistent work. Roofing will likely be consistent but it's hard af and fucking dangerous, I wouldn't recommend.
You want to look for businesses that do new construction/commercial if you're looking for steady work. If you're getting into the industry you'll likely start as a laborer, but if you're a good worker that shows up on time you'll quickly outgrow that because a TON of laborers are super unreliable, drugged out, shady etc. It's hard work, and often fairly thankless at first, but if you have a good attitude and show that you want to learn you'll get a taste of different stuff and can maybe narrow down where you want to focus. It could mean you take a pay cut at first depending on what you're making now, but if you can get picked up as an apprentice in a union you might get over that hump (depends on your area and the union... I've seen IBEW brothers who work in restaurants when there isn't enough work to get them out on jobs. Totally depends on your area/season/trade).
Another possibility is mechanic, diesel is not going anywhere as well as bodywork/paint, but I'm not really sure how that industry is to break in to. If you're not a car guy you might struggle to get your first hire unless you're willing to do cleaning or other stuff at a shop/dealer and work your way up, but I don't really know.
The best time to start a career was when you were 18, perhaps. The second best time is tomorrow. It's up to you what you want to do with your life but most of us don't get stuff handed to us so if you want something better for yourself you'll have to look for the opportunities and push for them.
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HVAC isn't the only trade. HVAC is a TON of reactive work due to heating/cooling loss, which has immediate tenant impact that needs to be taken care of ASAP.
Any utility work is likely in the same boat.
Depending on your area you could look into framing, masonry, concrete. If you're detail oriented you can get into cabinetry, tiling. Windows/doors/flooring is good for consistent work. Roofing will likely be consistent but it's hard af and fucking dangerous, I wouldn't recommend.
You want to look for businesses that do new construction/commercial if you're looking for steady work. If you're getting into the industry you'll likely start as a laborer, but if you're a good worker that shows up on time you'll quickly outgrow that because a TON of laborers are super unreliable, drugged out, shady etc. It's hard work, and often fairly thankless at first, but if you have a good attitude and show that you want to learn you'll get a taste of different stuff and can maybe narrow down where you want to focus. It could mean you take a pay cut at first depending on what you're making now, but if you can get picked up as an apprentice in a union you might get over that hump (depends on your area and the union... I've seen IBEW brothers who work in restaurants when there isn't enough work to get them out on jobs. Totally depends on your area/season/trade).
Another possibility is mechanic, diesel is not going anywhere as well as bodywork/paint, but I'm not really sure how that industry is to break in to. If you're not a car guy you might struggle to get your first hire unless you're willing to do cleaning or other stuff at a shop/dealer and work your way up, but I don't really know.
The best time to start a career was when you were 18, perhaps. The second best time is tomorrow. It's up to you what you want to do with your life but most of us don't get stuff handed to us so if you want something better for yourself you'll have to look for the opportunities and push for them.
I appreciate the detailed response! Definitely food for thought.
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I got together with the wrong person. That woman cost me $15k in 3 months, burned through all of my savings for her amusement and made me take a $6k loan for furniture and a flat.
Lemmings, what’s your sad story?wrote last edited by [email protected]Do NOT do business with family.
Bought a house through my sister. She was supposed to give us $19K @ closing. We got $3K.
Fucking cunt!
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I got together with the wrong person. That woman cost me $15k in 3 months, burned through all of my savings for her amusement and made me take a $6k loan for furniture and a flat.
Lemmings, what’s your sad story?I worked too long for a job that paid way below average. Thinking I didn’t deserve any better.
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I mean, you weren't really wrong about them catching on. Usage by everyday people is vanishingly rare and it's certainly not trending in a positive direction. They're just... worth a lot now... for some reason.
Well, I think it stems from wanting some form of currency that's not as volatile as the currency of countries and is universal. The problem (from my uneducated stand point) is that too many coins came out around the boom. Making it so that an alternative currency couldn't be viable. But since Bitcoin was the "first" it's still held on to its value.
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I was mining bitcoin in the very early days (when bitcoins were worth pennies). No idea how much it was and is worth now, but I am pretty sure I'd never have to work again if I still had access to these bitcoins.
wrote last edited by [email protected]Omg. I hate you for making me check BTC
I once owned 0.35 BTC, sold it for about $800
Now it's worth about $35k
Fuck me
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I got together with the wrong person. That woman cost me $15k in 3 months, burned through all of my savings for her amusement and made me take a $6k loan for furniture and a flat.
Lemmings, what’s your sad story?I was 17 and went to a fancy private art collage in a high COL city, all on student loans. This was 2003-2006. I'm still $40k in debt, and I burnt out and didn't finish.
I did go back to school for something else, for free, so I ended up okay in terms of a degree, but all these years later and I have only half my student loans paid off. That's crazy.
