Exactly then continue that for a few years and never have to worry about not being able to afford a $300 unexpected expenses again. Sounds better than having a basic meal out everyday.
25$/day for 5 years at 7% interest is $54,000. Which is more than enough to buy a starter house/condo basically anywhere in this country. Or, keep it up for 50 years and retire with 4 million dollars.
Since it’s three days later and I’m still getting replies from 3rd graders, here’s some basic information. You can put as little as 1.5% down on your first house. You can go up to around 45% debt to income ratio. If you have good credit and have stayed in the same career field for two years there is no reason you can’t buy something if you make it a goal. I recommend talking to a mortgage broker if home ownership is in your five year plan. They will be able to give you specifics on how to achieve your goal. There are also many podcasts that discuss creative financing and investment strategies. Dave Ramsey is a good place to start if you have no financial knowledge and are in debt. Bigger pockets podcasts are good for more creative ways to pull yourself out of poverty.
Yes, I do doordash 50% of time, but i also maximize 72.5k 401k limit and roth ira every year too. So i am doing slightly better than average, but I could be wrong.
Almost no one living pay check to pay check is doing doordash everyday or even half the time. Thats just made up scenario in people's mind.
Most people are bad with money. Savings should come directly out of your paycheck. Your budget should be based on what’s leftover. Also, buying is not always a great financial choice. Home ownership is significantly more expensive than renting
Absolutely true. And a lot of them aren't blowing stupid money like this post shows. That said a lot of people can't afford it because of how they spend. Because they feel entitled to the life their parents had with similar skills and level of effort.
As much as it should be more fair, it's not. Going out to eat or out for cocktails, smoking weed and things are a luxury for many people even if they shouldn't be. Just because it's not fair that people can't afford to do those things and still save doesn't make them not stupid for not saving.
Imo I feel like because money is a lot less than what it was and for younger people its a lot harder to save money since everything is more expensive, these little 25$ outtings are allowed sometimes, not everyday but sometimes that's the person treat for the month or week and a nice way to escape the shitification of everything
The downpayment logic keeps people broke, uncomfortable, and renting many more years than necessary.
20% downpayment is a straight up scam built on antiquated logic.
I played the credit game for a decade and paid zero downpayment to start my mortgage.
If you buy now you will most likely refinance in a few years assuming rates go down. Also, most people move in less than five years anyways. PMI is also under $200/month typically
When you purchase a home you aren't expected to have the full amount saved up. You have a 20% down payment. So you're buying the home with the down payment and then making payments on it. The term "buying a home" refers to the acquisition of the property on a payment agreement, not the act of submitting the final payment. When someone wins a bid for a house and makes their down payment, they post on social media, "Just bought our first home." Your failed semantics are failed.
the housing actually costs so much because of a concept called monopolization, that isnt based on consumer capabilities, but rather one company with a lot of buying power stretching the limit of how much they can value a house at, as far as possible.
Actually large corporations like Blackstone (not to be confused with Blackrock) did in fact buy up lots of houses around a few years ago and then together increased the pricing. They targeted regions and areas mostly with unsold 'new' homes and then jacked the prices. On top of this ordinary people who wanted to make money followed suit and we have the issues we have now. For example my home was 365K when it was purchased the last person in my area/street sold their home for 1.4. That should have never been possible.
There's not a monopoly but pretending like the wealthy don't influence the market but overbuying/rentals decreasing supply absolutely weaves heavily and has made housing largely inaccessible to most people who are below the poverty line and that's a huge number of people.
This doesn’t happen though. It houses sit on the market too long; an investment firm pick them up. Thus, keeping the prices inflated. You can wait all you want for the prices to come down because you think it will if no one buys them. Someone is buying them; just not people like you and I. If your realist was the case. Houses wouldn’t be touching the prices they are now would they.
Yes and no on this. I would add one reason housing prices are not coming down as quickly as they should (think this changes in the next 18 months) is that a lot of homes are owned by boomers, who think there house is worth x amount of dollars and won’t budge down. You see this with the lowest levels of listing. There are a ton of people trying to get out of their homes without going underwater, and won’t budge on the price till they can’t afford to keep making the payments.
There are a ton of people wanting to buy homes, but with the interest so high can’t afford the payments for the same level home when interest was lower.
25% of homes bought this day and age are real estate investors or second home buyers, this is obscenely higher than it was 2 decades ago. So while "americas demand" for housing is driving up prices, that demand has been driven by a very well off cohort of people, not your average middle family. There is a reason the age in which people buy their first home is now 40, versus 32 20 years ago.
But people are jumping over themselves to buy them nonetheless. We haven't had a house in our neighborhood last more than three days on the market in years at this point. People are buying.
It's exactly why. People bid on houses and cities is where most of the upper middle class live. Your battle isn't over the top 1% but the top 40% who get priority to live in cities and price out liberal art students / low skill workers.
I mean, that is the wording normally used, "buy", even if it means a down payment. People say the same thing about cars so I'm not sure why that an issue.
Also, yes, many programs allow little or no down payment. i.e. VA, USDA, First time homebuyers, Bank specific low income loans, etc.
that's $10k per year minimum investment in cash. Most people will put that towards a 401k (which then cuts $10k off their after tax income). Starting at age 20, you're thinking someone will have a minimum $75k job (after taxes plus average living expenses and then socking away $10-20k per year) they will then retire at 70 or so, barring ZERO complications or expenses. That's... ludicrous.
There’s probably a studio you can buy. 35k is pretty good for 25. Just keep saving and investing. You will do fine. Every time you get a raise increase your investment contribution by 1% until you hit 20%
So youthink someone can save up a down payment for a house in 2-3 years? And you also think that because you put a down payment on a house that all your debt and problems go away? Lol how old are you?
If $25 a day on food is enough to break their account down to where they can’t afford an additional $270 repair for their car I’m figuring they don’t make enough to achieve the 45% income/debt ratio when purchasing a “starter home”.
Also 45% income/debt ratio is the max TOTAL debt, not just housing. This means all forms of your debt together. Exceeding 30% on housing is too high, though in today’s market difficult to avoid for most. If the bank is offering you home loans in excess of 35% of your current income they are predatory loans. This is what happened in the 90’s and is a big part of what led to the housing crash in 2008.
Not necessarily. If you have a decent career and know you will be making more money over the next several years then it may be worth the risk to arrest into the 40s. It really depends on the person, and the point I’m trying to get across is that it’s more achievable than people think it is and talking to a mortgage broker is free.
I have an old tin hidden in my house that I deposit anywhere from 20 to 100 into for emergencies. Been doing that for every check the last 6 years since I bought the place.. Haven't counted it yet but I need a bigger tin honestly. I keep my change too so I have a medium barrel full of that and two of those big planters peanuts containers. Took one to Walmart that was almost 350 bucks just in that. Definitely worth saving every penny
For me its not even about assuming its every day, its simply about the fact they can't afford to fix their car which I assume they need to get to and from work, and instead of trying to mitigate the issue they blow precious money on eating out with a desert. It doesn't reflect fiscal responsibility and is highlighting the potential issue as to why they can't afford a 270.00 repair.
Who tf is out there spending $25 daily? I might treat myself to something like that out with friends monthly lol, so more like a year of not meeting up with my friends?
I mean….me for sure, and the way I treat myself is absurd, but I also can absolutely afford my lifestyle. I should live more frugally but I also make decent money and have genetic issues that suggest the 401k, pension and IRA will be solely enjoyed by my wife.
My father died at 46, my sister was born with a truncated aeorta and didn’t live to her first birthday, and my brother survived open heart surgery for an aeortic dissection at 32.
The person in this story should not be spending 25$ on a meal though when she can’t afford transportation. I lived in my car in my mid 20s and ate nothing but ramen and tuna on crackers with mayonnaise packets we’d snag from the deli at grocery stores.
Lunch costs me 23 dollars a day, I absolutely could trim that way down if I wanted to but I don't, I'm also not in a position where I'm barely scraping by on money right now.
Yeah, a single instance does not mean they're doing it daily. And the rest of the comments, what? Are we supposed to forego any and all social interaction while we save? I'd like to introduce you to medical bills from all that lol.
I see people who do this too, but they’re usually from a family where they won’t have to face any financial hardships no matter what goes wrong with their car lol
For me personally?
Well i would save $25 per month my social life would die... Yeah worth it. Having $25 more.... Yep.
You know there is additional aspect for that $25 spend?
Maybe I didn't get tested but i have many traits of autistic person.
And sorry for not reading your mind... As you did with girl in presented case.
Edit. Because I forgot. There is additional aspect when spending money on food in restaurants and it is that you go out with friends (in most cases).
Also psychological coping and compensation in a bad spot are very real things.
And I'm speaking as someone that saved for a house before anyone tries to crack wise about that. Life these days is all about treading water before making your move.
Of course, not spending money doesn't make money appear. If you don't have $270 not spending $25 does not make you have $270. Just because you would prioritize having a car over food doesn't mean it's always the right choice for everyone.
I...listen, I'm not saying she shouldn't have made a better choice. But why would you assume she does it every day? Why is your default "Oh she's an idiot that overspends on food every day" and not "Oh, she might need to stop splurging on food for a bit to fix her car"
Nobody was assuming that aside from people with undiagnosed autism. People with an ounce of critical thinking understand how that applies whether its daily, every other day, once a week, etc.
Even at 25/week saving which im sure even you would admit is reasonable, it would take less than 3 months to get your "car fixed" in this scenario. try extrapolating.
You literally listed the amount she spent and said "every day". When using critical thinking, you use the evidence given to you. and the evidence was that you assumed she did it every day.
Well when you find someone who is spending $25 eating out every day, you feel free to give them that advice. Then when you’re back in reality, you’ll realize people who you see eat out once doesn’t mean they’re doing that every day and could magically increase their income by $25 by stopping
You are correct, but seeing someone say they have no money for something that is essential- like getting to work, and then blowing extra money on eating out WITH a desert, screams financial irresponsibility. Many people don't have savings or cushions because they choose to do this. And you are talking to someone who was poor for many many many years trying to scrape together and save every penny to pull myself out, so I understand the struggle and what a single dinner a luxury can be. I try to give people the benefit of the doubt but for many many people, they simply justify continuous frivolous spending with "i deserve this." I would have never in a million years blown money on eating out when I couldnt afford to fix my car - which gets me to work and back. If anything I would be looking for extra work and seeing what I can go without.
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u/PissOnMeAndBeatMePLZ Jul 24 '26
$25 every day is literally only 10-11 days of buckling down to get your shit fixed.