-
When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
-
Posts
3,579 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Forums
CGC Journals
Gallery
Events
Store
Journal Comments posted by ExNihilo
-
-
Apologies in advance if I misinterpreted anything. I read most, skimmed the rest. 12 pages is a lot and some of us have work.
I will start by saying there's nothing wrong with staying at home. In the US, we culturally make fun of people who don't move out soon after college. I've found that this same "friendly ribbing" occurs less frequently in other countries and that it is often widely accepted to live at home with your parents (at least longer than it would be in the US). Your unfortunate circumstance is that your parents are unable to support you, let alone themselves. Under normal circumstances, if you are working a steady job and saving towards your own place, then others will accept you living at home because there is a firm end goal that is established. However, if you bring nothing to the table financially, you're basically living off your parents during a period in your life where you should be padding your bank account to eventually support them.
That said, I'm trying to get a better understanding of your financial situation. Several questions:
1) In 2018, did you work at an actual place of employment with consistent paychecks? If so, how long were you employed and how much were you making per month?
2) The larger bulk of your money (or at least a larger part of the discussion) has been the money you make in your "business" (selling comics, video games, and other assorted hobby items.) In 2018, what was your average profit per month from your "business"? How much time per month is devoted to your "business"?
6 hours ago, uchiha101 said:The interest rate on the card doesn't apply anymore but it used to be 26%. I now get charged $1.30 every day in interest.
I get the sense you don't fully understand the bank/credit system. You state that the interest rate on the card doesn't apply anymore. Then state you're being charged daily for interest. The interest rate does in fact matter. 26% is the APR (annual percentage rate) which means on a daily basis, your total balance is being charged 0.07% (26% APR/365 days= 0.07%). If you multiply that by $2800 (the balance on your credit card last you checked), you arrive at a daily interest fee of $1.99 being tacked on to your account. Now, you said previously that you tried to ask the bank about it, but they had no record of your account. This can't be true because if it was, they wouldn't be charging you interest every day.
Now, you also say you have crypto. When did you buy and what is it's current value? World markets have been crushed the last quarter and you need to evaluate your holdings to see if the money can be better used elsewhere. In this case, is it better to hold the crypto or to pay off the debt and avoid anymore fees? The answer is, if you are confident that crypto will garner returns in excess of 26%, then that's the way to go. If not, then you're better off paying off your debt. Here's the thing, markets are unpredictable. There is no way you can say with 100% certainty that crypto will yield you those returns. And that's before I even look at the metrics of cryptocurrency. By all accounts you should be funneling as much money as possible to pay off the debt. That level of interest is not sustainable for you in your current position.
I've got more to say, but some of it is dependent on answers to my questions above.
My road to success (Moving Update 2)
in uchiha101's Journal
A journal by uchiha101
Posted
So here's the thing, when managing your personal finances, there are 2 ways to tackle the problem.
1) reduce spending
2) increase earnings
Let's use the high end and say your "business" has earned $800/month. A normal person works roughly 160 hours a month (4x 40 hour work weeks). That means at most you're making $5/hour. I'm not Canadian, but I've been to Canada and it's no 3rd world country, so I have to imagine that the minimum wage is considerably more than that. You can build your "business" but the age old adage rings true to a certain extent. "You gotta spend money to make money." Unfortunately for you, you're just not in a financial position to spend more. Which means that in order to grow beyond your current means is going to require you to find a better source of income. I know you said you've had difficulty holding jobs due to disability, but there HAS to be something out there for you. You HAVE to go out and get a real job. It's not gonna be easy, but that's the harsh truth about growing up. What you consider your "business" is just a hobby to the rest of us (well, except for the actual store owners here who gathered enough initial funding to get their stores off the ground). But selling on eBay, Craigslist, or FB Marketplace? That's just pocket change for most people to clear some space while making a few dollars. Even if you got a job that paid $10/hour, you're looking at taking home almost $20k pre-tax. By your estimates in 2018, you brought in anywhere from $8500 to $11k. That's a huge difference and will go far in dramatically improving your quality of life.
Regarding your crypto, your inability to give me a rough idea of how much you currently have locked up is quite telling. If you have a sizable amount of money locked away, you should really do a better job keeping tabs on it, especially given your financial situation. You absolutely SHOULD NOT be in a high volatility investment. I don't know what you started with, but if we look at just Bitcoin and Ethereum (two leading crypto's a year ago) they're down ~70% and 90% respectively. You think it'll go up 26% and that's fine. But I just don't think you have the capital to take that gamble.
Here's a link on generally accepted advice on how to get started towards financial independence. There are 6 steps (the last being saving for discretionary spending...ie comics). You've jumped straight to Step 6 without any real consideration for Steps 1-5. Personal finance is about building a foundation and then going from there. You currently have no foundation.
https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics
I know I'm just echoing what others have told you before, but for however long this thread and the old thread have existed, it seems you haven't done anything to change. I strongly recommend you heed the advice of the other boardies here.