(Part 3) Top products from r/personalfinance

So first I will soapbox then tell you what I do personally. Hah, apparently this is a 10k+ essay so will split in 2.


Step 1: Pay yourself first. If you are "budgeting" for savings but end up at the end of the month with no savings you are NOT really saving. Pick your savings vehicle and set up direct deposit. Schedule so that the day your paycheck is cashed you have $500 automatically withdrawn from your account that same day to be applied to your investment directly. For you something like: Vanguard Target Retirement 2060 Fund (VTTSX).
https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/target-retirement/#/mini/overview/1691
MER of 0.18%


So go to the library and borrow and read "The wealthy barber"
http://www.amazon.ca/The-Wealthy-Barber-Successful-Financial/dp/0773762167


In the same vein read: The Richest Man in Babylon. True when written in 1926 and still true now.
http://www.ccsales.com/the_richest_man_in_babylon.pdf
Audio version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRomaM-yxYs


Step 2: Take a long, hard look at why you spend. You are trying to fill a hole thinking spending will make you happy. You are realizing that it does not. What is new and shiny now will have a new version come along in 6 months. What makes you happy? Quality time with friends and family? Experiences? Leaning new things? Looking at the end of the year at your IRA/401k balance. Looking at your house down payment savings account? Make a list of the times you were the happiest you have felt in the last year then go to step 3.


Step 3: After determining what makes you happy start saving and budgeting towards that goal. Steam has a 75% sale on YNAB right now.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/227320/


Buy it, use it. Determine what you need to LIVE, then allocate the surplus. The Richest Man in Babylon says live on 70%, pay down debt with 20%, invest 10%. I propose it is income dependent. As a single guy I think you should be able to live well on a salary of $45k/yr and save/invest the rest.


Now you don't have to be like John Wesley (http://www.missionfrontiers.org/issue/article/what-wesley-practiced-and-preached-about-money) but look at what made him happy. Giving to the poor. He lived on 28 pounds a year and "saved" the rest to apply to what was his number one mission in life.


"1731 Wesley began to limit his expenses so that he would have more money to give to the poor. He records that one year his income was 30 pounds and his living expenses 28 pounds, so he had 2 pounds to give away. The next year his income doubled, but he still managed to live on 28 pounds, so he had 32 pounds to give to the poor. In the third year, his income jumped to 90 pounds. One year his income was a little over 1400 pounds. He lived on 30 pounds and gave away nearly 1400 pounds. When he died in 1791, the only money mentioned in his will was the miscellaneous coins to be found in his pockets and dresser drawers. Most of the 30,000 pounds he had earned in his lifetime he had given away."


As income rises let your quality of life rise a proportion of the increase but let your savings/investing take the majority of the increase.


Step 4: Seriously consider volunteering at something. Can be as little as 1-2 hours per week. Pick a mission or organization that has deep personal meaning for yourself. Animal shelter. Big brother/sister. Help underprivileged kids read at your local library. Absolutely ANYTHING but pick SOMETHING. Do this for weekly for 6 months and if you do not feel rewarded and that you wasted your time over the last 6 months PM me with the phone number of your supervisor/most responsible person at the place you volunteered so I can confirm you were actually there regularly for 6 months and I will send you $100 (I'm in Canada so would have to figure out how to send you a amazon gift card or something). Requirement is you going 6 months weekly for a minimum of 1hr.


1 - you will meet amazing co-volunteers.
2 - you will see how blessed you are. Instead of comparing yourself to the Johnses at the country club you will compare yourself to the people you meet at your volunteer gig. I will pretty much guarantee that at the end of 6 months you will find other things to do with your $400/month country club membership.

I was going to suggest this book but it seems even that assumes a level of basic knowledge. So what follows is my effort to impart that basic level of personal finance knowledge to you.

>how to open a bank account

If you are 18, or a legally emancipated minor, you bring your ID and either cash or your paycheck into a bank and ask to open an account. You do not go up to a teller, you need to speak to someone at the desks. Ask about the difference between checking and savings account as well as fees and minimum deposit, balance, and activity requirements. You can research this information online at each bank's website on your own but talking to a real person is probably going to be most helpful.

>what is a good interest rate

LOL. Sorry, back to seriousness. You will be lucky to get 0.1% on a savings account. You will probably not earn interest on a checking account. There are checking accounts that pay interest but they generally require a high balance.

>how to know what a reasonable price for a car is

There is no general rule of thumb for this. There is a reasonable amount you should pay for a car and that is determined by your financial resources. There are many good videos on YouTube on evaluating a used car for purchase. Determining whether a particular car you're interested in buying comes down to the used car market in your area. Start looking at car ads to get a sense of what kinds of cars (go beyond make and model and compare the details) people are selling and for how much.

>how to perform the literal act of paying taxes

Take your W2 to one of the tax prep companies like HR Block, TaxAct, TurboTax, etc.

>how to get a credit card and what obligations do you get from that

Discuss this with the banker who helped you open an account in part one.

Best of luck on your journey. They really should have taught us this stuff in school.

Save. Always and forever save as much as you can when you have the opportunity to. Keep putting money away now, each paycheck, even if for a week you can only put in $5.

There are various ways to save, obviously RRSP's are great for retirement, but there are also ways to save money that you can access if the need to do so arises. Definitely put money away separately for your children, for their education and such. Yes, there are student loans, but there could always be extra costs or fees outside of school, such as medical costs, bail, etc...

It is good to have at least 6 months worth of your expenses saved up, so that 7k is an ideal saving to have and you are already in a good position by having it. The reason to have that much saved up is so that if anything were to happen, in terms of either, or both of you, losing employment you have the finances to cover the costs during that period. Being broke is bad enough, but being broke and not being able to support ourselves, or the people that we should be providing for, is quite depressing to say the least. To reiterate you are already off to a good start with your bank savings.

The Wealthy Barber is a great book to read that provides insight into being intelligent with money, while I'm going to put an article for you to consider perusing: 4 Personal Finance Principles That Would Make Your Grandfather Proud


The Wealthy Barber

You really need to read the personal finance wiki.

First, get some tax advantaged savings going. You have a lot of options, but picking any option is better than picking no options. While you are educating yourself, here are some alright choices you can make for this year:

Open a ROTH IRA

1. Go to Vanguard.com and follow the instructions to open an individual ROTH IRA
   
2. Contribute you max for the year (probably $5500 for you)
   
3. Vanguard will ask you to put that money into an account of some kind. That account will hold your money's worth of stocks or bonds. I would get VFINX with is an S&P500 fund. This is a single fund that disperses your risk over the top 500 funds as measured by Standard and Poors. It is a very safe investment with a yield of around %5-%7 over long time horizons.
   
4. Forget about that money until you retire.
   
   Does your company have a 401K? You need to get money into it.
   
   
5. Talk to your employer about increasing your contribution to whatever it will take to reach $18500 by the end of the year
   
6. Make a plan to live on the $24.5K you have remaining in your bank account after the above ROTH IRA contribution
   
   At the end of the year, you will have reduced your pre-tax income by $18500 and you will have $5500 in an account you can withdraw from tax free after you turn 59.5 years old. The ROTH IRA will grow tax free from now until when you retire.
   
   NEXT STEP: GET EDUCATED
   
   
7. Read the entire personal finance wiki. Its pretty good and gets to the point.
   
8. Read Get a financial life. The book is cheap and a nice intro for young people doing personal finance. It isn't comprehensive, and its not the last book you'll read. This book will tell you how to handle debt, save for retirement, buy a car, and it will help you save to buy a house. Once you have read it and have a solid understanding, you should keep seeking out personal finance knowledge.
   
9. If you plan on buying a home, go to a home-buying class. Your city will probably put some on in the local library.
   
10. Keep finding and reading books about personal finance.

The Millionaire Next Door changed my entire perspective on money and life. If you read no other PF book, read that one - it's an eye opener. Along the same lines, I'd recommend Your Money or Your Life. If you don't want to be really hands-on with your finances (I have a lot of friends like this) I usually recommend The Automatic Millionaire. It's got a infomercial-esque title, but in reality it's an easy read with really good ideas, particularly for the uninterested/inattentive.

As for investing, try The Boglehead's Guide to Investing. A lot of the info is free at the Boglehead Wiki.

For FREE reading, head over to The Simple Dollar and Get Rich Slowly. Both are incredibly useful websites with extensive archives on investing, frugality, debt, and all things personal finance. I read both every day!

(as an example, here's an article on the 25 Best Books About Money over at GRS.)

A lot of people like Dave Ramsey, but I don't recommend him very much. He's got good advice in there, but his books contain religious references that I feel are particularly useless in a personal finance guide.

This is sort of random and you got much better advice in other comments but I'm going to throw it in as an addition anyway:

Read the book The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up. It's a book about how to organize your home, and therefor your life by surrounding yourself with things that spark joy. Shifting your focus off of money by going through your apartment and getting rid of clutter and stressors will help make you feel better and give you something else to "obsess" over. But most importantly it will make you more aware of what makes you happy. When you know what sparks joy for you, it will be easier to "allow" yourself to spend money on the quality necessities without feeling like you're blowing money. The book helped me with overspending on things I don't need but were "good deals" that just wound up causing me stress by overcrowding my home.

I think you may have traded the "thrill" of buying new stuff/nice car/etc for the "thrill" of accumulating money... sort of like an addiction in both extremes.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing https://www.amazon.com/dp/1607747308/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_39HGybESD1QJX

Don't just focus on the investing side, focus on your overall financial situation. This includes your investments, but it also includes how you handle your short term savings, plan for trips, use credit cards, negotiate for raises, etc.

To that end, I highly recommend to the book "I Will Teach You To Be Rich" by Ramit Sethi. Ignore the silly title, it's not a get rich quick scheme--it is all about how to get your financial life in order so that you feel "rich" even if you are really just graduating from college and starting your first job.

His advice on investing is going to be similar to what most people here suggest: Index funds, keep adding money over time, rebalance every once and a while but don't sweat the market swings or try to play the market daily. But he's going to give you a lot more instruction on how to automate the rest of your finances and get to a place where you are comfortable.

Unlike many other general personal finance books, he's never going to tell you to be cheap or to go without buying things you really want. He'd rather help you optimize your savings and get a better job than try to fund your retirement by never buying Starbucks.

Congrats OP! This is great advice. You may also want to check out http://www.bogleheads.org/, read the wiki, the forums, and ask questions there. There are some really smart and experienced investors on that site and they will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

I'd also recommend a few good books. Here are three of my favorites:

http://www.amazon.com/Bogleheads-Guide-Investing-Taylor-Larimore/dp/0470067365/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381759382&sr=8-1&keywords=a+bogleheads+guide+to+investing

http://www.amazon.com/The-Four-Pillars-Investing-Portfolio/dp/0071747052/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381759409&sr=8-1&keywords=four+pillars+of+investing

http://www.amazon.com/The-Intelligent-Asset-Allocator-Portfolio/dp/0071362363/ref=pd_sim_b_1

Since you asked, Read this book, if you can't/don't want to buy it, you might find it at the base library, or a competent financial advisor/debt relief counselor on base may have copies. Its not just about retirement, but getting your financial house in order with an emphasis on military members; whatever you do, even if you aren't planning on staying in.

Your starting to pay attention, good luck. And as for all the other advice here; YES, minimize your TSP payments until you can get out from under that "new whip" payment, NOW. It's like getting out of paying that crazy rate you already agreed too, then bump the TSP back up, as long as you don't buy ignorant again.

You're off to a great start! Congrats!

Even though you're planning for long-term, I'd suggest a minimum of 10% in government bond funds (and 20% is likely better for starting out since it will help you avoid the temptation to flee the market when Bad Things inevitably happen.). Once you're comfortable with the rebalancing process in a year or so, you can reduce that down to 10% if you want.

One of the best things you can do is learn more. Here are some book suggestions for starting out with investing and asset allocation:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1576603660/
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0071362363/
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0471730335/

These books describe the way to get a return higher than 60-70% of all investors out there, simply by not trying to beat everyone else... You'll never impress anyone at cocktail parties, but you will make an excellent return over time.

If you like good coffee, let me recommend an Aeropress. It is cheap, fast, easy to clean, portable and most importantly makes better tasting coffee than machines costing hundreds of dollars.

It is on the reading list but I highly recommend I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

It is geared for someone in their 20s although it can be applied at any age. It's broken down into six weeks where he goes over your credit and banking accounts and then guides you into starting an investment account and setting up a budget. An updated edition of this book is coming out in May but the advice in the book is still sound and relevant.

Edit: Found one more book on that list that seems perfect. Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties.

I also really liked Suze Orman's The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke but it came out in 2005 so some of the content is outdated. This is one of the few books I have seen that really targets the issues young people face with money.

I currently work 2 jobs and have my fingers in a lot of pies.

That being said, I still find the time to cook. Not as much as I like, but I do so quite regularly.

Aside from reading cook books, watching Good Eats, and America's Test Kitchen, I got the most experience from practice.

I also visit these subreddits.

http://www.reddit.com/r/cooking

http://www.reddit.com/r/askculinary

Book wise, I have quite a few books on both technique and the food itself.

A few of my favorites are:

On Food and Cooking by McGee - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0684800012

Cooking for Geeks by Potter - http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Geeks-Science-Great-Hacks/dp/0596805888/

How to Cook Everything by Bittman - http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Completely-Revised-Anniversary-Edition/dp/0764578650

and a multitude of others.

Furnishings aren't a purely financial decision. You also have to consider comfort and style. You may be spending a lot of time with this furniture. And you may not want your place to scream "college student" or "bachelor pad".

You can still get comfortable and stylish furniture cheaply the way everyone else is recommending. But you may want to be a little picky and maybe even pay full price for some things if you'll get that much appreciation out of it.

I'll also caution that just because you have space for something and you can get it cheap (or even free!) doesn't mean you should take it. Space has a tendency of filling itself up with stuff. You should read The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up before you buy anything.

Also, I find the product reviews at The Sweet Home are worth considering to help cut down on the analysis paralysis of having to buy so many different things. Of course, don't overdo it and buy stuff you don't really need!

You don't need to go all in like I did. Check out Happy Mug for pounds of roasted coffee around $10-12. Buy a grinder and drip machine and you'll still be saving tons over going to a cafe.

For ice coffee you can make strong drip coffee and pour it over ice or make cold brew concentrate with something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Hario-Water-Coffee-1000ml-Brown/dp/B00I7JKAQ0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1475170781&sr=8-1&keywords=mizudashi

I think prime is worth the convenience and for prime video.


we generally dont spend a lot of money on crap we dont need anyways and some products break after the warranty period, so we find ourselves buying more from Costco or other places with better return policies... which is sad because I work on Amazon every day to help companies with their accounts.

I actually found this book to be far more impactful on my spending than anything else:

https://www.amazon.com/Life-Changing-Magic-Tidying-Decluttering-Organizing/dp/1607747308


We buy things we really need or really love and rarely anything that doesnt fit those two criteria, which I think was my greatest takeaway from this book

When I started investing I didn't know jack shit. Now I make between 30-50k year just in growth and dividends. I started with this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Investing-Lessons-Every-Investor/dp/1118484878

It's a short book, a 1 day read. You'll come out being very very skeptical of "financial planners" and investment bankers who want a piece of your action. It walks you through all the scams, types of accounts, tax benefits, etc. This stuff is all super confusing and they do a nice job of explaining it.

Once you read the book, this will make sense: You might want to think about migrating what you have left over for saving into a Roth IRA over time. (there is a $5500 limit per year/per person and you need to have a separate roth for both you and your husband) Then your growth is tax free.

​

​

They're great. More of an "entry-level" item for moving into good coffee. Like only $25, brews in about a minute, and makes one cup. I mainly use a French press, but I still use my old aeropress a few times a month.

I bought a $5 metal filter so i didn't have to keep buying the paper ones. Also, Google the "inverted method" for using an aeropress. The book doesn't tell you, but it's really the superior way to use the product.

https://www.amazon.com/Aeropress-Coffee-and-Espresso-Maker/dp/B0047BIWSK

>I am pretty good with computers

There you go! Dedicate as much free time as you have to studying to get an A+ Certification, then start searching around for local IT/Helpdesk jobs. Once you're in and get some experience, there is all sorts of room for promotion. It all depends on the time and effort you put into it.

As far as what/where to study, there are a ton of resources out there. Professor Messer has a whole series of totally free videos for not only A+ certification, but most of the other major certifications as well. You should also pick up this book as it covers just everything you'll need to know for the exam plus a lot more.

I will teach you to be rich is easily the most approachable and easy to read financial book I have ever read. https://www.amazon.com/Will-Teach-You-Rich-Second/dp/1523505745/ref=sr_1_3?crid=13GHQW9SCDOCS&keywords=i+will+teach+you+to+be+rich&qid=1573442363&sprefix=i+will+teda%2Caps%2C-1&sr=8-3

Financial Peace Revisited: New Chapters on Marriage, Singles, Kids and Families https://www.amazon.com/dp/0670032085/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_O-k7BbBVKX8RB

————————————————
Read it now thank me later! Wish I knew this before I bought my house and got married

For retirement accounts in particular, I would highly recommend The Elements of Investing by Malkiel and Ellis.

Link: https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Investing-Lessons-Every-Investor/dp/1118484878?ie=UTF8&ref_=asap_bc

It covers the optimal strategy for how everyday people should invest for retirement: a diversified portfolio of low-cost, broad index funds. It also gives a list recommended funds from various institutions (Vanguard, Fidelity, etc.). If you frequent this subreddit, then the majority of it will sound very familiar. But it's a good introduction for the uninitiated.

You can get your certification in about 30 days depending on what knowledge your already have now if you really buckle down and take this serious.

• Read Ch1 Mike Meyers book
  
  
• Watch the corresponding videos on YouTube by Professor Messer. Messer's videos are in order of the CompTIA exam objectives not the book, so you'll have to jump around a bit.
  
  
• Do the practice questions at the end of Ch1. Don't just figure out the answer to the question, but instead be able to explain why the other answers are incorrect. Try to create a question for each possible answer - this turns 20 questions into 80. Re-Read any portion of the chapter you have struggled with. You should be getting 90% or higher on the practice questions
  
  
  
• Repeat steps with the remaining chapters of the book.
  
  
  
• Take the practice exam at the end of the book.
  
  
  
• Based on your results of the practice exam, re-study the portions of the book you struggled with. TechExams has additional study material/practice tests. So does Skillset. Take as many practice tests as you can. Again you should be shooting for 90% or better.
  
  
• this is a great book too.
  
  More info here
  
  
  Do a chapter a day and you'll finish the Mike meyers book in 30 days or less if you read more.

Hi, former Wall Street-er here. Sounds like you're more interested in fundamentals investing instead of technical? If so, read:

• The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Investing
  
• Ratio Analysis Fundamentals
  
• Best Practices for Equity Research Analysts
  
• Applied Equity Analysis
  
  The last two are fairly specific to the equity research career, but if you're doing fundamentals investing you'll be using the same principles.
  
  If instead you're interested in technical investing, Getting Started in Candlestick Charting is my go-to.

One huge thing for me was stopping myself (and my parents) from spending ~$10/month on a cable internet modem rental through Comcast. If anyone has comcast I highly recommend you just get one of these (they are very highly rated):

For internet speeds less than ~150mbps: http://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-SURFboard-SB6121-DOCSIS-Cable/dp/B004XC6GJ0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1449495356&sr=8-1&keywords=motorola+sb+6121

For internet speeds greater than ~150mbps: http://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-SURFboard-SB6141-DOCSIS-Cable/dp/B00AJHDZSI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1449495487&sr=8-1&keywords=motorola+sb6141

NOTE: If they are close in price whenever you look at these amazon links, get the sb6141. It'll future proof you for a few years at least.

for reference, what sort of costs are involved? Is it a fixed cost or do they take a percentage?

I got some advice a long time ago to be very skeptical of anyone that manages your money for high fees, and I love the super low fees vanguard has on their passive funds (0.08% in one case). This book I read half of touches on this: https://www.amazon.com/Where-Are-Customers-Yachts-Street/dp/04717708920892

I personally like The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing.

The author goes over the basics as well as styles of the greats.

This reminds me of "Where are all the customers Yachts" by Fred Schwed. This investment classic points out how some of the fat cats on Wall St. are making massive amounts of money while bringing little benefit to clients. It's a quick read and I highly recommend it: http://www.amazon.com/Where-Are-Customers-Yachts-Investment/dp/0471770892

AP @ http://financewithreason.com

• First of all congratulations. It's terrifying and awesome to become a father.
  
  
• Get 30 year term life insurance today. You are going to sleep better knowing this is taken care of. No "cash value" life insurance. TERM!!
  
  
• Read some books, The Millionare Next Door, Rich Dad Poor Dad, Financial Peace any of the etc. These books will give you some contradictory advice but they'll also give you the information to make your own decisions.

I honestly don't think so. I have tried a lot of different coffee makers and always keep coming back to the Aeropress. It costs $30 and makes better coffee than anything I have had at any coffee shop.

Sure the Aeropress is more involved than other methods but it has become a part of my daily routine.

Buy an OBD2 Bluetooth code reader and download the App. Find and research trouble codes for you check engine light. You can often fix issues yourself or ensure you're not overcharged or lied to. Google and youtube is your friend.

http://www.amazon.com/BAFX-Products-Bluetooth-diagnostics-Android/dp/B005NLQAHS

The one I have is https://www.amazon.com/Hario-Water-Coffee-1000ml-Brown/dp/B00I7JKAQ0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1475263682&sr=8-1&keywords=hario+cold+brew - it works quite nicely.

Start by reading. Then read some more. And more, and more, and more.

I recommend this book.

It's not exactly helpful for personal finance, but it does give you a healthy dose of cynicism about the financial services industry: Where Are the Customers' Yachts?: or A Good Hard Look at Wall Street.

I highly recommend this book: How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. Read all the introductory stuff through and then start trying the essential recipes in each chapter.

You start here.

This is the most succinct, most comprehensive, clearest book on the subject I've found to date.

The Elements of Investing was the first book recommended to me by a friend, and it taught me ridiculous amounts in about 150 pages. You could tear through this in a day and learn volumes full.

http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/1118484878/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The Wealthy Barber


https://www.amazon.ca/Wealthy-Barber-Successful-Financial-Planning/dp/0773762167

You might have incorrectly formatted line breaks. To create a line break, either put two spaces at the end of the line or put an extra blank line in-between lines. (See Reddit's page on commenting for more information.)

I have attempted to automatically reformat your text with fixed line breaks.

----

> If you have an android phone get a Blutooth OBD 2 reader:

> http://www.amazon.com/BAFX-Products-Bluetooth-diagnostics-Android/dp/B005NLQAHS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1427744214&sr=8-2&keywords=obd+scanner

> and then download:

> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.prowl.torquefree&hl=en

> to view codes, it will even tell you what the code means, you do not have to get the paid one.
>
> If you don't have an Android just get a handheld scanner.
>

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^(I am a bot. Contact) ^pentium4borg ^(with any feedback.)

Motorla surfboard has been working well for me on comcast.

• Max out your TSP and IRA
  
• Don't buy stupid shit. (A car that costs more than $5k counts as "stupid shit.")
  
  Read this book. Ideally, borrow it from the library instead of buying it.

Tips I find help me out:

• Things where brand names outperform generics: paper products (e.g. toilet paper, paper towels) and soap products (e.g. hand soap, dish detergent). Almost everything else can be the generic brand with no noticeable decrease in quality.
  
• Pay attention to the unit price, not the actual price.
  
• Buy the largest size you can use before it goes bad. That means buy the gallon of dish soap and refill your dispenser. Don't buy the gallon of milk if you can't drink it all (even if the unit price is lower). Throwing food in the trash is equal to throwing money in the trash.
  
• Never shop hungry. You will always come away with more than you need.
  
• If something goes on sale, buy as much of it as you can use before
  
  1. It likely goes on sale again (every week/every month?)
     
  2. It goes bad and must be thrown away (buying 100 apples because they're on special is silly)
     
• Related to above, use the circular to see what's on sale. Make those things into means (salmon is on sale, not tilapia? There's your fish meal.)
  
• Learn to saute, grill, and pan fry. These will let you cook meals in as much time as it would take to deliver them, and for less money. Learn to make sauces and chili. These are meals that just sit there simmering for awhile, and then last for a few meals. The ingredients are always inexpensive (beans and canned tomatoes), and more meals = less money per meal.
  
  I'll recommend Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything, Michael Ruhlman's Ruhlman's Twenty and Alton Brown's I'm Just Here For the Food. Plain English instructions for very simple recipes requiring few ingredients.

Actually He's right. The Bank has the right to lend It to other people, Invest It and pretty much do whatever they want. What you have is the promise they'll give you back If you ask for It.

What regular people don't know is that the Bank has the right to take a USD100,00 deposit and basically lend those USD100,00 to about eight (E-I-G-H-T) different people. The law only makes them actually hold like, 20% of the money they put around.

That's why Bank runs are so frightening. If everybody wants to take their deposits out of the bank, the whole house of card.... err.. Bank collapses.

That's the world banking for you, normal folk. They are too big to fail.

Lesson 1 - The world financial system is designed to fuck with people's money and let them pay if something goes wrong.
Lesson 2 - That's why they don't teach financial education to the people, they only teach spending and debt.

Recommended reading: Griftopia and of course The Big Short. Please don't be a lazy man and just watch the movie (also awesome btw).

you can get one straight off their compatible devices list for low enough to pay for itself in the first year of savings

I actually just had to go through the motions earlier today to set up internet at a new place, since fios' first available install date is mid april and asking $25 more per month for the same 50mbps service

For me it all started with checking out The Automatic Millionaire from the library. Started reading more library books about personal finance, and then snowballed from there.

If you have an android phone get a Blutooth OBD 2 reader:
http://www.amazon.com/BAFX-Products-Bluetooth-diagnostics-Android/dp/B005NLQAHS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1427744214&sr=8-2&keywords=obd+scanner
and then download:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.prowl.torquefree&hl=en
to view codes, it will even tell you what the code means, you do not have to get the paid one.

If you don't have an Android just get a handheld scanner.

Check out the book National Bank of Dad where the author tells strategies on how to teach children saving skills.

I think this is the most recent edition. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1119114292/ref=dp_ob_neva_mobile#featureBulletsAndDetailBullets_secondary_view_div_1494883683725

12 years old, but I think it would still apply: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Wealth by Ric Edelman. Also, Automatic Millionaire by David Bach

About a month.

This is the book I studied with this book, I did the first 15 chapters took the first test, studied the second half and took the second test to get my cert.

Check out Get a Financial Life by Beth Kobliner if you are willing to read a detailed financial schema. Check out the You Need A Budget (YNAB) app for habit building, info, and convenience.

This is what I got.

You're young, you're buying a muscle car, you're in the military.
It will be very expensive.

USAA will most likely be cheaper.

REad this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Military-Guide-Financial-Independence-Retirement/dp/1570233195

Read the book by Michael Lewis.

You should check out First National Bank of Dad.

For investing and money management:

• The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing
  
• The Millionaire Next Door
  
  And for fun:
  
  
• Liar's Poker
  
• The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
  
• Flash Boys
  

I learned the same lesson by checking a few books out at the library when I was 19.

Edit: Downvoted for reading about investing before I blew thousands of dollars on stupid mistakes. For everyone else, at least read A Random Walk Down Wall Street before you open your brokerage account. The Intelligent Asset Allocator is a good follow-up to it.

Cold brew coffee is stupid cheap to make. Get one of these (NOT an affiliate link) and a giant tin of ground coffee.

You are totally overthinking the cooking thing.

I recommend you read Ramit Sethi's "I Will Teach You to be Rich, second edition". I know the name sounds scammy, but it's really a book about mindset on money. He's got a systematic approach to paying off your debt and taking control of your finances. The book costs less than 10 bucks.



Here's a link:


I Will Teach You to Be Rich, Second Edition: No Guilt. No Excuses. No BS. Just a 6-Week Program That Works https://www.amazon.com/dp/1523505745/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_0zy1DbRD5NCER

No offense, but you're a mess. After reading your post and replies here, it's apparent you lack basic financial discipline and literacy. Get a book and start educating yourself. A silver bullet of info from reddit isn't going to fix your situation, let alone you.

"Financial Peace revisited"

https://www.amazon.com/Financial-Peace-Revisited-Chapters-Marriage/dp/0670032085

I'll even help you out here: coupon code GIFTBOOK

$5 off a purchase of $15 of books. It will at least pay for shipping.

Uber is a horrible way to make money unless you live in a dense metro area. If it isn't paying for gas, then not only is he working for free but your losing money and he should stop immediately. Consider also the depreciation on your vehicle so you're losing even more money. I think many, many Uber drivers fail to consider how much money they lose to depreciation