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what was your #1 money mistake?
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
Good for you - I thought this was the money mistake forum? ?? |
Anonymous
Hi - me - this poster - it SUCKS - he's a crazy fuck! |
Anonymous
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We bought in the bubble at the worst time and have NO regrets. We could not have bought sooner, since for one I wasn't going to buy a house to someone I wasn't married to, and we got married about a year prior to buying, and we bought as soon as I finished grad school and got a job, the soonest we could possibly have bought. We were able to put 20% down because of an unexpected inheritance by husband got earlier that year. We have an absolute gem of a house in a great location that we've been in for almost 6 years and plan to be in for many more.
It could have ended worse if we hadn't been able to put 20 down and if we hadn't taken a conservative 30 year fixed rate (that we later refinanced for a much better rate), or if we decided we wanted to move, or if we bought farther out in a less desirable location. But we are committed to the house for many years and actually have put more money in to expanding and renovating our kitchen. |
Anonymous
I just bought a new orange couch for my living room. 
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Anonymous
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Mine has to do with law school, federal student loans, and loan interest rates/consolidation.
In general, compared to others who graduated in the past couple years, I'm really thankful with law school loans - I took out just federal loans, and an amount that was enough to buy a nice luxury car ($50k) but not a mortgage amount. But, I did that by going to a lesser school that gave scholarship money. I'm lucky that law school has worked out for me- I have a federal job that I actually love. But in a "big picture" sense - it could have been a BIG mistake to go to law school at all. I graduated in '07, which was the last decent year for the legal industry, which was pretty glutted event then. Also, going to a lesser-rated school was risky - much riskier than I knew when I decided to attend. I did well in school and had some luck with internships and jobs. But it could have turned out really badly if the timing had been even a little different, or if I'd had any worse grades, or any worse luck. In a "small picture" sense -I "should" have "consolidated" my student loan after 1st yr of law school @ 2.7%, then the portion for 2nd year of law school at 4.7%. Instead, all of the loan (all 3 years) was at 6.7%. As it happened, the point of time at which I did consolidate it was the absolute worst timing; it was at 6.7% for all of it, which dropped down to 5.375% due to on-time payments and direct debit. I've paid off about half of the loan now and pay relatively little interest now, so it is OK- but with the better interest rates, I'd be much further along with it. |
Anonymous
You're saying this because you've obviously never benefited from a strong housing market. DH and I killed on three DC homes. I mean KILLED! 1998, 2000 and 2004, Those days are not gone...yes, it's not 2006 any longer but you can get a great deal on a house in comparison to what you could get 3 years ago! Trust me when I tell you, it does and will come back. I have lived in the DC Metro my whole life. My parents invested in real estate 30 years ago, and I have helped them manage their "portfolio". I have seen it go up and go down and then go way up again....it's all cyclical. They bought low, paid off all the loans and own everything outright. FWIW - they started out "dirt" poor, I mean p-o-o-r! But folks like you should stay out of the market, leave the good deals for everyone else. curious what you're going to say in 5 years. you'll be crying, trust me. |
Anonymous
How proud you must be. |
Anonymous
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10:06 - On. The. Money. Literally!
Also, I have no idea what planet the "renting is better" touters are from. Trying to justify some really horrible, inexcusable decisions? |
Anonymous
jealous much? I swear, people on this board just CANNOT be happy for someone else's good fortune...instead they act like children on a playground. The other kid is winning the game so you take your toys, go home and cry in your bedroom! Start being happy for others, and good fortune will come your way. |
Anonymous
| Selling a townhouse for 12K more than I paid for it, when if I had waited just another year when the market was on the upswing, I could have gotten over 100k more, possibly 150K |
Anonymous
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I don't understand why people think buying in 2005 is so bad. Assuming that you don't need to sell your house for a number of years there's no telling what will happen with the market.
Our biggest mistake was not buying more house. We were extremely conservative. We bought in early 2004 at what we thought would be the top of our budget and locked in a 30 year fixed at the time (we've since refinanced to a better fixed rate) in DC. We just wish we bought more house as we have no intention of moving out of the city and would like some more room. |
Anonymous
I have heard money experts say the same thing - the American dream of home ownership is a thing of the past and that renting is the future of good investments. |
Anonymous
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1) Getting a big hairy high maintenance dog (need fixin and major invisible fence needed) Total >$4000
2) not finishing my MA (I wanted a break) but got knocked up when I started taking classes again (undetermined $ ,not significant prob but everything helps) 3)Not finding Dave Ramsey until 2009 But Thank Goodness -I paid off all debt , have a sexy $900/mortgage , and work part-time |
Anonymous
Seriously! All I was doing was showing that in contrast to many posters on this and another thread that regretted their 2005 or bubble buy, it worked out great for us. Yes, it was brutal to buy a house then but worth it. I think the problem is a lot of people envisioned having a starter home and for us anyway, those days are gone. Our house is small and and seems to shrink with one kid and another on the way, but we prefer the great location, its charm, and we've been able to expand the most important room to us, the kitchen. So, no master bedrooms in our future, and we have a tiny bathroom upstairs that will be a nightmare as two kids age to all share, but those cons are far outweighed by the pros. And because we are close in I don't envision resale to be that bad, but we aren't planning on selling for several years. Totally different story if we had picked the THREE YEAR MORTGAGE the bank tried to talk us into, or if we had wanted to move to a bigger home by now or in the next few years. But not everyone who bought in the bubble is unhappy. We could not have bought sooner, and if we had bought later we would have missed out on our home. |