Anonymous wrote:How are you smart enough to make $250k and dumb enough to spend it this way?

Liberal Arts Major obviously.
Teach your children basic finance, there are plenty of people that are clueless on basic budgeting and calculating the true cost of loans.

No, I don't get it. You said you wanted to have cash on reserve (which you seem to have a lot of - Gold Coins 40,000 ; Private Equity Investment 57,500 , 60K cash on hand), but that goes against the other statement you made of "I like to live in the moment". If you live in the moment, why have savings? You obviously see the value of having cash savings (which I do, too), but is this really for "emergency" cases, or because you just want to have a lot of cash in case you find something huge you want to spend money on?

Cash out the gold coins, or sell some equity investment and pay off your CC debt. Those are killers b/c of the interest rate. If you calculate how much you have been paying on interest every month on 33k (depending on your rate), that could be money to pay some other bills.

Why do you need so much cash on hand? Also, if you can't handle all the payments, sell one of the rentals. It sucks, and you might think that's a bad investment move for the future, but you clearly are stating that you cannot afford to live the way you are now, so you need to make some hard choices.

I would sell one of the assets to pay the debts (this is a killer) and reduce spending. Even reducing by just eating out will help you save at least $1k + /month.

We make $250 and sometimes I feel broke because we pay $3k rent, $2k daycare. However I know that the broke feeling is in my head because we aren't saving as much as we were before the baby and before we moved to a bigger place.

Thankfully I know how lucky we are and I grew up with frugal parents who taught me to live within my means. We live close in and pay for a lot of conveniences and services. Those are choices we can give up if need or want to. We also spent a lot of money on eating out as you do, OP, and have expensive smart phones. We also make many of the choices prior posters recommend - we only drive modest cars we can buy cash so we never have a car payment, we pack lunch and make coffee at home, we do not go on expensive vacations, we don't buy crap we don't need. We can certainly cut back more and move further out - it's a choice. We have high rent because we wanted to see how our budget would fare living in N Arlington for a year in a home similar to what we hope to buy where the rent is close to what we plan for a mortgage. If we feel stretched we will choose to move further out.

OP - you are an adult, you need to own your choices. Whenever we make a choice to forgo a luxury or convenience, we remind ourselves that savings now means choices later.

OP I had a bit too much to drink last night also, but I did not start this great funny thread! Thank goodness you are safe here on DCUM....

Anonymous wrote:Yes. we keep saying we need to spend yes and then we go eat out. Lease has a residual value so I can turn car in or pay remaining residual value which was like 20K or something. Assuming better thing is to pay it off. It is a 2012 German SUV...big sucker.

We have one of those that we paid off in 2006. Still a great car and runs perfectly. Never repair it -- just a maintenance.

I am no pirate. I am preparing for an apocalypse and that is why I have the gold coins. It is sad but one day you will realize the crazies with the cardboard signs were right.

OP, I skipped forward and I understand. We live it up a bit ourselves. $20+ for vacations... but on $250K you cant do everything. what sticks out to me is the cars. We have five luxury cars and two are new. We don't pay that much (the cars are for the kids) maybe you should lease, or buy off a lease? $30K in credit card debt is too much, but some people find an amount they are comfortable with and stay there. crazy, I know, but that is what people do. we went to all cash (debit) and that is sobering. We have no debt except the cars and a small mortgage. eat in cheaper restaurants? look at what you are spending on, and cut down where it hurts the least. You can do it!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would you run up so much in credit card debt if you have $60 K in cash, plus boatloads of Gold coins?

And who owns that much in Gold coins? Are you a pirate?

Lol. That made me laugh out loud.

Pirate PP, you win the interwebs.

If your parent is still paying your mortgage in your mid-40s then your net worth is zero.

1. Stop buying clothes: just rub yourself in goose fat if it gets cold.
2. Bury your gold coins before someone steals them. "X marks the spot" etc. - you know the drill.
3. Cancel netflix.
4. Next time you go to Chilis, offer to help out in the kitchen at the end of the meal in exchange for the food you just ate. Next time you go to a high-end restaurant in DC, only order an entree, and for your main, produce a tupperware filled with boiled chicken breast.

You can't count utma or life insurance for net worth. Also you failed to subtract debt of mortgage and heloc.

You say your wife cooks but you eat out constantly.

No calculator I've ever done said we needed 7M and our income is close to yours.

Some think you are a troll but I've known people making twice your income who spent it all and more.

Grousing about therapy expense shows your problem. You suck at spending, complaining about small amounts while blowing large amounts. Therapy is the only action you are taking that might, might have any value to it. Better value yet would be educating yourself with sensible money advice not get rich quick bs.

And also to improve your character.

Anonymous wrote:You are a financially irresponsible loser.

You don't want to change anything but you like to moan about your troubles. Save it.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good question why wife doesn't work. She picks up kids/cooks. Also cars are both leased so can't just sell them and get out. Harder to get out of the lease. Have 17 payments on my wife's car. And than owe like another 20k.

Your wife needs to get off of her ass and get a job. How much does she have in retirement? Is there life insurance for both of you?

You both are crazy to put the family at financial risk for bullshit reasons.

NO, they need to adjust their spending habits. If wife works, they will just spend it anyway. Won't fix the problem.

We get by on $70 K because we make good choices.

Anonymous wrote:Mother pays the mortgage. Father is dead. She gave a certain some every month. She also spoils kids with restaurants and trips and I won't be able to afford that when she retires. My parents spend everything they made and I am doing the same.

So who's going to take care of mom when she retires? You? You're still a baby and still can't take care of yourself. How do people like this get paid so much?

Anonymous wrote:the bigger question is you make 250K and your parent pays your mortgage????? OMG. We make less than half of that and we pay our own mortgages. . .

We make 70K (DH works I'm SAHM) and our mortgage is paid off. OP is a financial idiot and possibly spoiled by parents. Eating out every night? Wow!

I wouldn't have any respect for a person who makes so much money yet has their parent paying some of the bills.