Today ended up being the best day ever...or at least in a long time. Some time during the beginning of the year I was stashing money in an envelope just for a rainy day. Of course like the idiot I am, I forgot about it until today when I was cleaning our my dresser and between some of my pants I see the envelope. I am thinking to my self, hey maybe I have like a $20 in there, I would never forget about stashing more then that away....nope. Instead I ended up having $500 in there....and some how I forgot all about it. Today made me a happy man.
That's a pretty awesome find.
Only thing I that comes close to me is every year I clean out my change bucket. I collect all my change and by a year it usually amounts to 100 bucks. For some reason this year I collected 70 bucks in quarters, so the amount went up to $145. that's a lot of quarters,nickles, dimes, and pennies.
I do that as well. I usually fill my ice tea bottle and every few months I'll get like $100-$200. My mom gives me her change sometimes, so sometimes it gets huge. For being poor....I do have a decent amount of money.
Question: Why not stash rainy day money in the bank instead of squirreling it away in the sock drawer?
I randomly throw whatever coins I have on me into a water-cooler-jug at the end of the day. I find myself wondering how much will be in there when it's full. . .or hell, even halfway full.
I use tootsie-roll banks for my change. Generally reaches about $25 when full. Nothing big, but a nice bonus now and then.
I've been putting quite alot into my savings, but that's not for happy spending.
I really can't fathom how you forgot about $500, though. You probably should just put money in the bank from now on.
I didn't put it in the bank because I believe I didn't have the account at the time. I also did it so I would surprise my self...and it worked! I'm just glad I found it...
So what do you plan to do with your newfound fortune, PtP?
Put it towards my fund for a car. Yeah, sorry I'm not buying anything crazy at the moment. I started working 2 years ago for a car....2 years later, no car. It seems like there is just nothing around in my price range that seems worth it.
My advice would be to hold out as long as you reasonably can. I didn't buy a crappy car when I was younger and waited until I could afford a nice one. Don't regret it at all. I didn't really need a car until a few years ago, anyway, so it was fine.
For me I have waited until the longest I could, but relying on friends is starting to really hurt me and with college and school, I really need a car. I have about $4,000 saved up now and I'm thinking $3K on the car, the rest for the other stuff like insurance. All I know is I don't want to be like my friend who just took a $9500 loan for a new Ranger, ugh.
My own advice would be not to buy a "nice" car. My car cost $300 and has driven fine for a year and a half so far. Including maintenance/"clean up" fees (because an older car is bound to have a problem here or there when you buy it) you could say it cost $700. While you're saving up, just spend the meantime looking for deals. Then again, I'm the kind of person who absolutely despises the notion of debt. As far as I'm concerned, if it drives, it drives. If it can drive and also save me thousands of dollars, then hell yeah.
Even if you only get two years out of a $1000 vehicle, you'll generally still save money.
EDIT: typed before seeing PtP's above post. When I say "new", I pretty much mean your friend's situation. $3,000 sounds smart.
Man, I wouldn't stress the down payment, honestly (and I'm one of the most cautious people ever). I put $2K towards my car and had about an $11K loan to start. But due to keeping the mileage low, my car is now worth quite a bit more than I owe on it, so I'm in good shape. If it was me and I had $4K saved, I'd put $2K towards, say, a $7K or $8K car. You can get something pretty damn good and reliable for that that should last you a long time. The messed up thing a lot of people do is buy something and then trade it in when they still owe a lot on the car. Unless you have no credit history (or they suddenly won't give you a loan because of the market, I don't know) you should be fine. Heck, even your parents could co-sign if need be which can be a good way to go. As long as you are living at home, if the car is co-registered you could even have it on your parents insurance policy (which would very likely be cheaper than you having your own). If everything is solely in your name, you'd need your own policy. Just tips from your friendly former (but still licensed until 2010) insurance agent
My problem is that I'm in a situation where I may not have a home to live in soon. To make a long story short my mom isn't the best with money and I have had to bail her out a few times. Because of that, I am always afraid of not having the money to pay the bills for a loan. Also I cannot be on her insurance policy....as she doesn't have one right now. I'd love to do what you said, but I sadly cannot.
Maybe just put $1500 down then? And stash the extra after insurance, etc., away so you have a few months of loan payments just in case. I'm sorry about your family situation - that is rough
