Someone Stop the Train (or, Don't Read if You Don't Want to Read More About $$)

Mar 10, 2009 00:40

I should probably stop PF-blog-reading.  I just get like this once every 6 months and hem and haw and chart and list and read and point-fingers at money stuff.  I just do.  It's because I can't be inspired 24/7 to deal with this crap and every once in a while I do get inspired -- and if we all know anything about me, it's that I have an addictive ( Read more... )

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throwingmarbles March 10 2009, 08:17:43 UTC
Also, I like $$ posts!

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thejessecougar March 10 2009, 18:10:18 UTC
Hah! I like that you do but I feel like you're in the minority!

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throwingmarbles March 10 2009, 20:35:01 UTC
I suppose it takes a special kind of person to like being reminded of their bad money habits.

I tried calculating my version of Elizabeth Warren's model, but the fact that I am an expat for 4,5 days out of the week throws everything off currently. Also, "needs" and "wants" are relative terms. Is all food I buy a need? Absolutely not. Are all clothes a want? Nope. Taking that into account, when I live and work in Amsterdam full time it boils down to this (calculated from net income):

needs: 67% (hi, mortgage interest!)
savings: 15% (I try, but sometimes fall short. this is excluding payments for my retirement plan, as those get taken out of my gross income and I pretend that plan is non-existant which it might very well be when I turn 60-something).
wants (apparently I *want* my windows to be cleaned) and losses: 18%

When I grow up...

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thejessecougar March 10 2009, 20:41:30 UTC
Yeah, that happened to me also. I tried to do mental trade-offs like the food being a "need" 100% (when it's not) and clothes being a "want" 100% (which they're not; in that sometimes I do need them but mostly I want them). I figured that evened out.

Same thing with the cats and the food I buy for the feral colony outside. Is that a want? Yes. But it's an ongoing want I consider part of my responsibility and thusly a need!

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thejessecougar March 10 2009, 20:41:56 UTC
Also, you have a property so your assets should be taken into account!

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throwingmarbles March 10 2009, 21:18:54 UTC
That property is really not mine though. ING owns me. My mortgage payments (only 50 euros a month, the rest is interest) are all going towards the stock market, so you can imagine how that portfolio is looking these days. But let's hope that in a decade apartment prices are up again and I can sell and be merry.

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thejessecougar March 10 2009, 22:20:48 UTC
Yeah, even so! You do have your name on a mortgage which is attached to an asset that can increase in value.

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