I Should Be a Millionaire By Now

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dibbons

dibbons

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My hand-me-down '96 Dodge Dakota (from Dad) which has 290,000 miles on it now, had a "GEN" light come on today. I left the lights on for an hour yesterday, drained the battery, and got it jump started. Probably these two events are not co-incidental. But I drove it home with the light on (15 miles) and the voltmeter was still to the right of the middle mark as always and the serpentine belt is fine. I'll look into it more tomorrow.

But the point I am trying to make is this: driving the Dakota for the last 15 years without a car payment, and reasonable insurance, and doing the majority of repairs and maintenance myself--what happened to the thousands of dollars I convinced myself I was saving? I see other people with new cars, finance charges and monthly payments, mandatory full coverage insurance, paying up the butt for repairs and maintenance, and then turn it all in for another new car every five years. I'm broke and they aren't, must be doing something wrong here.

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its like quitting smoking
people always say "if you'd just quit smoking you'd save so much money"
hogsnot

you just spend it elsewhere is all
 
The reason you aren’t is because you are more focused on saving than earning. Millionaires strive to earn, saving is secondary.

If you want to water your crops, focus on getting more water and leave saving what little water you have behind as the priority.
 
I guess you're right, but the questions keep coming since now I also see holes in my underwear. Where does all the $$$ go?
 
dibbons said:
I guess you're right, but the questions keep coming since now I also see holes in my underwear. Where does all the $$$ go?
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Again, you are focused on the drain...not the spigot.
 
dibbons said:
I guess you're right, but the questions keep coming since now I also see holes in my underwear. Where does all the $$$ go?
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well there's your problem
put your dineros in a wallet, not in the holes in your underwear
 
I ponder that same question periodically. I've never had a car payment because I drive the wheels off my 800.00 junkers. I avoid frivolous spending, waiting until the last minute to keep my jalopies running, but I'm still struggling even though I do all the right things. I must have really pissed someone off in a past life lol
 
I TOTALLY agree with @Ddaddy. Being frugal is great, but if the frugal lifestyle expense is only a little less than the available income, there won't be much left. Have you made a budget? Set a reasonable savings goal and build a budget that will allow it, and then follow the budget. Or try for a different job.
 
They are in debt up to their ***....... Don't let nobody fool you. The money has to come from somewhere. The country now runs on credit. In fact I can just about see where the Bailout from the Virus is actually in part with the economy getting ready to take a dump. Just my opinion but keep in mind that just because the stock market is rolling doesn't mean people are liquid...

As for where the money goes, well it's going somewhere. Screwing around with hobby's in general will bleed you. I just spent 60.00 at the hardware store yesterday for Stainless hardware. I don't drink, smoke, or do drugs. Rarely eat out and still wonder where it all goes myself.... Oh, I forgot WAWA coffee lol....

JW
 
Twenty years ago, I got tired of doing the taxes and wondering where our money went.
I devised a budget system that hasn't let us down to this day. We have subtitles that cover every aspect of our spending and saving.
Examples are: Utilities, Home Ins., Auto Ins., Christmas, Vacation, Clothing, Hobbies, Home Improvement Minor (minor repairs, curtains, bed clothes, light bulbs, furniture etc.), Home Improvement Major (heater, a/c, roof, appliances, etc.), Auto repairs, New car savings (we buy cars cash, and begin saving for the next one immediately), Gasoline, Gifts (weddings, birthday's etc.) Food, IRA contributions, Spending cash, Real estate taxes, amongst other sectors.
We always see where the cash went. If one segment gets low, we can "steal" money from a segment that's more flush.
It makes it very easy to see where the money goes. When we paid off our mortgage, we put most of that monthly amount (we always prepaid and got out of it YEARS early.) into IRA's, some into vacations and the rest into hobbies.
We only use a credit card for online purchases, and pay it off monthly. (Those purchases are only made if there is money in that budget segment.)
We use our monthly take home pay and break it down from there. Necessities, such as insurances, utilities, real estate taxes, are figured first, and then what is left is broken down among the "elective" segments. Home Improvement being the most important.
Bottom line: We don't have to worry about having the money for an upcoming bill. The money is there.
It's all in a checking account. When the balance gets too big (mostly from saving for a new car and Home Improvement Major), we transfer some over to a low risk, short term mutual fund so that it earns more.

We have MUCH more money using this system. If I quit smoking (I never smoked), I would take the money I spent on it and put it in my "Hobby" segment. :)
 
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Sounds like speed thrills has way more bills/ gumption than I've ever had money!! Good plan though. Different strokes for different folks!!
 
Did you take the $500 (plus or minus) you would be spending on a car payment each month and put it in a dedicated savings account?

That's where the money would be.
 
I drive a 2004 Ram 1500 that's 500 pounds lighter than when it was new. No truck payment since 2008. Haven't had a house payment since the 1990's. You'd think I'd be rolling in cash, no were not.
It's gonna take 5 years to get back to where we were in January.
 
Feel your pain. I’ve been driving a 200$ 03 Honda Element, had to u-pull-it an accord motor for $160 to get her goin and a few 02 sensors. Looks like all my money goes back to ma mopar

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TripleL said:
Sounds like speed thrills has way more bills/ gumption than I've ever had money!! Good plan though. Different strokes for different folks!!
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We don't have a lot of bills, only what everybody has, I think. Thanks, it does require some dedication, but once you start doing it, it's automatic, and has made our lives SO much easier.

YY1 said:
Did you take the $500 (plus or minus) you would be spending on a car payment each month and put it in a dedicated savings account?
That's where the money would be.
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I don't know if this is directed to me, but I'll reply. We save $220 per month towards a new car. Because that's what we can afford. If we spent $500 or whatever on car loans every month, we'd never have any money because we can't afford that. That's the key. It's the free market's job to try and get our money. It's our job to keep it!
We don't buy brand new cars, we get them about two years old. They're a lot cheaper. We last bought a 2007 Accord in 2009. It's got 105,000 miles on it and is in great shape. We hope to get plenty more out of it.

Everyone has their own way of getting through life financially. It's something we've all honed since we were young. So it's hard to change. I've never "converted" anyone to my method. I don't try. I just mention how we do it, and I just get looks. Even people that never have any money and wonder why.
 
My comment was directed to the OP.

Even though I could probably afford it (at least at my last job), I've never purchased a new car and probably never will...for exact reason you stated- a 2-3 year old car is thousands if not 10 or more thousands cheaper and still retains the balance of a factory warranty.

I bought a 1993 ext cab Dakota in 1996 for 8K (and it had been painted plum crazy!)
a 2000 Dakota R/T in 2002 for 16K (they were going for 20-23K at the time, and I still have it)
and recently a 2015 jeep Renegade in 2018.

I believe if I add the savings from the first two versus buying new....the third one becomes free!
 
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Most people don’t realize that the biggest expenses in their lives isn’t housing and transportation as they have been told but SHOULD be their own savings/investments/retirements. The good news is that it’s never too late to start.

Our original poster is getting by doing a lot of the things someone can do to save their money (no car payment etc...). But the next hard part is having the dedication to put that “new car” money into some sort of retirement or savings. This is why 401K plans work well, you don’t get the money to spend.

When I was married my wife had a decent income as a dentist and we drove old minivans etc. BUT she just could not save a dime. Even now the only sort of assets she has is her retirement account (which I made her max out).
 
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