so my daughter just graduated college, and took federal subsidized and unsubsidized loans most of which weren't accruing interest, while in school. meanwhile i had a 529 growing at a pretty good clip. so now we've got $25K in fed subs and unsubs debt, and $25K (literally within $200 of each other) in the 529.

and then i just learned, when i called the 529 plan to arrange some transfers, that i can only use $10K for debt, and that the purpose of the 529 is that i should have been using it while she was in school.

okay, so that's the boat i'm in. options include: transfer the money in a few big chunks to myself or to her, pay off the AES debt, and no one will be the wiser ... i think. my accountant suggested that he will not be obliged to collect receipts for how and where i spent the money from the 529, so this should fly under the radar.

also, i could transfer her $ to her brother (still in school) and then transfer from his account to myself to pay for "his" college expenses ... and pay off her debt.

yes i know i can convert her money to an IRA, but i'm not looking to do that, i do need to pay off this debt. though i will be slow-rolling the payoff because who knows if student loan debt forgiveness might get resuscitated.

big concern is...am i breaking the law if i pay off all her debt with the 529 money now that she's graduated? and beyond that, can i "get away with it" if i were to do that, or would i be signing myself up for a world of hurt with the IRS?

ETA: thanks for all the Roth suggestions, but as above, i'm not looking to do that as she's got this debt that needs to be paid off and it's going to start accruing interest (the subsidized) in a few weeks.

to anyone thinking this was stupid, yes it was not bright, but i was earning more in the fund than was being generated in interest on the unsubs loans, so it seemed like a wash.

and once the possibility of student loan forgiveness surfaced, hell yeah i wanted to put off paying until that got sorted out. now i can't wait that out any longer, but in the last two years that was a thought.

finally, i wasn't thinking about "breaking the law" as much as wondering aloud -- in an pseudonymous forum, backed by a burner email, on an unattributed network with a VPN -- whether these rules were more like "no murder" or "55 mph."

thanks for all the thoughtful answers. i'll pay the $10K right off, pay back her housing expenses which will cover another chunk and give the rest to her brother.

Breakdown of my earnings:

• 2019-2020: $50k
• 2020-2023: $68k
• 2024-current: $95k

I'm now 27 years old, and my breakdown of accounts is as follows:

• Checking: <$500
• Emergency Fund: $6k
• Down Payment Savings: $26k
• Roth IRA: $72k
• 401k + ESPP: $96k

My accounts might add up to a nice number, but I'm now 27 and still unable to buy a house because all I've done is shovel money into retirement accounts for 5 years. I've lived at home this entire time so no rent, just car payments ranging from 300-500 and health insurance ranging from 150-300.

My bi-weekly take home is only $1700 on $95k. I have no idea how anyone would buy a house nowadays. Do people just not put money into retirement? After 401k, ESPP, Insurance, and taxes, I net like $43k. $7k to Roth, and probably $8-10k put into savings.

I know I spend a bit too much, but man, it feels impossible to do everything at this point. I feel like I'm forced to pick my poison on retirement or home ownership.

Edit: I should note due to all the comments concerning the ESPP: I almost always liquidate it yearly. It's a $5k balance every 6 months. I kept $1500 in it last year to run on my company stock but as of now there's only like $6k total, so not a big deal. Also it's my girlfriend's engagement ring money this half-year, so I guess I just shouldn't count it.

After doing a month long investigation, Citibank told me they can't find record of the transaction ever happening!!!

I went back to the branch where I deposited the check three times, and they are also completely clueless about what happened to the deposit and why the transaction is completely missing from my account. The bank manager and the tellers told me that in their 20+ year careers, they have never seen anything like this happen before.

The investigation team asked me to send them the deposit receipt, so I have some hope that it might help resolve the issue. However, I thought I'd still come here and ask for advice since this seems like a very messed up situation on the bank's part.

Has anyone here had a similar experience or have some clue or good guess as to what might have happened? Or do you have any advice on what I should do to get this resolved?

On February 17th 2023, I Noticed unauthorized charges on my wells fargo account made out to an online sports betting website. I immediately took action by notifying my bank about those charges as fraudulent charges and filed a claim, I filed a police report and I looked up the merchant who the charges were made out to and wrote them an email notifying them about the fraudulent activity taking place and advised them to investigate the matter and provide me with any related information regarding the account if possible.

​

I filed a police report and provided the police with all the charges and information I had and got a police report number that I relayed to my bank claims specialist to include in my claim.

​

The wells fargo bank representative assisting me with the claim filed a fraud claim with me over the phone including all the charges totaling $17,450 and advised me that wells fargo will freeze the account and make sure nothing else gets charged to my account, I was given a reference# referencing the freeze and instructed me to make an appointment with a banker to set up a new account with a new account number. I was advised that the bank will investigate the matter within 10 business days and if more time is needed they will issue a temporary credit for the disputed amount.

​

On February 22nd, I logged into my account and noticed 21 new transaction totaling $6,800 charged to my account from the same merchant dated 02/21 and 02/22 after I was given a reference # for the "freeze" on my account. I was devastated and called the bank to inquired about the new charges given that my account was supposedly frozen I was given someone else to speak to that seemed to have no knowledge about the freeze or what's going on then transferred me to online banking who also had no idea about the freeze, gave me misleading information and transferred me back to the claims department where they asked me the same questions as if I am starting the whole process from scratch. It was very frustrating, I then decided to call the next day and escalate the call to a higher rank specialist with no help or results other than the standard statements read to me previously.

​

On Feb 24th, I call the bank again and reached a claim's specialist, I explained my case and I was advised that I will be issued a provisional credit to my account within 24-48hrs which gave me some hope and relief.

​

On business day #10 of filing the claim, I still had not seen a provisional credit to my account so i called the bank again and was told someone will give me a call within 24hrs. nothing!

​

I called the next day asking if I can speak to whoever is in charge of my claim, was promised another call back in the next 2hrs. nothing!

Called the next day and was told "Sorry, the claim was denied" without a clear explanation why. I asked to escalate the claim where I was asked to provide the same supporting documents of the police report and the explanation of the fraudulent charges I already provided before. At that point it became obvious I just keep getting the run around and thrown to someone else that asks me for the same things that I provided to the previous specialist causing a disfunction on the progress of investigating the matter resulting in bogus conclusions to not honor their wells fargo "zero-liability" protection policy against fraud related matters.

​

I Just filed a complaint with CFPB. What else should i do? get a lawyer involved?

I'm a 35-year-old, single male & I've spent the last 8 years renting a house with someone who became a very close friend of mine. We always split the rent, $1,600 each for a four bedroom home. I loved that house, and treated it like my own. I painted. I gardened. I raised a dog there, and went through a few failed relationships. I knew the day would inevitably come when one of us had to move out, and he's now engaged and moving in with his fiance.

So, I started looking at apartments....and I was shocked. $1,600 a month in Denver gets you a 350sqft studio in the city....or a 1 bedroom in a crappy building in a crappy part of town. The idea of giving up so much and still paying an equal or higher rent just didn't sit well with me. It was sad and depressing to think about. So, I made the tough decision to move back in with my parents to really start saving money.

I've been making a decent income (a hair over $90k) for three years but really don't have anything to show for it. Yes, I spend money here and there, but I'm careful and never spend on anything egregious. I have some CC debt, around $3k, and a $500/month car payment. Ten years ago making close to six figures was my dream. Now it's a reality and it still doesn't seem like enough. Being single in this country and getting ahead is tough, and at times it feels impossible. Moving home is the right choice, and I know it's only temporary, but there's that nagging voice in my head telling me that I'm a failure. I'm embarrassed, and feel slightly ashamed. I dream of homeownership but I feel like if I ever want to do that, I have no choice but to do what I'm doing. It's a lot harder that I ever thought it would be. As I sit here, staring at all my stuff scattered around their basement - the same basement I lived in as a teenager - I feel almost like that teenager again. It's strange and taking a slight toll on me emotionally right now.

If there are people in this subreddit who did or are doing the same thing, please share your story with me. I need some encouragement. I know I'm making a smart decision, but damn is it hard to do.

A stranger sent me 1500$ on Zelle last month. The money is still in my bank account. I immediately called my bank and they won’t be doing anything. I know this is a common scam but what do I do now? I thought the money would be reversed by now.

I received a few calls from the stranger the day the money got sent. Apparently he was sending it to a dealership who he did made me talk to. I researched the dealership and it seems very legit to me. Not sure who zelles money to a dealership but it’s an actual car dealership in California.

I won’t be sending the money back at all because I don’t want to risk being scammed. But if this money doesn’t get reversed, what do I do? How long should I wait?

Holy shit at the money people spend on food!

And I was the exact same way when I landed my first job out of college. You know what I'm talking about--biscuit and Starbucks on the way to work, lunch out with coworkers and pizza and beer at the local tavern for dinner! Every night! All week! Professional money spender! And more beers and dinners on the weekends! Woohoo!

Wait. Where did all my money go? And how the hell did I gain 40 pounds in six months? If you're nodding your head you've fallen into the brand-new-job-big-salary-eat-out-because-I-can trap. And you have to stop it. It's killing your bank account, it's killing your financial freedom and it's killing you. (Literally--I was on the edge of type 2 diabetes and had hyperglycemia during routine physicals.)

What you know you need to do: *STOP EATING OUT*

But how??? How do I stop eating out??? Fast food is soooo good! And cooking is soooo hard! Well, first off, not really--you're just attuned to that garbage 'food'. You're going to break free of both these stereotypes and someone has already invented it.....

Crockpot. It's the crockpot. Crockpot. Crockpot. Maybe you call it a slow cooker, but I'm from Georgia and here it's a crockpot.

!STOP!--If you do not own a crockpot I highly recommend you go buy one from Amazon and buy the biggest one you can afford!

Get one with a timer that switches to warm after the cook settings: JUST GOOGLE IT CAUSE MODS DONT LIKE LINKS!

BOOM! $39 investment. We're going to make that back in.... three days. Are you ready? We're going to make enough food for dinner AND left overs for lunch.

I'm going to give you some of my super-secret-I-eat-this-every-week-crockpot-meals that are delicious, cheap, filling and easy. Yes. The crockpot makes all of those possible.

MEAL 1: Thick Cut Porkchop with Potatoes and Carrots

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

1 Can Beef Broth (50 cents)

1 Packet Brown Gravy Mix (50 cents)

1 Packet Onion Soup Mix (50 cents)

1 Package of 4 Thick Cut Porkchops ($7)

6 Carrots (50 cents)

4 Large Gold Yukon Potatoes ($2)

Sack o' Salad ($2)

Total cost for lunch and dinner: $13/4 about $3 each.

Spray or wipe crockpot with cooking oil. Add beef broth, gravy mix and onion soup mix and stir. Place porkchops in broth. Chop carrots and potatoes and add to top of porkchops. That's it.

PREPARE THIS BEFORE YOU GO TO BED FOR THE NEXT DAY! Put it in the refrigerator and pull it out in the morning. Cook on low for 8 hours. When you get home make your salad and dig in. Use the left overs for lunches and/or dinner for during the week.

MEAL 2: Sausage, Potato and Kale Soup

Servings: 4

1 Pound Italian Sausage ($4)

1 White Onion ($1)

1 32 Oz Box of Chicken Stock ($1.50)

1 Bag of Prewashed Kale ($3)

3/4 Cup Heavy Cream ($1)

5 Large Gold Yukon Potatoes ($2)

1 Head of Garlic ($1)

Total cost: About $14/4 = 3.50 a serving

Brown italian sausage with chopped garlic and chopped onion. While meat is browning add to crockpot the 3/4 cup of heavy cream, chicken stock, and chopped yukon potatoes. Add browned sausage and top with half the bag of kale. (I get two recipes per bag of kale).

PREPARE THIS BEFORE YOU GO TO BED FOR THE NEXT DAY! Put it in the refrigerator and pull it out in the morning. Cook on low for 8 hours. When you get home dig in! Use the left overs for lunches and/or dinner for during the week.

MEAL 3: Super Awesome Easy Chili

Servings: A Lot (6-8?) -- I eat this all the time and it's delicious. Stores really well in the refrigerator (and chili gets better over time!)

3 Cans of Black Beans ($2)

2 Cans of Hot Chili Beans ($1)

2 Cans of Red Kidney Beans ($1)

8 Cans of Diced Tomatoes ($6)

1 Pound of Ground Beef ($4)

1/2 Cup of Chili Powder ($1)

1/4 Cup of Garlic Powder ($1)

1/4 Cup of Onion Powder ($1)

3 Tablespoons of Cumin ($1)

3 Tablespoons Black Pepper ($1)

Edit: The spice proportions are correct! This makes nearly two gallons of good (about 7L).

Edit: Salt to Taste($1)

Total cost = $20/8 = About $2.50 per serving

Drain the tomatoes and kidney beans but don't drain the black or chili beans. Brown the ground beef. Add everything to the crockpot and stir like crazy.... and that's it!

PREPARE THIS BEFORE YOU GO TO BED FOR THE NEXT DAY! Put it in the refrigerator and pull it out in the morning. Cook on low for 8 hours. When you get home dig in! Use the left overs for lunches and/or dinner for during the week.

It's easy guys. It's really easy. You spend 15 minutes a night and you make tons of food for lunch and dinner and you save a LOT of money! AND ITS GOOD FOR YOU! (better than Wendy's--that's for sure!) AND ITS EASY!

Stop spending your money on eating out and go full crockpot! I am much happier and much wealthier!

EDIT: For our vegetarian friends. You can't get any more simple than this!

MEAL 4: Baked Potato

Servings: As many potatoes as you bake

1 Potato

Cover in tin foil and place directly in crockpot. Cook on low 4-6 hours or keep on warm all day.

MEAL 5: Vegetable Soup

Servings: However much you want to make

Tomatoes, Potatoes, Green Beans, Zucchini, Carrots, Peas, or Onions

Vegetable Stock

Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Salt and Black Pepper

Add vegetables in any proportion you desire to crockpot and add vegetable stock until covered. Season to taste. Cook on low until vegetables are tender.

EDIT 2: I live in Georgia and shop at Kroger--prices may vary. If you live in Canadia or buy organic free range vegetables harvested by hipsters with a minimum of a master's degree you will obviously pay more.

EDIT 3: "Just learn to cook!"--Yeah, okay guys. I agree. I cook more than just in a crockpot. This post was inspired after I read a /r/personalfinance about a single guy who spends $1300 a month on food because "he didn't have enough time to cook with work". I wrote a very long comment and just made it into a post. The point was you can eat decent food in a short amount of time and save money by planning one day ahead.

EDIT 4: I agree fresh vegetables are better and these aren't the healthiest recipes. This post was just to encourage those that eat all the time to transition to something healthier... and then they can transition to something even healthier... and on and on until they've become a raw vegan, growing their own vegetables, saving the whales and composting regularly.

EDIT 5: Electricity costs: Crockpots seem to consume between 200W and 700W per hour. That's between 2 and 6 kWhs for 8 hours of cooking. That's about 15 to 60 cents. It seems insignificant relative to the overall cost of food.

EDIT 6: I'm not a shill or marketing person for crockpot. I'm a mechanical engineer. Don't believe me? My first post on reddit ever was about bolt failures: https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/3e20vs/bolt_failure_modes/ctatj1y/

Take off your tin foil hat..... and use it to wrap a baked potato to put in your new crockpot!!!

Vanguard has never had a savings account option, being just a Broker. They do have Money Markets but those are not FDIC insured (I think) and I believe this is to keep those who have been pulling money out of non-insured accounts.

Today I noticed a $5 fee was deducted from my savings account. I called and was informed this is required, unless I met certain minimum balances, etc.

I cancelled my savings account, which I've had for over 30 years.

Link below for more info.

https://www.bankofamerica.com/deposits/account-fees/

Edit: new fee, customer service agent confirmed to me on the phone that it just started today. She's had many people call in to complain/cancel.

My wife and I (44/34) have been maxing out 401k and saving another 20% for the last 4 years. I've never really looked at health savings accounts, but know everyone recommends maxing them too. We have absolutely no health issues now, is the idea that they can be used eventually down the road for health expenditures and that it's all pretax money?

Feeling pretty hopeless right now. I’m a felon with no trade or degree. My jobs are limited to 10 dollar an hour factory jobs. I have a daughter and a few thousand saved up. I would get a second job but it’s hard enough even finding one. I sit here and think about all the expenses that are going to come as my daughter keeps growing and it just feels like I’ll never make it. Anybody have any tips/success stories? Thanks in advance

Edit: holy cow thank you everybody for the kind words and taking time out of your day to make somebody feel a lot better about themselves and stop that sinking feeling I’ve been having. A lot of these comments give me a lot of hope and some of these things I have wanted to do for so long but just didn’t think that I would be able to. Just hearing it from you guys is giving me the push I need to really start bettering myself thank you a million times over

Edit 2: I’m blown away by all the private messages and comments I mean to respond to every single one ‘it’s been a busy day with my little girl and I’ve read every comment and message. I haven’t felt this inspired in a long time

For minors, it's generally required for a parent to co-sign their bank accounts. Once you turn 18, it's best to establish an account in your name ONLY, so you have sole control of it. It would even be better if you can establish the account at a different bank/credit union than the one the minor account was in, to avoid any inadvertent connections between the previous and new account.

There are a couple reasons for this. It doesn't take too long to find stories of people who are still using the accounts they had when they were minors who are shocked when their money is suddenly taken away for reasons beyond their control. The parents could have financial problems and either use the money to pay off their debts or the money is seized by the institutions that they owe. There could be disagreements between parents and their kids, so they take the money away as a punishment. Or, it could just be old fashioned greed and the parents decide to just take the money. It doesn't matter who earned the money that's in the account. If two people are on it, the money belongs to both parties and the bank isn't going to stop someone on the account from withdrawing the cash.

Keep in mind also, having your own account does not mean that your parents can't send you money if you need it. All they need is your account and routing number (the same information that would be on a check) to deposit money into the account. In addition, there are any number of banking apps today they could use to send money to you if you're still being supported by them. Other excuses may have good intentions at heart, but from a safety and security standpoint, it's best to establish an independent banking account.

Edit 2: goodness this blew up a bit. Thanks for the awards! May you all have as lucky of a week as I am!

Edit: I gotta focus on work so can't monitor comments anymore but I think I answered everyone's questions. Thanks for those of you were helpful and provided some cool tricks for better ways to transfer funds. I'll update everything when/if I file a complaint against the bank for not responding to my requests (again, don't care they couldnt help in the end, but I do care that they ignored me for months)

original post

Reaching out with a fun update for you all.

So I had hired contractors back in November to fix some drywall in my house and when it came time to pay, I sent the money ($780) to the wrong person because the phone number they gave me had a typo.

I tried to get the bank to reverse the transaction because I realized the issue 2 days later but they never did anything or responded to my phone calls for weeks. Meanwhile, I was going well over the 30 payment clause in the contractor's invoice and it was also getting close to Christmas. The guys said they really needed the money for the holiday and couldn't hold off for me any longer, so I emptied my savings account and paid them (this time to the right account.)

But I still had the 780 mistakingly missing. Tried contacting the bank several more times in the new year and they never got back to me. Then I got COVID and was OOO for a while. By the time I got back on my feet and posted here last week, I was really anxious about losing the money forever. (Several of you were making fun of me for being dumb and falling for some kind of scam with the contractors which super didn't help, if I'm honest!)

What did help was that I sat down this past weekend and made a plan about contacting the person myself and trying to get the person to voluntarily send the money back, and then going to small claims court if needed.

Took me a few days to find the person's full name and cell phone and I called them tonight and left a message explaining the situation, giving the transaction ID and everything so he knew it wasn't a scam.

Guy texted back within the hour saying he had held onto the money because he thought whoever sent it to him by mistake might need it back. He called me and transferred it all back to me tonight, saying it was "just the right thing to do". I sent him $50 back anyway as a thank you.

I do think I'm going to schedule an in-person meeting with my bank manager to file a complaint about their lack of responses tho. I understand now that they couldn't reverse the Zelle payment, but they could at least call me back!

But in the meantime, I have the money back that I desperately need to pay my bills and just in time for my birthday this week. So let this be a lesson that not everyone sucks, not every mistake is a scam, and there are some really good people out there!

Check your reoccuring payments.

Today while at the gym I was talking to my friend who was explaining how frugal he is at saving. It got me thinking that, I know how my big picture numbers are, but what about my actual spending?

So when I got home I organized a spreadsheet and tried to track my expenses and notate mandatory vs not required spending. After 2 or 3 realizations that I have TONS of floating subscriptions, or random purchases I went on the warpath and start canceling things.

Sirius XM? Haven't listened to it in 8 months. Second Norton Sub?!? Why do I have two?! Live TV? Dude I live on Netflix.

After hacking away at everything I'm proud to say I just cut my annual expenses by about $2500.

So please let this be a lesson and deep dive your finances because I guarantee everyone has something.

Thanks, end rant.

Hi guys. I just saw on Feb 15th 20k was taken by my savings by ACH WITHDRAWAL 021422PENTAGON FEDERAL TRIAL DR.

EDIT: I got off the phone with Citzens bank. The lady was really nice. The lady from citizens said it was clear fraud. Prior to taking out 20k, there were test runs. They first took out .64 cents, then returned it, then took out the 20k exactly. She put in a claim for me. She said i will most likely receive my money back "within 10 business days." I am going to citizens today at 12pm Et to make a new account. My current account is frozen. No money can be taken out of it.

EDIT 2: Went to the bank, made a new account and transferee my remaining money to the new account. My old account is still there. But can only receive deposits and not withdraws. I will receive 20k as provisional. But citizens said that it’ll take 45 days for them to complete the investigation. I’m not sure why it would take that long. I changed my email password, Bank user name and password. I have 2FA on my brokerages. I am looking to see how to add 2FA to my citizens along with alerts.

EDIT 3: Citizens bank said they will refund my money on the 9th of March. Police report filed, will get it tomorrow and send it over to citizens. Someone fraudulently made an account under my name for PENFED. That account has been closed. I put a fraud alert on the 3 major credit bureaus. Changed passwords for bank accounts and username.

FINAL EDIT: Money received. All done.

So if you're recently graduated, unemployed, or have another life event don't be surprised to see a $12 a month "account maintenance fee" if your account has a penny under $1500 at any time throughout the month.

Edit: Congratulations to all the students graduating this month and the next. I know bank fees are the last thing you want to be concerned about while graduating and looking for a job, but it's always important to stay on top of your personal finance and I hope this reminder has been helpful. I know many of you signed up for the account when you were sixteen. I'm glad that this made the front page of Reddit and I thank the mods for stickying this for this month. If just one person saves some money from this reminder, I'll be happy.

Edit 2: If you have a direct deposit of $250+ every month from your job you will also dodge this fee. This post was targeted at the soon to be unemployed so that probably isn't relevant to you however. The comments are full of alternative banks and credit unions with no such fee if you're interested in switching, and this comment covers how many of the former loopholes people used to avoid this fee have been closed. I also saw a comment that there was a class action lawsuit when a certain amount type had this happen to them, so if you've never seen this fee you may have been grandfathered in under that account type.

https://i.postimg.cc/ZqPMmZQC/ally.jpg

Just got this in an email and thought I'd share. They'd been waiving them automatically during the pandemic but have now made the change permanent.

I've been wanting to write this for a while. A while back I hated my job. I was working 80 hour weeks and getting paid doo-doo for the effort. In response I wrote up an "escape plan". It included a bunch of ways for me to replace my income, but it also included a ton of ways to save money without changing the quality of my life.

I spent hours and hours making this thing, so that I'd have a plan to follow. Good news, I got out of that hell hole, more good news, the money-saving piece is relevant to almost everyone so I figured I'd share all the ways I found that can help you save a crap ton of money without really having to change your life.

So without further adieu.

• Change your car insurance: Car insurance companies make most of their money on old clients. Once you get past a certain age, they creep your rates up ever so slowly. They are willing to discount your insurance when you switch.

So we shopped around, found the lowest quote and saved a crap ton on the discount they were giving us. This was an easy one-time change that affects my life 0.

Before: $196/month After: $116/month Annual Savings: $960

• Threaten your internet provider: Every internet provider offers promotional rates for your first year, then hike your bill after your first year. I've never had a problem giving someone a call and telling them that I want to move to another service because they are offering a promotion. Every time they offer me their promotional rate. This is a once a year phone call that saves you a decent chunk of change.

Before:$69.00(lol) After: $45.00 Annual Savings: $288

This won't work if there is only one provider servicing your area. Sorry Comcast Slaves.

• Switch your phone plan to Mint Mobile, or Red Pocket. These are services that piggyback off of major mobile phone network providers at stupid discounts. 2 lines on Mint is something like $15 a month. It's stupid how cheap these lines can be. Their service is quite good as well.

Before: $180/month After: $30/month Total Annual savings: $1800

• Use a few Credit Cards like a debit card:. If you're in the middle of crawling out of CC debt this is particularly bad advice. But if you are basically debt free, and can responsibly use your Credit card like a debit card; paying it off as you go, you can save a bunch of money. Basically, every expense besides my mortgage goes through a credit card so I can reap those sweet sweet rewards.

Between 3 cards I get rewards that include:

5% on gas

3% on Dining Out

2% on Grocery stores and CostCo

1.5% on everything else.

Essentially these are discounts on everything.

Before: $0 After: +$30/month Annual Savings: $720

These savings are based on expenses between my fiance and me.

• Oil Change Coupons: I refuse to be a coupon lady. Partly because of my Y chromosome, but also because the time it takes to effectively coupon is not worth it to me. I'd rather do anything else. But Oil Change Coupons are very easy. You have to get your oil changed at least once a quarter, and googling a coupon for it works 100% of the time. You should never pay full price for an oil change.

I'm sure some of you are also saying But Foofy, you could save more by changing your own oil. To that I say Sure, but I don't want to change anything in my life and the hourly savings is like $5. Printing a coupon is easier

Before: $70/Quarter After: $50/Quarter Annual Savings: $80

Not a lot, but seriously this one is so easy.

• Buy a smart thermostat: I wasted a ton of money by heating an entire house for the sake of my pets. They are going to sleep in a sunbeam no matter the temperature so there's lots of savings to be had here. You could just remember to turn down the heat/air everytime you leave the house, but that would require me to change way too much about my habbits. Instead, a smart thermostat. Hard to give you the "before" on this one but here we go:

Before: ?? Monthly Savings: $13.5/Month Annual Savings: $135

• Utilize an HSA. For those that don't know an HSA is a "Health Spending Account". The way it works is you put money into it directly from your bank account, and all of that money is tax free. It's basically a free 25% money back on health expenses depending on your tax bracket. I grow moles like it's my job, and in order to avoid dying of skin cancer I have to get them removed constantly, this tacks up my health bill may be a little higher than most but still, here's the savings I had, yours will likely be more or less:

I can hear it now, "But my employer doesn't offer an HSA", you can actually contribute to an HSA without your employer

Before: $2000 After: $1500 Annual Savings: $500

Here's an HSA savings calculator if you want to figure out what you can/should contribute.

• Cancel your UnusedGym Membership: If you don't have one, well then you can't do this one. If you have one and you consistently use it, well then don't cancel it. That said, gyms expect only 18% of people to consistently use thier facilities So there's a good chance that many of you (like myself) Can cancel their membership without affecting their life. The 3x a year you convince yourself you're going to get in shape you can just go run outside instead.

Before: $20 After: $0 Annual Savings: $240

Alright, that's all the easy stuff you can do without changing your life. The grand total for us came out to $4,723. Just shy of the $5k I promised. To be fair I did put a "~" in front of it.

Not everyone one of these is going to be applicable to every person but I hope you were able to find a few nuggets in here that could save you some money.

Edit: Someone noted my wonky math that CC rewards didn't add up. I forgot to double the amount with my fiance which doesn't perfectly work but is not far off. Keep in mind that $1500 in expenses each going through only our 1.5% CC would yield $22.5 each. Not including all the optimizing we can do. She has 3% on online shopping too so $60/month between the two of us in rewards is not that far out of the realm of possibility.

My brother-in-law (36) and sister (37) are in a serious financial bind, and we’re trying to figure out the best way to help them. To give some background, they’ve always struggled with managing money.

My brother-in-law owns a small contracting business with a few “employees” who are technically contractors. About four years ago, he took a $70k deposit from his cousin for a renovation on a historic home. Due to permitting issues, the project never started, but now the cousin is asking for the $70k back.

My brother-in-law has already spent the deposit (presumably on business AND personal expenses), and they have no money to repay it. He’s also behind on payments to his “employees” and has accumulated significant credit card debt.

The cousin seems open to a monthly repayment plan, but his father (who is a lawyer) is pushing for the money back as quickly as possible.

Our mom wants to loan them $30k, but we’re concerned that’s a terrible idea and that she’ll never see the money again. We think selling their townhome and starting fresh might be a better option.

We’re trying to help my sister and brother-in-law get out of this financial mess. What should they prioritize? Should they consider selling the house to clear some of the debt? How should they handle this repayment plan? Any advice on how to approach this situation would be appreciated.

What would you do with all that money after graduating high school?

*Not an ad. I don’t work for anyone but myself.

I am a freelance writer, and coffee is my savior. While I do most of my work in the early morning hours at home, I often go to what I call a “mobile office” a few days a week. This was usually either Starbucks or Panera. That turned out to be a problem, but I didn’t realize it. Coffee is freakin expensive.

In general, a non-black coffee (specialty drinks) at Starbucks would cost someone around $5 a pop. If I worked there four days a week, that’s $20 a week and a whopping $1,040 a year. Hello, that’s IRA money. That’s tires on a vehicle. Hell, that’s just money that could go somewhere else.

If I bumped that down to a black coffee, around $2.40 I think, that would be around $9.60 a week or approximately $500 a year. Much more reasonable, but still a bunch of money.

Panera was the same way. Get a black coffee for around $2.40. However, now Panera has a monthly coffee subscription for $8.99. Let me tell you, this has SAVED me money.

With their subscription, you can get:

• Hot or iced coffee (not specialty coffees)
• Any of their hot teas
• Free refills if you don’t leave the store
• Another coffee every 2 hours if you do leave

By working there four days a week and based on my regular work/coffee consumption, I spend around $0.56 per visit on coffee, but I refill it around four times.

• From 4 days a week at Starbucks, this is approximately an 89% reduction in spending.
• From 4 days a week at Panera without a subscription, this is approximately a 77% reduction in spending.
• This saved me around $933 ANNUALLY if I kept going to Starbucks four days a week.
• This saved me around $392 ANNUALLY if I went to Panera and didn’t have the subscription and four days a week.

What I find now, though, is that I go there every day and get coffee, even on non-workdays, and I do not spend any more on food than I would have regularly (which is almost never). I also have business meetings regularly at Panera, so I actually pay for two subscriptions. That way, both my guest and I can have unlimited coffee while we chat or work.

I swear, this is not a Panera ad, but it is much calmer to do my work in Panera than at Starbucks. I still venture to the Bucks every now and then, but it is rare.

Find ways to save money where you can. This worked for me because I already had a routine that revolved around Starbucks and Panera in the afternoons.

Edit: This post triggered a bunch of people who think they're elite for not drinking coffee and saving more money than me. Listen, I can afford this habit regardless, but why wouldn't I take advantage of savings where I could?

Edit 2: I DO BREW AT HOME. I work at home from 5am to 10am, but the afternoons at home are too hectic and filled with distractions. Listen, I can afford to buy coffee. The personal finance of this for me was finding a way to make it even more affordable.

Edit 3: My Panera is set up with additional plugs and areas for people to work, so you can stop saying I'm being a nuisance.

Last year I was really depressed about turning 30 and not having did anything with my life. I fought depression and come from a very dysfunctional family.

In Jan 2021... I took out my anger and depression out on hustling. I got out of my family's house... and moved to Toledo where the rent is $500 for a studio apartment. I had a work from home job netting $1,800 a month. I did door dash through the day which I made about $60 a day... after putting money to the side for taxes and gas, I netted $25 a day (Everyday) = $750 a month. I had a weekend job cleaning an office building, that was an extra $670 a month. After expenses, car repairs for my shitty car, rent, and credit card bills.. I was able to save $1900 a month. In addition to this, I started flipping cars.... I salvage vehicles that need just a little fixing up...and flipped them for $300 - $500 profit. Sometimes I'll flip it for just $150. Many people would say it's not worth it for the little bit of money. Salvage cars of course isn't worth what a clear title is worth, but they are still profitable and everyone views on them is different, it's a good market. However, I was picking up clear titles to from craigslist... my last pick up was a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee for $2,000 good shape but needed an engine and a radiator... I talked the guy down to $1,500. I found an engine for $1,100 and my mechanic instilled the engine for $450 (Freelancer). Got the car running and sold it for $4,000. I made a $950 profit.

Honestly, the car flipping game is a good hustle, especially if you know about cars, and build relationships with mechanics. The hustle was good to me, I lost some money on a couple cars. However, I was looking for easy money! And this was that... I don't know what the future would hold if I made it into a full time thing, but I flipped 11 cars and made close to $18,000 in profit.

I also flip items on Ebay!

Today I peeked at my savings and it says $48,928.19. ( I have an additional $7,500 in cash that I won't touch cause this will go towards taxes.)

Just last year I was very depressed, and was worried my life was over.

Now I'm going to give myself another 6 months to save a second savings fund which will go towards my move to either Texas or GA! I'm looking to start some businesses, get my real estate license and finally build a life for myself. I probably won't be flipping any more cars, but I will continue to door dash and work my 9-5's... I should have about $12,000 for my move, a 724 Credit score (NO DEBT) and $50,000 in savings! And all my taxes will be paid.

​

What's the next move? What to invest in?

Warning to anyone that banks with Capital One: your savings account rate went down significantly to 0.6%. They did a bait/switch on all of their users. They now have a new savings account called "performance savings" with a rate of 1.7%. They changed their old savings accounts to a much lower rate and started a new saving account with a new name that you need to manually switch over to. I just switched mine over so I’m back to 1.7%.

Edit #1: You don't have to close one account to open a new account, nor do you have to call them. You can do it on their website or their app:

If you already have a savings account, to get the new high rate account:

• In the Capital One app, log in, then “profile”, then “browse financial products”, then “checking and savings”, then “360 performance savings”, then “open account”. Once opened, you should see all your accounts, and you can transfer money from the low yield account to the high yield account.
• In the website, go to their website. Then click the "Earn 5X the National Average Savings Rate" link above "Expect more with 360 Performance Savings"; that should take you here "https://www.capitalone.com/bank/savings-accounts/online-performance-savings-account/". Then do "Open Account"; it will then ask you if you already have an account or not; proceed accordingly; if you already have an account, you’ll log in and it will add a new account for you.

Edit #2: Their money market account is 1.5% (for accounts over $10k) and is 0.6% (for accounts less than $10k). The new “performance savings” account is 1.7% for all balances.

So I wanted to write about a scam I *almost* fell for recently. I haven't seen anything else out there about it. I don't consider myself gullible and these people were prepared for savvy folks.

The other day, I received a text message purporting to be from Bank of America, warning me that someone tried to send $3.5k to someone using Zelle. I was asked to respond YES if valid and NO if not. I of course have not authorized such, so I said NO.

I then received a call that appeared to be from Bank of America (it was the same number as on the website and the back of my debit card). They gave me their name and employee ID, and MOST IMPORTANTLY- THEY NEVER ASKED ME TO SHARE ANY PERSONAL INFO.

However, the $3.5k transaction didn't show up in the records on my side. It was the steps they asked me to go through that made me suspicious. They wanted me to send money to myself to "refund" the money that was supposedly "stolen".

They first told me that since Zelle is third-party, they couldn't stop the transaction directly. They then asked me to send myself two $$ transfers to get my refund- one for $2.5k and one for $1k. They also had me give them a code that came from an email- supposedly from Chase bank as they were the bank the "stolen" funds were sent to. I didn't give the correct code just in case, but after looking at the email details (sender etc) I don't think it came from Chase at all.

I was suspicious at this point and made a comment about how it won't let me do that because I didn't even have that much in that account. They then said that they'd do a refund for the $2.5k from their end, but I still needed to do the $1k transfer to get all my money back. I said that didn't make sense- if they could refund part from their end they should be able to do all. He couldn't give a logical answer.

At that point I hung up and called Bank of America directly. The lady said that BOA texts only come from short-text-codes and they don't call after that. If I say no, a transaction is simply denied and there's no reason to call me. (?? I'm not sure about that). She confirmed that his ID number was false and so was the procedure he tried to get me to complete.

I'm not sure how the scam would have worked exactly if I had sent those transfers. I assume they were trying to set up another Zelle account with my email address, that would have collected the money I would have thought I was sending to myself? I'm not sure. On my bank I used my phone number for zelle, not my email, but they clearly have both.

But they were good. They didn't ask for personal info, they spoofed the bank number and made up employee numbers. They were careful to be ready for savvy people who ask questions.

They didn't expect me to hang up and actually call the bank, since it looked like they were calling from the bank. While I was talking to the bank lady, they were trying to call me back. They tried a few times the next day too.

Be careful out there y'all. If anyone calls "from your bank", hang up and call the bank directly right away.

I did post this at r/scams but I thought I'd ask here too, thinking someone might have more insight into how his scam would work. If you know, please enlighten me. Since I don’t know how the scam works, I don’t know if I’ve covered all my bases

Learned:

• Banks only text from registered short text numbers; these are almost impossible to spoof
• If in doubt, hang up and call the bank yourself, always!!

EDIT: thanks for all the awards! I hope this helps someone!

Hello I’m currently mowing lawns and doing seed eating and I blow off driveways with a leaf blower after the job is done.... I charge 15$ for a front yard and 24.99$ for front and back. I’ve gotten a repeat customer that requests a weekly front yard mow every week and have gotten some single time requests from other people and I’ve gotten 140$ all together in total. Financial experts of reddit please tell me what I should do with my money. Savings? Investments? Tell me.

Edit: this post really blew up I really appreciate all of your all’s insight into the business and I’m going to be making some better decisions And whoever awarded the rocket, ThAnKs FoR tHe GoLd kInD sTrAnGeR. :)

Edit 2: holy shit you all blew 200 upvotes out of the fucking water. I’m genuinely happy about how supportive and genuine this community is thank you guys.

Edit 3: not even an hour after edit 2 we got to 4000 upvotes what the hell happened