Living paycheck to paycheck - must be hard wired

I got my daughter a subscription to Zillions, the kid's version of consumer reports. She used to read that cover to cover. She's a very, very savvy consumer in her 20's now. I saw her transition from believing all the ads she saw to doing a lot of research before buying things and she doesn't have clutter.

Have you seen one of these households where the people have clutter disorder? My wife and I were trying to clean up a house after one old guy that had stuff literally waist deep and in the rafters.. we would clean up a spot and he would go get a pickup load of stuff... after he croaked we spent months selling all this krappy stuff he bought... we threw out 125 contractor size trash bags of stuff after the initial two dumpster loads and many months of yard sales...
 
You're better off explaining to your kids that their entire generation is fucked and there's really nothing they could do about it. The reason why they can't save money is simply because they don't make enough.

The most frugal person in the world won't survive if he or she can't earn a livable wage. Prices, fees, taxes seem to go up. Yet, wages stay the same. I suppose that we could all go live in the woods and never have to worry about it again.
 
Quote from Eight:

I won't discuss anything financial with somebody that has never kept a one month record of where every penny goes.
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I actually started doing this a few years ago. I dont know how to stop keeping records of every penny I spend now! I use a spreadsheet and everytime i buy something, I write it down on the spreadsheet. I make a new one every month and it helps me save so much money and anytime i cant figure what i spent money on, i just check my spreadsheet and see.

I actually started doing this because I had made a huge amount of money in one month (over $70k) and it quickly disappeared. I was trying to keep track of where it went in my head, but then I would be like...what did i spend 5k on? Did I buy that much pizza? Are my bills that high? Are gas prices too high? Where did it go?

I honestly do not know how I survived on my own for 10+ years without doing that.
 
Quote from peilthetraveler:

I actually started doing this because I had made a huge amount of money in one month (over $70k) and it quickly disappeared. I was trying to keep track of where it went in my head, but then I would be like...what did i spend 5k on? Did I buy that much pizza?
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20K shares or so PZZA early last November would've done it :D
 
You need to explain money in language that kids can understand.

Remember the punny gun you start out in COD?

Remember the dirty clothes you wear when you start your RPG game?

Remember you play a game and forget to save?

Does it suck when you die, you have to start over? Guess what, saving allow you to start over at a check point.
 
Quote from aegis:

...The most frugal person in the world won't survive if he or she can't earn a livable wage...
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I think I get your point, but in the end you are flat out wrong.

I have an aunt and grandmother who have never worked a day in their lives after coming to this country decades ago.

Simply put, they live off welfare and medicaid.

I do not agree with this.
 
Quote from nutmeg:

I have 3 kids with jobs. They get paid on Friday - broke by Monday...
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I may be wrong but one of the biggest things they have in common is that you were the parent of each one of them.

So speaking of jobs...what kind of job did you do as a parent?
 
your kids have as the bank.

you are like the gov't always have money to give to them so how can they be broke.

Quote from nutmeg:

I have 3 kids with jobs. They get paid on Friday - broke by Monday.

Over different periods of time I have let them do what they want with their money or forced them to bank half of the paycheck. The results are the same - broke before the next check.

Whoever has money left in several days ends up being the banker to the other two till all three are broke and they all hit me up for a loan.

They run out of money and have their phones shut off, then suffer withdrawal like a bunch of crack heads.

I point out the money they made YTD and ask where it is and they look at me like I have 2 heads. "Why are you asking me that?"
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Quote from nutmeg:

I have 3 kids with jobs. They get paid on Friday - broke by Monday.

Over different periods of time I have let them do what they want with their money or forced them to bank half of the paycheck. The results are the same - broke before the next check.

Whoever has money left in several days ends up being the banker to the other two till all three are broke and they all hit me up for a loan.

They run out of money and have their phones shut off, then suffer withdrawal like a bunch of crack heads.

I point out the money they made YTD and ask where it is and they look at me like I have 2 heads. "Why are you asking me that?"
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Paycheck to paycheck?
Most traders are no different

They live from (blowup) refund to refund.
 
Quote from DisciplinedHedg:

I may be wrong but one of the biggest things they have in common is that you were the parent of each one of them.

So speaking of jobs...what kind of job did you do as a parent?
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It would be so easy to take the blame but I do not live like that and my wife is an ace when it comes to managing money. So we do try to provide a good example. Between the two of us these kids get the riot act several times a week re wasting money, better choices, etc.

I suppose they choose to learn from experience but often they make the same mistakes repeatedly. Arrggghhhhh.
 
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