hell yeah! co-op!

[Edited on May 22, 2006 at 8:09 AM. Reason : 2]

5/22/2006 8:09:22 AM

Quote :

"i think not having enough money in savings etc to pay simple household bills (at any point they pop up) is indicative of poor financial management."

that's one of the dumbest things I've ever heard.

5/22/2006 8:20:19 AM

i dont know your situation, but i would agree with the quote.

its not like bills are unexpected.

5/22/2006 8:23:55 AM

and my available cash never dips below a level that would be less than any normal monthly bill. Except maybe my credit card bill, and in that case all I would have to do is pay less than the full amount.

5/22/2006 8:27:29 AM

Quote :

"Make sure your expenses are less than your income. PROBLEM FUCKIN SOLVED"

If you really think that's all there is to personal finance, then you'll be in for a rude awakening some day.

5/22/2006 8:27:55 AM

I've been interning with Wachovia since my junior year of high school. I lucked out and ended up in a department where the managers believe in grooming interns to be employees. Other interns who came in with me weren't so lucky; they were viewed as "expendable". What I do at Wachovia has nothing to do with my major but I will definitely work for them as long as they offer me the job. I like what I do and that's good enough for me right now and most important: it pays the bills. Personal Finance is common sense but we all know common sense isn't that common. So if taking a class gets you the necessary know-how, by all means take it.

5/22/2006 8:33:51 AM

Quote :

""i think not having enough money in savings etc to pay simple household bills (at any point they pop up) is indicative of poor financial management."

i'm guessing more people will agree with this than disagree with this

5/22/2006 8:35:54 AM

Quote :

"i dont know your situation, but i would agree with the quote. its not like bills are unexpected."

No, bills aren't unexpected. It's the timing that becomes the problem.

5/22/2006 8:36:31 AM

i think his point was that if you put away money ahead of time for bills that are due each month, it doesn't matter when you have to pay them...the money will be there.

5/22/2006 8:39:58 AM

the problem is my job pays me very little. I more or less live pay check to pay check and now that I'm out of college I have been cut off from the parents. After this month though things will be groovy.

It's never been an issue of not putting money away, it's been an issue of not making enough money. 10K a year is not enough for someone to live on. Sure it's fine for a college student, but for someone who just graduated it isn't. That's why I'm hoping to get this new job which will pay me bank.

5/22/2006 8:44:59 AM

i see...thats why i prefaced my comment with "i dont know your situation". i dont think his comment was "one of the dumbest things ive ever heard"...i think its true a lot of the time.

in college, i had many friends who didnt pay their bills on time each month. they claimed they just didnt have the money, yet they would go out to bars ever other night, buy drugs, and have digital cable and high speed internet. there complaint that they didnt have enough money didnt hold much weight with me. im in no way saying that you are doing that, im just pointing out that they had extremely poor finicial management skills.

5/22/2006 8:52:52 AM

i don't go out to bars every night. don't have digital cable. I actually keep my finances down. I just have bills from having to go to school that I wanted to get a head start on when my parents were still supporting me.

also, I haven't used drugs in about 4 years.

5/22/2006 8:54:27 AM

Quote :

" im in no way saying that you are doing that"

5/22/2006 8:55:31 AM

my friend is in Comm Media and instead of wasting his summers doing jack shit, he went all over and interned. He is working for a company in Chicago now where he is working on the prodution of DVD's for rock bands, and some notable ones as well.

#1 lesson ALL college students should learn by the time they graduate: If you dont look out for yourself, no one else will

5/22/2006 9:16:09 AM

yea yall im just raggin on Jason, he keeps his shit pretty well in check.

And

Quote :

"are you fucking serious - this kind of "not my fault" bullshit drives me crazy. Let me give you an explation of "personal finance" - you have positive cash flow (INCOME) and negative cashflow (EXPENSES) Make sure your expenses are less than your income. PROBLEM FUCKIN SOLVED"

HAHAAHAHAHAHAHA. Like I said, I'm glad I know what I'm doing. But this is exactly the reason people get in serious financial trouble down the road. HAhaahaha, way to call yourself out there.

5/22/2006 9:41:47 AM

i know right

I'VE GOT THE POWER TO CONTROL EVERYTHING IN MY LIFE, AND THE ABILITY TO BREAK EVERYTHING DOWN INTO SET EXPENSES AND SET INCOME

I'M THE MOST POWERFUL CREATURE EVER

5/22/2006 10:18:14 AM

^^ If people would do what I said, 90% of their problems would vanish.

Then we can start talking about slush funds, 401k, IRA, etc. Until then, however, people just need to learn to lay off the credit cards. And they shouldn't need a college class to teach them that!

5/22/2006 10:46:49 AM

Agreed, and the focus of said classes is definitely not to avoid credit cards, but as with most basic things that are overlooked, it is certainly re-emphasized.

5/22/2006 11:31:47 AM

if people would just sit down and come up with a basic budget and atleast halfway follow it, most problems would be eliminated. All it takes is a little self control. Prioritize your shit. There are way too many people that are just like sober46an3 described:

Quote :

"in college, i had many friends who didnt pay their bills on time each month. they claimed they just didnt have the money, yet they would go out to bars ever other night, buy drugs, and have digital cable and high speed internet"

5/22/2006 11:48:10 AM

if i quit drugs and cigarettes i could save over 200 a month

that comes out to over 2k a year

when you put it in terms like that it really puts things in perspective

5/22/2006 11:49:29 AM

2k is chump change

5/22/2006 11:51:46 AM

Quote :

"^^ If people would do what I said, 90% of their problems would vanish. Then we can start talking about slush funds, 401k, IRA, etc. Until then, however, people just need to learn to lay off the credit cards. And they shouldn't need a college class to teach them that!"

The whole point is not instilling just common sense budgeting, but showing people how money can work FOR them. Most of the people on this site probably have no fucking clue when it comes to any kind of investment, differences in interest rate plans for loans, basic (very basic) tax knowledge, and so much more. Hell I hardly know much a lot of it.

5/22/2006 12:00:24 PM

I took that class in college; it was Engineering Economics.

then again, did you even graduate college?

[Edited on May 22, 2006 at 12:22 PM. Reason : s]

5/22/2006 12:21:43 PM

Quote :

"if i quit drugs and cigarettes i could save over 200 a month"

Even just that $200 a month can turn into $1,000,000 for retirement, with relative certainty, in an IRA. The key is starting early and nopt going "Oh, shit!" when you are 42 and realize you are way behind the game.

5/22/2006 1:19:54 PM

Quote :

"No, bills aren't unexpected. It's the timing that becomes the problem."

Well, from observing people who have trouble with sort of things its that they plan things out with out any money set aside for the unexpected (car breaks, they get sick and can't work as many hours as they normally do, they have to pay to go to the doctor, etc.) or they can't control themselves and buy themselves a bunch of crap they don't need.


Oh... and some people for whatever reason can't seem to understand the concept of interest.

[Edited on May 22, 2006 at 5:35 PM. Reason : oh...]

5/22/2006 5:33:28 PM

Quote :

"I took that class in college; it was Engineering Economics. then again, did you even graduate college?"

In 3.5 years, with a minor. And I'm 2/3 through a Masters. Thanks for checking though

5/22/2006 5:56:59 PM

Quote :

"Well, from observing people who have trouble with sort of things its that they plan things out with out any money set aside for the unexpected (car breaks, they get sick and can't work as many hours as they normally do, they have to pay to go to the doctor, etc.) or they can't control themselves and buy themselves a bunch of crap they don't need."

not everyone has the chance of setting money aside.

5/22/2006 5:59:08 PM

keep bangin

5/22/2006 6:16:38 PM

college is about having fun and not worrying about bills...i have like a 3.6 and i hardly ever study for anything, im planning on being in school for another 4 yrs (grad school that is)

5/23/2006 10:25:34 AM

^That's probably how this thread started.

5/23/2006 1:04:05 PM

Quote :

"If you dont look out for yourself, no one else will"

5/23/2006 1:35:39 PM

regardless of your major...if you network effectively at career fairs and major specific conferences, trade shows, etc, etc...there is no reason why you shouldn't have your choice of jobs.

i worked throughout my undergrad degree and really learned the benefit of networking before and during my first year of grad school. i ended up with almost 10 offers just for this summer before i finish up my mba. networking creates jobs. what's that iceberg statistic? like 95% of jobs are never posted or something like that.

5/23/2006 1:54:31 PM

it's so fucking true.

5/23/2006 6:39:07 PM

Looking at this topic again I just thought that I would throw in my two cents.

When you get out of college you automatically have a job, you just don't know it. The Job is called COLD CALLING HIRING MANAGERS. [u]

5/23/2006 7:51:06 PM

^^^I completely agree.

well over 90% of the jobs and contracts I've gotten were absolutely because of a personal connection.

[Edited on May 23, 2006 at 8:47 PM. Reason : ^]

5/23/2006 8:47:45 PM

it's never too late to network though...so just keep trying to make contacts.

bob murphy, the vp of procurement for ibm said that with any job he's ever had in his life...he had the next job he wanted planned out in his head and basically "networked" and worked his way up there.

5/23/2006 10:23:51 PM