17% of people don't have $500 saved

yeah, he's tried that. He just keeps spending on wastefull things and bring him back to $0. or car has issues...6 months ago he needed rego...that required tyres and brake pads, and a brake disc, and a CV, and a new seatbelt...which addded up to $2000 paying someone. He owes various friends money, not crazy amounts, but around $5000 total that I am aware of.

I have done budgets with him over the years, if he stuck with them, he would be fine, but now he is in debt, as soon as money comes in, it goes out.

He had to move house, luckily another mate had a spare room. He lost his garage then, so he now pays $180 a month for a storage shed for 2nd hand furniture. I tried to explain after a year he could buy new furniture...not interested.

The latest thing I have tried, is my frist tatic I used when I was younger. x amount goes to account which only bills come out of. $500 in an emergency account, which is for tyres/rego type emergency (not RC car emergency that he has at times). Then, if the budget says I have $50 for the week, that goes to my pocket, if it runs out, then i'll be eating my $0.70 pasta and $0.50 sauce that I can get ~5 meals from.

But he cant help but get more money out/use plastic/overdraw above his budget cause "it's only $20 extra...I can make that up next week" but he never does.

He doesnt have the self control, and to be honest, now he is so far in debt, last budget we did, we worked out he would be debt free in 1.5 years, if he NEVER eats out, never goes to movies etc. and eats 2 minute noodles every lunch and dinner. It has gone so far, that even if he learnt how to save..it will take him atleast 1.5 years to be able to save ANYTHING. The fact that he cant plan for money 1 week in advance...the only chance he has to plan 1.5 years in advance...is ...well I have no idea.

If he got a higher paying job, he will just spend more money. He likes to keep up with the Jones'. I used to do motorsport (drifting), so I put $35,000 or so into that, and dirt bike... $20,000 or so there..but I never once went into debt, except my house. He uses that to justify his toys. He cant see that I was on $900 a week, and had $20,000 savings, and he is on $500 week and is in debt.
 
can i ask why you are so insistent on helping him out? relaitve? partner? brother?

a lot of people just need to learn the hard way

a kid, you tell him not to go near the stove 3 times per day, he keeps on going near the stove, until he actually burns himself, and then he will learn to not go near it

same with your male friend,

say he is on a $70k salary, he would be spending every avaiable cent on whatever he needs or thinks he needs,and in the back of his mind he will be thinking "once I get my pay rise ill be gettting an extra $100 per week,that means all the little shortages I have will be covered and ill be set"

this payrise comes along,and all of a sudden, his 3bdr mcmansion isnt big enough,close enough, have a media room or his 4 year old commodore needs 18" rims, not 17"s etc. etc. etc.

and here we are back at square one,

for these kind of people, its just a continual cycle,

you can only open up his eyes into what his options/alternatives are and if he chooses to ignore/not to, thats his choice, he must suffer the consequences

so if you are living within your means driving your corolla while he is driving his leased commodore with 18 "rims,then there is nothing to be ashamed of, as he will most likely be saying to you in a few years "oh you are so lucky, you got lucky with buying a house! I wish I was in the same position as you, some people have all the luck"
 
I dn't do a detailed budget, I use the lazy approach. On pay day I put away money for the mortgage payments, and the regular savings, then don't get too worried about the rest. Admittedly the mortgage payments and planned savings is most of my pay.

The wife pays the bills, and rent goes into the offset account. We always seem to end the year with much more than we started with.
 
maybe im the one who needs to learn as well, because ive never budgeted in my life (39), even as a poor student living away from home, I had a credit card, but was one of those people that paid it off monthly,

I did live frugally since moving out and that has continued, so ive never had to worry (other then when business went bad) about not being able to afford anything,

maybe thiswill come and bite me on the backside one day
 
The brokest I've ever been was December 2011. I had two lots of tenants move out who owed me about $1500 each and wouldn't pay. My letting fees were two weeks rent plus gst so i was down about a further $2000 income that I hadn't budgeted for. I remember running out of milk and having to wait one or two days for payday. Being a mum I'd rather my kids eat before me so lost so much weight I had to safety pin some of my clothes together to fit. I had my car advertised for sale with husbands phone number and then realized hubby was ignoring phone calls if he didn't recognize number. Changed phone number to my number and sold my car to pay off the accumulation of debts. Telstra had accidentally overcharged us about $1000 in phone/Internet usage at same time also. That was an experience I will never repeat.
 
If these people aren't losing sleep over spending more than they earn then why would they want to change.

Like I said before, I think most momentarily get concerned when the power is about to be cut or they're about to be booted from their home, otherwise they don't really care.

Teaching someone how to budget is easy.

Teaching them to be responsible is a lot more complex.
 
Last edited:
If these people aren't losing sleep over spending more than they earn then why would they want to change.

I wish I knew their secret :p

I have on more than one occasion had eg. $15k outgoings due on Friday, and $20k coming into my account the following Monday. Doesn't really help does it.

I can definitely say, I am fortunate to have learnt where to find the required $500+ in case of an emergency. *STRESS*.

Had a mate who had 1 week to find $40k to pay his staff for the month. I would have had a heart attack.
 
It's hard watching people waste their money, but I agree you might as well save your breath. They won't change..or at least, until they are ready.

Yesterday I was chatting with my friend on FB.She and I worked together for many years. She was telling me they had to consolidate their bills again...but now she afford to go to Dominican republic for a vacation.
During our conversation Rob came home with a tin box of army rations. They were going to throw them away..Rob said he's take them. All kinds of great stuff in there. I was very excited. I was telling my friend about our find and how the simpliest things make me happy.She laughed, and said she remembered that about me.
She said she should have paid more attention to me while we worked togther, becase she knows she isn't frugal/cheap.

INVSTOR,
I know how tenants can put a real strain on budgets.We've had to do some juggling between accounts on many occassions.I've heard some people have a grocery store gift card with a small balance on them, for emergencies.
 
INVSTOR,
I know how tenants can put a real strain on budgets.We've had to do some juggling between accounts on many occassions.I've heard some people have a grocery store gift card with a small balance on them, for emergencies.

Also been there, the firs time a tenant fell behind, I felt like I should help and gave them a hand (gave them a $100 grocery store gift card to feed their family).

Then they did it again, and again and ... I fell behind a week on my own rent, never again, I cracked down on them so hard.
 
Also been there, the firs time a tenant fell behind, I felt like I should help and gave them a hand (gave them a $100 grocery store gift card to feed their family).

Then they did it again, and again and ... I fell behind a week on my own rent, never again, I cracked down on them so hard.

You are generous with tenants aka naive :)
We just tell them they should visit the food bank

Glad you toughened up
 
can i ask why you are so insistent on helping him out? relaitve? partner? brother?

a lot of people just need to learn the hard way

Yeah, I agree. He is a close mate, and I feel for him cause with some simple things, he could have a much better life. The big problem is if his car breaks, or cant get rego, he cant get to work, which means he loses his job...
 
....which is his choice as an adult.

That's the thing with parents helping out their children. They are not children, but adults, who make their own choices with their own consequences.

But it is dam hard not to help sometimes.
 
agreed. I have only helped him financially 2 or 3 times, once I recall was $50 the others were like $5 for a burger.

Basically I want to give him as many options as possible so he has "made his own decision".
 
will keep this very vague because its a public forum.

A certain business has some overseas workers. They go back home once a year on holiday, so they still get their 'annual overseas holiday'.

Their pay isnt anything to write home about, somewhere around $700 - $800 per week.

Food is provided by the business, so dont need to pay for food whilst working (including food after work, but its a long shift).

After 8yrs of working, their net individual savings, are more than $200k - $300k (some at the upper range, some at the lower range, all pretty impressive).

All are pretty proud of themselves.
 
So we have the people who spend everything they earn, and provide nothing for themselves.

So what happens when they retire? They get a government pension. And of course the people who have saved conscientiously and provided for their retirement get reduced benefits, if any.

And if they lose a job? Not only do they get the dole- they get all sorts of help to aid them to get a job.

Now that I've sold my stores, I want to work- back in the IT field. I'm not eligible for the dole.

I don't mind not getting the dole. My problem is that I cannot find anybody to help me to work out what to do. The normal employment agencies, especially in IT, have heaps of people on their books. An old fart with out of date experience is a very low priority. But the ones which are set up to really help jobs only get paid for helping people off the dole- so they don't want to know me either.

The best I can do is to study (one agency did at least suggest a TAFE course)- but I don't really have a handle on how employable I will be.

I would have been far better off not having any savings, assets or passive income. Spending it all as you go gives you some much better outcomes.
 
So what happens when they retire? They get a government pension. And of course the people who have saved conscientiously and provided for their retirement get reduced benefits, if any.


I would have been far better off not having any savings, assets or passive income. Spending it all as you go gives you some much better outcomes.

or alternative no 2: those without serous wealth accumulated, send it overseas. Collect the 'dividends' when they go back for a holiday, and still collect the pension whilst in Australia.

In regards to second point:
yes of course, thats the way the system works. As and invididual you just play the system.

Unless you have sufficient wealth, then it doesnt 'pay' you to play the system. In which case your wealth should provide for a decent tax accountant, to provide strategic tax planning, in which case your tax shouldnt be too much anyway.

I cant remember, but i mentioned somewhere in this forum, i could achieve legal infinit profit, without paying a cent in tax, using leverage and taking advantage of the CGT system.
 
After 8yrs of working, their net individual savings, are more than $200k - $300k (some at the upper range, some at the lower range, all pretty impressive).

All are pretty proud of themselves.


Instead of focussing on the lives and habits of those who don't have $500 saved, it would be more educational and fascinating to discuss those who have saved 2 million.
 
Instead of focussing on the lives and habits of those who don't have $500 saved, it would be more educational and fascinating to discuss those who have saved 2 million.

totally agree, why look at the lowest common denominator for inspiration.

But then this was the topic thread.
 
or alternative no 2: those without serous wealth accumulated, send it overseas. Collect the 'dividends' when they go back for a holiday, and still collect the pension whilst in Australia.

In regards to second point:
yes of course, thats the way the system works. As and invididual you just play the system.

Unless you have sufficient wealth, then it doesnt 'pay' you to play the system. In which case your wealth should provide for a decent tax accountant, to provide strategic tax planning, in which case your tax shouldnt be too much anyway.

I cant remember, but i mentioned somewhere in this forum, i could achieve legal infinit profit, without paying a cent in tax, using leverage and taking advantage of the CGT system.

another typical example

the bushfires in victoria a few years ago, those that had paid their expensive insurance premiums every year were pretty annoyed when those that had no bushfire insurance got either half or all of their houses replaced by the government, often faster then the insurance companies were building them

just seems the system awards dumbness, lack of planning, and a sense of entitlement. those that work their butts off end up paying heaps of tax, get no pension and yet if you do nothing, you get everything handed to you on a silver platter
 
Back
Top