Comments on: Lifestyles of the Broke, Young & Struggling: 15 Most Common Money Mistakes

By: jenna marie christian

jenna marie christian — Wed, 30 May 2012 18:52:12 +0000

very true… I am one of those who would rather live alone than save a few bucks. I just need my own space. No way around that for me. not even to save money. I just choose to live in a small studio instead of a full one or two bedroom apartment.

By: Aja

Aja — Wed, 30 May 2012 15:27:46 +0000

Great article and very on point!! I need to follow some of these myself.

By: ms minnie

ms minnie — Wed, 30 May 2012 15:19:14 +0000

I needed to read this article, because I’m approaching graduation (class of 2013!) and Sallie Mae will be calling me asking for her money, I’m a repeat offender on spending money on my appearance, but I’m trying hard to budget my money and save as much as I can, I’ll get it together though.

By: LN

LN — Wed, 30 May 2012 14:29:46 +0000

All these are spot on! I dedicated 2010 to cleaning up my finances. It was hard as f*ck, but I did it! Got rid of $10,000 in credit card bills and $1,500 in fees and fines on my car.

Another money mistake I’d add is not paying tickets and fines right away. I let things get out of control and was actually arrested on a routine traffic stop for having so many unpaid tickets on my car. It was one the most horrifying and humiliating experiences of my life, but it was a wake up call.

I don’t have a budget, but I find the “pay yourself first” method to be effective. The first thing I do with my paycheck put money in my money market savings account. The second thing? Pay down my credit card balance to $0. Anything that’s leftover is what I live within.

Sometimes it’s frustrating that I can’t eat out more or do more fun social stuff. But honestly, I’ve found that a lot of restaurants/social activities are kind of overrated. For example, my husband and I flew out to New York for a couple days, just to splurge. It was the most boring few days of my life. I essentially spent $500 for a mini vacation that I didn’t even enjoy. I also went through a Jeffrey Campbell phase were I bought up $2,000 worth of JC shoes. Again, it was fun at the time, but I soon realized that the purchases were highly impractical for my lifestyle (I work from home, and I don’t go out that much). In both instances, I kind of realized that it’s easy to piss money away on stuff that you don’t fully enjoy. So now I try to be really discriminating about how I’m going to splurge. For example, I’m not doing much for the rest of this year, but my husband and I are traveling Europe next Spring. It’s something that I’m genuinely excited about.

By: Introverted Leo

Introverted Leo — Wed, 30 May 2012 14:05:12 +0000

I’ve stopped using my credit cards and have focused on paying them down, but it is difficult with little income.

Fees? I don’t do fees. I only use my bank or credit union’s ATM. I pay bills online, so no need to buy Cashier’s check/Official checks or money orders.

Late or non-bill payment, what’s that? I don’t do that sh@t! My sister has forgone paying some medical bills under the excuse that they go away in seven years. I guess she wants to be living at home forever then.

I am currently on unemployment, so yea, every penny is accounted for. I even have an excel spreadsheet to document my expenses as far as what bills need to be paid.

I don’t receive much in unemployment, but I have been saving what I can.

I don’t buy books or movies. I check out books at the library.

I don’t overspend on holidays. If my family members get upset about only receiving one or two gifts from me, then so be it, because I don’t like them all that much anyway.

I don’t overspend on my appearance. I don’t get pedicures/manicures because I take care of those things myself. I don’t wear makeup, so that is an expense I don’t have.

As soon as I obtained a job where I could afford health care, I took it.

I don’t borrow money from family/friends. My grandmother loves to borrow money and lend it out. She is always complaining about not having money/takes out loans and doesn’t seem to be cognizant that when she is no longer here, her family will be made responsible for that debt.

I don’t currently live alone, but once I am able to do so, I plan to live alone. I need to live alone.