Category: budget

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People Describe The Best ‘Poverty Meals’ From Childhood They Still Love To This Day

Childhood poverty is no joke.

But there are certain aspects of growing up poor that people actually enjoy that upper and middle class kids usually don’t experience.

One of those is the so-called “poverty meal”—a go to quick meal for when you’re really broke made from inexpensive pantry staples like macaroni, rice, potatoes and canned goods.

The dubiously named Redditor laced-with-arsenic asked:

“What’s your favorite poverty meal that you still eat regardless of where you are financially?”

Steak Fingers

“Grew up poor, but my mom sure knew how to stretch a dollar. She would make steak fingers out of the cheapest meat cuts she could find.”

“Tenderize, fry them up make gravy out of the drippings and serve with mashed potatoes. The whole meal probably cost less than 5 bucks in 70s dollars, and I’m telling you nothing tasted better.”

“I made it for my kids when they were growing up and they still ask me for it sometimes. She would be 94 today.”

“Love you, miss you mom.” ~ markarlage

Cereal

“Bowl of cereal.” ~ ApocalypseSpokesman

“My nephew was so excited when he realised that people ate cereal for meals other than breakfast.”

“Didn’t have the heart to tell him.” ~ lilithpingu

“A bag of generic cereal is like 5 or 6 bucks. That’s easily 10-15 meals at least.”

“A gallon of milk where I live is 3 bucks. And that’s good for like 10 bowls of cereal.”

“That comes out to less than a dollar per meal.”

“Add in a banana or toast and you hit at a dollar per meal. Super cheap.” ~ bhfroh

Quesadillas & Chilaquiles

“I’m Mexican. For us, it’s usually quesadillas without meat, rice and black beans as the sides.” ~ Reddit

“For us it’s usually chilaquiles.” ~ mattylou

“Bruh, we can’t even explain to the internet how cheap and tasty chilaquiles are.” ~ SteamFoxx

“Enfrijoladas.” ~ Bob__Kazamakis

“My girlfriend is Mexican and she makes this for us. It’s so wonderful. Homemade everything.” ~ yabaquan643

Sh*t On A Shingle

“Shit on a shingle? Sausage gravy served over toast.” ~ phenomagasm

“SOS! My mom made the gravy from scratch, just flour, butter, milk, and pepper, and used sliced corned beef instead. Mmmmmmm!!” ~ motherfuqueer

“Chipped beef on toast!! My mom was literally the only person I knew who ever made this.” ~ 910ee

“We ate this growing up and we weren’t poor. My mom was very poor growing up.”

“This was comfort food for her. We’d have it once or twice a year in the winter.”

“I still love it and ask her to make it when I visit.” ~ StarryEyes8194

Potatoes

“Boiled potatoes and butter. Don’t care if I am rich or poor that is my go to snack.” ~ dapornaddict

“Aww man this hits hard. Was living alone in London didn’t have much money at all.”

“I’d hit up Aldi get a full chicken for £1.75, a broccoli for 55p, and some potatoes for 55p.”

“I’d make a full roast like a king and still have potatoes to boil and have with butter after. So f’king good.” ~ EnemiesAllAround

“My family does something similar. Put some red skin potatoes, fresh green beans, chicken stock, and seasonings in a pot (or slow cooker) and simmer it for an hour or more.”

“Use a slotted spoon to put some in a bowl, then add a bit of stock and plenty of butter. It’s heaven.” ~ FitChemist432

“Fried eggs with fried potatoes.” ~ MrOtero

“The only meal Romanian dads knew how to cook when mom was away.” ~ Fabulini

“Ukrainian too. My old man can’t cook for sh*t, but I loved every time he made that.” ~ ExtraBitterSpecial

“Same for my Russian dad. I miss his fried potatoes and eggs.” ~ BarefootHippieDesign

“Oven-baked potatoes with salt and margarine.”

“Cheap ingredients found in almost every home and easy to make. Also, the starch in potatoes makes you feel full for pretty long.” ~ trashturmoilavocado

“I’m Irish and that is my go-to.”

“I can cook potatoes 100 ways.”

“I could have made a 5lb bag of potatoes last a week in my university days.” ~ guinnesshappy

Macaroni

“We called it ‘Ghetto Mac’ where you make some pasta and add in whatever you can find in the fridge or cabinets. Cheese, lunch meat, spam, spices, etc…”

“No two meals were ever the same.” ~ RhondaTheHonda

“We always called it poverty pasta.” ~ TehGogglesDoNothing

“We called that white trash casserole.” ~ WonBigMayor

“We always just called it goulash even though it doesn’t resemble traditional goulash at all.” ~ koolaideprived

“Called it goulash. Usually ground beef, stewed tomatoes and a can of vegetables in elbow macaroni but my mom had been known to do hot dogs, ham, sausage or just extra veggies.”

“Goulash is traditionally a soup but this was more of a casserole.” ~ Urithiru

“All this time I didn’t even know it had a name we would just do this to try to make a meal.” ~ JtDeluxe

Dal

“Dal.”

“Aside from tumeric you can buy all the ingredients for less than $2 a pound.” ~ Spam-Monkey

“Oh yeah! Dal is magic. Lentils in general deserve more love.”

“They are SO GOOD FOR YOU, and are delicious. They make a great meat substitute if you’re broke or just want to go meatless.” ~ tomboyfancy

“As an Indian, I see where you’re coming from, but I really never saw it that way before.” ~ RupesSax

“Dal by itself? Nah. But khitchdi? Now you’re talking! My favourite comfort food.” ~ hsihsadna

Squash

“We used to eat (zucchini or yellow neck) squash and eggs growing up. Grew the squash and eggs are cheap enough, or trade with the neighbors.”

“You just cut the squash into thin round and cook in a pan with a little oil until they’re just soft. Scramble the eggs with the squash, add a bunch of pepper, some salt.”

“Sometimes we ate it over noodles or rice.” ~ _Not-A-Monkey-St_

Soup

“Egg drop soup: – 1 quart chicken stock – 1 tbsp soy sauce – 1 tbsp corn starch – 1 inch grated ginger – whisk in 2 eggs – green onions sprinkled.” ~ csaszarcasa

“Soup boiled down with rice to bulk it up.” ~ StanMarsh02

“Dump a can of your favorite condensed ‘cream of’ atop a cup or two of rice. Best damn comfort food when you’re sick.” ~ Stargate525

“My grandma (who grew up during WWII) taught me that you can make soup from almost anything.”

“At least once a week I just throw a bunch of scrap veggies, left over meat, rice and whatever other random bits are left over from the week’s meals into a pot with some stock, boil it all together and bam.” ~ Reddit

PB & Sometimes J

“Peanut butter sandwich.” ~ Thinkpad200

“Nothing beats a good ole-fashioned PB&J, hold the J” ~ rezamwehttam

“My oldest son (about 4) would always say ‘I want a cooked peanut butter and jelly sandwich’, which meant peanut butter and jelly on toast.

“My middle son (about 2) would proceed to say ‘I want the same thing but not cooked and no jelly’.”

“I’d say so a peanut butter sandwich? ‘NO, I WANT A PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY NOT COOKED WITH NO JELLY!’” ~ ImNotBettyBoopg

“I had a PB&J recently and felt like a f’king fool! Why did I stop eating these when I became an adult?”

“Society lead me to believe this was the way. It is not!”

“Been having PB&J a couple nights a week since. I refuse to let societies unenlightened views dictate my dinner choices!”

“PB&J is a top tier dish for any occasion.” ~ Iminurcomputer

There are definitely regional and cultural differences. Many enduring comfort foods also qualify as poverty meals.

The recipes remain popular because they’re simple, quick and inexpensive.

What are the poverty meals you still love?

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People Share The Best Life Hacks They Know

Life hacks have been the Pinterest mood board of the year ever since all we could do for 2020 was sit at home and figure out ways to make our lives a little easier.

Urban Dictionary tells us that a “Life Hack” is:

“A tool or technique that makes some aspect of one’s life easier or more efficient.”

Mommy blogs love them too.

Who said taking the easy way out had to be a bad thing anyway?

Redditor synthesezia asked:

“Reddit, what are your best lifehacks?”

Closet Hacks.

“Putting my clothes in my closet with the hangers reversed once a year. As I pull clothes out, I reverse the hanger. Every year I give away any clothes that I never took out.” – elblanco

“I do something similar. I put all the clothes I hang up each week on the left side of the closet, with each week sliding everything right to make room. Eventually the stuff I don’t wear makes its way to the right. That’s the stuff I ditch.” – keebler980

“Related to this, the most recent time I moved, I only took things out of boxes on an as-needed basis. After 6 months, anything that was still in a box got either thrown away or given to Goodwill.” – crazyeight

For those of us with a bad memory.

“When you need to remember to bring something with you, put your car keys on it the night before…” – drewlb

“What if it’s your car keys you need to remember… cries.” – Redditor

“I usually put things I need to remember on top of or in my shoes.” – nunobo

“Try a basket by the door, in which you always put your keys/wallet/what have you as soon as you walk in. This is what I do. I never lose my keys (I still do lock myself out of my car though. Usually on or right before dates).” – Redditor

Academia life hacks.

“Here is a lifehack for all of the students out there. If you are charged with writing a lengthy research paper, find one very solid source that directly pertains to your thesis, and then you can use that source’s bibliography to back into locating new sources.” – Fonix79

“One of my professors says that it’s perfectly acceptable and done all the time in academia. Furthermore, you’re under no obligation to credit the source you used to find the bibliography unless you use something directly in that article.”

“Last, but not least, they have already written out the bibliography entry for you!” – Anonymous999

“For anyone just starting university, or grad school, in a program where you will write many papers: put EVERYTHING you ever read or remotely think will be useful into a bibliography database like Endnote (for Word users) or BibTeX.”

“You can pdf almost everything to a massive folder and link to it.”

“Then, not only is the info at your finger tips for however long you’re in school, but the software writes the bibliography for you.”

“NO idea why schools aren’t teaching this alongside general advice on writing all sorts of term papers…” – dolichoblond

Avoid debt as much as possible.

“Never owe money on a car and never carry a Credit Card balance. It makes my life way easier and it is my way of saying F*ck You to the debt encouraging system we live in.” – cheddarben

“It’s amazing (and very, very sad) when you realize how few people actually do this.” – vtdweller

“I can’t agree enough with the credit card thing.”

“About 5 years out of college I had roughly 15k of credit card debt. I’d pay double the minimum and slowly work them down, only to run them up again when I wanted/needed something.”

“It took me three years, but I finally got it all paid off and haven’t run up anything higher than a thousand or so since then.”

“The trick is to consolidate. Put all your bills on one card.”

“Make sure to call around and get the best possible balance transfer rate for the longest. (I lucked out at something like 1% until it was paid off).”

“Then, take all the money you were paying on all the separate cards, plus a little extra, and hit it hard.”

“(For the geeky among you, imagine it as using a super-powerful attack month after month to reduce the health bar of your debt.)”

“It took about $500 a month, which made things tight, but doable.”

“The best part was that once the debt is paid, you’ve gotten accustomed to living in that -$500 a month fashion, and find yourself with an extra $500 in your pocket (or savings) each month.”

“So when you do want/need to spend, you’ve got the cash on hand.” – fffuuuu-na-mana

Get paid to use the toilet.

“Poop at work. You’ll be using less of your own tp and more of your company’s time.”

“I started going into the john to play games on my cell phone for 5-10 minutes just to take a break; while I was in there I’d pinch one out.”

“After a few weeks I realized that I hadn’t replaced my own tp at my apartment in a while.” – Redditor

“And you get paid for that sh*t.” – Redditor

“I prefer to call it ‘professional defecation.’” – De_Draad

“I did the math on this, I make about 30 dollars annually just for sh*tting.” – sambowilkins

Have an extra bag in your car.

“Back when I was 18-26, I always had one full bag packed in my car. It generally had clean underwear, a t-shirt or two, jeans, shorts, flops, and toothbrush/deodorant.”

“I can’t tell you how many times I’d just meet up with some friends and next thing you know it was 2AM and I needed a place to sleep. Having everything with me was awesome.” – ChrisF79

“‘What you invited Chris? Dude that guy sits around after everyone else has left and then suddenly is surprised that its 2am.”

“But no worries, he has a freeloader bag packed in the car. Hope you have lots of food in the fridge. You’ll need it.’”

“Just kidding.” – fdat

“Slightly different structure to mine, but I do something similar. Under the back seat of each of my trucks I have a roll of clothes.”

“T-shirt, pair of jeans, socks, and undies. The difference is, instead of a bag, I have it tightly wrapped up in stretch wrap.”

“It’s like kitchen saran wrap but we use it in receiving to wrap bundles / pallets. The benefits are it keeps it super compact and effectively watertight.”

“The times I’ve had to crack one open often have been because my current clothes got either soaked or dirty working, so nice and dry was a huge benefit.” – vetteboy

Meal prep is the way to go.

“Make lunch for work the night before.”

“1. Groceries are way cheaper than eating out every day – f*ck anyone who thinks you’re lame because you don’t have a Timmyho bagel or BK for lunch everyday. I’m saving 4-5$ per meal.”

“2. Not making lunch the morning makes the morning that much smoother.” – flatlander30

“I take the ‘make lunch for work the night before’ one step further:”

“Make the guts of your sandwiches for the whole week on Sunday. Sandwich your meat, mayo, mustard in between two slices of cheese, pop each one in a ziplock.”

“On your way out the door in the morning, toss in two slices of bread and you’re good to go.” – gertrude104

Eat before shopping.

“Never go grocery shopping when you’re hungry.” – Redditor

“Or the reverse – always go when you’re hungry. I find I buy more grocery stuff, so my kitchen is more full, causing me to eat out less often. Larger initial investment, but overall investment is smaller.” – clunkclunk

“Yeah, but you buy sh*t that you would NEVER buy otherwise. It’s like picking up people when you’re drunk and horny….your inhibitions and judgement flies out the window and everything looks good.”

“Going shopping hungry is the reason that I’ve had a can of ‘gravy and meatballs’ in my pantry for two years.” – weirdboobs

Fear might be a good motivator.

“If there’s something big I want to get done, I tell all my friends I’m going to do it. The fear of looking like an a** helps keep me motivated.” – munificent

“That is how I quit smoking. In addition to telling all my friends and family, I put on my whiteboard at the office the number of days I went without a cigarette in addition to the last time I had one.”

“Last Cigarette: October 17th 2008 6:30 AM Time Since Then: <some value>”

“Every time I increased the number, I felt a small victory. At some point changing the value everyday just became a habit and somewhat trivial.”

“At 100 days or so, I started putting weeks instead of days.”

“Not only did it keep me accountable, people would occasionally see it while in my office and tell me ‘good job!’”

“While I knew they had no idea how incredibly hard it was to quit, knowing that people recognized my effort fueled me even further.”

“At some point, I finally stopped remember to change the number every Friday (70+ weeks).”

“Currently, I do not know how long it has been since I have had a cigarette, but I can tell you the exact time I had my last one.” – dulper

Getting out of bed.

“In the morning I practically jump right out of bed, go and wash my face with cold water. Then I jump back into bed and listen to music while I’m waking up.”

“I’ve found this a lot easier than just lying there waiting to wake up naturally. I can just hop out of bed right away, knowing that I’ll be back in just a minute, and then the water wakes me right up.”

“Before I used to do this I’d just lay there like a sloth, moaning in my head about how tired I am etc… I’ve found this trick to be a good happy-medium.” – cocasyn

“I set morning alarms ten minutes apart. When the first one goes off, I grab a piece of caffeine gum that I keep on my nightstand, chew it for about fifteen seconds and get rid of it.”

“Fall back asleep. When the second one goes off, getting out of bed is not only easy, but exciting.” – Redditor

“Definitely agree with this. Be sure to have a good pump up song on the ready to.”

“Something that either makes you smile or one you would have on at the gym. And I love a good face rinse, just feels…right.” – SloppyJoMo

“I used to have my computer set up to start playing a specific iTunes playlist on the stereo at a certain time. The playlist was exactly as long as I had in the morning and went from chill songs to more energetic.”

“Throughout my morning routine, I could always tell how I was doing on time by the currently playing song.” – munificent

We don’t always do things the easy way.

In a time where the little things can seem extra difficult given everything that’s been going on, we might as well take some advice from stranger and make our lives a little more pleasant.

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People Describe The Stupidest Financial Decision They’ve Ever Made

Learning how to use and save money isn’t a natural born instinct.  It’s a skill that comes with a lot of time and a lot of budgeting.

It also comes with a lot of mistakes, as the only way to make sure someone learns is to make sure they mess up all the time.

Unfortunately messing up with money can have serious long term consequences.  Having something on your credit report that brings down the score will stay there for years—seven whole years in the United States.

And since we don’t learn how to budget when we are young, how are we supposed to not make crazy mistakes that follow us around our whole lives?

Redditor viKiKing0 asked:

“What was the stupidest financial decision you ever made?”

Here were some of those answers.

Milestones Don’t Matter

“My now wife and I were renting a terrace house for $50 a week. The landlord who was a very strange cat offered to sell us the house if we paid the weekly rent for 10 years.”

“Rent per year was about $2600 so for $26000 we would have owned a house. We were 20 years old and ten years was forever so we said no . That was my BIG mistake.”

“To people who have asked : The house was in Tasmania. About 40 years ago. At that stage I was earning about $250 per week.”

“It was double story ,2 bedroom terrace house. We bought a house about 6 years later for about $75000. We knew the landlord, he was divesting a lot of properties he owned.”-1999falcon

“Was a 10-99 day trader out of college. Didn’t pay taxes for a year or two. Making peanuts, IRS won’t notice, right?”

“The penalties were more than the original amount owed. Had to put $6,500 on a credit card (bad choice #2). Sent me on a 20 year whirlwind of credit card crappiness. Should have paid my taxes.”

“Should have set up a payment plan with the IRS.”-LurkersGoneLurk

“I got my B.S. in criminal justice. Applied for quite a few jobs, tested in and interviewed for several, but never got them.”

“My dream job was to be a coroner investigator, but I totally flubbed the interview.”

“I ended up going back to school for 3 semesters and got a second A.A./certificate in Paralegal Studies, got a job within a month of graduating.”

“I somewhat regret my CJ degree, but having a Bachelors really helps with other job prospects, so it all worked out in the end.”

“Find something related to the field that you might enjoy if finding work in the field doesn’t work out.”-callhersavage

When Stress Lies To You

“Last year at the start of the pandemic I got a great job as a video game developer working on one of the most successful VR titles.”

“After a few weeks the imposter syndrome was getting worse and worse and eventually I just…quit, I couldn’t take the stress it was causing me and I explained I’d need some time.”

“I never went back to it, never communicated, just returned to a state of depression.”

“Now I’m sat at work on a hot Sunday afternoon back in my call centre job, worrying about how I’ll get to the end of the month with the money left in the bank.”-MrSpindles

“Columbia warehouse records and tapes. I was 15….didn’t read the fine print stating i agreed to purchase at least one tape or record EVERY month for a year.”

“I got my 13 cassettes for a penny…and bought maybe one or two more cassettes as the year went on then forgot about it.”

“Cut to a year later i owed the difference of $86 for the cassettes i didnt buy. They hounded me for 10 yrs…one day when i came back from working offshore i had a few grand and was like ‘fuck it..u win’…i sent them a check for $86.”

“I like to think my account went through multiple hands through the years within the biz and once i eventually paid, the person got a promotion and a celebration was had for FINALLY getting this dude to pay up.”-ImInArea52

“My ex and I moved in together. Paid half each for deposits and all the bills etc. I took out a 4k loan in my name and bought furniture with it, I also bought us a 1.5k bed on finance.”

“My mistake was not getting it in writing that as I was paying the loans anything purchased with that would be mine.”

“I walked away with an £800 telly and nothing else and was still paying the loan off for 1.5 years after I moved out. In the future I will be keeping receipts and written agreements!”-spitroastyomum

Getting Screwed By An Ex, An Ex-Family Or An Ex-Hobby

“When I split with my ex husband, we came to our own agreement – I gave him the house (my share was about $100k) and he wouldn’t ask for child support (even though we had 50/50 care, I’d still have to pay him as I earned more).”

“I thought it would be less disruption for our kids if they could stay in their home half the time, and I’d be able to save for my own home deposit over the coming years.”

“We agreed the house would eventually go to the kids anyway. Despite the split, I had complete trust in him sticking to the deal.”

“4 months after the house was in his name, he moved in with his new girlfriend, sold the house and took me to court for child support saying there was no agreement.”

“The court believed him and I had to pay him another $80k over the next 5 years. It’s the worst decision I’ve ever made in my life, and I’m still suffering for it.”-idontwannabeflawless

“I wound up with a good $5k in credit card debt because “family”. Cut off most of my family 4 years ago, and it took another 3 years to pay off the debt.”

“My credit is still only decent because of how often I’d skip paying the bills because my family needed money again. I kept being told it would all get paid back, and they would pay off the credit cards.”

“Shockingly – they never did. Told me since I was cutting them off, I didn’t deserve it.”

“It’s RIDICULOUSLY hard to recover your credit once the debt is paid off because now you have nothing to pay to prove you can pay it, but no one will lend to you, because your history shows you can’t pay it. Capitalism ftw.”

“Sometimes I wonder how my family would react now if they knew how much more money I make now than I did back then, and they can’t get their grubby little hands on any of it.”-Emmyisme

“Last year around this time a buddy and inwere discussing AMC stock..it was like $1.98 or so…i told him ‘dude..im looking at the amc stock..when covid is over by next summer its going to pop..might go to $10 a share..we can make a quick buck.’”

“I was going to put $20,000 in it on margin….we discussed this for the next two months a few times a week…its gonna pop..its gonna pop….THEN the news started hitting around november of movie chains going bankrupt..out of biz for ever.”

“Streaming new movies is the new way of life…movie companies releasing movies same day as theater and in some cases ONLY on streaming…etc..etc…it was relentless news on how theaters are done for good…….so i didnt buy it.”

“Yes..im a dumb a**….but i believed streaming new movies was taking off big time and amc was on the verge of collapse based on all the news and chaos.”-ImInArea52

“I met a woman online, went to see her for a week, then decided to move across the country to be with her.”

“To afford this move, I sold all of my Magic: The Gathering cards which were older than Mercadian Masques for $3000.”

“These included a full set of dual lands (about an even split of Revised and Unlimited), some Arabian Nights stuff, and Mana Drains and about ten Force of Will.”

“She met someone else while I was figuring out to how move, and informed me when she met me at the airport.”

“About 10 months later, I used my last dime on gas as I packed my stuff into my car and drove across the country to move back in with my father at age 24.”-bp_516

Everybody makes major money mistakes.  Financial independence and stability is not something anybody comes by naturally, if they’re not from a wealthy family.

Perhaps it’s time to be a little bit more forgiving of our own transgressions.

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People Discuss What They Think Are the Biggest Rip-Offs

We’ve all splurged on expensive goods or services at certain points in our lives, and sometimes those things bring value, while other times…other times they’re totally useless. Useless isn’t always bad as long as an object brings you joy, but if your purchase doesn’t even do that? Well, maybe don’t put your money down, then.

A Redditor asked contributors to expose some of these major money-wasters. Let’s dig in!

10. Edible Gold

Apparently it’s not a seasoning.

“Any food or drinks with gold flakes, it does nothing for the taste.”—OldMork

9. Abs Shortcut

Nothing can guarantee abs, ever!

“Those stimulation stomach belts that tell you it will give you six pack abs.”—steph074

8. Being a cheapskate is actually a waste.

Take it from this Redditor.

“Counter-intuitive but, buying cheap stuff to save money and then having to buy it again or pay for reparation. Example: appliences, shoes and furniture.”—marioguitar85

7. MLMs

Just stay away.

“Timeshares or any MLM program.”—llcucf80

6. Education

Well, in this context.

“An education for a degree you didnt end up using but whose loans you are still paying off.”—WindyShores42

5. Throwing a Fancy Wedding

Unless you can afford it without taking on debt, right?

“Throwing a lavish wedding. I get that people want to make the day special, but you can still have a very nice wedding without breaking the bank. Instead of spending so much on the wedding, you can use that money to help get your new life together as a married couple off to a great start!”—Gilbert_the_Gobblin

4. Paying for Cable

Especially with today’s streaming options.

“Cable TV. There are so many streaming options out there that cost a fraction of what cable costs.”—DeathSpiral321

3. Club Alcohol

This is why pre-gaming exists.

“Alcohol at clubs! 15 dollars for a drink in NYC. Flasking is the move!”—Reventon0207

2. Freemium

Apps can be a rip-off.

“In-game purchases in apps.”—wildjuicechase

1. Um…cults are bad.

Moral of the story: be careful about the groups you join!

“I was in a cult for decades that asked for 10% of my income every time I got paid. If I didn’t pay it, I couldn’t access the super secret magic rituals that would let me into Heaven.

Also they asked me to work for them in a foreign country, for free, for two years convincing other people to join the cult. I was supposed to pay my own way. While this wasn’t exactly considered necessary to get into Super Extra Heaven, it was heavily implied that it would help. Also that my future spouse would be better looking if I did it.

Turns out my money, and the money of millions of others, is now sitting in a tax free, 100 billion dollar investment fund.”—applezombi

Regardless of what you think of some of these opinions, you can be certain Reddit users will always find a way to entertain you with their insight. What did you think of these “money-wasters”? Sound off in the comments!

The post People Discuss What They Think Are the Biggest Rip-Offs appeared first on UberFacts.

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These Financial Tips Can Help You Make the Best of Your Hard-Earned Cash

We all want to manage their finances, have good credit, and save up a bit of cash. And if for people who don’t have a financial advisor (i.e. almost everyone), Two Cents at Lifehacker is a popular site for financial advice. They compiled a list of some popular tips that could help you manage your money in 2020.

Check out these 8 ideas that might help you hack your finances.

8. When to Use a Savings Account

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When thinking about where to put your money, I often get questions about which high yield savings account is better. They're all so low it really doesn't move the needle.⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ Cash under the mattress obviously isn't a good way to go.⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ And your primary residence is more of a forced savings account than a great investment. The math in this example doesn't even account for the COSTS of homeownership (maintenance, insurance, mortgage interest, etc). When you account for those, you get a negative return. Note this only refers to your "primary residence". If you buy investment real estate, a property where you're getting an income stream, it changes the math dramatically in your favor.⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ But index funds are still king. Buying and holding index funds is the most efficient and effective way to build massive wealth.⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ When I talk about index fund returns, I often hear "That's not realistic! What about inflation?!" And for sure, that's an important factor. A million bucks in 40 years from now won't be able to buy as much as it would today.⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ But if you account for inflation, the math is even more ugly for everything but index funds. Assuming inflation of 3% per year, your $120,000 invested under your mattress would be worth only $68,316 today. Your savings account would barely have held it's value at $135,980. Your house would barely outpace inflation being worth $165,246. But your index fund investment, after accounting for 3% of inflation would still be worth $962,447. Almost a million bucks. And almost SIX TIMES MORE than the EXACT SAME amount of money invested in your primary residence.⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ One last caveat: While an S&P 500 index fund is great, I personally think it's a better strategy to invest in a TARGET DATE INDEX FUND. That has the S&P 500 index fund inside of it and is better diversified⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ As always, reminding you to build wealth by following the two PFC rules: 1.) Live below your means and 2.) Invest early and often.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ – Jeremy⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ #interestrates #savingsaccount #investing #growth #rate #investingtips #debtfreecommunity #stockmarket #indexfunds #inflation #savings #save #invest

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If you live paycheck to paycheck it’s hard to follow financial advice that applies to people with more stability. But once you get a little cushion going, keep only the minimum in your checking account. Move the rest into a savings account, and make sure it has high interest.

You’ll make money off what you keep in savings and feel less tempted to splurge when the time comes.

7. Pay Cash or Credit at the Gas Pump

It’s no secret that card skimmers still prey on debit card users at the gas pump. If you must use your debit card, go inside and pay from there.

6. Use Your Credit Card Points

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We hope you all had a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Things have been a little slow over here and will probably continue to be so while we enjoy this holiday break with family ❤ . Today I wanted to hop on and share the cards my mom and I signed up for in 2019! . Alex’s Credit Cards . ? Amex Marriott Bonvoy- This card is no longer available. When SPG and Marriott merged, this card got the axe. I signed up for it right before then and earned 75,000 points. . ? Southwest Premier Biz- My husband got this card back in May. He got 60,000 points. . ? Southwest Plus- My husband got this card in May as well when they offered a limited time bonus of 60,000 points. After meeting the minimum spend on both Southwest cards he got the Southwest Companion Pass ??. . ? Amex Marriott Bonvoy Biz- I signed up for this card in September while they offering a limited time bonus of 100,000 points. . ? Capital One Venture- My husband opened this card in November for a bonus of 50,000 points. . . . Pam’s Credit Cards . ? Delta Gold Card-My husband opened this one for 70,000 Skymiles. . ? Amex Green- My husband also opened this one for 35,000 Membership Reward Points. . ? Upgraded my Amex Bonvoy to the Bonvoy Brilliant Card- I upgraded my card after I got an email offering 100,000 points. . It’s been a slow year for me as I work to get under Chase 5/24. I’ve never had any of the Chase Ultimate Reward cards and am so close to being able to qualify for them ????. …. As you can see our husband’s cards count towards our points total. We travel hack in two player mode so we can get even more points! What cards have you opened this year?

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It’s tempting to “save” credit card rewards or points until the right moment, but they can actually lose value over time. Use them as soon as you’re able to because credit card companies sometimes drop or change partners, making it hard for you to get what you want later on.

5. Don’t Use a Credit Card with Venmo

Venmo can help you split bills with friends or roommates in a hassle-free way. That convenience is great, but make sure you don’t use a credit card with it because you’ll pay a 3% fee every time. If, for example, you’re splitting rent, 3% of hundreds of dollars every month is no chump change.

4. Use a Credit Card to Buy Flights

First off, credit cards offer more protection in case of fraudulent charges. Secondly, they offer additional insurance that can protect you in case of a delay or other travel mishap. Third, some cards have other specific benefits having to do with travel (although you should check with yours before you expect anything in particular).

3. Don’t Wait on Equifax

Millions of people were affected by Equifax’s 2017 data breach, but the company’s $31 million fund is not going to pay those whose information was compromised (SUCH A SCAM). That’s because $31 million divided by $125 (what they said they would pay out) is 248,000 people – and a lot more people than that are owed money. Most people will see significantly less, or no money at all.

2. Do NOT Spend Money That Accidentally Ends up in Your Bank Account

Banks make mistakes, including occasionally depositing money into the wrong bank account by accident. If that happens to you, resist the urge to splurge and let the bank know about the extra cash immediately. Spending the money will almost certainly cause legal problems for you, so do the right thing here.

1. Make Sure Your Credit Is Good Enough

Everyone wants to have an 850 credit score, but it’s practically impossible. A score of 740 or higher is good enough to unlock many benefits without the added stress. Here is one area where good enough is definitely where you should aim.

 

It may not be easy to adhere to every single tip here, but even implementing one or two of these is bound to help out.

Do you have any financial tips? Let us know!

The post These Financial Tips Can Help You Make the Best of Your Hard-Earned Cash appeared first on UberFacts.