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These 15 Real Stories Prove That Karma Is Totally Real

Karma is the idea that your past actions determine your future. Do good, and good will come to you. Do bad, and you sow the seeds of your own suffering. These 15 Redditors share stories of people who definitely got what was coming to them, and after reading these stories… I think there may be some truth to the concept of karma.

1. A severe accident

“We had a blood drive at school after a classmate had gotten himself into a pretty severe accident. A while later, I decided to donate again. I was told that after they had tested my previous donation, I had missed out on some childhood disease.

This meant my blood could be given to infants. I regularly donate now and feel good every time.”

2. Just a bonus

“I pulled into a parking lot to go and pick up a little kitten that we had seen curled up on the ground. I immediately ran out of gas, but if we hadn’t pulled in there, then we would have run out of gas in the middle of a busy, traffic-heavy road.

The kitten was just a bonus!”

3. Living out of a car

“When I was 16, I lived out of my car because I couldn’t get an apartment because no one would rent to a 16-year-old. It was an old beater, and I had to push start it everywhere. I pulled into a Walmart to buy some decent clothes (which I needed more than I needed the parts for my car), and there was a purse in the basket of the cart next to me.

I opened it and inside the wallet was a $1,000 in cash, several credit cards, and an ID. I wanted so badly to spend it all, and I was going to. ‘Score!’ I thought. ‘New clothes, plus the parts that I need.’

I grabbed the cash and put the purse back in the cart.

As I was paying for the clothes, I just couldn’t bring myself to pay with her money. So, I paid with mine and went back to my car. The purse was still where I had left it, so I put the money back and looked at the address.

It was right down the road, but it took me about an hour to find. I finally got there, parked in the street, and the lady was standing in her garage next to her nice new car in a fancy neighborhood on the phone canceling all of her credit cards.

I walked up and asked her if she had lost her purse.

I was pretty rough looking, and I could tell she was a bit nervous. I handed it to her and told her that I had had to open it to find her address. She didn’t say anything. I got into my car and left. I was disappointed because it seemed like she didn’t even appreciate it.

Anyway, I continued to where I worked (I stayed there in my car most of the time.) The next day, I woke up and went to McDonald’s to get some breakfast. I got to work and saw the lady leaving but then thought, ‘Ahh, that wasn’t her.

It must’ve just been a coincidence.’

When I went inside the parts for my car were there, $100, and a note that read: ‘Thanks.’ I was confused (How did she know which parts I needed? How did she know where I worked?) A few days before I had gone over what I needed for my car, wrote it down on the back of a pay stub along with the number to the parts house.

Apparently, when I got out at her house, this paper came out of my car. She wrote in the note that she had seen it after I had left and picked it up. After she realized all her money was in her purse along with everything else, she went down and picked up the parts and dropped them off for me.

This was easily the nicest thing anyone had ever done for me.

For about an hour’s drive, I got over $300 worth of car parts and $100 in cash. The good feeling that I had for weeks, though, well that was worth way more than the $600+ I would’ve made if I had kept her money.”

4. Sorry, bro

“My brother and I were stuck at a friend’s house because they had a wild guard dog that broke its chain. My brother pushed me out, so I had to run to the gate as the dog chased me. I managed to escape and went home.

My brother got home 30 minutes later and went to bed crying because I told my mum he was sleeping over and had eaten his dinner.”

5. Secret Millionaire

“We went out with my uncle and his family for dinner at a nice restaurant in Dallas/Ft Worth. There were seven of us there and just spent the night trying to see how much we could spend on one dinner. This guy from the bar kept coming up to our table and making conversation by commenting on how awesome my 6-month-old son was, etc.

By the end of the night, he was starting to get annoying, and my uncle was discussing with us whether or not he should say something, but we told him not to.

I said, ‘Don’t worry about it, he’s just having a good time. Plus, he seems like a good guy.’

So, when it came time to pay our bill, the waiter just said, ‘Have a nice evening, and thanks for coming in.’

My uncle and I were confused and asked the waiter about the check. He told us that the guy who had kept coming up to us paid our tab and that it was already done so there nothing we could do about it.

He even told us that that guy did stuff like this all the time. Our bill was $1,500. Later, my uncle sought the guy out in the other room and gave him a big hug.

The guy just said, ‘You have such a beautiful family just remember to pay it forward sometime.’

The guy even tipped the waiter some crazy amount from the look the waiter gave us.

So, I learned always be nice to the loud guy in the bar because you never know who might be a secret millionaire.”

6. Perfect catch

“The drama nerd that I am, I once had an armload of bags and was running late for a rehearsal. No parking spots were available outside of the theatre, so I got stuck parking outside of the quad on my campus and had to walk towards the theatre.

There was a load of jocks throwing a football around by my spot goofing off. I parked and proceeded to struggle with balancing the bags while looking like a complete geek.

As I passed by the jocks, the ball ‘accidentally’ came my way/ right towards me, but as it ebbed towards my legs, I coolly kicked the football upwards and caught it with my nondominant hand (even as both of my arms were still loaded down with bags).

I then proceeded to toss it back to them casually and continue my journey while they were left completely shocked.”

7. Just what he needed

“I found a purse that was left in a cart outside of a store where I used to work. I went against policy and opened it and found a name and then contacted the lady. It was her purse, and she had been frantically looking for it.

I waited at the store after hours for her to come by and get it, and she gave me an envelope to open when I got home. It turned out to be almost exactly how much I was short on for rent ($120).”

8. Bonus

“I worked for an events company, and the morning of our biggest annual event last year, I was sent to the office to pick up a couple of things. As I was leaving the office, another guy approached me with a sob story. I was in a hurry, so I cut him off and was just like, ‘How much do you need?’ He said $10 would do, so I gave him the money and headed on my way.

The event went fine. It wasn’t great in terms of how much money we made, but we sometimes got bonuses at my job which were usually tied to the event and how much money it made. I wasn’t expecting a bonus due to a sub-par year, but two days later, I had a bonus check worth five percent of my salary sitting on my desk.

I’d like to think the karma gods were smiling on me.”

9. The easiest money he ever made

“I was out with my girlfriend at a late night movie when I spotted another older couple walking. Now I have to admit now, the guy I saw had on a long coat, cane, and wore sunglasses during the night. That being said, I’m fairly certain the man was a hustler or held some related job.

The wind was blowing hard that night. All of a sudden, I watch this guy’s hat fly off into the street. He didn’t seem to mind and just kept walking. I assumed it was because he didn’t want to look dumb chasing his hat down the road.

I, on the other hand, had no shame and began chasing it just for fun trying to be helpful.

I brought his hat back to him, and he said, ‘Thanks, brother.’

I replied, ‘No problem, man. I just like chasing stuff.’

He then went in for a handshake, and I felt something in his hand. At this point, I’m not sure if he just handed me a bag of something bad or a business card. So, I walked away with my girlfriend.

Once we got in our car, I turned to her and said, ‘That guy just gave me this.’

I unfolded a crisp $100 bill and proceeded to buy drinks for everyone that night.

It was the easiest $100 I’ve ever made.”

10. Furniture salesman

“At one point in my life, I sold furniture and was terrible at it. It was a rough point in my life where I made MAYBE $1,000 a month (This was around 10 years ago) and pretty much had nothing left after rent and bills. There were a lot of times when I didn’t eat for days because I couldn’t afford to buy food.

One day, I was trying to sell furniture and was selling absolutely nothing. It was nearing the end of the day, and I had made $0 (I was on commission).

An old couple came in, and they were looking at TV stands. All of the other sales representatives avoided them because we all knew that they were going to take up a bunch of time and probably just end up buying something for around $100 (and that was around a $2 commission). There were also no add-ons because who in their right mind would purchase a $29.99 extended warranty on a $100 item.

I looked at them and figured, ‘Oh well…

If I can sell anything today, then at least I won’t get skunked, and maybe my luck will turn around after that.’

They ended up buying two stands (which was a $6 commission for me) but asked how they would be put together. They were old and couldn’t do it. There was a service I could’ve referred them to (for a fee, of course), but I was desperate and didn’t want to lose the sale especially after having spent around 45 minutes with them.

So I said, ‘I’m off at 9 p.m. If you pick me up, I’ll come and set up the stands for you for free.’ They took the offer, paid for the furniture, and left.

The other sales reps laughed at me. They laughed at me more when my quitting time came around, and I hadn’t sold anything else. The old couple picked me up promptly at 9 p.m., and I loaded the boxes into their trunk. As we drove to their house, I found out he was a retired judge, and she was a housewife.

We got into their beautiful condo, which was a lot bigger than most houses, and I began working on assembling the furniture.

I could smell some food cooking and tried to ignore it (I hadn’t eaten in three days, so it was hard). I worked for almost three hours straight until it was all done. I then moved the finished product into position and even moved their TVs for them.

It was getting close to midnight, and I was trying to politely excuse myself from their home.

The old lady then grabbed me and took me to their kitchen. She seated me and pulled out a plate of freshly made roast beef. This itself was better than any money. I was so grateful and thankful that I held back tears as I ate the delicious homecooked meal she had just prepared for me. It was now after 12:30 a.m. I thanked them again and was about to leave when the old man stopped and offered me a ride home.

The old lady packed up the rest of the roast beef and told me to keep the Tupperware. They both came for the ride, and I couldn’t stop thanking them for helping me.

As the car stopped and I got out and thanked them one last time, the lady handed me an envelope. I didn’t open it but just said, ‘Thank you.’ I happily went up to my apartment knowing that I was going to sleep with a full stomach that night and that I would get to eat for the next couple of days.

I was feeling great. I opened the envelope, and there was a ‘thank you’ card with $100 inside. I cried so much.

After that, for the rest of the time that I sold furniture, I always ran to help the people nobody else wanted to. I changed my focus from getting a big sale every day to getting all of the smaller ones that nobody cared about, and it got me through until I got a better paying job.”

11. Karma’s a trip

“I was out for dinner with my then-fiancee, who is now my wife, and her dad. He was always a bit mean to her. He got divorced and remarried and seemed to love those kids more than my wife. He tended to give her smack over too many things, etc.

Anyway, we were at the end of the dinner, and my father-in-law offered to pay for the meal.

Okay, that’s a nice gesture. My wife asked to get her leftovers boxed so that she could take it home.

He started with, ‘Well, you’re just going to leave it in the fridge, and then it’ll just get thrown out.

Blah, blah. blah.’

I told him, ‘Listen, it’s not your fridge, so leave her alone.’ (We were living together at this point).

He got all mad and said, ‘Don’t tell me how to raise my daughter!’

I replied with, ‘Then don’t speak to my fiancee that way!’

He threw the bill and folder thing at me and said, ‘FINE! THEN YOU PAY’ and stormed out.

By now, everyone was upset, and my fiancee was saying to me, ‘Why did you have to start something?’

I paid the bill and was waiting for the receipt (for a good 10 minutes or so).

I thought to myself ‘What’s going on?’ There was a lot of tension, and her dad was just waiting outside at this point building up steam probably getting ready to blow once we got out.

I asked the waiter, ‘Can I just get our bill and go?’

‘Oh no sir, you have to wait for the manager.’

It turns out, they were having a running promotion where ‘Every bill was a winner.’ Normally, you would win a free drink or an appetizer with your next meal, but we won the GRAND PRIZE which was a trip for four to Florida.

Whoever paid got the prize. WELL, GUESS WHAT… I PAID BECAUSE HER FATHER STORMED OUT. KARMA’S REAL.”

12. Pizza delivery

“I used to deliver pizzas. I was taking redelivery for an order that was done wrong the first time around. It was going to the worst hotel in our delivery area. The redelivery was a single one-topping medium pizza.

I pulled up, and there was a guy that said he needed some cash for a tow truck.

He gave me a typical sob story about how his wife and kids were blah, blah, blah. Normally, I don’t give into those kinds of things, but on occasion, I take the approach of, ‘Well, if this guy is lying to me then shame on him.’

Aside from that, for some reason, his story seemed more plausible. Supposedly, we had graduated from the same high school (Although he was a little bit older than I was). I cut to the chase, asked him how much cash he needed, and gave him $7.

He ran back over to the gas station, and I didn’t see him again. I had a pizza to deliver!

I ran up the stairs of the hotel to the room, gave them their replacement pizza, apologized for the first mistake, and left.

As I was walking away, the guy came out and was like, ‘Oh wait, we forgot to give you a tip.’ Any tip on redelivery was a win, so I hustle back to the room. The guy handed me a $50 bill and told me to have a good night.”

13. Not a bad paycheck

“I was a $10/hour employee at a ski resort. I found a wallet with $500 in it that I turned in. Later, I was called to the office to meet the man who owned the wallet. He gave me $100 as a reward.”

14. Groceries

“I had just finished grocery shopping and loaded my bags into my car, got in, and turned the key to get nothing… oh no. My car was dead for whatever reason. I sat there for another 20 minutes, checking the wires on my battery to make sure that everything was properly in place.

I just changed the battery a month ago, so I knew that it couldn’t be that. I called my girl to come and pick me up. She said that it was going to be another 20 minutes, so I had time to kill.

I happened to see an elderly lady pushing her cart to her car.

This cart had four times more bags than mine did. I already know it was going to be a struggle for her. I went over and offered her help. She accepted. So, I help her load her groceries into her car.

I headed back and thought, ‘What the heck?

Why not give my car one more try.’ Bam. It started. My first thought, ‘This car must run on karma.’”

15. Take a seat

“One time when I was about 8 years old, my older sister and I were fighting over a seat. This seat was ‘Godlike’ and was the softest and coldest in the summer heat. She won the argument with brute force and sat down on it as a result of her victory over me.

There was a wasp lodged in the cushions with its stinger exposed right where she sat. She was allergic and cried the whole day.”

The post These 15 Real Stories Prove That Karma Is Totally Real appeared first on UberFacts.

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12+ People Who Definitely Angered the Universe

Some days, it feels like the universe is telling us to just stay inside and try again tomorrow. No matter what we do, things simply won’t go our way.

Well, these 15 people are definitely having one of those days  — or weeks, or months, or years. It happens to the best of us.

#15. “I owned new Tupperware for approximately 26 minutes.”

Photo Credit: Reddit

#14. I’m just over here trying to figure out how he laid face-down in a baseball cap.

Photo Credit: Reddit 

Now that’s some talent right there.

#13. “Something strange has happened to my tire.”

Photo Credit: Reddit

TFW you baffle even the most experienced of auto mechanics.

#12. This photo surprises no cat owner ever.

Photo Credit: Reddit

Whelp, that’s $100 well-spent!

#11. “Guess I won’t be reaping that Norway scenery karma”

Photo Credit: Reddit

Hope they used miles…

#10. “This happened 10 minutes before the home inspector was scheduled to arrive.”

Photo Credit: Reddit

I’m sure they’ve seen worse?

#9. ““My father asked me to sort the pennies he’s been collecting for 40 years…”

Photo Credit: Reddit

Someone keep dad inside for the next…6 hours!

#8. “I missed a part of $667 million lottery by one digit.”

Photo Credit: Reddit

I think that’s still a winning ticket for a bunch of money though, right?

#7. If there was ever a reason to cry…

Photo Credit: Reddit

Aw, we’ve all been there, kid.

#6. “Wall collapses at Morton Salt building in Chicago”

Photo Credit: Reddit

I bet they thought those parking spots were sweet…but they were salty instead.

#5. When you keep telling your husband there’s a noise in the wall, and he finally agrees to call someone about it even though “you’re hearing things.”

Photo Credit: Facebook

Silent screams forever.

#4. Too bad snakes don’t have to carry liability.

Photo Credit: Twitter

Sheesh! Do snakes work for insurance companies?!

#3. “This big sinkhole in my yard that just came out of nowhere.”

Photo Credit: Reddit

You might want to call a priest, just in case.

#2. Who’s a good boy?

Photo Credit: Reddit

“It’s ME-oh no.”

#1. Super villain in training.

Photo Credit: Twitter

Here’s hoping you’ve got someone with some compassion nearby next time you find yourself behind the wheel of one of these out-of-control bad luck busses!

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The 10 Best (and Worst) States for Your Tax Bill If You Are Looking to Move

Looking to change states? If you havea little freedom to choose, then you may want to look into how each state will impact your pocketbook. Not only should you consider cost of living, but some states are also significantly more tax friendly than others – and those others are just waiting to take the biggest bite out of your bottom line they can.

I mean, to be fair they do use taxes in order to fund roads and education and all sorts of government works, but still. That stuff can be expensive. And if your bottom line is what’s most important to you, then you’re going to be intrigued by the two lists below.

The Most Tax-Friendly States

Photo Credit: Pixabay

#10. Louisiana

#9. Mississippi

#8. Arizona

#7. Delaware

#6. North Dakota

#5. Nevada

#4. Florida

#3. South Dakota

#2. Wyoming

#1. Alaska

None of these are really surprising to me – you?

Fun fact: Alaska actually pays residents to live there, too. Or it will as long as the oil keeps flowing.

Least Tax-Friendly States

Photo Credit: Pixabay

#10. Connecticut

#9. New Jersey

#8. California

#7. Hawaii

#6. Vermont

#5. Maine

#4. Illinois

#3. New York

#2. Maryland

#1. Minnesota

I kinda expected California to be the worst, right? Regardless, if you’re looking for lower state tax bills, it might behoove you to cross the Northeast off your list.

I gotta say it one more time though – taxes fund important government works. It seems clear there’s a reason many of the tax friendliest states are also some of the most sparsely populated: there are just fewer people the government needs to serve.

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15 Red Flags When It Comes to Finding a Therapist, According to Patients

Admitting that you need help takes a lot of courage, which is why you want to make sure you get the help you deserve from someone who is qualified to give it. A bad therapist might be worse than not talking to anyone at all. And when you found out you’ve been seeing a bad one, it sucks.

It sucks so bad, AskReddit put out a call for red flags to look for according to both experienced patients and other therapists. Hopefully this’ll help keep you away from any real quacks.

#15. Bad advice.

“When your 3 month pregnant fiance is killed suddenly and the therapist says “You shouldn’t cry.”

Lol. Im tough as nails… but yeah bro. Bad advice.”

#14. You’re gonna see someone else.

“When they get angry that you’re gonna see someone else… my old coworker said that to her therapist and that lady flipped out on her…”

#13. No other comments or helpful dialogue.

“Asking questions like “What can I help you with?” and getting short or frustrated with you when you have trouble producing a tangible issue with an elegant and easily forecasted solution.​

Asking “How does that make you feel?”, or something similar over and over, with no other comments or helpful dialogue.”

#12. Gee, thanks lady.

“from my old therapist: “But emotional abuse isn’t really abuse, right?”

Gee, thanks lady.”

#11. When you pay in advance.

“He offers complementary Prozac when you pay in advance for 3 sessions or more.”

#10. Therapy isn’t one size fits all.

“This is a less glaring red flag, but a therapist should always tell you that it’s okay if their style of therapy doesn’t work for you. They should be open about the fact that it’s okay to stop and see someone else. They should also tell you that they’d like you to tell them if they make you uncomfortable/mad etc.

I feel like so many people would have better experiences with therapy if therapists were open that they aren’t perfect, all-knowing, brain-fixing psychics. Therapy isn’t one size fits all.”

#9. Turns out he got paid.

“They get kickbacks for prescriptions.

I had a therapist keep me on an SSRI that made my moodswings worse to the point I tried to kill myself. Every time I expressed concern, he told me to “just keep giving it a chance,” and got angry when I quit. Turns out, he got paid for every patient he got on Celexa.

Edit: Because everyone points it out, yes he was a psychiatrist. I just misused the word therapist.”

#8. Confidentiality.

“They break confidentiality by talking to your parents, spouse, etc about your sessions.”

#7. She forgot key details.

“Mine was okay at first but later forgot key details in what was going on with me, began to judge some lifestyle choices in ways that were pretty much just “oh it’s only a phase” and kept repeating to me that I have a hulk inside me and need to just keep it under control as his only “technique.” Still in the market for a new one but there aren’t many where I live

Edit since there were a few questions being asked:

I was absolutely a very angry person before. I ruined things with my ex because of how easily I would become upset/angry. But I’m a teacher and I’m genuinely struggling to become a better person both for my sake and the sake of my students. I genuinely tried to implement what this therapist was discussing with me, and I know these are just words so maybe it’s difficult to believe but when I had to answer the questions “who is x person, and who is y person? And fell me where you work again?” over and over again, on top of the therapist forgetting that my parents are divorced and so on, it was difficult. I gave him the benefit of the doubt for a long time, but I’m surprised this information was not in his notes.

And for the most part, all that he offered was, again, breathing techniques to calm down and stop the hulk within. First off, I wasn’t so angry to the point I would punch things or anything like that. I would get more upset than angry. I struggled a lot wondering if I was a good person and being treated like I was this hulk just made me feel worse. To some extent I can see why that might sound like something I don’t want to hear. But the reality is that I needed more than just anger management and I didn’t want that to be the main focus and reminder of the damage I had done to my life.

Nowadays I’ve learned to just not stop moving. I wake up early to do a few chores, go to work and spend nearly ten hours of my day doing that (that includes commuting). I come home and I’ll exercise, cook, read, game, watch tv, write…anything to just keep moving. If I stop to think too much I get severely depressed so i think i know now to just not stop. But frankly it’s tiring. That’s why I’m going to do my best to come to terms with everything and that’s why I’m searching for a therapist who can guide me and show me the skills needed to do so.

I am considering online therapy but I would prefer in person because I think that works best for me. I have already looked into a therapist about two hours away from me and plan on making monthly trips if that works out. Thank you all for the support!”

#6. Professionalism.

“Lack of punctuality or professionalism. Showing up late, last minute cancellations, deciding to take a non emergency call during a session etc. These show that they are not committed to helping you and don’t value your time.”

#5. The first guy I saw.

“The first guy I saw was cringing with a fake smile on the whole time I talked. Like what I said was beyond crazy and not things every 15 year old says. It was off putting and I’ve really not gone back.”

#4. Facial expressions.

“Facial expressions of disgust or condescension while their mouth is professing compassion or understanding.”

#3. Texting.

“She’s texting while you’re talking.”

#2. Yes, that’s why I’m here.

“I had a therapist once who simply said “that must be so hard” to basically everything I said. Yes, it is, that’s why I’m here, do you have any way to make it better?”

#1. Go find you a good one.

“Starts the session by telling you that he was once formally disciplined for having an inappropriate relationship with a patient, and then ends it by inviting you to meet up to do some 1-on-1 yoga with him. Later that week, he shows up in your LinkedIn feed for having viewed your profile.

PS – If you have a bad experience with a therapist (like this one that I had, described above), don’t write off therapy. There are bad counselors just like there are bad dentists and bad teachers and bad hair stylists. Walk away from that one and go find you a good one.”

Be happy and healthy, my friends.

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Here Are 15 Useful Skills Your 13-Year-Old Might Need in the Future

Just a heads up, none of these people are experts. Nor are they psychics who can see the future. But if you’re looking for inspiration, or maybe some ways to think outside the box when it comes to preparing your young teenagers for what awaits them in this big, bad, world, these 15 people have some poignant thoughts.

#15. Good study habits.

“Am in college rn.

Please learn good study habits. Holy god. Just do it.

You should also really try and keep all your grades as high as you can. I’m not kidding, a few points here and a few points there cost me 4K in scholarship. It’ll happen to you, too.

Also, don’t get too messed up about girls in high school. It’s not worth ruining a year or two over. Promise.”

#14. Practice.

“Guitar and/or piano. Seriously. Your mom wants you to practice, fucking practice. The ability to casually produce music in social settings will set you apart wherever you go. You don’t even need to be good – just able to make sounds that go in the right order.

And if you don’t learn it now, you never will.”

#13. Nobody is obligated.

“Less “skill” and more “life lesson”

NOBODY is obligated to like you.”

#12. When things go wrong.

“Learn to handle when things go wrong, because they will, and often.”

#11. Make it up.

“No joke, learn to bullshit. It’s more important later in life than you think.

Learn how to talk to people in a way that makes them feel comfortable and have confidence in you. I learned by having a retail job, it teaches you how to connect to people (also some humility). This is useful from the boardroom to the bedroom.

And in case you haven’t figured it out yet, writing papers (essays, reports, etc.) is like 90% bullshit. In college, grab some sources and you can sum up your point in two paragraphs. Bullshitting will allow you to turn that into 2,000 word essay.

Incompetent people that can bullshit become middle management. Competent people that can bullshit become presidents.”

#10. Never forget this.

“Ok, so you’ve got $100. If you let it sit in a savings account for a year at 5% interest, then after one year, it’ll be worth $105.

But here’s where it gets awesome. If you then let that $105 sit there for ANOTHER year, then you get 5% interest on $105 instead of the original $100. So after two years, it’s $110.30. And then $115.80. And so on and so on.

That concept is called compound interest. You get interest on the interest you already earned, and it builds on itself year after year. If you start talking about amounts that are much bigger than $100. Like $100,000 or so? Then those amounts start adding up like crazy.

Now remember that the exact same thing happens to money that you OWE someone.

Never forget this.”

#9. In the long run.

“How to cook for yourself and do your own laundry. Also, tons of financial stuff, learning to properly handle money now will help you out a ton in the long run.”

#8. You never know.

“The two things I used in college that I wished I had known all along were WolframAlpha and the automation features in Excel.

Wolframalpha.com can do integrals, derivatives, areas, volumes, and even compare things like “Number of men in New York City divided by the number of women in Nanjing” which is pretty cool.

Excel can do a lot of work for you if you learn a few tools. VLOOKUP, SUMIFS, and Pivot Tables and Pivot Charts will be super helpful.

It won’t hurt anybody if you do learn some very rudimentary programming as well. There are plenty of free Java tutorials that can give you some tools you can apply to a lot of topics. For example, my wife got a masters in Public Health, and never imagined she’d use programming, but she ended up having to learn a statistical analysis tool that basically needs to be programmed to use. You never know.”

#7. How to ask for help.

“Learn how to ask for help. Don’t have someone else do everything for you, but it’s good to recognize when you genuinely don’t know how to do something so that you can ask someone who does. Can save a lot of time and stress, and you’ll probably learn it better than if you just muddled through on your own.”

#6. Labors of love.

“General yard labour, just to get a little bit of an idea of how to use some tools, and do some sort of manual labour.”

#5. Challenge ideas.

“How to think critically. Challenge ideas from your parents, your teachers, what you see, what you read. Above all those, challenge the ideas of your peers.

And read a damn book once in a while, just for fun.”

#4. Life skills.

“Sewing. The ability to replace buttons and repair small tears will save you a lot of money on clothing you would otherwise throw out or replace.

Cooking. You can make healthy, delicious food for a lot less money than eating out. Bonus for guys, chicks dig a guy who can cook well.

Reading. In a lot of schools, reading is not taught very well, so students commonly feel like it isn’t worth their time to read because they never learned to enjoy it. Books are great free entertainment and they are a wonderful way to learn and grow as a person!

Exercise. You need to know how to keep yourself fit, because it is a hell of a lot easier to get fit at 13 and stay that way than it is to try to get fit at 30.

Work Ethic. Any task worth doing is worth doing well. Cliche? Yes, but cliches exist for a reason, they are constantly applicable. Learn how to work well, how to get shit done without complaining or shirking. Employers and peers recognize people with good work ethics and respect them for it.

Dressing. Learn how to dress well, what clothes work for your body shape and what don’t. Learn how to match and contrast colors and put together outfits. Seriously, this is a very underrated skill and it can pay off. Simply looking stylish and put together can get you through doors that might otherwise be closed.

Finance. Develop good financial habits now, and they will pay dividends (pun intended) later. Live within your means. If you have a credit card, live by a rule of “if I can’t pay off the balance at the end of the month, I can’t afford it.” This one took me WAY too long to learn and I’m trying to play catch up.”

#3. Think for yourself.

“Learn to think for yourself. I’m not saying go out and challenge all authority but don’t let people push you into doing things you don’t want to do in life. Listen to what people have to say, absorb that information and form your own opinions and ideas from it. Too many people get pushed into careers or educational paths they don’t necessarily want to go into because they feel pressured by one person or another to do it. Think before you do.”

#2. Phone calls.

“Learn how to make serious phone calls for making appointments or asking for info. If online info about a business or service is vague or confusing, being able to directly ask a person makes things much less confusing.

It helps to develop a short script to frontload relevant info. “hello, my name is [X], I’m calling to ask about [y]/ I’m calling to schedule an appointment with [z], etc…”

Then learn info that’s commonly needed alongside it for when they ask for it. Address, phone number they can reach you at, driver’s license number, (careful with this one) SSN if you’re in America. Only give that sorta info out when asked, have it ready to go though.

Phone calls still have a very important role in communication even today, and when you need to do serious planning with someone else there’s no substitute to a phone call save for face-to-face meeting.”

#1. Types of knots.

“How to do 1 or 2 different types of tie knots. Regardless of gender this is both easy and quite useful. Being able to make a tie look really good can sometimes save the day.”

 

Good luck out there, parents of teens!

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Here’s What Monthly Income It Takes to Rent a House in Each State

Looking to take the big step and move out on your own? I mean, you can’t stay in your parents’ basement forever, right? Well…some people do, but I’m not so sure you want them as role models.

HowMuch.net recently put together an interesting infographic that shows just how much income you need to rent a house in every state. Needless to say, it might be time to ask for a raise.

(Click the image to expand)

Photo Credit: HowMuch

Based on research data from the popular housing website Zillow, HowMuch calculated the average price of rental property in each state. The final number shown on the map is based on the rule that housing costs should not exceed 30 percent of net income. Whether you are a math whiz or not, it does not take a genius to figure out that renting a home takes a whole lot of cash.

Though the map does not take into account variances by city, there are some eye-popping numbers that will also have your bank account cringing with fear.

Photo Credit: HowMuch

Care to rent a home in the nation’s capital? To nab the average rental property, you’ll need to make nearly $8,500 per month. Good luck having anything left over for furniture.

Photo Credit: HowMuch

Other pricey states for housing rentals include California ($8,313), Hawaii ($7,806) and New York ($7,223). I don’t know about you, but at that price living at home is starting to sound a lot more appealing.

Depending on your location and finances, it may even make sense to buy rather than rent. It’s important to do your research and crunch the numbers before you plunge into the housing market. Then again, maybe spending another year down the hall from mom and dad isn’t so bad after all.

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10+ More of the Biggest “Plot Twists” People Have Experienced in Their Lives

We typically only think of plot twists as things that happen in the movies – a big reveal that changes all that came before it. But, sometimes, they make their way into real life in surprising ways.

These 12 people took to Reddit to share some of the most surprising plot twists from their lives.

Enjoy!

1. A medical evaluation

“My wife’s uncle is an incredibly nice guy who absolutely adores his wife. We started hearing about marital issues. He was becoming more and more argumentative. And then he hit her. They separated. He harassed her to the point that she got a restraining order. He defied the restraining order and was put in jail.

In jail, his issues got him a medical evaluation. Turns out, he had a brain tumor. They removed it. He returned to normal and was released from jail. They’re back together with him back to his wife-adoring self.”

2. Birth father

“I was adopted from South America to the US when I was a toddler and have no memory of my birth parents. I had an older friend/mentor I met in college. I knew him as Mike. He got me involved in the local church and always went out of his way to help me when I needed someone. I never got to thank him for being there for all the times I needed him. After graduating from college I got to meet my birth mother. She did not know where my father was though. When she died, I got a few of her belongings including some pictures. Guess who was in those pictures?

Mike. He was my birth father.

I tried to reach out to him again and I haven’t heard anything.

No one seems to know where he is now. He knew all of those years that he helped me and went out of his way. I knew this because he always seemed to help me even though he didn’t need to. Back then I just thought he was especially nice but thinking back now he definitely knew something about our relationship that I did not.”

3. *Drop the mic*

“A few years ago, I got invited to a friend’s engagement party. They were throwing a huge bash because they were planning on a very small destination wedding. Later in the evening, my friend’s fiancé took the mic and started thanking everyone for being there.

‘Sorry, Jen will be out to thank you guys in a minute, she’s just having a wardrobe malfunction.’ He went on to tell the story about how they met, how they were best friends and decided to get engaged and finished with something along the lines of, ‘We wish you could all be there and that we could get married right now.

So we’re going to.’

Out walks Jen in her wedding dress.”

4. Dementia

“During the last year of my grandfather’s life, he had dementia and was having trouble keeping track of reality. Before he was placed into hospice, he kept complaining about a man that was in his house. He would say that he would come around at night and that he was taking his things and using his stuff. Grandma, of course, kept reassuring him that she was the only one there. His doctor increased his medications because he was losing touch with reality so badly.

Fast forward to my grandfather’s funeral and a man showed up who wasn’t known by more than a few people in the family.

Turns out, he was an old friend of my grandmother’s who showed up to give his support. In a small town like that, it wasn’t exactly an unusual thing to have random people show up to the funeral home who knew the person at some point.

Well, about a year later, my grandmother let slip that she was seeing someone: the guy from the funeral. At this point nothing too odd, they got to talking at church and we thought it was sweet.

Then a bit later sweet, innocent ol’ grandma mentioned that it was their third anniversary.

Grandpa died two years prior. This man was the person that grandpa saw in his house every night. He was the reason that everyone thought grandpa was going crazy, he was the reason that my grandfather was medicated to the point of being a vegetable for the last horrible year of his life.”

5. Bitter rivals

“The little town I grew up in had these two car dealerships on opposite sides of town – one Chevy, one Ford.

They were bitter rivals. Attack ads, bad mouthing talking salesman, billboard wars, you name it.

When the owner of the Chevy dealership died, it came out he’d also owned the Ford dealership by way of a shell company.

No one saw that coming, including a lot of the higher-ups who worked at the dealerships.”

6. Reserved and distant

“My grandfather’s funeral. He was always a fairly reserved and distant father, as far as I understood. He would definitely fit the stereotype of a northern dockworker who comes home expecting dinner to be on the table and then goes to the pub all evening via the bookies.

Anyway, an unsurprising heart attack later, we all gathered for his funeral.

We’re a big, but close family so we know everyone, including his friends. However, one guy turns up, about the same age as my dad and his siblings, who nobody knew.

Long story short, turns out it was my grandfather’s son.

From another family. From another marriage. That went on for as long as his marriage to my grandmother. My grandfather had maintained two marriages over 40 years, having seven children with my grandmother and just the one with this other woman.

They knew about our family and kept away. Apparently, my grandmother knew about them but kept quiet.

Turns out he wasn’t going to the pub every night.”

7. First apartment and new job

“1991, I was 19 and had just signed the lease for my first (solo) apartment. I just got the first paycheck from my new job and I deposited the paycheck at an ATM (another first! I’d always gone into the bank to do it).

Two weeks later, I got my bank statement in the mail and saw with horror that I had only $1.87 in my account. Way wrong, I should have at least $200, I’d been very careful with my spending. I freaked, I came within $2 of bouncing my first rent check.

I was literally reaching for the phone to call the bank when the phone rang.

It’s the police, asking if my ATM card was stolen. I checked my wallet and the card was missing (my job at a theater pub came with cash tips so I didn’t use the card often), and told them I was about to call them anyway because I was missing $200 from my account.

‘Well, we’ve got your card, and your $200, so come down to the police station,’ they told me.

I couldn’t figure out how they have my card AND the cash. It just didn’t make sense, so I drove down there.

The detective said someone (let’s call him Bob) pulled in to use an ATM and saw a man acting suspiciously while he was using it: moving back and forth as if trying to dodge the camera.

Bob said the man then left the ATM, got into a car, and drove away at high speeds as if fleeing the scene. Bob then went to the ATM and put his card in, which popped out. Bob then withdrew $200, and then another ATM card popped out.

My card. Bob’s card had popped out because the crook had left my card in the ATM before speeding away. Bob realized he had withdrawn the money from my account, not his, so he brought my card and the cash to the police and reported the attempted theft.

The detective gave me the description of the crook.

According to Bob, it was a man 5’7″, brown hair, round gold-rimmed glasses. I say out loud, ‘So, about my height, my color hair, and glasses like mine,’ before realizing Bob was describing me.

I’d never deposited a check in an ATM before, so I was moving back and forth, following the instructions on the screen, filling out the envelope with my account number, punching the amount in, etc.

I then forgot to take my card out and just left because I’m a giant idiot. I drove away at high speeds because I was 19 and that’s how I drove everywhere.

Worried the detective might be annoyed, I didn’t tell him I was the crook, I just thanked him and left with the money I ‘stole’ from myself.

Somewhere in a box in my closet, I still have the police report where I’m both the victim and the perp.”

8. Stalker

“When I was a senior in high school, there was freshman girl that ‘Single White Femaled’ me. She would follow me around and tell me how cool and funny I was. She asked what hair product I used, what body spray, where I bought my clothes, etc.

I was not funny or cool, and honestly, it was flattering at first. She styled her hair like mine but it was a high school in the 90’s and we all pretty much did our hair the same. Then she started dressing like me. Then she got involved in all the activities I was in.

Then she started telling people we were cousins. She found my home number in the phone book (again, the 90’s) and would call me all the freaking time. It was weird. I just went out of my way to avoid her.

After my graduation ceremony, she found me on the field and hugged me. She was sobbing- big ugly, snotty sobs- telling me how she was going to miss me and the school wouldn’t be the same without me there. I peaced out and then completely forgot about her.

Flash forward nine years and I’m just beginning to date the man that is now my husband.

We’re going through old pictures and I see this girl from high school. And I’m like, ‘Hey! I know this girl! She was this weird chick that stalked me in high school! Why do you have a picture of her?’

It was his ex-wife.”

9. A perfect match

“I met a guy online, he was cool, found out he lived less than two hours from where I live.

We meet up. First time seeing each other’s actual faces.

Total doppelgangers.

Turns out his father is my bio father’s older brother.

Both our bio dads bailed before we were born. We both were abused as kids by teachers (him at 15, me at 13). Both us have soy allergies and Lysinuric Protein Intolerance (it’s genetic).

And both of us joined the army and failed out during BCT due to undiagnosed mental health issues.

Our lives had run parallel to each other. He’s only a year older than me.

We meet every month for drinks.”

10. Brutal

“My high school sweetheart’s best friend let me know that my girlfriend cheated on me with multiple guys at a party. I broke things off with her that same day. It was a very nasty breakup.

Years and years later, I got a message on Facebook from her best friend.

She explained to me that my high school sweetheart never cheated on me, she just wanted to break us up so that she could have me for herself because I seemed like the ‘perfect boyfriend.’

Her plan backfired because I thought she was ugly, inside and out, and as soon as I broke things off with my girlfriend, I wanted nothing to do with her.

Between her plan failing and the guilt of ruining an otherwise great relationship, she decided to keep her mouth shut.

I don’t know if she told her best friend, but I know that I never will.”

11. So noble

“My sister’s boyfriend decided that he wanted to do more with his architecture skills, so he gave his two weeks notice and moved to Haiti to help rebuild after the earthquake. They stayed together. He had bad phone service, so they mostly kept in touch through emails.

He would send her long emails with photos and stories of what they were doing. This went on for a couple of months.

One off-handed tip from a co-worker and a week of sleuthing later and it turns out he never went to Haiti.

He moved to Seattle to be with his fiance and partner of nine years.”

12. Sort of looked familiar

“I met this girl out at a bar, got her name and number and we agreed to meet up for lunch. Lunch dates are nice because you automatically have a discreet timeframe.

We were chatting before ordering and we got to talking about who I knew from the small town she was from.

I mentioned that she has the same last name as my cousins who live there, just spelled differently. She asked who and I couldn’t remember their first names, but the two youngest are twins. She said, ‘X and Y?’

I said, ‘YES!

that’s it!’ We aren’t a terribly close family.

I looked at her and she was curled up in the smallest posture in what feels like she is sitting behind her chair as she said, ‘I was married to X.’

I let out a tremendous laugh and said, ‘I thought you sort of looked familiar.

You were at grandpa’s funeral right?’ She says yes, and I smirked saying, ‘Thought you were cute then too.’

I hadn’t eaten yet and was starving, so we ordered a sandwich and tried to pretend it wasn’t weird.

When the date ended, I called my mom immediately and told her coyly about the date I had.

Me: ‘Hey mom.’

Mom: ‘Hey honey, how’s it going?’

Me: ‘I just went on this date with this great girl, so much in common blah blah blah, I don’t know if we’ll see each other again though.’

Mom: ‘Why not?’

Me: ‘You and Dad went to her first wedding!’

Couldn’t have made a story up that was this good if I tried.”

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12+ Tweets That Perfectly Capture What It Means to Be an Adult

Entering into adulthood is like having a curtain pulled back revealing a part of the world you never knew existed.

When we were kids, we believed all kinds of things about the world that we now know are totally wrong. And once we’ve graduated, well…there’s no going back.

All we can do now is buckle up and enjoy these 15 tweets about what it really means to be an adult.

1. Oh, how wrong we were…

2. Ain’t like it used to be.

Photo Credit: Twitter: @batkaren

3. An endless cycle.

Photo Credit: Twitter: @persianthotz_

4. Endurance is key.

Photo Credit: Twitter: @ari_b15

5. An unexpected reversal.

Photo Credit: Twitter: @diegxrubixe

6. Better safe than sorry.

Photo Credit: Twitter: @timbolton1

7. Wow. This is too true.

Photo Credit: Twitter: @_kneefuh

8. Don’t get them confused!

Photo Credit: Twitter: @valeegrrl

9. He’s got a good point.

Photo Credit: Twitter: @boyyeetsworld

10. A daily struggle.

Photo Credit: Twitter: @barbattjocelyn

11. Bookstores just ain’t the same.

Photo Credit: Twitter: @merman_melville

12. Welp, I guess we’ll never see each other again.

Photo Credit: Twitter: @jenlynn

13. A blessing or a curse?

Photo Credit: Twitter: @primawesome

14. Dinner’s ruined.

Photo Credit: Twitter: @__sofetch

15. Simple enough.

Photo Credit: Twitter: @technicallyron

Alright, gang, let’s get out there and do some adulting today!

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These 10+ People Are Here to Remind You That Not All Humans Are Total Garbage

There’s so much doom, gloom, and sadness in the world today, that it can be tough to remember that most people are trying their hardest to do good. The 12 people below will remind you of not only of people’s intrinsic instinct for good, but that there are those among us willing to go above and beyond to answer the call of kindness.

These people are heroes.

#12. “A hero lives in my home town.“

Image Credit: Reddit

More people who drive this make/model of car need to do this.

#11. “Not the hero I deserve, but the one I needed”

Image Credit: Imgur

Apparently there are a lot of these caped crusaders running around.

#10. “Thank you unsung hero for paying it forward.”

Image Credit: Reddit

Real heroes aren’t afraid to touch the toilet seat to leave a much needed warning.

#9. “A hero walks among us.”

Image Credit: Reddit

Some might say he has too much time on his hands. Others see a hero.

#8. A woman after my own heart.

Image Credit: Twitter

#7. “Working Class Hero”

Image Credit: Imgur

This man is a better friend than I.

#6. “The hero we deserve.”

Image Credit: Reddit

It’s the thought that counts.

#5. “Mexican Hero”

Image Credit: Reddit

A real American hero.

#4. “There are also some who take justice into their own hands:”

Image Credit: Reddit

I mean, how can you not cease and desist with such polite language?

#3. “This Man Is A National Hero”

Image Credit: Reddit

A sense of humor is priceless.

#2. I’m pretty sure she’d get some votes.

Image Credit: Twitter

#1. “Then you have the ones that leave messages meant to help you prosper:”

Image Credit: Reddit

I feel like our society’s need to rate things might be getting out of hand.

I don’t know about you, but I feel better now. A little.

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