Category: money

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Housekeepers Talk About the Biggest Secrets They Discovered on the Job

I’m not rich enough to hire a housekeeper or a maid or any kinds of help. I’m barely even rich enough to pay myself in my own time to clean my own kitchen.

But for those who are – what kind of implicit social contract is that? And how does it all shake out?

Housekeepers of reddit, what do you know about the owners of the houses that they don’t know you know? from AskReddit

Let’s snoop with some Reddit folks, shall we?

1. The recovery

Dog walker, here. I was dog sitting for an older work friend once and saw her “days sober” calendar.

I was simultaneously sad, because I had no idea she was struggling, and happy for her because she had almost a full month marked off.

– cleanandclaire

2. The loud talker

I’m a nanny. The last family worked for I overheard the Dad calling his insurance asking if a certain Rehab was covered.

He talks LOUD naturally.

I heard what he was going for and everything. Nobody knew not family not friends. Just me and them. They never knew I knew.

– Thesugarsky

3. The Narnia office

A bit of an innocent one but while I was cleaning I saw this cabinet that was very large. Like someone could fit a body in there.

So, being curious, I opened it and saw A WHOLE ROOM. It was crazy!

Inside there was a bed and lights attached to these tall wood pieces. Then a mini bookshelf with some books and a desk and computer. It was absolutely amazing.

– LemmeHear

4. Silent but deadly

Not a house keeper but a nanny.

A family once took me on vacation with them so I could watch their kids while they‘d go out and explore the area.

That week, my bed was the couch in the living room. It’s late at night, the kids are sleeping, I’m laying on the couch and the parents get back.

The dad says, “is she sleeping” referring to me? I didn’t say anything so apparently he assumed yes. He then started farting very loudly.

– sisof2

5. The expectation

Our maid service found our positive pregnancy test in the bathroom trash, after presumably finding negative pregnancy tests in the bathroom trash for the previous 12 months.

Left us a nice little congratulations note on my wife’s nightstand.

– fizzleguy

6. Playtime

I’m not a housekeeper but my late aunt used to be.

One of her clients, who was fairly well-to-do, had a whole closet full of genital themed toys. And when I say “toys,” I’m not using a euphemism for “sex enhancement items” or anything like that. Literal genital toys.

Windup penises with googly eyes on them, PEZ dispensers shaped like the most browsed pages of a skin mag (I suspect these weren’t official PEZ brand), rather risque variants on “pin the tail on the donkey”, a Nerf-like gun that fired foam phalluses . . .

– Times_Hunger

7.

My aunt is currently a house keeper.

The had this one client who would throw used feminine hygiene products under the bed; pads specifically. No matter how I think about this I just can’t imagine how someone can get to that level of grossness.

If you’ve ever had a heavy menstrual cycle and wore a pad, you know sometimes not everything is absorbed into the pad. You need to immediately sit down in the toilet or it can quite literally go everywhere.

– aamirazeal

8. Drink it in

That she got a DUI. Typical religious white collar family; husband, wife, and 4 teen kids.

She had one of those at home breathalyzer tests from the court sitting in the master bathroom, it takes your picture as you blow into it and it sends it to your probation officer. I only know because I was on probation a few years ago and had one too.

Curiosity got the best of me and I looked at her public record…yup. DUI and she messed up on probation too, had another court date. After that I started noticing 12 step books and such.

– LunaTheFerret

9. Enjoy your stay

Working in hotels is similar to cleaning someone’s house, because those comfortable will lay it out for you.

You can tell if someone is messy or tidy at home, how well they take care their things, what they eat, how much they drink, what medical problems they may have, and if you get the chance to meet them you can piece together why they live the way they do by telling their stories.

I never made fun of our guests or judged them. That would be so unfair and intrusive.

– silly-noodle

10. I’m not telling him, you tell him

Man of the house ask me and the other cleaning crew ladies if we have ever seen this type of dog leash. Holds up what is clearly a under bed restraint system looking confused. I didn’t say s**t. We all looked at each other like “f**k no im not telling him” he says “mmm, maybe she wants a dog. Why was it under the mattress ???” He just wandered off dragging this thing behind him.

He was a nice guy worked a lot, tipped well, gave us holiday bonuses. She was a trophy wife, and was not nice to him.

They divorced while i still worked their, he got a dog named mayonnaise and was much happier. It was a rescue greyhound. Sweet dog. I don’t live in that town anymore but i hope mr jim is happy still.

– Kantotheotter

11. LOL look at the username

My cleaning guy caught me leaving the house once.

Said he knew I smoked pot because he’d find stuff for it a lot and asked if he could find me some for a camping trip with his wife.

I freaked a little after he just said “I know you do marijuana”. I was like am I catching a lecture

– 420Minions

12. Inside out

Not the housekeeper, but,

I thought I had this brilliant hiding spot. And when I lost my wallet, my Maid told me “you should hide it with those papers inside your nightstand next time”.

I felt such fear. She knows the house better than any of us.

– AndreZB2000

13. Twilight breaks

Buddy of mine used to clean houses with his mom.

He told me about this one massive mansion they would clean and how there were no mirrors in the entire house. There also weren’t a lot of windows and if there were, they had thick drapes.

He met the family only once and told me they were very pale and quiet people.

He worked for f**king vampires

– drop-mylife-away

14. Everything

Honestly, everything. I worked in a house manager/butler type of position, and there is nothing you don’t find out eventually.

The trajectory of the toothpaste droplets on the mirror would tell me which of the women had spent the night. I knew passwords to computers, alarm systems, bank accounts and safes that I hadn’t necessarily been provided with.

Drugs, kinks, medical history, sordid family secrets, skeletons in the closet, you name it. I think that’s the reason salaries get obscene if you stay long enough, your silence is literally golden.

– CopingMole

15. The embezzler

I wasn’t exactly a housekeeper but I was cleaning up files at a job that I quit a few years ago.

Within a week, I found out that the owner never paid any of her bills and used government funds (that was supposed to go to the adult care center she ran) to buy herself expensive cars and houses that she shouldn’t have been buying in the first place.

– curlyquinn02

The intrigue is absolutely scintillating.

Have you ever been in a position like this?

Tell us about it in the comment.

The post Housekeepers Talk About the Biggest Secrets They Discovered on the Job appeared first on UberFacts.

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“Rich” Behaviors that People Think are Highly Suspicious

There’s absolutely no shame in being poor. Or at least, there shouldn’t be.

It is, after all, the state that the majority of humans live their lives in, usually through no fault of their own.

And yet we do so closely associate being financially poor with being a failure as a person. Which is probably why so many poor folks just decide to pretend they got money.

What screams "I’m poor but pretend I’m rich"? from AskReddit

Reddit’s got some examples of this strange phenomenon.

1. Just showing it

It’s generally good advice if you have a lot of money to keep your wealth secret or at least ambiguous else people try to take advantage of you.

Most wealthy people follow that rule, or they learn it pretty quickly.

So anyone trying to show wealth is either new to it or showing more than they have.

– Nirosat

2. The tracksuit don

I have a relatively poor friend who doesn’t have a tv or anything, but they go around in a several hundred pound tracksuit and wear fake diamond rings they bought on wish, which he tells people are real

– IrishPotato28

3. The $10 Cadillac

Use to work at a 7/11.

Once a month for a week this guy would come in with a rented green Cadillac and a very obvious prostitute on his arm.

Would flash a wad of money while in the store and make it VERY specific that he wants $10 on “THAT GREEN CADILLAC RIGHT THERE!” Co-worker told me he does it with his SSI check.

– ScreamingBaboon

4. The MLM babe

Women who post a bit too often about how great it is to be your own boss and be living a plush life and here are pictures of me by a pool wearing a sparkly swimsuit and you too can be rich, set your own hours, travel, and get to lounge by pools if only you sign up with this definitely-not-a-pyramid-scheme company.

Bonus points for having a glass of wine in the shot and forgetting to move the box it came in out of the shot, thus ruining the illusion that it was expensive wine.

– Eliott_of_Elsinore

5. The sad reality

As much as some of these examples are based on s**tty choices, there’s also the fact that the poorer people get, the less stake they have in any kind of future or long term thinking.

That’s not a critique of their intellect, it’s just their reality that they’re never going to be able to travel, own a home, any of the basic aspirations that used to be drilled into people as options if they worked hard.

So where I might see a big TV as something that’d be nice, but I don’t need one right now, they see that as being as good as life gets, watching bulls**t in increasingly higher definition, because poverty doesn’t have room for long term gratification.

– EndlesslyRotatingNed

6. The 80’s vibes

When my sister and I were little we would unplug the receiver of the phone, take it outside, and pretend to talk on it.

The hope was that someone would see us and think we had one of those new-fangled cordless phones and be jealous.

– rleash

7. Dubai, Felicia

For British people – holidays to Dubai.

Often the same price as going to Spain but somehow seen as ‘flashy’ and aspirational despite being a miserable hole built on slavery

– WIDE_SET_VAGINA

8. The shilling

Shilling online coaching on how to get rich. Usually business/trading/crypto stuff if you’re a man and MLM/manifestation stuff if you’re a woman.

Not that there aren’t people who get rich, through selling courses, not through the methods they’re teaching, but the market is oversaturated.

– Nemesinthe

9. Way out of whack priorities

Too many times I clean up after evictions and there is empty bottles of grey goose, Hennessy

Expensive clothes, shoes.

Many things that if they just bought cheaper stuff or nothing at all they would have been able to pay the rent.

– TJTurner912

10. Getting way too excited about having stuff

Posting literally everything you buy on your Instagram story.

No one really cares about how many gym pants, make up or other packages you bought.

It just always gave me the vibe of you’re not used to getting nice things so whenever you do, you post it everywhere.

Kinda has the opposite of the intended effect

– ocs_123

11. The bigger, the badder

Any clothing with big brand name lettering all over it.

The more expensive the brand and the bigger the lettering the more it shouts “I’m actually poor”.

Sorry.

– Kopites_Roar

12. The YOU show

People who post every single thing they do in their social media, like pretending they’re some kind of super famous models and everyone needs to be aware of what they do.

I don’t think it means “I’m poor” in an economic way but rather “I’m poor in my life and I need strangers to be interested in what I do in order to fill the emptiness in me”

– Mingura666

13. Can you tell?

Honestly it’s hard to tell sometimes. A lot of people here probably think that “real” rich people live in a modest house with a base Corolla/Camry with the beige interior, super cheap budget and live like they have no money… And to me I don’t want to be that guy but I feel like some people who vehemently say/comment this feels like just a confirmation bias to take up the moral high ground on other people who spend their money in more obvious ways.

I worked with CEO’s of airline companies, hedge fund managers, CEO’s of law firms and I can without a doubt I’d can tell you MANY rich people don’t live like broke college students and “modesty” is relative.

For me the pretending to be rich folks are people who window shop with no real intention of buying items at luxury stores to basically take pictures of themselves with luxury items/goods. People don’t like this but when you go to fancy stores like Louis Vuitton, a Mercedes dealership or Burberry the staff are VERY judgmental and I can tell you it’s not really about what you’re wearing that tips them off.

– deathaddict

14. The mismatch

Putting 5$ gas in your fancy a** car, I have seen a bunch of people drive cars they can’t afford while working at a gas station.

– Lachigan

15. Grills?

I had a guy with a grill in his mouth try to intimidate $20 out of me on the street the other day, so I’d say grills.

– backreddit

Sometimes *I* pretend to be rich by making two raman packets at once. Don’t hate, jealousy is a disease.

But what do you think about all this?

Give us your opinions in the comments.

The post “Rich” Behaviors that People Think are Highly Suspicious appeared first on UberFacts.

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37 Times People Were Given Horrible Financial Advice

Bad financial advice can come from all kinds of people, sometimes even from folks who really believe that they have it all figured out when it comes to finances.

But you always need to be wary and you need to do your homework when you get money advice from anyone, no matter who they are.

Folks on AskReddit shared stories about really bad financial advice they received.

Let’s see what they had to say.

37. Thanks, Dad.

“My dad in 2008 – “Don’t invest that $1,000 into Apple.”

My dad in 2012 – “Tesla is a pipe dream. Stock won’t be worth the paper is printed on.”

36. Hmmm…

“Don’t pay off your entire credit card balance when the bill comes.

Pay it slowly so that it shows your ability to pay debt over time.

This will help your credit score.”

35. Don’t take that advice.

“”Lease a car, don’t buy used”

leased car price -> $25,000

My used car I drove for multiple years without maintenance (aside from tires/oil) -> $3,000.”

34. Time to leave.

“My husband and I were looking to sell our home and buy another and the realtor told us to put 99 dependents on our taxes so we make more. She said she had done it for years and it was fine.

We left pretty quickly after that.”

33. Doesn’t work for everyone.

“Take out a student loan.

You’ll be able to pay it back easy when you have a degree.”

32. Go your own way.

“Don’t be a programmer. Your job will get outsourced to India.” – my dad when I told him excitedly as a teenager that I tried coding and loved it.

I ignored his advice and I’m now a programmer and still love it. Oh, and the pay is great too. I am now making a lot more than he ever did.”

31. Just do it!

“To buy a house when they were giving them out like candy several years ago. I had bad credit and an unstable job, I said no way.

So many people were pressuring me. All those people lost their houses. Those balloon payments are no joke.”

30. Don’t understand…

“Recent terrible advice: I got hit while driving on a highway and have a crinkled in rear side fender and cracked tail light. I can still drive it, but who knows what damage is underneath.

My car is only 5 yrs old with maybe 60k miles, so it’s still a great car. Yet, my early 20s friend said I shouldn’t get insurance to fix it and instead just “pocket the deductible to save up for a down payment on another car”. Or maybe file the claim and pocket the money.

My deductible is $300, and I wasn’t at fault, so the other person’s insurance is likely going to pay my deductible. I just straight up cannot understand where he is coming from. Why wouldn’t I get the car fixed so I have a fully functional, reliable car? It’s, at most, $300. I just don’t understand.”

29. A big mess.

““If you can’t afford to pay back your student loans just ignore it. Can’t bleed a turnip…” – My father.

He followed it with something along the lines of “what’s the worse they can do to you?”

The answer… ALOT. They can do a lot to you.”

28. Can’t do that.

“My parents and grandparents keep pressuring me to quit my job because I’m pregnant. They think my husband’s job will sustain us and we’ll just have to penny-pinch a little more.

I don’t know if they realize that we all live in America. It will absolutely take both of our incomes to raise our child, especially since I’ll be taking 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave in about a month.”

27. Never heard that before.

““Saving money attracts bad luck” “Do not save or else you’ll end up using it for an emergency”

It’s a Filipino superstition that “saving” attracts an emergency. Do not save so that you don’t experience an emergency.

Being frugal is frowned upon. What happens if an emergency happens and they have no savings?

They “borrow” money from frugal people and if you say no to them because you know they spent their money on useless things they will say “you can not bring all your wealth to your grave”.

I choose the people who I lend/give money.

“Buy things to see the fruit of your labor”

When buying new expensive items, sometimes things they don’t really need. I have no problem on this if only they use this words once in a while but do it every paycheck is too much.

Then they will proceed to tell me buy stuff like them and not be frugal because you know, you can’t bring all those money to the grave so might as well use it immediately.”

26. Sure about that?

“Several years ago, my company went under new management. They were going to have to pay us all of our remaining, unused PTO. I figured, great, I have a ton of PTO left, like $5000 worth. (I had A LOT of unused hours)

One of my colleagues said “YOU’RE going to be hit with taxes.” And she said it like “oh, you better be prepared. Don’t get excited, they’re going to tax the s**t out of you anyway so don’t expect much!”

I get hit with taxes every paycheck, lady. And when I did the math, they didn’t take out a higher percentage of that PTO than I normally have taken out of my paycheck, so when I did the math beforehand, I managed my expectations well

Then, I was a manager of a call center. The call center agents made 12.00 an hour, but once I came in, I raised it to 15.50 an hour. One of them complained to me that this means her taxes are being raised and she’s earning less. She didn’t see the higher number on the bottom of her check for some reason.”

25. Oh, Dad…

“My father would tell me to max my credit card on a new car and if they asked for payments just say “F**k em, what are they going to do?”

My father is several levels of debt hell deep that he’s trying to get out of now, but he’s at least trying.”

24. That’s a bummer.

1976 San Francisco. Keep renting, no one will ever pay $35,000 for a 2 bedroom house and garage with a sweeping view of the East Bay.

I went back to visit the old neighborhood a few years ago, those $35,000 stucco homes up many flights of steps perched on the top of Potrero Hill were now all gentrified, remodeled, gated, and asking $1M+ and that was 5 years ago.”

23. About that iPad…

“About 5 years ago, I had a friend who was trying to convince me to study through a private college because they “gave her a free ipad”.

She never finished the course, but kept the iPad (you only got to keep it once you pay your fees and graduate. Mind you, the price of the course included the iPad so it wasn’t free).

So last year, four years later, I get a call from the college asking for her contact info. She put me down as a reference and they were chasing her down because she still owed her fees and wasn’t entitled to keep the iPad.”

22. Not too bright.

“My cousin bought a camper, went camping once, and then decided camping wasn’t for them.

Rather than selling it they decided to just stop making the payments and “let the bank come and get it.”

Which, eventually, they did.”

21. Hmmmm…

“Don’t take a raise if it puts you into the next tax bracket.

And pay the minimum on your credit card to establish good credit.”

20. Ouch.

“”Don’t major in computer science. Computer scientists are a dime a dozen.”

I did not take that advice.”

19. Just run away!

“Guy I haven’t seen in three years or so wanted to talk me into starting a business with him, because he just got into college for a bachelors degree in business.

Yeah sure, let me get my check book out in this badly illuminated garage while we’re both dr**k. Guy also got into MLM and weird self-optimisation preachers.”

18. Okay!

“Get a bigger mortgage, you can deduct more from your taxes!

Yeah dumba**, and I’ll be spending double that amount in interest so why should I?”

17. Ignore it.

“Just ignore the collection call and eventually they will leave you alone….

I didn’t follow this advice.

I had a parking ticket I didn’t know about that ended up on my credit and the guy I mentioned it to gave me that bit of wisdom.”

16. Not a great time to do that.

“First year outta college, working for a financial advisor, and he tried to convince me to put 5% down and buy an apartment in Chicago.

It was the summer of 2007.”

15. Did the right thing.

“”Don’t go to community college, you’ll never get a job. Instead apply at X and X colleges.”

My grandmother, aunt, uncle, and cousin all told me this, and I really considered their advice because my parents really didn’t give a s**t what I did.

Since I didn’t get any scholarships from high school, I decided at least if I went to CC and didn’t get a job I wouldn’t have student debt and I could just do something else.

I went to CC for two years totally free on FAFSA grants (it was 800$ a semester LOL) and did so well I transferred to a university with a (almost) full ride.

I am now a semester away from graduation with a job lined up and all of 4k of student debt which is likely to be forgiven anyway.”

14. Come on!

“Incite me to go to a real expensive restaurant where you can spend easily $250 without drinks at a time I only had $700 in bank account and had not paid for my car, groceries and stuff .

Because “Come on we only live once”.”

13. Time to take a trip.

“My ex (in his mid twenties and lived at home with no expenses) went out of the country for two weeks with a budget of $2700.

He was real proud of his breakdown: $1000 credit available on credit card A, $1000 credit available on credit card B, $300 in available overdraft, $100 in checking, $300 in savings.

I tried to explain that this is not a great way to budget for a trip, and his response was “credit cards are meant to be used. As long as you pay the minimum payment, you’re good. What do you know about credit cards? You never use it? Start using yours more before you talk to me about money”.”

12. Car talk.

“My aunt took me to a car dealership when I was looking to buy my own first car. I was looking at the clunkers I could afford, but she said I should be looking at the new cars.

She said, “the total price doesn’t matter because you make monthly payments.” I suddenly understood too well why she had always been so financially unstable.”

11. Not gonna happen!

“A relative tried to recruit me into Amway.

He wound up stuck with a garage full of their products.”

10. Nope!

“Yeah even if they’ve recently robbed you, you should still lend them the 500$ dollars they need to move to another city, they’re your family after all.

-Dad.

I don’t even know how mom married your dumb a**.”

9. You sure about that?

“My FIL when I mention our retirement plan “I never contribute to my retirement account. Money now is always better than money later”.

I needed to have a conversation with my husband how we would NOT be supporting his mom and dad and their insane spending when they have no retirement plan and make huge financial mistakes on a weekly basis (good news is they both make good money).”

8. Son, let’s have a talk.

“I got 90 dollars and my 11 year old son told me I should buy 90 dollars worth of kazoos.

No real plan past that…”

7. Rent to own.

“”Just get it at Rent-A-Center.”

I had a coworker that got pretty much everything there.

“It’s only $20/week, and they’ll replace it if it breaks.”

$20/week for how long? Oh cool, so you’re paying more than double for it? Got it.”

6. Burning a hole in your pocket.

““Spend it quickly or it’ll get stolen.”

Coming from someone with a history of losing and blowing their money.”

5. Not a joke.

“That an emergency fund wasn’t necessary when you can always get a payday loan or use your credit card.

He wasn’t joking.”

4. Really bad advice.

“One of my uncles once told me that I never really had to pay my phone bill.

He suggested that I simply jump to another carrier and let the first company cut you off.

His life has turned out exactly as you’d imagine.”

3. Oh, boy…

“”Once you cut up the credit card, you don’t have to pay it.”

My cousin is not doing so hot.

I’m pretty sure there are warrants out for his arrest in several states.”

2. I’m just vibing over here.

“”Just get another credit card”.

From my friend who hasn’t worked in 3 years and is currently just vibing with his new credit cards he somehow got approved for.”

1. Don’t listen to them.

“So when I was 24, I was financially struggling. I had a job that worked me a LOT of hours, but only paid me $10 an hour.

My parents talked me into buying a BRAND NEW 2004 4-Door Honda Civic, the pre-interest price tag on it was about $25,000. A few weeks after getting it, my hours got regulated and it took one entire paycheck to make the monthly note on it – I could NOT afford the insurance on it.

I very quickly realized my parents were bad at money.”

Now it’s your turn!

In the comments, please tell us about the worst financial advice you’ve ever received.

We look forward to hearing from you!

The post 37 Times People Were Given Horrible Financial Advice appeared first on UberFacts.

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These Things Are Only for Wealthy Pets, Apparently

I’ve never met a dog who seemed particularly picky. Not even about food.

In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever met a dog who was not full-on, b**ls to the walls THRILLED to be eating the exact same bowl of dry food he’d been getting every single day for his entire existence.

They’re really not that difficult to please, is the point. So one might well wonder why a company like Home Concept, which is based in Russia, might offer an entire array of pet beds that are way, way too expensive.

What animal is impressed by these? How is this a thing? Look at these prices (converted to USD.)

(Also I made up all the names because I don’t speak Russian, and I named all the pet models because I like fun.)

15. The Woofer Couch – $1,384

This is Woofer, he is currently looking at a much cheaper box he’d like to lay on.

Source: homeconcept.ru

14. Her Highness’ Throne – $945

This is Patricia and she did not invite you here.

Source: homeconcept.ru

13. The Sacred Temple – $647

Mr. Beans will see you when you’ve reached enlightenment.

Source: homeconcept.ru

12. The Trusted Circle – $1,223

I didn’t catch this dog’s name because he’s on too many drugs.

Source: homeconcept.ru

11. The Simple Pleasures – $878

His name is probably Lucas or something, I just know it.

Source: homeconcept.ru

10. The Chomp – $735

Old Man Edgar does not care for this tomfoolery. Neither do the Kitten Gang.

Source: homeconcept.ru

9. The One That’s Haunted – $945

Here, Sgt. Peppers demonstrates what your dog will be doing five minutes after you buy this thing.

Source: homeconcept.ru

8. Royalty – $225

I think these are just two of the actual Kings of England.

Source: homeconcept.ru

7. The Stretch Pad – $918

Oh dang it’s Patricia again and she’s getting angry.

Source: homeconcept.ru

6. Rolley Boy – $1,347

This is doing Buster here a heckin’ concern.

Source: homeconcept.ru

5. My Place – $510

Wait, which one is the cushion?

Source: homeconcept.ru

4. A Sandbox – $538

No pet models would accept this gig.

Source: homeconcept.ru

3. Livin’ Leather – $1,149

Charlie has no idea what he’s doing here today but he’s happy to be a part of things.

Source: homeconcept.ru

2. Pride and Joy – $878

Curly is amused.

Source: homeconcept.ru

1. Running on Empty – $1,326

This one is actually just for humans who hate both having money and going to sleep.

Source: homeconcept.ru

Ah, to live as a rich dog.

Would you actually consider buying any of these? Why or why not?

Tell us in the comments.

The post These Things Are Only for Wealthy Pets, Apparently appeared first on UberFacts.

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People Talk About the Worst Financial Advice Someone Ever Gave Them

It’s a darn shame when people make bad decisions with their money and they blow it all or take a hit so big that it changes their lives in a major way.

But it seems like it happens all the time, doesn’t it?

Check out these stories about bad financial advice that none of us should follow.

Folks on AskReddit talked about the worst financial advice they’ve ever received.

Let’s take a look.

1. Oh, Dad…

“My father would tell me to max my credit card on a new car and if they asked for payments just say “F**k em, what are they going to do?”

My father is several levels of debt hell deep that he’s trying to get out of now, but he’s at least trying.”

2. That’s a bummer.

“1976 San Franciso.

Keep renting, no one will ever pay $35,000 for a 2 bedroom house and garage with a sweeping view of the East Bay.

I went back to vist the old neighborhood a few years ago, those $35,000 stucco homes up many flights of steps perched on the top of Potrero Hill were now all gentrified, remodeled, gated, and asking $1M+ and that was 5 years ago.”

3. About that iPad…

“About 5 years ago, I had a friend who was trying to convince me to study through a private college because they “gave her a free ipad”.

She never finished the course, but kept the iPad (you only got to keep it once you pay your fees and graduate. Mind you, the price of the course included the iPad so it wasn’t free).

So last year, four years later, I get a call from the college asking for her contact info. She put me down as a reference and they were chasing her down because she still owed her fees and wasn’t entitled to keep the iPad.”

4. Not too bright.

“My cousin bought a camper, went camping once, and then decided camping wasn’t for them.

Rather than selling it they decided to just stop making the payments and “let the bank come and get it.”

Which, eventually, they did.”

5. Hmmmm…

“Don’t take a raise if it puts you into the next tax bracket.

And pay the minimum on your credit card to establish good credit.”

6. Ouch.

“”Don’t major in computer science. Computer scientists are a dime a dozen.”

I did not take that advice.”

7. Just run away!

“Guy I haven’t seen in three years or so wanted to talk me into starting a business with him, because he just got into college for a bachelors degree in business.

Yeah sure, let me get my cheque book out in this badly illuminated garage while we’re both dr**k. Guy also got into MLM and weird self-optimisation preachers.”

8. Okay!

“Get a bigger mortgage, you can deduct more from your taxes!

Yeah dumba**, and I’ll be spending double that amount in interest so why should I?”

9. Ignore it.

“Just ignore the collection call and eventually they will leave you alone….

I didn’t follow this advice.

I had a parking ticket I didn’t know about that ended up on my credit and the guy I mentioned it to gave me that bit of wisdom.”

10. Not a great time to do that.

“First year outta college, working for a financial advisor, and he tried to convince me to put 5% down and buy an apartment in Chicago.

It was the summer of 2007.”

11. Did the right thing.

“”Don’t go to community college, you’ll never get a job. Instead apply at X and X colleges.”

My grandmother, aunt, uncle, and cousin all told me this, and I really considered their advice because my parents really didn’t give a s**t what I did.

Since I didn’t get any scholarships from high school, I decided at least if I went to CC and didn’t get a job I wouldn’t have student debt and I could just do something else.

I went to CC for two years totally free on FAFSA grants (it was 800$ a semester LOL) and did so well I transferred to a university with a (almost) full ride.

I am now a semester away from graduation with a job lined up and all of 4k of student debt which is likely to be forgiven anyway.”

12. Come on!

“Incite me to go to a real expensive restaurant where you can spend easily $250 without drinks at a time I only had $700 in bank account and had not paid for my car, groceries and stuff .

Because “Come on we only live once”.”

13. Time to take a trip.

“My ex (in his mid twenties and lived at home with no expenses) went out of the country for two weeks with a budget of $2700.

He was real proud of his breakdown: $1000 credit available on credit card A, $1000 credit available on credit card B, $300 in available overdraft, $100 in chequing, $300 in savings.

I tried to explain that this is not a great way to budget for a trip, and his response was “credit cards are meant to be used. As long as you pay the minimum payment, you’re good. What do you know about credit cards? You never use it? Start using yours more before you talk to me about money”.”

How about you?

Have you received any bad financial advice?

If so, please tell us about it in the comments. Thanks!

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People Talk About Bad Financial Advice They’re Received

I guess bad financial advice can come from anyone, sometimes even from folks who really believe that they have it all figured out when it comes to finances.

But you always need to be wary and you need to do your homework when you get money advice from anyone, no matter who they are.

Folks on AskReddit shared stories about really bad financial advice they received.

Let’s see what they had to say.

1. Car talk.

“My aunt took me to a car dealership when I was looking to buy my own first car. I was looking at the clunkers I could afford, but she said I should be looking at the new cars.

She said, “the total price doesn’t matter because you make monthly payments.” I suddenly understood too well why she had always been so financially unstable.”

2. Not gonna happen!

“A relative tried to recruit me into Amway.

He wound up stuck with a garage full of their products.”

3. Nope!

“Yeah even if they’ve recently robbed you, you should still lend them the 500$ dollars they need to move to another city, they’re your family after all.

-Dad.

I don’t even know how mom married your dumb a**.”

4. You sure about that?

“My FIL when I mention our retirement plan “I never contribute to my retirement account. Money now is always better than money later”.

I needed to have a conversation with my husband how we would NOT be supporting his mom and dad and their insane spending when they have no retirement plan and make huge financial mistakes on a weekly basis (good news is they both make good money).”

5. Son, let’s have a talk.

“I got 90 dollars and my 11 year old son told me I should buy 90 dollars worth of kazoos.

No real plan past that…”

6. Rent to own.

“”Just get it at Rent-A-Center.”

I had a coworker that got pretty much everything there.

“It’s only $20/week, and they’ll replace it if it breaks.”

$20/week for how long? Oh cool, so you’re paying more than double for it? Got it.”

7. Burning a hole in your pocket.

““Spend it quickly or it’ll get stolen.”

Coming from someone with a history of losing and blowing their money.”

8. Not a joke.

“That an emergency fund wasn’t necessary when you can always get a payday loan or use your credit card.

He wasn’t joking.”

9. Really bad advice.

“One of my uncles once told me that I never really had to pay my phone bill.

He suggested that I simply jump to another carrier and let the first company cut you off.

His life has turned out exactly as you’d imagine.”

10. Oh, boy…

“”Once you cut up the credit card, you don’t have to pay it.”

My cousin is not doing so hot.

I’m pretty sure there are warrants out for his arrest in several states.”

11. I’m just vibing over here.

“”Just get another credit card”.

From my friend who hasn’t worked in 3 years and is currently just vibing with his new credit cards he somehow got approved for.”

12. Don’t listen to them.

“So when I was 24, I was financially struggling. I had a job that worked me a LOT of hours, but only paid me $10 an hour.

My parents talked me into buying a BRAND NEW 2004 4-Door Honda Civic, the pre-interest price tag on it was about $25,000. A few weeks after getting it, my hours got regulated and it took one entire paycheck to make the monthly note on it – I could NOT afford the insurance on it.

I very quickly realized my parents were bad at money.”

Now it’s your turn!

In the comments, please tell us about the worst financial advice you’ve ever received.

We look forward to hearing from you!

The post People Talk About Bad Financial Advice They’re Received appeared first on UberFacts.

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What’s the Worst Financial Advice You’ve Received? Here’s What People Said.

The older you get, the more you realize how important it is to be smart with your finances…because a few costly mistakes and you could be in big trouble.

So let’s all try to avoid the advice that you’re about to hear from people…

What’s the worst financial advice you’ve ever received?

AskReddit users shared their stories.

1. Thanks, Dad.

“My dad in 2008 – “Don’t invest that $1,000 into Apple.”

My dad in 2012 – “Tesla is a pipe dream. Stock won’t be worth the paper is printed on.”

2. Hmmm…

“Don’t pay off your entire credit card balance when the bill comes.

Pay it slowly so that it shows your ability to pay debt over time.

This will help your credit score.”

3. Don’t take that advice.

“”Lease a car, don’t buy used”

leased car price -> $25,000

My used car I drove for multiple years without maintenance (aside from tires/oil) -> $3,000.”

4. Time to leave.

“My husband and I were looking to sell our home and buy another and the realtor told us to put 99 dependents on our taxes so we make more. She said she had done it for years and it was fine.

We left pretty quickly after that.”

5. Doesn’t work for everyone.

“Take out a student loan.

You’ll be able to pay it back easy when you have a degree.”

6. Go your own way.

““Don’t be a programmer. Your job will get outsourced to India.” – my dad when I told him excitedly as a teenager that I tried coding and loved it.

I ignored his advice and I’m now a programmer and still love it. Oh, and the pay is great too. I am now making a lot more than he ever did.”

7. Just do it!

“To buy a house when they were giving them out like candy several years ago. I had bad credit and an unstable job, I said no way.

So many people were pressuring me. All those people lost their houses. Those balloon payments are no joke.”

8. Don’t understand…

“Recent terrible advice: I got hit while driving on a highway and have a crinkled in rear side fender and cracked tail light. I can still drive it, but who knows what damage is underneath.

My car is only 5 yrs old with maybe 60k miles, so it’s still a great car. Yet, my early 20s friend said I shouldn’t get insurance to fix it and instead just “pocket the deductible to save up for a down payment on another car”. Or maybe file the claim and pocket the money.

My deductible is $300, and I wasn’t at fault, so the other person’s insurance is likely going to pay my deductible. I just straight up cannot understand where he is coming from. Why wouldn’t I get the car fixed so I have a fully functional, reliable car? It’s, at most, $300. I just don’t understand.”

9. A big mess.

““If you can’t afford to pay back your student loans just ignore it. Can’t bleed a turnip…” – My father.

He followed it with something along the lines of “what’s the worse they can do to you?”

The answer… ALOT. They can do a lot to you.”

10. Can’t do that.

“My parents and grandparents keep pressuring me to quit my job because I’m pregnant. They think my husband’s job will sustain us and we’ll just have to penny-pinch a little more.

I don’t know if they realize that we all live in America. It will absolutely take both of our incomes to raise our child, especially since I’ll be taking 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave in about a month.”

11. Never heard that before.

““Saving money attracts bad luck” “Do not save or else you’ll end up using it for an emergency”

It’s a Filipino superstition that “saving” attracts an emergency. Do not save so that you don’t experience an emergency.

Being frugal is frowned upon. What happens if an emergency happens and they have no savings?

They “borrow” money from frugal people and if you say no to them because you know they spent their money on useless things they will say “you can not bring all your wealth to your grave”.

I choose the people who I lend/give money.

“Buy things to see the fruit of your labor”

When buying new expensive items, sometimes things they don’t really need. I have no problem on this if only they use this words once in a while but do it every paycheck is too much.

Then they will proceed to tell me buy stuff like them and not be frugal because you know, you can’t bring all those money to the grave so might as well use it immediately.”

12. Sure about that?

“Several years ago, my company went under new management. They were going to have to pay us all of our remaining, unused PTO. I figured, great, I have a ton of PTO left, like $5000 worth. (I had A LOT of unused hours)

One of my colleagues said “YOU’RE going to be hit with taxes.” And she said it like “oh, you better be prepared. Don’t get excited, they’re going to tax the s**t out of you anyway so don’t expect much!”

I get hit with taxes every paycheck, lady. And when I did the math, they didn’t take out a higher percentage of that PTO than I normally have taken out of my paycheck, so when I did the math beforehand, I managed my expectations well

Then, I was a manager of a call center. The call center agents made 12.00 an hour, but once I came in, I raised it to 15.50 an hour. One of them complained to me that this means her taxes are being raised and she’s earning less. She didn’t see the higher number on the bottom of her check for some reason.”

Have you ever received any bad financial advice?

If so, please tell us about it in the comments.

We’d love to hear from you!

The post What’s the Worst Financial Advice You’ve Received? Here’s What People Said. appeared first on UberFacts.

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“Tell Me You Grew Up Poor Without Telling Me You Grew Up Poor.” Here Are the Responses.

America is one of the wealthiest nations on the planet and indeed one of the richest countries in history.

And for a lot of people who’ve lived comfortable lives here, it’s easy to overlook the fact that that wealth is far from even. So many people grow up in a kind of poverty you might not even think feasible in a place like this. But it’s an ultra-common experience.

That’s a conversation that got kicked off by a thread started by actor Trevor Donovan who said:

So, how did the (mostly American) Twitter audience respond? Let’s look at some examples.

10. Kleenex as a luxury

Oh man, especially if you’re actually getting the name brand stuff.

9. The letter present

I mean, that’s going to mean far more to you as you grow older than some quickly forgotten toy would.

8. Out of the tube

For real though, get you one of those little plastic rollers. Does wonders.

7. Fee knowledge

Nobody’s more cost-aware than those who have nothing.

6. Old style food stamps

Wait, whose pictures are on those?

5. When summer came

That’s pretty ingenious, actually.

4. On the cheap

I kinda do too.

3. No such thing as Christmas

Santa has very mixed feelings about this.

2. Bigger than a bread bag

The poor man’s water lining.

1. The bunks

They look like some sweet, happy kids.

We may be rich as a whole, but never forget your neighbors in need.

What’s your ultimate poor experience?

Tell us in the comments.

The post “Tell Me You Grew Up Poor Without Telling Me You Grew Up Poor.” Here Are the Responses. appeared first on UberFacts.

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People Talk About Their Ultimate “Broke Food” Experiences

You don’t need me to tell you that it’s not easy growing up poor. Especially if you grew up poor.

My family’s never been wealthy but we did alright. The times when everything was the tightest, I was too young to remember now.

Nevertheless, I’ve had plenty of “broke food” experiences, which is a topic that came up a lot after prolific TV actor Trevor Donovan started this thread:

So, what were we all chowing down on when there was nothing to go around? Twitter tells all.

10. The sugar sandwich

Need the recipe? Bread + sugar. Bon apple teeth.

9. Banquet frozen dinners

Check out that price stamp. Half a buck. Dang.

8. King Vitaman

I don’t know what kind of land you’re ruling, sire, but it definitely isn’t Flavor Town.

7. The flexibility of bread

“I didn’t know I was poor.”

6. Beans and rice

Well that’s…horrifying.

5. Pork and beans sandwiches

Dude, broke or not, that’s a delicious fart treat right there.

4. The cheese preserver

I feel like there are better containers for this but ok.

3. S.O.S.

Who doesn’t love Kool Aid though?

2. A krafty choice

Even adult me who isn’t destitute is lookin’ at that like a fine meal.

1. Government cheese

Everything is better grilled.

Bon apetite!

What’s your go-to broke food?

Tell us in the comments.

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If You Grew up Poor, What Were the Unwritten Social Expectations? Here’s What People Said.

Growing up in poverty has to be very tough on children.

In addition to going without material things, there are also certain expectations that they had to deal with because of their lack of money.

If you grew up poor, what unwritten social expectations did you have to deal with?

People shared their thoughts on AskReddit.

1. Ugh.

“I once told some friends we had mushrooms growing in our house. I thought it was cool. My mom was angry and told me to never tell anyone again. I realized as I got older why she was angry.

The floor of our house was rotting…thus the mushrooms. But she couldn’t afford to get it fixed. She was worried CPS would take me away for unsafe living conditions.”

2. Private.

“Do not answer the door. Do not answer the phone.

When the man is looking through the window, make sure you can’t be seen.

Do not tell anyone who knocks on the door where the parents work.”

3. Not enough to eat.

“Not eating lunch because it you either “just ate breakfast” or “dinner’s only a few hours away you’ll be fine”.”

4. No extra money.

“We weren’t allowed to do any kind of extra curricular activities.

So, no instruments, no joining any kind of sports or girl scouts or anything that required an upfront investment for uniforms or the season. Walmart shoes.

My dad once said I wasn’t really in need of glasses, that I just wanted to look like all my four eyed friends? lol (spoiler alert, totally needed them)

Off brand everything.”

5. We’re not trash.

“Keep your hair brushed, your clothes clean, and be articulate and polite in all circumstances. We were not going to be “trash” just because we were poor.

Also, no wearing ripped jeans, even if it’s the style. We’re not spending money on new pants that look like old worn out pants.”

6. Hot and sticky.

“A/C was only for company.

I lived in South Florida and didn’t know I could use the air conditioner without having someone over until I moved out of my parents’ home.”

7. Go cheap.

“If someone buys you food at a restaurant order as cheaply as possible even if they tell you order whatever you want.

Used to get glares from my parents if I ordered something 10 bucks or over at a place where average prices was 10 bucks.

If you can get a burger and fries for 8 you better be eating a burger.”

8. Better not get caught.

“Don’t do anything bad or illegal.

But if you do, don’t get caught.

Bail is expensive. Lawyers and court fees are expensive.”

9. Say nothing.

“Never tell your friends that you couldn’t afford food or give them any clue about what it’s like at home.

My mother used to ask me if I told anyone how we live and that’s when I questioned our situation.”

10. The rules.

“Never see a doctor or go to the emergency room unless you are actually d**ng.

And, if you touch the thermostat you will be d**ng.”

11. Don’t waste anything.

“Nothing wasted!

Mom had a dish called mixed-up stew which was basically a little mince beef, mashed potatoes and any leftovers from the fridge.

Good menu planning – she never called it that but one meal led to the next with last’s night leftovers included. Failing that, she always had a soup on the go using bones from chicken, dried barley and, yet again, leftovers.

Thing is they were all delicious, but that could be me just remembering her fondly.”

12. Not worth the bother.

“You never brought the field trip permission slips home because you knew better than to make your mom feel guilty she couldn’t pay the $5-20 fee to let you go.”

What are some more unwritten expectations of growing up poor?

Talk to us in the comments and let us know what you think.

We look forward to hearing from you!

The post If You Grew up Poor, What Were the Unwritten Social Expectations? Here’s What People Said. appeared first on UberFacts.