Money and Finance

[topher]

lpatrice said:

I've heard that if at all possible investing in gold is the way to go, is that true?

Gold as a primary investment? Way risky, IMO.

If you think you need an inflation hedge, gold could be used. One can also use the Gov't issued I-bonds which are indexed to inflation. The best part is that when you cash them in and use the proceeds for college; it is a tax free. Check out treasurydirect.gov.
link

[laconicchick]

I'm about $15K CDN in debt on a student line of credit (it sounds so much worse when I write it out like that... how am I ever going to pay that off?!) and my parents think that, now that I'm no longer dependent on them in the eyes of the government (the reason I had to get the bank loan in the first place; seriously, Government of Canada/B.C., if my parents were giving me what you thought they should be giving me for school, WHY would I apply for a loan?!), I should apply for a government student loan for my last semester, to pay down some of my bank debt. Is this a good idea, do you think? I'm worried about having to pay TWO loans back at once, because there's no WAY the government will give me that much money.

I realize most of you are American, though, so it's probably different down there.

On the up side, that's my only debt... And my boyfriend's car is almost paid off and he paid off his credit card debt last month, and he's saving RRSPs and has a money market... thingy... so HE is pretty set and wants to help me if he can when his car is paid off (which is nice, but I'd feel sort of bad about that. For the record, he has a steady, full-time job and is done school and paid of his student loan already).

[plush]

laconicchic, whatever you can take from the Government to pay off the bank loan, take it because the interest on that will always be lower compared to a private loan which is the one from your bank. You can use part of that money to pay your school fee for the last semester and part of it to pay the bank loan. When time will come to pay back your loans, you will have to make 2 payments yes, but the amount of money would be less had you borrowed that extra money from your original bank. Instead of having to make a payment of $100 monthly you'll have to make 2 of $70 and $30.But if you borrow from the Gov, the interest is lower and that brings down your second monthly payment let's say to $25.If you can, always borrow from the Gov.As for getting help from your man...errr, I don't know. That's really personal so I have no suggestions there. But I completely understand your feeling on that subject.


I do card switching too. Like when it's time to pay off interest on a credit card, I transfer all the money to a new credit card which gives me 0% APR purchase for a year or so. So I can keep making my monthly payment, but pay no interest. I had $3,000 balance on a credit card and $60 was interest every month. It was ridiculous. I was paying interest every month and very little toward the balance.So I opened the new card, transfered my money and in 2 years I was able to pay the amount off. At least it felt like I was reducing the debt whereas before it was mostly interest.

You think with all this I learned how to save money?naaah. Like my mom says: You can either be a saver or a spender and I am so much the latter.I like to spend it, I love the feeling you get when you give money away because you've made yourself happy whether by buying a dress, or by paying for lunch, or anything. I don't mind myself at all, but I pity my future husband. ;D

[topher]

One of my favorite sayings is

You can work for interest or have interest work for you.

[dwanollah]

Jeebus. You ARE a financier, ain'tcha?

[topher]

What? You rather have me spout.

Greed , for the lack of a better word, is good.

[Deleted]

magazinewhore said:

Anyway, if you don't get a job right away and or spend any time unemployed (and have to defer your payment), it compounds really fast.

.

Totally my situtation, MW, except luckily in my case my 2 sisters very kindly lent me the money I needed, when I was working very part time/unemployed, without any time limit or interest for repayment.
So I pay them each around $200 to $250 a month (less when I'm strapped for cash) which helped a lot, because I didn't build up big credit card debts.I've been doing this for the past 2 years, and will probably do so for at least another 2. (I'm working on whittling down student/car loans, but really, I think those kind of loans are pretty much inevitable for the average person).

But yeah, it does end up being a large chunk of your paycheck.

[Auroranorth]

woodchipper said:

Chonies I'll put in a plug for using ING Direct as a savings account for your money if you don't want to have it tied up in a CD. home.ingdirect.com/ The APR is currently at 4.15%, no minimum balance. I've been using it for a couple of years now with no complaints.

There are other librarians here? Cool! Actually, I'm a records manager, but my position is located in the library and I went to library school. I even cataloged something today. Does that make me a honorary librarian?

It makes you an actual librarian. I extend my virtual handshake to you as well. ;D I think I'll look into ING Direct, too.

[chonies]

Thanks for the recommendations, Auroranorth and Woodchipper! I'll track the books down (through interlibrary loan, because I am trying to be miserly) and take notes. And Woodchipper, you are definitely a real liberrian. However, the choice is yours whether you would like to use the mantle or not.

[Ripley]

So many librarians. It's...it's bee-yootiful! *wipes away a tear*

TTMR and I are doing well as far as debt goes. We just have our mortgage, my car, and a small amount left on a 2nd mortgage we took out 3 years ago when we re-financed so we wouldn't have to pay PMI insurance anymore. However, I know we aren't save enough for retirement. Funny, retirement seems closer now at 35 than it did at 27...I wonder why.