Lisa

Honestly – I don’t think he did all that bad. Sure, some purchases were unnecessary – but if they were something he was planning on AND he was also saving money, it wasn’t that bad.

Some obvious tips, if he’s not already doing them – keep track of every penny spent, always (not just during Money Diaries week). Keeping track of these purchases will help with this kind of spending – he’ll think twice before buying things he doesn’t need.

But again – this isn’t that bad at all!

Ian W. Parker

While his spending wasn’t horrible, he would do well to spend less money on DVD box sets (perhaps rent some of the movies/shows he is unsure about?), get rid of the eBay fees (use Craigslist instead?), and spend a bit more money on some healthy food to take to lunch. He did mention an apple the one day, but then went on to eat popcorn and bread sticks in later updates.

I don’t know if he is making lunch from Mom’s kitchen or what, but I think it would be prudent for him to examine food spending carefully and make lunches ahead of time. Bonus points for splitting the popcorn into two snacks though. Portion control is a good thing.

As for looking for houses and not wanting to do repair work, well, I’m not sure what to say to that. I don’t think anyone is ever really ready to do home repair. It can be frustrating and time-consuming. But it is far more rewarding for the time/money investment as opposed to anime DVD box sets.

He speaks of all the items that he purchased depreciating. Well, a house will not depreciate, especially not if he puts some money into fixing it up. Buying a house is certainly not a decision you should jump into without some research, but it’s time he bites the bullet. Find something affordable in a relatively decent neighborhood and make it work. Then get the Kitchen Aid mixer.

It’s all easier said than done, I realize. He may need to address that credit card spending, too. Stop loaning money to family, especially on a credit card with INTEREST. I hope he’s charging his siblings the interest on what they spent, otherwise, he’s losing money there.

Shawanda

It seems like he really has his heart set on a KitchenAid mixer. I suggest trying Freecycle. A lot of people purchase small household appliances then never use them. You might be able to get one for free from someone who’s sick of it taking up counter space.

I don’t think $166 spent in one week is so bad. Then again, it depends on your income. I think he has the right idea when it comes to food. Foregoing the restaurant fodder is better for your health and your wealth.

Maybe a little bit more planning will serve him well. There are people who actually prepare their meals in advance out of necessity. If they don’t prepare their lunch, then they have to wait until they get home from work to eat. Crazy – I know.

I commend him for not buying the $1 shirts. Even if free, such items are more trouble than they’re worth if you’re not going to use them.

J

I’d suggest that the writer look more into things like condos or townhouses rather than detached homes, since the condo fee would cover a lot of the things he doesn’t want to do at this point in his life. If he doesn’t want to go that route, he should get estimates on what the repair work would cost to get done — in which case, he’ll either get more enthusiastic about DIY work, or have a better incentive to save more money to pay for someone else to do the work. There’s nothing wrong with paying people to do work around the house — but you just need to have an idea of what things cost.

My aunt and uncle own about three tools total, have a very nice house and are doing just fine financially, having a fine retirement filled with travel and leisure. My uncle spent a lot of time following investments and finance, and this likely paid off more handsomely for him than spending a lot of time on house projects.

Myself, I like the house projects more and have employed a financial planner to help with investment decisions and doing legwork that I don’t want to do. We still call the shots on the final decisions, but the work wasn’t being done previously. As a result, I have adequate life/disability insurance, my retirement funds are reallocated periodically, are getting a will together, and so on. We do a monthly budget and have an OK grasp on the day to day, but I’m really happy to have someone who gets the minutae of the long term stuff.

Sra

I found this guy’s obsessing over little purchases annoying. We hear about how he spends $2 here and $20 there, but we hear nothing about what he’s doing savings-wise. Spending $160 is perfectly fine if you’re also investing in your savings. Also, I don’t see why he can’t get out of his parents’ house. Get some roommates your age and share a place. A few years ago I made roughly $350 per month, and I still managed to rent a place with three friends. It can be done if you are willing to be flexible. Why must he buy now?

JimE

Its hard to say anything about this guy since all we see is his spending instead of his income. The fact that he’s this concious of money is probably good, but it sounds to me more like he got this conscious since he knew he would be recording this week’s expenditures.
The comment about friends not calling on him anymore probably worries me more than anything. Handling money is important, but learning how to do it effectively in your society is just as important. If he has to retreat to his parents house and cut himself off from society to feel good about managing money, while at the same time walking around the mall and checking sales as an activity, well that ain’t a good combo.

Courtney

I think these Money Diaries would be better if they started with some basic information: Salary, savings, do they contribute to retirement?, does he pay rent/cable/etc? His spending pattern is probably fine for someone making like $40,000, but we have no idea. Every comment here is basically worthless because we have no idea what individual situation really is.

dream

I live in Orlando and houses here are getting dirt cheap. I plan on buying a house next month because there is 4 decent houses for under 52000 in the area I want. Add the first time home buyers tax credit and this year is the best time to purchase a home in decades!!

Kevin W

This guy’s hobbies seem to be shopping at the mall, shopping at Target, and collecting import DVD sets, all of which revolve around spending money. He’s trying to enjoy these without spending any money, which is a surefire recipe for feeling deprived.

He might feel better about all this if he branched out into an activity that isn’t fueled by constant spending — take up chess, driveway basketball, old computer games, hiking, whatever. We’ve all seen lists of these things.

Kelly

It seems like the only reason he didn’t spend more money this week is because he sat at home and did nothing. Not exactly a sustainable savings plan. It seems like to him spending money = fun and therefore not spending means no fun. His attitude seems to say that he has resigned himself to some amount of no fun to get to his goal. That is a sure way to set yourself up for failure. He needs to plan to spend some money so that he can get on with his life and stop stressing over all the small things. Also, I agree with many of the posters above… shopping is not a good hobby for saving money.

Gerard

I can’t see anything inherently wrong with the author’s spending. Sure you could cut out some expenses but would you really want to? You need to spend some money.
That siad, here’s my problem – If you’re trying to save for a house and you get home at 4pm, why are you not looking at other income sources?? Surely that would be a better use of your time instead of hanging in the bedroom and watching DVDs!! I don’t mean to sound harsh but even a couple of hours’ work is more income -> more savings for the house fund…

J

@Jan S — keep in mind by the time someone settles with a credit card company, they likely are already months (if not years) delinquent on the account and their credit rating is likely in the toilet already. As time goes on, the company has less and less chance of ever seeing a dime, or they will need to take you to court to try and get something, which isn’t free for them.

So if you are making payments and pretty much current with the account, then they are not going to work something out. If you truly want to make a positive change, pay it off and never, ever carry a balance again. For some people this will mean cutting up the card and closing the account altogether if you can’t keep the spending under control.

I paid off my CC years ago, and the CC business has only gotten slimier since. Carrying zero balance means no worries about changing terms, interest rates, late payment fees, etc. It’s a wonderful feeling to be free of that shackle of debt. The sole purpose I keep the card for is to pay for very occasional work-related expenses which are reimbursed.

Crystal

This Money Diary just struck me as very sad. This guy is living with his parents yet doesn’t seem to have a very positive relationship with them, doesn’t really do anything, just walks around window-shopping and watching DVD’s in his room. None of his spending seemed to be associated with paying his parents for rent or food or utilities. The only glimmer of hope seemed to be when he went to Grandma’s house and helped her with some home repairs and stayed for supper.

Sadly, this doesn’t sound too different from other 25yo’s I know. Come on, guys…find purpose for your lives! Spend your evenings at a second job. Deliver pizza or wait tables or take a class to improve your skills. Read books. Volunteer to read to or tutor kids. Be a Big Brother. Be a CASA. Do something for others instead of sitting around entertaining yourselves. Be MEN, not just overgrown boys.

Why in the world is this guy talking about buying a house? What for? A house is a huge responsibility, and this slice of his life doesn’t seem to indicate that he’s really up to it. And why in the world does he want a Kitchen Aid mixer? Does he cook? There’s a lot of dreaming going on, as opposed to doing and being.

I find it frustrating that we only get some of the story. I really hope there’s some depth to this that I’m missing.

msurads

Did everyone miss the fact that his CC had 1500 charged to it? and thats just this month. while $400 is his siblings debt which he may or may not get back, $1100 is his. No wonder he doesnt have any money if he runs up credit card balances like that. While it is possible these were spent on something nessecary, considering he lives with his parents, its more likely it was spent on toys of one kind or another. It may have been spent on chrismas presents, but come on $1100 in christmas presents? sounds a bit ridiculous for some one who cant afford to live on his own.

Chris

I thought it was implied throughout that he had a good chunk of savings built up, but that might have mostly been because he didn’t seem too worried about the expense of buying or (especially) renting a place. He didn’t want to pay 650 for a trashy apartment, but his language didn’t sound stressed by the idea. It seemed like it was more that he was annoyed.

I do think, even if he’s always restraining himself, he looks towards purchases a little too much to find happiness. Really, if something will make him happy, he should purchase it and not beat himself up over it — that’s the mentality of a cheap person. So, maybe he shouldn’t have bought the box set, and maybe he should have purchased the damn electric mixer. But, even more likely, he needs to find something fulfilling to do with some of his free time.

Seth

Pretty sad all around. No info on salary, debt, rent (if any to partents) etc. So fairly worthless as a teaching tool. Also, as others have said, dude’s life seems pretty crappy. Living in your room watching tv is not what anyone wishing they could be 25 again would hope for. Agree also that just wandering Target isn’t good for anyone. No idea why he wants to buy a place either. Guessing he really doesn’t want to himself but is using it as an impossible goal so he can just sit at his parents place for now.

Klint

I am also in my 20’s, and have it good at home with Mom and Dad. I realize it is a temporary exile, but it is the good life to not have to pay rent or utilities.

As a college student working 20-30 hours per week, I am able to save generously as well as enjoy the present. All of my friends who live on their own, while “building character,” etc, wind up in debt or barely scraping by. Stay home as long as you can!

Ted

I’d like to know who paid for the food for the non eating out lunches and dinners.

Crystal

Nik: I’m calm now; I’ve been taking slow deep breaths all afternoon and evening. ;^)

While pizza delivery is not known to be a big player in the meaning of life, a few nights a week of a second job could (a) bring in an extra couple of hundred bucks to spend without guilt (a KitchenAid mixer one week, a box set the next), (b) promote interaction with other people (as opposed to watching DVD’s alone in one’s room), and (c) prevent aimless wandering around Target (b/c one has nothing better to do).

My intention is not to pick on this guy; I’ve made these mistakes myself and wasn’t objective enough to self-correct. I spent several years sitting around my room doing nothing and would love to have that time back to spend on something worthwhile. I’ve also wandered around Target, and the results (other than the guilt) will be available for purchase at a yard sale on Saturday.

The fact that this guy is willing to be featured in this forum seems to indicate that he’s open to seeing himself through others’ eyes, so I hope my comments will be construed as constructive criticism.

Lynette

It would be good to know extra details like income and how much he automatically puts away each week for the house.

thisisbeth

Like many others, I also got the impression that this was not a normal week of spending. This week was how he felt he should spend in a week. Too much seemed to be focused on “I shouldn’t do that” implying that he normally did.

Lauren

This guy totally misses the point of “The Money Diaries”. He thinks it’s a challenge to see how little he can spend in a week, rather than a snapshot of what his true habits are. And if he reads IWTYTBR at all, he should know that Ramit does not think you should stress over $1.50.

This would have been a lot more interesting if we had been able to see a typical week, and gotten a picture of his income and normal monthly expenses.

AtHomeWithTheParents

Wow, I totally forgot that I did this. I stopped reading IWTYTBR a long time ago due to my life getting a bit more hectic. Strangely I decided to come back today and this is on the front page!

I find it kind of amusing and disconcerting as to how people picture me based on this little snippet I wrote which I was told to be dramatic about the week so this is what i figured they wanted. Oh well, here’s a snapshot of my life now.

1.) Making $53K before OT and Bonuses
2.) Contributing $200 cash to my parents per month plus I buy food and other items for the house. I offer more all the time. They refuse to take it. I also take care of the cooking three days a week.
3.) Saving $1K minimum per month. This month I put aside $1,500
4.) I’ve struggled with weight issues my entire life but I’m now perfectly healthy and no, I don’t eat fast food all the time. This was around Christmas when life was pretty damn hectic for me. Regardless, I’m at a normal BMI and have some nice muscles
5.) I bought the Kitchenaid Mixer and don’t regret it at all. I got it on sale and used gift certificates. I bake quite a bit so it’s been quite a help in the kitchen.
6.) I don’t charge interest to loan to the family but I never carry a CC balance
7.) No, this wasn’t a normal week for me. It was around Christmas and I had some stuff bugging me.
8.) I work next door to a mall. It’s a good place to walk for exercise during lunch. I rarely buy anything there.
9.) Since then I’ve taken a nice vacation (frugally I might add but very fun)
10.) I’ve looked at apartments since and most seem to smell bad, are horribly overpriced or are just too much in the city for me. I much prefer the ‘burbs.
11.) I bring my lunch probably 90% of the time. They are usually healthy as well.
12.) I invest to the max matching of my company’s 401K
13.) Several grand in bank accounts (including CDs)

Any other questions, feel free to ask.

MillionaireAdventure

Why is he obsessed with buying a home? What’s wrong with renting first?

I really wish this generation would realise that renting is not all bad, especially if you are young and have not yet settled down.

AtHomeWithTheParents

Crystal: Yeah, I suppose more info on me would’ve been helpful.

My gf and I have looked into rental houses. A lot is up in the air right now, though and I’m almost never home anyway. My life isn’t nearly as abysmal as this snapshot of me depressed before Christmas makes it out to be. I am now a bit more free with my spending on things I care about (going out with my girlfriend and some of my outdoor hobbies.) but winter is usually a really rough spot for me due to living in one of the coldest parts of the continental 48.

MillionaireAdventure: I’m not really obsessed with owning a home, it’s just that rental properties in this part of the country really stink and if you want something decent you have to pay out your @$$hole. I’m sorry but if I’m going to pay $1K a month for a decent 2-3 br house/apartment, I may as well just buy.

I know what I want, I just have to work hard to get it.

And I forgot to mention all of my bills go to my credit card and then I pay it off in one month. That way I earn rewards points. Right now I’m saving my points for something else but I haven’t decided what. I am thinking maybe a vacation.

xmasy

Lauren,

I actually disagree with Ramit on this. I think we should fret even the small stuff. But not to the point where u become obsessed.

Thomas Le Ngo

This was so depressing to read. I’m also with #40.