Overheard at Work

[eyePod]

An acquaintance just told me that her and her husband have racked up a combined $700,000 in student loans!!!  When a relative gave her a thousand dollars for Christmas gift, she went out and spent it on fancy Tory Burch bags.

Her husband and her are both doctors and their loans are in forebearance while they finish their residency programs.  I have no idea what they are going to do once they enter repayment.

There are non-profit options where they can work for something like 5 or 10 years and have the entire loan forgiven...

[johnny847]

It infuriates me to no end when stores have "tax refund sales." I want to rip my hair out when I see people falling for this trap.

Yeah I hear ya, but for me, it is music to my ears! As a wholesaler, we don't sell much in the first quarter because retailers don't have much demand from their customers (many are tapped out after Christmas), but things perk up around mid-March as customers start collecting their tax returns.

Haha I guess that's true. There really isn't a big "spending excuse" until then =P

[DoubleDown]

An acquaintance just told me that her and her husband have racked up a combined $700,000 in student loans!!!  When a relative gave her a thousand dollars for Christmas gift, she went out and spent it on fancy Tory Burch bags.

Her husband and her are both doctors and their loans are in forebearance while they finish their residency programs.  I have no idea what they are going to do once they enter repayment.

There are non-profit options where they can work for something like 5 or 10 years and have the entire loan forgiven...

Man, imagine having to work for 5-10 years after 7 years of medical school/residency/etc., just to essentially break even (I'm assuming that if they're working for a non-profit, they are earning relatively little and therefore are not building up giant savings on the side).

Contrast that with starting a reasonably high-paying job, or even decent-earning, right out of undergrad and with almost no student loans. You could be RE in 10 years vs. starting at "0" after 17 years.

[vivophoenix]

An acquaintance just told me that her and her husband have racked up a combined $700,000 in student loans!!!  When a relative gave her a thousand dollars for Christmas gift, she went out and spent it on fancy Tory Burch bags.

Her husband and her are both doctors and their loans are in forebearance while they finish their residency programs.  I have no idea what they are going to do once they enter repayment.

There are non-profit options where they can work for something like 5 or 10 years and have the entire loan forgiven...

which options are those ? all the non profit options i thought were like 15/20 years. alot of you prime earning years

[galliver]

An acquaintance just told me that her and her husband have racked up a combined $700,000 in student loans!!!  When a relative gave her a thousand dollars for Christmas gift, she went out and spent it on fancy Tory Burch bags.

Her husband and her are both doctors and their loans are in forebearance while they finish their residency programs.  I have no idea what they are going to do once they enter repayment.

There are non-profit options where they can work for something like 5 or 10 years and have the entire loan forgiven...

Man, imagine having to work for 5-10 years after 7 years of medical school/residency/etc., just to essentially break even (I'm assuming that if they're working for a non-profit, they are earning relatively little and therefore are not building up giant savings on the side).

Contrast that with starting a reasonably high-paying job, or even decent-earning, right out of undergrad and with almost no student loans. You could be RE in 10 years vs. starting at "0" after 17 years.

Man, imagine a world without doctors...

I, for one, am really glad some people choose that path in life in spite of the debt required (for most) to manage it.

[TrMama]

Yesterday coworker 1 was complaining to coworker 2 about the trials and tribulations of trying to buy a townhouse in an age restricted complex with less than 20% down. Apparently, there are few mortgage insurance providers who will insure the loan because of the age restrictions and because the strata (aka HOA) doesn't have enough money in reserve for repairs. Coworker 2 kept asking questions about well, could you do this or that to get around the insurance issue?

Foolishly, I piped up and asked, "Why don't you just put more than 20% down so you don't need mortgage insurance?"

Cue annoyed look from coworker 1 and incredulous look from coworker 2 because he never considered that solution . . .

[dragoncar]

An acquaintance just told me that her and her husband have racked up a combined $700,000 in student loans!!!  When a relative gave her a thousand dollars for Christmas gift, she went out and spent it on fancy Tory Burch bags.

Her husband and her are both doctors and their loans are in forebearance while they finish their residency programs.  I have no idea what they are going to do once they enter repayment.

There are non-profit options where they can work for something like 5 or 10 years and have the entire loan forgiven...

Man, imagine having to work for 5-10 years after 7 years of medical school/residency/etc., just to essentially break even (I'm assuming that if they're working for a non-profit, they are earning relatively little and therefore are not building up giant savings on the side).

Contrast that with starting a reasonably high-paying job, or even decent-earning, right out of undergrad and with almost no student loans. You could be RE in 10 years vs. starting at "0" after 17 years.

Man, imagine a world without doctors...

I, for one, am really glad some people choose that path in life in spite of the debt required (for most) to manage it.

They can be fine, though.  Imagine you have 700k debt.  Imagine you bring in $400k/year.  As a mustachian, you could still retire well in 5-10 years.  The problem these doctors have is a spending problem, not a debt problem.

Of course, as a mustachian, you wouldn't have had 700k debt to begin with.  I'm sure a LARGE chunk of that is attributable to inflated living expenses, not merely tuition or basic living expenses.

[galliver]

[...]

They can be fine, though.  Imagine you have 700k debt.  Imagine you bring in $400k/year.  As a mustachian, you could still retire well in 5-10 years.  The problem these doctors have is a spending problem, not a debt problem.

Of course, as a mustachian, you wouldn't have had 700k debt to begin with.  I'm sure a LARGE chunk of that is attributable to inflated living expenses, not merely tuition or basic living expenses.

Oh I don't doubt they'll be fine.

According to a quick search (leading to AAMC website),

•     The median amount of debt for the class of 2014: $180,000*
      The median 4-year cost of attendance for the class of 2015: $226,447* (public school) and $298,538* (private school)
      The 2013 median starting salary for Internal Medicine (first year post residency): $180,000**

Add some undergrad loans to the private school cost of attendance, and you can get $350k/person easily. (I believe average undergrad debt is around $20-25k right now, but a future doctor probably went to a 4-year school, so might be more like $50-100k.)

But none of this means it's a bad idea to become a doctor; we need doctors! And I for one am glad that people who don't have $350k in family money go into that career field as well, in spite of the challenges! What I think really sucks is the people who get through 2 years of med school, realize they hate it, and yet feel they have to stick it out in the profession for years anyway because how else are they going to pay their loans off?

[firelight]

It infuriates me to no end when stores have "tax refund sales." I want to rip my hair out when I see people falling for this trap.

Yeah I hear ya, but for me, it is music to my ears! As a wholesaler, we don't sell much in the first quarter because retailers don't have much demand from their customers (many are tapped out after Christmas), but things perk up around mid-March as customers start collecting their tax returns.

I thought Valentine's day in February was the start of spending season after Christmas

[jordanread]

It infuriates me to no end when stores have "tax refund sales." I want to rip my hair out when I see people falling for this trap.

Yeah I hear ya, but for me, it is music to my ears! As a wholesaler, we don't sell much in the first quarter because retailers don't have much demand from their customers (many are tapped out after Christmas), but things perk up around mid-March as customers start collecting their tax returns.

I thought Valentine's day in February was the start of spending season after Christmas

Shit.

[coffeehound]

An acquaintance just told me that her and her husband have racked up a combined $700,000 in student loans!!!  When a relative gave her a thousand dollars for Christmas gift, she went out and spent it on fancy Tory Burch bags.

Her husband and her are both doctors and their loans are in forebearance while they finish their residency programs.  I have no idea what they are going to do once they enter repayment.

There are non-profit options where they can work for something like 5 or 10 years and have the entire loan forgiven...

which options are those ? all the non profit options i thought were like 15/20 years. alot of you prime earning years

There are lots of programs available to Drs. that offer loan forgiveness.  I once dated a guy who agreed to work in a low income/underserved area for two years to get his med school loans forgiven.  Since doctors can be scarce commodities, if folks are willing to live in non-optimal areas for even a few years, they can easily get large percentages of loans paid off, i.e., work in an area with a low Dr.:patient ratio, work in low-income areas, get a town in Alaska to pay your loans....... These programs are v. different from the 'student loans forgiven' if you work for the public good type, since Doctors are scarce, and require so much training.

[dragoncar]

An acquaintance just told me that her and her husband have racked up a combined $700,000 in student loans!!!  When a relative gave her a thousand dollars for Christmas gift, she went out and spent it on fancy Tory Burch bags.

Her husband and her are both doctors and their loans are in forebearance while they finish their residency programs.  I have no idea what they are going to do once they enter repayment.

There are non-profit options where they can work for something like 5 or 10 years and have the entire loan forgiven...

which options are those ? all the non profit options i thought were like 15/20 years. alot of you prime earning years

There are lots of programs available to Drs. that offer loan forgiveness.  I once dated a guy who agreed to work in a low income/underserved area for two years to get his med school loans forgiven.  Since doctors can be scarce commodities, if folks are willing to live in non-optimal areas for even a few years, they can easily get large percentages of loans paid off, i.e., work in an area with a low Dr.:patient ratio, work in low-income areas, get a town in Alaska to pay your loans....... These programs are v. different from the 'student loans forgiven' if you work for the public good type, since Doctors are scarce, and require so much training.

[Eric]

There are lots of programs available to Drs. that offer loan forgiveness.  ....  get a town in Alaska to pay your loans....

It's true.  I saw it on TV a few years back.  No truth to the rumor that you have to be Jewish or a New Yorker, let alone both.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098878/

[dragoncar]

There are lots of programs available to Drs. that offer loan forgiveness.  ....  get a town in Alaska to pay your loans....

  No truth to the rumor that you have to be Jewish or a New Yorker, let alone both.

... But I'm repeating myself

[jordanread]

There are lots of programs available to Drs. that offer loan forgiveness.  ....  get a town in Alaska to pay your loans....

  No truth to the rumor that you have to be Jewish or a New Yorker, let alone both.

... But I'm repeating myself

Holy shit. Dragoncar is Eric.

[secondcor521]

There are lots of programs available to Drs. that offer loan forgiveness.  ....  get a town in Alaska to pay your loans....

  No truth to the rumor that you have to be Jewish or a New Yorker, let alone both.

... But I'm repeating myself

Holy shit. Dragoncar is Eric.

Or many New Yorkers are Jewish :-)

[Primm]

At lunch today, and CW1 was commenting on CW2's new hair colour.

Apparently it costs her $410 a pop. Apparently she gets it done every 6 weeks...

I nearly choked on my homemade pasta. I did tell her that it cost more than my new bike. She was suitably embarrassed.

[Adventine]

There are lots of programs available to Drs. that offer loan forgiveness.  ....  get a town in Alaska to pay your loans....

  No truth to the rumor that you have to be Jewish or a New Yorker, let alone both.

... But I'm repeating myself

Holy shit. Dragoncar is Eric.

Or many New Yorkers are Jewish :-)

I like the Dragoncar is Eric theory better.

[craiglepaige]

At lunch today, and CW1 was commenting on CW2's new hair colour.

Apparently it costs her $410 a pop. Apparently she gets it done every 6 weeks...

I nearly choked on my homemade pasta. I did tell her that it cost more than my new bike. She was suitably embarrassed.

Does she get her hair gold plated???
How is this possible? $410 for a hair color... I would punch myself if I ever even thought about wasting that kind of money on something that's gonna wash off in a few weeks.

Bet her stylist loves her ;)

[infogoon]

There are lots of programs available to Drs. that offer loan forgiveness.  I once dated a guy who agreed to work in a low income/underserved area for two years to get his med school loans forgiven.  Since doctors can be scarce commodities, if folks are willing to live in non-optimal areas for even a few years, they can easily get large percentages of loans paid off, i.e., work in an area with a low Dr.:patient ratio, work in low-income areas, get a town in Alaska to pay your loans....... These programs are v. different from the 'student loans forgiven' if you work for the public good type, since Doctors are scarce, and require so much training.

An acquaintance of mine is doing this. Apparently it's really tough to get dentists to provide services on Indian Reservations, so he's working a couple days a week in a clinic on one in exchange for forgiveness on his dental school loans.

[Primm]

At lunch today, and CW1 was commenting on CW2's new hair colour.

Apparently it costs her $410 a pop. Apparently she gets it done every 6 weeks...

I nearly choked on my homemade pasta. I did tell her that it cost more than my new bike. She was suitably embarrassed.

Does she get her hair gold plated???
How is this possible? $410 for a hair color... I would punch myself if I ever even thought about wasting that kind of money on something that's gonna wash off in a few weeks.

Bet her stylist loves her ;)

It's pink. They have to strip her natural hair colour out and then replace it with the pink. Can you imagine how bad that is, cumulatively, for your hair?

Oh, but it's a cut and blow dry too. That makes it all ok, apparently.

[gimp]

So just a bleach and color, then? Shit, we did that every year for swimming championships, for like $60 for the entire team. I'm sure it wasn't as good as salon hair but I'm equally sure there is a happy compromise in price.

Then again, I have learned from girls that even the most basic girl haircuts often cost ridiculously large amounts of money, at most places.

[Rangifer]

Bet her stylist loves her ;)

I bet the stylist does. >90% of that money is going into the stylists pocket.

[caliq]

At lunch today, and CW1 was commenting on CW2's new hair colour.

Apparently it costs her $410 a pop. Apparently she gets it done every 6 weeks...

I nearly choked on my homemade pasta. I did tell her that it cost more than my new bike. She was suitably embarrassed.

Does she get her hair gold plated???
How is this possible? $410 for a hair color... I would punch myself if I ever even thought about wasting that kind of money on something that's gonna wash off in a few weeks.

Bet her stylist loves her ;)

It's pink. They have to strip her natural hair colour out and then replace it with the pink. Can you imagine how bad that is, cumulatively, for your hair?

Oh, but it's a cut and blow dry too. That makes it all ok, apparently.

It is terrible for your hair.  Mine is still recovering :(  Sometimes I got crazy dye jobs in salons, other times I did it on my own in the bathtub -- one time I used KoolAid to dye it red :D  It's naturally blonde (getting browner as I get older...) but it's been blue, red, pink, orange at various times in life.  I haven't dyed it for two years and I have about 4" of healthy looking roots at the top.  The rest is dry and full of split ends and gross :/

Never once did I spend more than $100 for cut, color, wash, blow dry, bleach, etc etc + tip for the stylist.  I never got it done more frequently than every 12 weeks or so, usually significantly less frequently than that.  She probably spends $100 a month on product to keep it from looking like straw!

[Primm]

Bet her stylist loves her ;)

I bet the stylist does. >90% of that money is going into the stylists pocket.

Actually it's one of those celebrity name brand salon chains. My bet is the person who actually styles her hair sees less than 50% of that.

[Astatine]

At lunch today, and CW1 was commenting on CW2's new hair colour.

Apparently it costs her $410 a pop. Apparently she gets it done every 6 weeks...

I nearly choked on my homemade pasta. I did tell her that it cost more than my new bike. She was suitably embarrassed.

I met someone once whose hairdresser appointments are as much annually as my mortgage repayments. I spend $0 on hairdressers and maybe $20/year on hair products.

[Pollyanna]

At work we have numerous young college hires.  I spoke with one fellow this week, who just got engaged in December.  First, he spend five figures on the engagement ring -- custom design importing stones from Italy to coordinate with an heirloom family diamond.  This week he was browsing vehicles online - an SUV for his fiancé because her 2006 Honda sits too low and needs new tires.  (He is leasing the new SUV).  He says he can afford the SUV because his truck has been refinanced twice and his payments are only a little over $100 now...the truck gets 12 mpg.  Kaboom, my head exploded!

[Le Barbu]

There are lots of programs available to Drs. that offer loan forgiveness.  ....  get a town in Alaska to pay your loans....

  No truth to the rumor that you have to be Jewish or a New Yorker, let alone both.

... But I'm repeating myself

Holy shit. Dragoncar is Eric.

Or many New Yorkers are Jewish :-)

I like the Dragoncar is Eric theory better.

So New-Yorkers are Jewish and Dragoncar is Eric?

[dragoncar]

There are lots of programs available to Drs. that offer loan forgiveness.  ....  get a town in Alaska to pay your loans....

  No truth to the rumor that you have to be Jewish or a New Yorker, let alone both.

... But I'm repeating myself

Holy shit. Dragoncar is Eric.

Or many New Yorkers are Jewish :-)

I like the Dragoncar is Eric theory better.

So New-Yorkers are Jewish and Dragoncar is Eric?

... but we repeat ourselves

[Eric]

There are lots of programs available to Drs. that offer loan forgiveness.  ....  get a town in Alaska to pay your loans....

  No truth to the rumor that you have to be Jewish or a New Yorker, let alone both.

... But I'm repeating myself

Holy shit. Dragoncar is Eric.

Or many New Yorkers are Jewish :-)

I like the Dragoncar is Eric theory better.

So New-Yorkers are Jewish and Dragoncar is Eric?

... but we repeat ourselves

GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!

[dragoncar]

There are lots of programs available to Drs. that offer loan forgiveness.  ....  get a town in Alaska to pay your loans....

  No truth to the rumor that you have to be Jewish or a New Yorker, let alone both.

... But I'm repeating myself

Holy shit. Dragoncar is Eric.

Or many New Yorkers are Jewish :-)

I like the Dragoncar is Eric theory better.

So New-Yorkers are Jewish and Dragoncar is Eric?

... but we repeat ourselves

GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!

Malkovich?  Malkovich malkovich.  Malkovich!!!!

[Le Barbu]

There are lots of programs available to Drs. that offer loan forgiveness.  ....  get a town in Alaska to pay your loans....

  No truth to the rumor that you have to be Jewish or a New Yorker, let alone both.

... But I'm repeating myself

Holy shit. Dragoncar is Eric.

Or many New Yorkers are Jewish :-)

I like the Dragoncar is Eric theory better.

So New-Yorkers are Jewish and Dragoncar is Eric?

... but we repeat ourselves

GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!

Malkovich?  Malkovich malkovich.  Malkovich!!!!

So, your not Eric but you are inside his head

[scottish]

Wait, Maurice, is that you?

That was such a fun show.

[craiglepaige]

Bet her stylist loves her ;)

I bet the stylist does. >90% of that money is going into the stylists pocket.

Not always. My SIL owns a salon and the stylists make 50%.

[Supertaster]

Not overheard at work, but I go on a group bike ride on Sundays. The group leader mentioned last time he has this great mobile hotspot service for just $40/month! Which he uses for strictly non work purposes (mostly just streaming Pandora to his iPad). He thought it was a steal. I just nodded along, thinking what an idiot. That $40/month is in addition to whatever cell phone plan he has.

Not sure where your cycling group leader lives and what cellular provider he uses, but if he has T-Mobile (US) service, then several streaming music services don't count towards your data cap, including Pandora, Spotify, Google Play Music. Also, Spotify had an offer over holidays for a 3 months Premium ad-free streaming for 99 cents, and you can have 5 devices to your plan. I've tethered an Android tablet to my Android phone, streamed music, and verified it didn't count towards my data bucket.

Just as a warning to others: T-Mobile does advertise that streaming music doesn't count towards your data cap, but I switched over from AT&T six months ago (for that very reason) and every bit of streaming data has counted towards my data cap. This leaves me halfway through the month with my data speed capped at 2G (advertised as 3G, but there's no way) for the rest of the month. I've tried contacting T-Mobile multiple times and they still haven't responded. Friends of mine have since had similar issues.

[space]

Just as a warning to others: T-Mobile does advertise that streaming music doesn't count towards your data cap, but I switched over from AT&T six months ago (for that very reason) and every bit of streaming data has counted towards my data cap. This leaves me halfway through the month with my data speed capped at 2G (advertised as 3G, but there's no way) for the rest of the month. I've tried contacting T-Mobile multiple times and they still haven't responded. Friends of mine have since had similar issues.

It should probably be noted that it's only some music providers. Most notable omission from that list is probably TuneIn, but that's kinda to be expected since they don't really host their own streams. Also, it only applies to the music stream, not to things like, say, album art that your application may load in. The throttle is and has always been 2G - where did you get the idea that it was 3G?

[Indexer]

An acquaintance just told me that her and her husband have racked up a combined $700,000 in student loans!!!  When a relative gave her a thousand dollars for Christmas gift, she went out and spent it on fancy Tory Burch bags.

Her husband and her are both doctors and their loans are in forebearance while they finish their residency programs.  I have no idea what they are going to do once they enter repayment.

When a doctor leaves residency their income normally triples/quadruples(at least here).  The tory burch bags are stupid, but sitting in forbearance while they are in residency is actually pretty normal.  Its normal to have 150-250k in loans so 700k for a couple is on the high end, but they will actually probably be fine.  With the incomes they can expect after they complete their residency they could easily adopt a mustachian lifestyle and retire in less than 10 years no problem.  They won't... they will buy a giant house and drive BMWs... 

[Supertaster]

Just as a warning to others: T-Mobile does advertise that streaming music doesn't count towards your data cap, but I switched over from AT&T six months ago (for that very reason) and every bit of streaming data has counted towards my data cap. This leaves me halfway through the month with my data speed capped at 2G (advertised as 3G, but there's no way) for the rest of the month. I've tried contacting T-Mobile multiple times and they still haven't responded. Friends of mine have since had similar issues.

It should probably be noted that it's only some music providers. Most notable omission from that list is probably TuneIn, but that's kinda to be expected since they don't really host their own streams. Also, it only applies to the music stream, not to things like, say, album art that your application may load in. The throttle is and has always been 2G - where did you get the idea that it was 3G?

I only went to one T-Mobile store, and they were claiming 3G. Maybe that store was the exception, but that was my experience.

As far as the limitations on music providers, I only stream through iHeartRadio and Pandora. Both of which are supposedly included.

[commodore perry]

me: how's wedding planning going? Excited for the small/destination wedding?

cw: well...wife's family veto'd that; we're doing the big 200 person thing

me: too bad, I think small weddings are more fun/intimate, and a lot less expensive than the big circus wedding

cw: yeah, we stated pricing things out, we could do $30k "on the cheap" but if we're going to do it, we're going to do it right, probably will be more like $50,000.

me: poker face...long pause
me: yeah, got to enjoy it and all that...thinking, sure, spending the AVERAGE ANNUAL american HOUSEHOLD income on a one night party for yourself makes sense

[Siobhan]

Not overheard at work, but I go on a group bike ride on Sundays. The group leader mentioned last time he has this great mobile hotspot service for just $40/month! Which he uses for strictly non work purposes (mostly just streaming Pandora to his iPad). He thought it was a steal. I just nodded along, thinking what an idiot. That $40/month is in addition to whatever cell phone plan he has.

Not sure where your cycling group leader lives and what cellular provider he uses, but if he has T-Mobile (US) service, then several streaming music services don't count towards your data cap, including Pandora, Spotify, Google Play Music. Also, Spotify had an offer over holidays for a 3 months Premium ad-free streaming for 99 cents, and you can have 5 devices to your plan. I've tethered an Android tablet to my Android phone, streamed music, and verified it didn't count towards my data bucket.

Just as a warning to others: T-Mobile does advertise that streaming music doesn't count towards your data cap, but I switched over from AT&T six months ago (for that very reason) and every bit of streaming data has counted towards my data cap. This leaves me halfway through the month with my data speed capped at 2G (advertised as 3G, but there's no way) for the rest of the month. I've tried contacting T-Mobile multiple times and they still haven't responded. Friends of mine have since had similar issues.

Been on TMobile slightly longer, and we stream through Spotify, Pandora, and iHeartRadio, pretty much 4-5 hours a day during the work week.  It's never counted towards our cap or throttled.  Go into the store and talk to them if you can.

[boarder42]

I have T-Mobile as well no cost seen. You're either using a non covered streaming service or you don't have the correct plan. Or you need to call and find out why. Saying they don't respond is very hard to believe

[capital]

I am pretty sure the free music streaming is only for postpaid plans, not the cheapo prepaid many of us here use.

[pancakes]

I work with a young girl who is hurtling herself into debt.

We get paid similar amounts and some of the things she says really make me want to beat my head on my desk.

For example, we get paid monthly and every month right before payday she will show me pictures of a big ticket item that she wants to purchase, things that are 1/4 - 1/2 of her monthly paycheque even though just a week earlier she had been complaining about having no money left from her previous pay to buy food. 

We are not high income earners but there are plenty of people around who support a family on what we earn. I was giving her some guidance on how to budget her monthly pays a bit better when she came out and said that her mum was currently paying her rent for her... I just can't understand how a single person earning over $50k and not paying housing costs can be spending more than they earn every month.

We managed to convince her that credit cards were not suitable for her before she got herself into too much debt but then having cleared the balances she immediately booked an overseas holiday to reward herself and as she has no savings left, is taking a credit card with a $10k limit for her expenses.

I want to help her because it is awful watching good people make bad choices that you know they will regret later but she almost seems to think that her not being able to manage money is a big joke.

[kathrynd]

I work with a young girl who is hurtling herself into debt.

We get paid similar amounts and some of the things she says really make me want to beat my head on my desk.

For example, we get paid monthly and every month right before payday she will show me pictures of a big ticket item that she wants to purchase, things that are 1/4 - 1/2 of her monthly paycheque even though just a week earlier she had been complaining about having no money left from her previous pay to buy food. 

We are not high income earners but there are plenty of people around who support a family on what we earn. I was giving her some guidance on how to budget her monthly pays a bit better when she came out and said that her mum was currently paying her rent for her... I just can't understand how a single person earning over $50k and not paying housing costs can be spending more than they earn every month.

We managed to convince her that credit cards were not suitable for her before she got herself into too much debt but then having cleared the balances she immediately booked an overseas holiday to reward herself and as she has no savings left, is taking a credit card with a $10k limit for her expenses.

I want to help her because it is awful watching good people make bad choices that you know they will regret later but she almost seems to think that her not being able to manage money is a big joke.

It seems she gets this from parents.
By paying her rent, they are encouraging her to be irresponsible.

Nothing you can.

[pancakes]

I work with a young girl who is hurtling herself into debt.

We get paid similar amounts and some of the things she says really make me want to beat my head on my desk.

For example, we get paid monthly and every month right before payday she will show me pictures of a big ticket item that she wants to purchase, things that are 1/4 - 1/2 of her monthly paycheque even though just a week earlier she had been complaining about having no money left from her previous pay to buy food. 

We are not high income earners but there are plenty of people around who support a family on what we earn. I was giving her some guidance on how to budget her monthly pays a bit better when she came out and said that her mum was currently paying her rent for her... I just can't understand how a single person earning over $50k and not paying housing costs can be spending more than they earn every month.

We managed to convince her that credit cards were not suitable for her before she got herself into too much debt but then having cleared the balances she immediately booked an overseas holiday to reward herself and as she has no savings left, is taking a credit card with a $10k limit for her expenses.

I want to help her because it is awful watching good people make bad choices that you know they will regret later but she almost seems to think that her not being able to manage money is a big joke.

It seems she gets this from parents.
By paying her rent, they are encouraging her to be irresponsible.

Nothing you can.

Her mum sounds like she has done quite well for herself. Single mother of three, owns her own home with no mortgage and her daughter is living in one of her investment properties (with three housemates who do pay rent). I don't quite understand parents who are clearly financially literate but enable their children in poor financial behaviours by indulging their wants.

My parents have never offered me money for anything. Although I do feel a pang of jealousy when I hear of such generous parents, I'm also thankful because by stepping back they forced me to learn how to stand on my own. My father has done well off of investments in stocks though and I am somewhat annoyed that he didn't teach me at an early age. Such is the way of our family though, any discussion of finances is taboo. 

[DrowsyBee]

First time in this thread, but this is my only outlet after a week of biting my tongue at work.

This young woman I work with complains all the time about how her boss doesn't pay her regularly or pay her even the market rate for what she's doing. So she reveals to me that she was offered a job by someone else for $15k a year more than she currently gets, they would need her to start right away. Since she's a casual, she didn't need to give any notice.

Instead, she turns down the job and is back to complaining that she's not getting paid enough. Then I am talking to her and she opens some mail, its an overdue electricity bill. After more complaining about money, she starts complaining that she doesn't get paid enough to get a car loan to get a $13k used car, as her current one just died. Later that day I looked on a social networking site I'm follow her on, sure enough she's out getting cocktails at a new bar that opened near her apartment.

Needless to say, she's living up to her constant quote of "I think debt is just a natural part of life".

[johnny847]

My parents have never offered me money for anything. Although I do feel a pang of jealousy when I hear of such generous parents, I'm also thankful because by stepping back they forced me to learn how to stand on my own. My father has done well off of investments in stocks though and I am somewhat annoyed that he didn't teach me at an early age. Such is the way of our family though, any discussion of finances is taboo.

That's not to say that parents need to force their children to stand on their own. My parents gave me a generous gift post before I started my PhD. It was enough money that I stared at it and thought...."I have no idea what to do with this money. I guess I should invest it."
And then I started looking into investing. Now granted, it was took another nine months before I actually started (and I missed out on half of 2013's gains, which were amazing - oh well), but I don't think parents have to force their children to stand on their own. Though it does require the parents to judge their children and see if they will need some prodding or if they'll figure it out themselves.

[pancakes]

My parents have never offered me money for anything. Although I do feel a pang of jealousy when I hear of such generous parents, I'm also thankful because by stepping back they forced me to learn how to stand on my own. My father has done well off of investments in stocks though and I am somewhat annoyed that he didn't teach me at an early age. Such is the way of our family though, any discussion of finances is taboo.

That's not to say that parents need to force their children to stand on their own. My parents gave me a generous gift post before I started my PhD. It was enough money that I stared at it and thought...."I have no idea what to do with this money. I guess I should invest it."
And then I started looking into investing. Now granted, it was took another nine months before I actually started (and I missed out on half of 2013's gains, which were amazing - oh well), but I don't think parents have to force their children to stand on their own. Though it does require the parents to judge their children and see if they will need some prodding or if they'll figure it out themselves.

For sure, all kids and all parents are different. I probably did need them to give me a push by stepping back but I do also know that if I was ever in serious financial trouble they would help me out.

[craiglepaige]

I work with a young girl who is hurtling herself into debt.

We get paid similar amounts and some of the things she says really make me want to beat my head on my desk.

For example, we get paid monthly and every month right before payday she will show me pictures of a big ticket item that she wants to purchase, things that are 1/4 - 1/2 of her monthly paycheque even though just a week earlier she had been complaining about having no money left from her previous pay to buy food. 

We are not high income earners but there are plenty of people around who support a family on what we earn. I was giving her some guidance on how to budget her monthly pays a bit better when she came out and said that her mum was currently paying her rent for her... I just can't understand how a single person earning over $50k and not paying housing costs can be spending more than they earn every month.

We managed to convince her that credit cards were not suitable for her before she got herself into too much debt but then having cleared the balances she immediately booked an overseas holiday to reward herself and as she has no savings left, is taking a credit card with a $10k limit for her expenses.

I want to help her because it is awful watching good people make bad choices that you know they will regret later but she almost seems to think that her not being able to manage money is a big joke.

If you consider her a good friend, then maybe take her out to dinner or have her over your place and have a serious talk with her. It wouldn't hurt, unless she takes it personal, at which point there's nothing you can do.

[msjd123]

My boss sucks. He's a lazy Mr. Nice Guy who bases all of his decisions on whatever is easiest and keeps most people happy. Needless to say, this has NOT been good for our organization, and we've been counting the years until he retires. He seems to feel the same way, as he started counting down to retirement 5 years ago, and he has reminded us on a regular basis how many years and months he has left, and how he can't believe he's 65 now, how he's not getting any younger, etc.

Well, yesterday, he overshared that he will actually be working one more year. This was supposed to be his last year, but now he's going to hang on until mid-2016. Why? He says he can't afford to retire yet. After all, he just bought a new house and spent $10K furnishing it, and his wife plans on hiring landscapers for the front and back yards of the house. "Life's expensive, yaknow?" he said.

*cue primal scream*

I can't even wrap my mind around it all.