Current Events > Ever wonder how the hell some people you know afford certain things

(+) Yeah! (+)

Like this girl I know who works part time as a bar girl. She flits between jobs. Probably works no more than 25 hours when she has a job, which is not consistent. I reckon she probably earns 4 figures a year, maybe just gets into the 5 figure mark. Every time I speak to her she's telling me about how she's penniless, can't afford to go out, can't afford to move out of home, can't afford to get the bus, etc. Note she's not asking me for money and I'm not trying to bang her, this is just friend chat. Basically she's one of those directionless people in their early twenties that spends all their money on booze and then struggles for the rest of next week, repeat every week of the year.

And then she'll tell me how she's flying off to budapest and Spain in a month. She was there not even 4 months ago. How the fuck? Surely she's being sponsored somewhere.

I don't ask prying questions but I just can't figure out how that works.
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The magic of credit card debt
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Yeah, I've been poor my whole life, so I can guess where people are pulling money from. It's either:

- Being stupid as fuck and putting themselves in debt
- Borrowing money from someone who should know better
- Dealing drugs (I would guess this is what the girl in the OP is doing)
- A scratch ticket but this one they usually talk about
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rich parents

sugar daddy/mommy

CC debt

illicit activity
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Man, have you checked the deals you can get online? Package deals worth the equivalent of 250-300$, Flight+hotel for 1 week to places like Spain, Portugal etc for almost nothing! I live in Switzerland and the deals I see are insane, I don't know how the individual parties make money at those prices. You fly shit like easyjet and stay in these 3 star hotels for nothing. I understand that Swiss currency is really high at the moment and the euro is still hurting, which makes it even cheaper for us, but still, going on vacation is super cheap these days.

So yeah, combine these ridiculously cheap prices with her possibly dealing drugs, borrowing money or whatever, and the whole thing starts to make sense.

There's a 19 year old apprentice at my work, with a brand new car on finance and an iPhone X who told me they are looking at getting a second job because they need more money.

Some people just don't know how to live within their means.
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l Dudeboy l posted...

There's a 19 year old apprentice at my work, with a brand new car on finance and an iPhone X who told me they are looking at getting a second job because they need more money.

Some people just don't know how to live within their means.

This was my brother. Ended up with 6 figure credit card debt by his mid twenties because he just figured "I earn XXXX, I can afford XXXX in card repayments every month-OH LOOK A NEW TOY. Ok, I can afford the minimum repayment every month, I'll pay it back when I earn more..."
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Yeah I wonder the same too.. People who complain about not having money are the ones who go on trips the most, or who make the most useless purchases. Some people are just bad with their money, apparently it burns if they hold it for too long so they have to get rid of it.
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A guy that works on the fabrication floor of my shop, blue collar, saw him drive off in a brand new Mustang yesterday.

No way that dude can afford that on $13-16/hour

you'd be surprised how much stuff you can afford when you dont really have a lot of bills to pay because you live with your parents and you dont give a shit about savings/financial responsibility.

wow, i found a round trip to ibiza for only $900, now to find an air bnb and make sure i have a few bucks left over from my $2k/month salary for booze & my phone bill!

oh wow, if i take out a 9 year loan I can easily swing this 50k luxury car that costs 20k more than I make a year, i mean it's only X a month. i deserve this, I always wanted a BMW
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Not often.
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You see these people on dating apps with "I prefer experiences rather than material possessions" in their profile.

I'm happy to see them write it since it's like a racist being openly racist. You know they're someone to avoid from the getgo rather than have them surprise you with it later.
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clearaflagrantj posted...

A guy that works on the fabrication floor of my shop, blue collar, saw him drive off in a brand new Mustang yesterday.

No way that dude can afford that on $13-16/hour

If his credit is good enough and he had a decent amount down I'm sure he could easily have a payment he can afford. Probably has a 7 year loan or something though.

pogo_rabid posted...

You see these people on dating apps with "I prefer experiences rather than material possessions" in their profile.

I'm happy to see them write it since it's like a racist being openly racist. You know they're someone to avoid from the getgo rather than have them surprise you with it later.

Right "I'm allergic to money, and will probably make you spend hours when I'm all out of mine" I used to date a woman like that who couldn't just save up a bit, she had to spend all the time.
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My old drug dealer
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People dont know how to manage money, thats why.
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pinky0926 posted...

l Dudeboy l posted...

There's a 19 year old apprentice at my work, with a brand new car on finance and an iPhone X who told me they are looking at getting a second job because they need more money.

Some people just don't know how to live within their means.

This was my brother. Ended up with 6 figure credit card debt by his mid twenties because he just figured "I earn XXXX, I can afford XXXX in card repayments every month-OH LOOK A NEW TOY. Ok, I can afford the minimum repayment every month, I'll pay it back when I earn more..."

You all don't understand how did you end up in that debt really think about it. Hey i got a dd too but i pay my bills.

gmanthebest posted...

The magic of credit card debt

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I'd be the guy who tells other people I'm broke just so they don't ask me for money. I make decent money for the hours I work, but I have to budget every month so I don't run out of money for my bills.
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My girlfriend maxed out and defaulted on multiple credit cards at like 22. She now has a credit score of like 500 and cant even get approved for a $4000 auto loan without a cosigner.

Meanwhile I walked into a dealership a few weeks ago and got immediately approved through my credit union for a $20,000 auto loan with a 3.49% interest rate.
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gp1829 posted...

clearaflagrantj posted...

A guy that works on the fabrication floor of my shop, blue collar, saw him drive off in a brand new Mustang yesterday.

No way that dude can afford that on $13-16/hour

If his credit is good enough and he had a decent amount down I'm sure he could easily have a payment he can afford. Probably has a 7 year loan or something though.

Taking out a 7 year loan out of necessity =/= being able to truly afford it

clearaflagrantj posted...

gp1829 posted...

clearaflagrantj posted...

A guy that works on the fabrication floor of my shop, blue collar, saw him drive off in a brand new Mustang yesterday.

No way that dude can afford that on $13-16/hour

If his credit is good enough and he had a decent amount down I'm sure he could easily have a payment he can afford. Probably has a 7 year loan or something though.

Taking out a 7 year loan out of necessity =/= being able to truly afford it

Yeah, too many people think that being able to make the monthly repayments means that it's within their means. They also try and apply the same rationalisation to luxury entertainment goods as they would for say, a mortgage, or a business investment.
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Stopped reading at this girl

Come on now....
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> Blows budget on expensive shit you dont need
> Demands Socialism to end self-inflicted poverty

Lmao
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pinky0926 posted...

clearaflagrantj posted...

gp1829 posted...

clearaflagrantj posted...

A guy that works on the fabrication floor of my shop, blue collar, saw him drive off in a brand new Mustang yesterday.

No way that dude can afford that on $13-16/hour

If his credit is good enough and he had a decent amount down I'm sure he could easily have a payment he can afford. Probably has a 7 year loan or something though.

Taking out a 7 year loan out of necessity =/= being able to truly afford it

Yeah, too many people think that being able to make the monthly repayments means that it's within their means. They also try and apply the same rationalisation to luxury entertainment goods as they would for say, a mortgage, or a business investment.

I didn't say it was a good strategy and I wouldn't do it but if he doesnt care about the interest and wants the car whatever.

as said, mix of debt, parents, illegal activity, and quasi-illegal activity.
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Typical case of credit card debt my friend.
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I mean, some CC debt is ok...just pay it off the full amount at the end of each month.

In fact, after getting my debit info stolen twice, I just use my CC's for everything..I just have it set to autopay everything.

Somehow I think these people don't do that.
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pogo_rabid posted...

I mean, some CC debt is ok...just pay it off the full amount at the end of each month.

In fact, after getting my debit info stolen twice, I just use my CC's for everything..I just have it set to autopay everything.

Somehow I think these people don't do that.

CC's all but encourage it. Your monthly take home is $2k did you say? Here's a CC limit of $5k. Don't worry, you only need to pay back like $10 a month to stay clear with us. Just let us know if you need to extend the limit or get another card :)
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pinky0926 posted...

pogo_rabid posted...

I mean, some CC debt is ok...just pay it off the full amount at the end of each month.

In fact, after getting my debit info stolen twice, I just use my CC's for everything..I just have it set to autopay everything.

Somehow I think these people don't do that.

CC's all but encourage it. Your monthly take home is $2k did you say? Here's a CC limit of $5k. Don't worry, you only need to pay back like $10 a month to stay clear with us. Just let us know if you need to extend the limit or get another card :)

at 17-30% annual interest, the people who don't pay them back are their main cash cow.

people paying them back regularly each month are barely making them anything. for those users, they are just taking the difference between what we pay them and what the vendor agrees to be paid by them. If I spend $100,000 on a card in a year, they're making at most $5,000, and their benefits programs have to then give me back around $2,000-3,000. So they net about the same.

but the guy who charges $10,000 and takes ~2 years to pay it back? They make that same $2000-$3000 off him...for 10% of the activity.
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pinky0926 posted...

pogo_rabid posted...

I mean, some CC debt is ok...just pay it off the full amount at the end of each month.

In fact, after getting my debit info stolen twice, I just use my CC's for everything..I just have it set to autopay everything.

Somehow I think these people don't do that.

CC's all but encourage it. Your monthly take home is $2k did you say? Here's a CC limit of $5k. Don't worry, you only need to pay back like $10 a month to stay clear with us. Just let us know if you need to extend the limit or get another card :)

Having the extra purchasing power is good to have in the event of an emergency. You shouldn't use it unless you have to. People who get into massive CC debt are looking at CC's the wrong way or just have no self control.

Right now I have several CC's have are well into the 5 figure mark since i've established a trust with the companies that I pay on time and in full. Lets say something horrible happened and I suddenly needed to spend 20k. Being able to immediately have access to the funds instead of of trying to figure something out is very nice.
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