vania-janet/multiturn-rag-retrieval-data huggingface dataset:
"I recently moved out from my parents place, after having built up sufficient funds, and gone through these questions myself. I live near Louisville, KY which has a significant effect on my income, cost of living, and cost of housing. Factor that into your decisions. To answer your questions in order: When do I know that I'm financially stable to move out? When you have enough money set aside for all projected expenses for 3-6 months and an emergency fund of 4-10K, depending on how large a safety net you want or need. Note that part of the reason for the emergency fund is as a buffer for the things you won't realize you need until you move out, such as pots or chairs. It also covers things being more expensive than anticipated. Should I wait until both my emergency fund is at least 6 months of pay and my loans in my parents' names is paid off (to free up money)? 6 months of pay is not a good measuring stick. Use months of expenses instead. In general, student loans are a small enough cost per month that you just need to factor them into your costs. When should I factor in the newer car investment? How much should I have set aside for the car? Do the car while you are living at home. This allows you to put more than the minimum payment down each month, and you can get ahead. That looks good on your credit, and allows refinancing later for a lower minimum payment when you move out. Finally, it gives you a ""sense"" of the monthly cost while you still have leeway to adjust things. Depending on new/used status of the car, set aside around 3-5K for a down payment. That gives you a decent rate, without too much haggling trouble. Should I get an apartment for a couple years before looking for my own house? Not unless you want the flexibility of an apartment. In general, living at home is cheaper. If you intend to eventually buy property in the same area, an apartment is throwing money away. If you want to move every few years, an apartment can, depending on the lease, give you that. How much should I set aside for either investment (apartment vs house)?
You are currently $30k in debt.  I realize it is tempting to purchase a new car with your new job, but increasing your debt right now is heading in the wrong direction.  Adding a new monthly payment into your budget would be a mistake, in my opinion. Here is what I would suggest.  Since you have $7k in the bank, spend up to $6k on a nice used car.  This will keep $1k in the bank for emergencies, and give you transportation without adding debt and a monthly payment.  Then you can focus on knocking out the student loans.   Won't it be nice when those student loans are gone?  By not going further into debt, you will be much closer to that day.  New cars are a luxury that you aren't in a position to splurge on yet.
"The lead story here is you owe $12,000 on a car worth $6000!!  That is an appalling situation and worth a lot to get out of it.  ($6000, or a great deal more if the car is out of warranty and you are at risk of a major repair too.)  I'm sorry if it feels like the payments you've made so far are wasted; often the numbers do work out like this, and you did get use of the car for that time period. Now comes an ""adversary"", who is threatening to snatch the car away from you.  I have to imagine they are emotionally motivated.  How convenient :) Let them take it.  But it's important to fully understand their motivations here.  Because financially speaking, the smart play is to manage the situation so they take the car. Preferably unbeknownst that the car is upside down.  Whatever their motivation is, give them enough of a fight; keep them wrapped up in emotions while your eye is on the numbers.  Let them win the battle; you win the war: make sure the legal details put you in the clear of it.  Ideally, do this with consent with the grandfather ""in response to his direct family's wishes"", but keep up the theater of being really mad about it.  Don't tell anyone for 7 years, until the statute of limitations has passed and you can't be sued for it. Eventually they'll figure out they took a $6000 loss taking the car from  you, and want to talk with you about that.  Stay with blind rage at how they took my car.  If they try to explain what ""upside down"" is, feign ignorance and get even madder, say they're lying and they won, why don't they let it go?  If they ask for money, say they're swindling. ""You forced me, I didn't have a choice"".  (which happens to be a good defense.  They wanted it so bad; they shoulda done their homework.  Since they were coercive it's not your job to disclose, nor your job to even know.)  If they want you to take the car back, say ""can't, you forced me to buy another and I have to make payments on that one now."""
&gt;Like when I got my passport renewed, I had to send in a bunch of shit with the check.  Really?  I did my renewal online.. When I needed a new drivers license I did that online too (and they pulled the photo from my passport IIRC).  All of that was paid for by card.  I think if you do a new passport application, or you need to include new photos you can't do the whole thing online and need to do some verification steps (but you can do those at post offices IIRC..).
"Partly I suspect this is selection bias. You say you see so many luxury cars go by. But if you're looking for them, you're going to notice them. Have you calculated the actual percentage? Do they make up 50% of the cars that pass a specific point in a specific period of time? Or just 10% if you really counted? You say you live in Baltimore county, Maryland. That's a relatively wealthy area, so I'd expect the percentage of luxury cars to be higher than the national average. You'd likely see considerably fewer in the backwoods of Mississippi. That said, some people who own luxury cars can't really afford them. I'm reminded of a wonderful TV commercial I saw recently where a man is showing off all his material goods, he talks about his big house, and his swimming pool, and his fancy car, with a big smile on his face, standing tall, and generally looking proud and happy. And then he says, ""How do I do it?"" And suddenly his expression changes to complete despair, he slumps down, and says, ""I'm in debt up to my eyeballs."" It turns out to be a commercial for a debt-counseling service. Some people put very high value on owning a fancy car and are willing to sacrifice on other things. If having a big fancy car is more important to you then, say, having a nice house or the latest computer or a big screen TV or dining out more often or going on more expensive vacations or whatever you have to give up to get the car, well, that's your decision. Personally I don't care much about a fancy car, I just want something that gets me where I want to go. And I've always figured that with an expensive car, you have to constantly worry about getting in an accident and damaging or destroying it. If you put your money into a big fancy house, at least houses rarely collide with each other. Personally, I make a nice income too. And I have a $500/month mortgage and zero car payment because I drive a 2003 pickup that I bought with cash. But I have two kids in college and I'm trying to get them through with no debt, that's where all my money is going."
Your problem is one that has challenged many people.  As you said there are two aspects to balancing a budget, reducing expenses or increasing income.  And you state that you have done all the cost-cutting that you can find.  Looking at ways to increase your income is a good way to balance your budget. How big is your problem?  Do you need to find another $100/month, or do you need $1000/month?  There are many part-time jobs you could obtain (fast food, retail, grocery), you could obtain a sales-job (cars, real estate, even working for a recruiting firm) where you could connect buyers and sellers.  If your need is $100/month, a part-time job on weekends would fill the gap. When I was trying to solve my budget problems a few years ago, I thought that I needed to increase my income.  And I did increase my income.  But then I realized that my expenses were too high.  And I re-evaluated my priorities.  I challenge you to revisit your expenses.  Often we assume that we need things that we really cannot afford.  Consider a few of your (possible) expenses, My problems included mortgage debt, auto loans, high utilities, high car insurance, too much spending on kids activities, and a few other problems.
HTC has horrible, god awful service.    My wife's htc evo 3d kept dropping calls.  Sent it in for warranty service twice, no luck.  So, the third time, I broke it intentionally so they'd have to give us a new unit.  New unit worked.  My 3d had a wonky lens for the 3d part.  Onto the Galaxy... soooo nice.
I've found it's just simpler to keep all of my receipts rather than debate which receipts to keep and which to throw away. I shove all my receipts from August in an envelope labeled August.   Then, next year (12 months later) I shred the envelope.    That way, if I see a bank error, need to find a receipt to do a return or warranty work, etc. I have all of them available for a year.   Doing 1 envelope per month means I only have 12 envelopes at any time and I can shred an entire envelope without bothering to sort through receipts inside the envelope.
"My family instilled in me early on that hard work was important, and the output of that work was its reward. My grandparents really made in impression with me about telling the truth and being fair (probably after I was busted for lying and cheating about something) -- I remember my grandfather talking about the solem trust associated with shaking hands over something. I remember opening a savings account at school on bank day and being really excited about the interest accruing... but my folks never really allowed us to spend it on toys or other stuff. I didn't really think about money at all until I was probably about 10 or 11, when I started watching ""Wall Street Week"" on PBS with my dad on Friday night and bombarding him with dozens of questions. Then games like Sim City really got me going... my grandmother was always amazed that I was talking about bonding construction projects. I think that before 10 or so, kids needn't concern themselves with money, but should understand responsibility, the rewards that come from working hard, and the consequences for not doing so."
In credit means you have over paid.  I tried with my account. After clearing my bill to 0.0 I paid an extra £10 just to confirm the that money appeared as £10 in credit on the energy website.
Network.  Network.  Network.  I got a job out of college on the buy side from being an intern. An Alum I found through networking said they had an extra desk on the floor and told me to come spin my wheels until I found a job. Three months later, that job was on their fixed income desk.   It's rare, but it can absolutely happen
CrimsonX did a great job highlighting the primary pros and cons of HSAs, so I won't go into detail there. However, I did want to point out another pro - HSAs are (or can be) easy to manage. You said: Is this a better way to approach health care costs instead of itemizing health care expenses on yearly federal taxes? I'm not sure which company you are looking at establishing your HSA with, but with mine I have a debit card that I use when paying for medical care and then at the end of the year I get a 1099-SA that provides the amount of money spent on qualified purchases that calendar year. Yes, there are a few extra boxes I need to fill in for my 1040 come tax time, but I don't need to itemize my healthcare costs over the year. It really is pretty simple and straightforward. Also, one con that is worth noting is that you become much more sensitive to healthcare costs due to the high deductible healthcare plan an HSA requires. For example, in all the years we've had an HSA we've not yet met our deductible, which means we pay out of pocket for any non-routine doctor visits. (The health insurer pays 100% of routine visits, like my wife's annual, well-baby check ups for the little one, and so on.) So, when you're feeling really sick and think a doctor's visit would be warranted, you have to make a decision: After being faced with this decision a time or two you will start to envy those who have just a $20 copay! Of course, that's just an emotional con. Each year I run the numbers on how much we spent per year on out of pocket plus premiums and compare it to what it would cost in premiums for an HMO-type plan, and the HSA plan always comes ahead. (In part because we are a pretty healthy family and I work for myself so do not get to enjoy group discount rates.) But I thought it worth mentioning because there are certainly times when I know I need to see a doctor or specialist and I cringe because I know I am going to be slapped with a big bill in the not too distant future!
I had an amazing customer service experience with Best Buy yesterday.  I walked into my local BB with a list of computer components for a PC I am building (I was purchasing from New Egg and Best Buy).  Wandered around and an employee saw me (he ended up being the manager), and he helped me put together an order, not only that but he checked New Egg to make sure I was getting competitive prices, not only that but he made sure I was getting free shipping.  On top of that he went through my New Egg list and price matched anything they had.  Now I only need a couple more things from New Egg.  Thought I'd share.
Still does, as far as I know.  This applies only to hand tools, however. I worked in the Sears paint and hardware departments in high school and college, and at least once a week we'd have someone come in and demand a replacement for a five-year-old saber saw or drill. Sorry, power tools only have (had?) a one-year warranty. Lifetime warranty on power tools would obviously be suicidal.
What the hell are you talking about?  The job requires some skills and the cost of living is really high in New York.  They should be able to live off of a full time job - plain and simple.  To put things in perspective I made 40k a few years back when I lived in Michigan - when looking at New York to keep my same standard of living I would of had to make 95k+ and would of had to give up my car.
I had a modest car loan with Chase.  I always felt like they were trying to fuck me over.  They charged for electronic payments, would mail the payment coupon (the bill) less than two weeks before it was due each month, the payment schedule seemed to wander, etc.  I was constantly stressing that I was going to miss a payment and incur a large late fee.  This was on just a small car loan.  I've heard they've gotten better (electric payments don't cost extra anymore) but it definitely made me feel very adversarial with banks.
I don't know what rates are available to you now, but yes, if you can refinance your car at a better rate with no hidden fees, you might save some money in interest. However, there are a couple of watchouts: Your original loan was a 6 year loan, and you have 5 years remaining.  If you refinance your car with a new 6 year loan, you will be paying on your car for 7 years total, and you will end up paying more interest even though your interest rate might have gone down.  Make sure that your new loan, in addition to having a lower rate than the old loan, does not have a longer term than what you have remaining on the original loan. Make sure there aren't any hidden fees or closing costs with the new loan.  If there are, you might be paying your interest savings back to the bank in fees. If your goal is to save money in interest, consider paying off your loan early.  Scrape together extra money every month and send it in, making sure that it is applied to the principal of your loan.  This will shorten your loan and save you money on interest, and can be much more significant than refinancing.  After your loan is paid off, continue saving the amount you were spending on your car payment, so you can pay cash for your next car and save even more.
"How can people afford luxury cars? The same way they can afford anything: by finding it cheaply, saving for it, or adjusting their priorities. Company cars - either paid for by the company, or as part of a bonus/compensation/salary sacrifice scheme. I have friends who drive luxury cars, but they pay £200/month - not much more than, for example, finance on a used Honda People who have paid off their mortgage. There are people who spend a decade pouring every cent they have into a mortgage. Once paid off, they have £500-1500 a month ""spare"" People who have different priorities to you. I'm not bothered about big houses and holidays, but I love cars: I'd rather spend an extra £100/month on my car and have a holiday every 2 years, not every year People who only run one car in the family: if you're running two cars at £200/month, then discover one of you can work from home, you could have one £400 car and still be saving money on running costs. People who don't have (or want) children. Children are expensive, if they aren't part of your plans then you can save a lot of money for luxuries."
I liked having HTC as an option but the last smartphone I bought from them failed after 5 months of use (screen completely failed to turn on unlike the rest of the phone) and they wouldn't even honor the warranty because I didn't buy it directly form a carrier. Shitty phones and shitty service is no surprise.
I bought my last TV from them.  Looked around online for the model I wanted for quite a while.  Waited until bb had a clearance sale to get ready for the new models.  They had 15% off, I talked with the sales rep and agreed to a 10% discount if I got any length of warranty with them.  Talked with the manager for some more and he changed it to 25% total, instead of taking 15 off then 10.  Used BB rewards card which gives back 4% in gift cards, paid on a credit card offering 5% cash back on electronics purchases at the time.  Used the giftcards to buy a blu-ray player at a 30% discount that was dented.  Dented one was broken so they swapped it with a new one the next day for no charge.  Would the average person go through any of that trouble?  Nope.  The average customer wants a tv, walks into best buy, looks at the TVs and chooses the brightest one in their price range.
I think about debt as a good option for capital investments that offer a return. In my opinion, a house and clothes you need for that new job are good things to borrow for. School is ok, depending on the amount. Car is ok, if it's a 3 year loan. The rest is not good. You should try to carry as little debt as possible, but don't let it dominate your life. If faced between the choice of paying ahead on your student loan and blowing $300 on an XBox, you should pay the loan. If the choice is between taking your kid to the zoo and paying the loan, have fun at the zoo.
Same. I spilled beer on my keyboard one night around 10 PM or so. Planning on staying up late gaming that night I rushed over to the closest BBY, which was fortunately only 4 minutes away, and got a new keyboard. Other than situations like that, I have no reason to really go in there.
&gt;Bankruptcy is simply a financial tool inside our legal system, nothing more, nothing less.  So hypothetically, if I were a high net worth individual. I create a number of Corporations and put all my assets in them. I lease a car with Corp #2 - which I never have more than a few thousand $ in.  Have my House in Malibu in Corp#1  My place is Manhattan is in C#3  I am an employee of C#4, 5 and 6.  I crash my car into you and you are permanently disabled.  You can't work, you don't have much savings, lose your house or apartment.  As it turns out, there is no insurance on the car and the lease hasn't been paid in months.  You sue me.  No assets in Corp #1.  You sue me personally - yet on paper I don't own anything.  My personal net worth is effectively $0.  Assuming you can find an attorney to take this on - and you win in court and get a judgement against me.  I have no assets.  Nothing to take, nothing to garnish - nothing at all.  You on the other hand have bills piling up not to mention the $100's thousands in medical expenses.  You are ruined.  I am vacationing in the South of France.  Nothing unethical about that I guess.   *spelling miztaks
I generally only carry my debit card and a small amount of cash. On payday most of my money goes into a bills account, so I only have enough in the main account for a few days regular spending. This means if I want to buy anything I need to make a transfer from my bills account. If I really need to I can transfer the money instantly this over the phone or the web, but it cuts down greatly on the impulse purchases as I have to go through a process to get hold of the money.  As an aside this approach would probably help if I got mugged or lost the wallet as they wouldn't get much cash or be able to use my card for very long.
I'm in an industry where we try to do this every day.  For a long time, I worried that the automating of my job would eventually put me out of work, but I later found out that the automation process always introduces new bugs and issues into the system.  Also, since my company is always expanding its present products, new opportunities for growth are always opening up as well as the need for new talent and people to fix whatever issues arise.  This isn't to say that automation will never make my job obsolete, but I've found that it keeps me on my toes and forces me to continue my education in my field, all of which is a good thing.
I recall hearing of at least one, but it's really only a matter of time. Personally, I never thought I'd get in an accident, but I learned how naive that thought was on Monday when I totaled my car after a guy turned left in front of me.  That particular situation is something that bothers me about Uber/Lyft's model, their drivers are screwed if they ever get in a wreck and their insurance company finds out what they were doing. And if they don't tell them, then it's insurance fraud.
Sometimes what is holding us back are internalized barriers which don't really exist. Sometimes it is possible to pull yourself up by your bootstraps if only you try. But I think conservatives underestimate the difficulties of following a new paradigm.   I've become fascinated by this topic because it ties in with my thoughts on visionary thinking. What is it that allows some people to break out of rigid patterns of thought, i.e. routines? Researchers in artificial intelligence are developing interesting theories on how to train neural networks to find new possibilities quicker. Some of this research might apply to the human mind and how creativity works.  Anyway, I don't think people can see a way out of poverty when you only present them with hypothetical possibilities. I think we need mentoring programs and apprenticeships. People can only follow a new paradigm when they have an example before them. In other words, if they can do it, I can do it. But when nobody around you is doing it then you are not going to give the possibility much weight. No observations support that optimism.