Comments on: How do you see your finances in a year?

By: David Wilson

David Wilson — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 02:19:35 +0000

Very good advice. A lot of people still don’t realize that by making small, simple changes in their habits, it will affect their financial status in the end.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 02:00:59 +0000

@Katelyn – Yeah, SOUNDS awesome too! Congrats :) That’s a helluva turn around so far! Keep it up!
@brooklyn money – True true, won’t argue on that one. But you’d also be much better off than never investing at all in that time period. If the $ doesn’t go into savings/investments it’s usually going out the door.

By: brooklyn money

brooklyn money — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 18:46:26 +0000

Just because you save and invest, certainly doesn’t mean that you will be ahead in a year. There’s no floor. Your investments can go below what you paid for them. So it is possible to save a lot of money and invest it (I probably save and then invest close to $30K a year, but that doesn’t mean my net worth will go up that much, or at all.

By: Katelyn

Katelyn — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 16:50:34 +0000

Definitely improving. My birthday’s on Monday, so that’s an easy marker. Last year at this time I was $4200 under in credit card debt, had three nagging and delinquent student loan accounts, owed my parents $10k, had $1k in savings, no job, no car, and was about to foolishly move out of state (with no job there, either, haha). A year later, I have no credit card debt, two loans paid off, a fully paid-for dependable car, a nice e-fund, a steady well-paying job, and a feasible plan to pay my parents back in six months time. I’m anticipating serious savings by my next birthday, an equal or better job situation, no debt at all (or very little left on the remaining student loan), and a ton more freedom to do what I want when I want (including going back to school). Feels awesome.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 20:41:00 +0000

It’ll be interesting to see where we are 2 years from now too w/ this Economy. I wonder if everyone will have forgotten and gone back to there spendy ways or not? The great thing about this craziness is that so many people are SAVING more now :) Let’s just hope it continues that way.

By: Penny Frugalista

Penny Frugalista — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 03:57:21 +0000

I’m with option 3 — I think our investments will go up, but my job will be shakier (based on the inudstry I’m in). I think the economy is still touch-and-go for the next year, and we’re stil in the middle of the ‘correction’ period before everything levels off for real. I’m not quite on the ‘double-dip recession’ bandwagon, but correction, yes.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 01:26:53 +0000

@Kevin I - YES! You are right! The artist behind that photo/stitching is a huge fan of Jonathan Coulton apparently :) I'd never heard of the song until I checked it out, but here's what she says on her Flickr Page: "so about a week ago I was walking home from work, listening to Jonathan Coulton, and realized that I just HAD to stitch this, pronto. so then when I took the train up to Seattle and back a couple of days later, and was thinking that I could get some stitching done on the train, I figured I could whip out a quick little project like this (my current WIP being a bit too unwieldy for travel). anyway, it's a song about a dude who builds an evil robot army. how could I not? take a listen" @michelle - you are bad :) i hereby offer you a challenge: apply to 1 job this weekend! You can do it. @The Skinny On - Thanks! Don't pat me on the back just yet though ;) We've still got a ways... @Jenna - YES!!! Living below your means is totally freakin' great as your money comes in more and more over time! Takes a while to get GOOD at it, but then you're banking it left and right. And you can still spend/use it anytime you want too! :) @Young Mogul - You're getting all motivational up in here! I dig it. So true too - 100% up to YOU and what you set out to accomplish. Doesn't mean you'll skate by and get whatever you want, but the more you keep WANTING and shooting for, the more chances you have to succeed :) Keep it up!

By: Young Mogul

Young Mogul — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 22:29:58 +0000

I definitely believe my job and money will be UP, UP, UP by this time next year. I’m one of those people who has an unwavering confidence in myself and believes, not matter what, that MY life is what I make it–not the government or the economy.

By this time next year, I plan to have a more fulfilling job that provides a higher salary. I’m not worried about what the economy is doing because I know that this is not the first recession America has ever seen and it certainly won’t be the last. This is why I live frugally and save more than I spend, in preparation for the lean economic years.

By: Jenna

Jenna — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 17:01:54 +0000

Although I don’t know that I believe my mutual fund returns will be that great a year from now, I get a 50% match on up to 6% contribution from my employer, so from THAT standpoint, yes, my 401k will be in a better place next year than this year. :-)

Also, on @Molly on Money’s point, my boyfriend was laid off in January and it has completely changed his perspective on what he wants to do with his life and it has really made us look hard at our expenses, and we’ve learned to live modestly. He’s decided to go back to school, but I know that once we do have that 2nd income back in the picture in a couple years, we will continue to live below our means and use that money to pay back those student loans ASAP, build additional savings, and then be able to use the extra to work on those travel goals we have!

By: The Skinny On

The Skinny On — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 16:42:34 +0000

You glossed over an interesting (and exciting) point. By going out on your own, your ‘job’ may be shakier, but security isn’t the only thing that matters – even in a down economy.

Security may not be enough to justify a boring-or-worse job. Entrepreneurship is frightening as hell, but there’s comfort in knowing that your success/failure is ultimately up to you.

Good for you, J. Money! And good luck.

The Skinny On