[Genteel Death]

Go.

[ni'k]

coins just use me to move around

[atsonicpark]

$26,344.22 in the bank.

$2700 in my 401k.

Ex-girlfriend owes me $200, best friend owes me $300, I sued a woman last year and she owes me $1700 and it's building up interest every month she doesn't pay.

I drive a $500 car, live in a shitty house, and work part time at Wal-Mart, and have for 5 years. My family has never given me a dime, especially since I turned 18. I have made a decent amount of money over the years from selling my music and playing shows, but I haven't made any money from that in a good 2 years...

I have to pay half the bills here (I still live at home). I gave my mom $2000 last year to help her get out of debt. I've frequently just given money to friends/girlfriends/etc and donated to bands and filmmakers. I own thousands of movies (over 4000) and cd's (over 22,000). I own a jazzmaster and a large behringer amp. I own a few Burroughs books. I own some video games. That's it. I've sold hundreds of games, books, movies, etc. to get that amount up a bit, keep in mind.

All I eat is spaghetti and ramen noodles.

I wouldn't consider myself rich, but I think I've achieved a decent amount when you consider I grew up with literally NOTHING. It's not how much money you make, it's how you spend it, and I've bought almost nothing new, only used, my whole life. I also made my own clothes for years, and I still pretty much only buy from thrift stores.

The most expensive thing I own is a $1200 laptop but that was traded to me for my entire VHS collection (which was like 800 tapes!), all of which I've replaced on DVD since then.

But yeah, if you do anything in life long enough -- work, go to school, play music -- you're probably going to achieve some success with it. As it is, I think I have a decent chunk of money to fall back on if anything gets fucked up in my life, but I also don't have insurance or anything, so I've taken all sorts of little shortcuts to get to that point, and one big fuck up could make it all disappear.

[shabbray2.0]

interesting!^^

I am far off from this when it comes to cash...but I dont care, I stay calm as long as I got some sparemoney for 3 months to live. which I dont have at the moment. hahaha
and I found out that I got one of these extreme rare green russian big muffs. this will at least give me another month...

what is a 401k?

[ploesj]

i heired some money from my aunt, enough to survive a while when an emergency happens and i can't make any money.

i work from time to time to make a few extra 100 euros, enough to get me food (i often cook for myself even when living with my parents), books, clothes, music, drawing materials and the occasional trip.

this year is the first year i won't have to do a summer job to make the money for all this, i got enough work as an illustrator to make about the same amount as one month of working at a post office or as a cleaner.

[atsonicpark]

401k is like a retirement thing, they take so much money out each check, and when you quit wherever, you're supposed to be able to get it.. but if they fire you, you can only get half of it.. if you draw it early, there's a penalty for that... I'm honestly not 100% sure how it works, I also got a bunch of money in stocks at walmart too... I get a profit sharing check every 3 months, usually for $200-300, which is related to all that stuff. I get like 40 pages of papers about it every year and don't really read it too much, never have the time to, haha.

[Satan]

rude.

[ni'k]

ive had money given to me by my parents sporadically, sometimes they had loads and didnt give me anything, yet much of the time they complain about being very poor. what i would like is just fucking some security. i used to think i would have to pay for my mums retirement because she has nothing. i used to think i would have to spend my life working just to look after her in old age. now thats ok thankfully.

they both fried my head with their inability to explain if we were poor or not. so i didnt know if it was ok to ask for say 50quid to get something i really needed or if they would just say yes but actually suffer because of it. so i never had money when i needed it and when i did have it i wasted it.

ive never been able to spend my own money well, due to addiction and generally not having that skill.

ive been in situations far far too many times were i have literally had nothing and lived in a house with no electric for a week and survived off water, an old bag of rice, and ripping apart my couches for 2ps and 1ps to get enough to buy a 24p bar of tesco value chocolate. that has happened far too much. wandering the town looking for change someone has dropped on the floor. then a week later spending 280quid in 1 night on drugs.

i've given hundreds and hundreds to other people. to the point were they were basically using me as an atm. i didnt really mind tho, some would say "oh you shouldnt have to buy your friends" but i LIKED it, i liked not having people close and the distance it created. i enjoyed the fact that they were only really hanging with me because they could get drugs and money because that made it easier for me to not have to be close or anything. i liked the fact that they wouldnt hassle me if i said i was broke. and also now there are a lot of people out there who would spot me if i was stuck.

my attitude when i lived alone was always that i and everyone else needed to find new ways of being communal because on your own you just rot. people appreciate it now that they dont live with their parents but back then i got criticism, when i would give someone a pile of dvds they seemed to think it meant they had to be my best friend or they owed me or something. but my attitude was always "im not watching these anymore, whats the point of having them sit on my shelf? take them, you dont even have to ever talk to me again i dont mind, just take them anyway".

soon im getting a job and my plan is to save up a lot of money and keep it in the bank. because i want something there and i want to be able to do things. also same as you my possessions are pretty much squared down now - laptop clothes books electronics lps guitars and amp. i like it minimal. what id really like would be to have something in the region of over 10 thou in the bank and then to work on adding to that and keeping it above 10 at all times. when you have experienced poverty its not good. its fun in its way but its just the effect on your body and life when you cant afford to eat properly. now i spend whatever little i have on eating right and thats the smartest thing you can do.fish green veg good food. thats the most worthwhile thing you can spend money on and over time you learn to get it cheap. i am a master of having minimal cash - like between 20p and 10quid and going downtown and getting the largest amount of healthiest food possible. i have done this for people before, when they have been broke they have given me their last 5iver and i have gone and got them enough food to last them the weekend and they have always been amazed by how i can do this and what i can produce.

i dont collect lps anymore because i cant fucking afford to do so. as ive mentioned before there is no guilt about this. i only buy books i cant d/l anywhere. and anyway most of them can be resold. books are my main expenditure. i dont waste time being cautious about spending money on them. i cant afford not to read because it literally keeps me going. if i dont have something new to read then i just become a vegetable and my personality degrades and i end up back thinking about old unsolvable things. i have had up to 10 going at the one time and that doesnt include blogs and online stuff aswell. so much better than conversations, because now i dont even bother with them, they are too slow and its like i have no motivation to even express myself. its like some wonderful male techno autism.

[knox]

oh shit i noticed that if my computer logs me off i can read genteels posts.
gotta be careful.


im rich but im poor
im broke but im kind
one hand in my pocket.

[_slavo_]

i'm middle class.

[pbradley]

I don't know but I really want to get to Korea and this job soon (departure date has postponed till the end of next week). I'm really tired of the condescendingly basic financial advice I get from people, including my family. No, the reason why I've been broke for the past year is not because I don't know what fucking budgeting means.

I want to make enough money to never have to show my face in Southern California ever again.

[ni'k]

i want to make enough money to pay off my face so it stops talking to me in the mirror

[ni'k]

so what are you doing in korea?

[pbradley]

Teaching English.

[ni'k]

knox was talking to me about doing that somewhere, considering it in the future as a possibility.

is it in a school or what?

[Keeping It Simple]

-£148.

[cagedbird]

today, friday, i purchased 40 envelopes, 9 postage stamps, 1 slice cheese pizza, 1 can seltzer, 1 small bottle water. i also bought a birthday card. i mailed 21 dollars in the card. this comes to about 37 dollars.

most days i buy broccoli, pizza, water, beets, carrots and cookies. these are separated for meals.

i am below the poverty level. my parents are comfortable middle-class. they pay my rent.

tomorrow i will have to buy a 30-day bus/subway fare.

as for possessions:
-400 books
-300 cds
-50 records
-1 laptop
-1 cellphone
-1 clock radio
-some furniture
-bunch of t-shirts
-2 pairs pants
-1 pair sneakers
-8-9 pairs socks

i am poor. i enjoy life. let me rock.

p.s. to stay on track financially, always pay yourself first and try to save 10% every month

[pbradley]

Originally Posted by ni'k

is it in a school or what?

Yeah, a private school in the city of Jeonju.

[ni'k]

so can you speak the language well?

[batreleaser]

I'm broke as shit. I'm used to living off my rich grandparents' good will, but I'm fucked now that I'm doing an extra semester of college. Trying to find a labor job, the writing thing is as lucrative as hooking in Thailand.