People can't pinpoint where their money goes
13 posts across 5 communities in the last 30 days; 46% from r/personalfinance.
“I mean, we have no idea what their income is, what their savings rate is, how much they have saved for retirement, what their budget is... there's no one-size-fits-all answer, and absent additional context, I'm just saying you can't definitively say. Sure the most financially…”
“You're looking at this the wring way. The problem is not "build a joint savings account" , the problem is paying the bills . The easiest way if for each one of you to pay half (or whatever you decide is fair) of each bill: rent, internet, gas, electricity etc.... if you were not…”
“You have a spending problem somewhere. Get an app (I use rocket money) and have show you where every dime is going and start slashing things. My guess you spend a ton more than you should on food and eating out. Slash everything to the bone. Good luck”
Users express financial stress due to an inability to track spending accurately. They are repeatedly asked to provide detailed expense reports and bank statement breakdowns, as vague numbers hinder effective advice.
SOURCES (19)
“Sounds like you need to do a budget breakdown to find out where all of your money is going, then you can know where you have extra money to prioritize things. [re: Pay my bills or my debt]”
“All of them. People are really bad at estimating their spending and knowing where there money is going unless they track and analyse it. [re: What's a small daily expense that people underestimate over a whole year?]”
“lmao, i feel like the best way is to just say that everyone’s financial situation is different, so you wouldn’t want to give them advice without knowing the full picture. saves you from becoming their free accountant every time there’s a family gathering 😂 [re: How do you handle non-finance friends constantly asking for tax and money advice?]”
“I mean, we have no idea what their income is, what their savings rate is, how much they have saved for retirement, what their budget is... there's no one-size-fits-all answer, and absent additional context, I'm just saying you can't definitively say. Sure the most financially optimal answer is to buy a used Camry and drive it for 20 years, but this is *personal* finance and I have no clue how much OP values having newer cars and how much their financial situation can support it. [re:”
“I didn't imply there was a certain amount where it's "enough" it's just that most situations, the flow chart is the answer. https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics Gathering more context now from comments, you are inheriting a large amount so that might be one of those times where it's fine to get a one time discussion with a CFP. This sub gets a lot of posts that are like...I saved $3,000 can someone recommend an advisor lol [re: What's the best way”
“how can we save better Why isn't the answer to this just "spend less on discretionary/not necessary purchases"? If you literally have nothing you can cut, then you need to increase income somehow. [re: Feeling stressed, how to better save]”
“You're looking at this the wring way. The problem is not "build a joint savings account" , the problem is paying the bills . The easiest way if for each one of you to pay half (or whatever you decide is fair) of each bill: rent, internet, gas, electricity etc.... if you were not together, you would do it anyway. It might feel not efficient, but it is the simplest method. The moment that you start doing "you pay electrical and I pay gas", or "you pay and I'll venm”
“Like everyone else is saying, the emergency fund did its job to keep your friend from going into debt over the car repair. I also wouldn’t advise having two separate savings funds going on at this stage. If your friend is taking a long time to just save $500 (which I’m guessing probably isn’t even one month of expenses if they got laid off?), splitting that pot in half towards two different goals is silly. The only exception is maybe they split their savings 90/10 with 90% (or more) of what they”
“Sounds like the person you spoke with was...YOU (Dave Ramsey has some great financial information on YouTube)”
“Huh. Maybe this is a little deeper than I thought. Nobody is batting an eye with a few hundred in an ATM. When I carry $10k in an envelope though, sure. Do you have some sort of financial anxiety? I don’t say this out of a place of hatred or judgement. I’m just asking because at this age, micromanaging every part of your bank and finances is, odd. You should be focusing on having fun and working hard to save, not pinching pennies. And yes, I understand you’re building habits which is good, but m”
“Net or Gross? It’s’ called personal finance because IT IS personal. What may be good for you and your area may not be for someone else. Balance your spreadsheet and see if the numbers work for you, or go hire a professional. I’m not trying to be unpleasant. It’s the honest truth. We can only speculate here. You need to do the math and see if it makes sense for you.”
“Yeah it makes it easier. Instead of having one account that is x+y+z where is x is taxes, y is savings, z is discretionary I have separate ones to easily see which is which”
PS: I use them the way some people use the “envelope method”
“Maybe I’m just frustrated, but so much personal finance advice feels completely disconnected from what people are dealing with right now. Invest more. Pay off your debt faster. Cut unnecessary spending. Okay, but my rent went up, groceries are ridiculous and the “unnecessary spending” was already cut months ago. I’m not trying to optimize my investment portfolio. I’m trying to stop feeling like one unexpected expense is going to screw up my entire month. Has anyone found financial advice that ac”
“You have a spending problem somewhere. Get an app (I use rocket money) and have show you where every dime is going and start slashing things. My guess you spend a ton more than you should on food and eating out. Slash everything to the bone. Good luck”
“Why do you keep refusing to answer the question on where your money is going? Several people have asked, and you have intentionally avoided giving specific answers to anything.”
“With the almost complete lack of hard numbers provided, it's hard to give relevant advice. It's almost as if you don't know where your money is going. Part of the path to a solution is knowing exactly -- and I mean EXACTLY -- where all of your money is coming and where it is going. Not guesstimates or rough figures, you need to sit down and scour your bank statements and categorize each expense you have, so you can get SPECIFIC numbers on where your money is going. ALL of it. Until y”
“Nice. So that leaves you with $3150 to spare each month! Hooray! You see what we mean by "numbers" you need to provide now? Right now all we see is that you have a $3k surplus each month, unless you provide those numbers. $3k is plenty to have a car, insurance, food, and any other extra bills. So something isn't lining up. You need to provide the actual numbers. Down to what you spent on candy last week, down to your Netflix and Spotify subscription, down to the cash you withdrew 1”