Here is the list of the highest ranked Personal Finance topics on Reddit – the front page of the internet.
1. Be wary of dental chains that offer cheap New Patient Exams/Cleanings
The Best Answer: “I had this happen to me years ago and oddly enough, I was thinking about it yesterday. They claimed I had multiple cavities but I couldn’t afford everything at once. I got two filled and just didn’t go back. Years later I gathered the courage to go to a different dentist. I started by apologizing and admitting that anything they found was my fault and that I fully expected it to be terrible news. I had zero cavities and he politely explained that I had basically been scammed. Thankfully I only lost a few hundred dollars and not the 1500$ the first dentist had quoted.”
2. I have worked at my current job less than a year, but I just received another offer for $13K greater salary and better benefits
The Best Answer: “I sympathize with your thought process, but this is a significant raise and what sounds like a promotion. You’re not leaving for an extra $3-5K; it’s $13K. I’ve done the “loyal” thing and still got screwed over/laid off. Learn from my mistake.
When do you really think you’d see a promotion at your current place any way, and would the raise be similar even if you got it?”
3. I low-balled my “desired salary” for a position I’m applying to, not realizing that the norm was a fair bit higher. They’ve requested an interview. Would it be okay to raise my desired salary if it comes up?
The Best Answer: “My wife did this and basically said: “now that I have a more detailed understanding of the job roll and expectations, based on my experience I would need this new amount.” She got the job and the much higher salary.”
4. Is it okay to NEVER want to own a house?
The Best Answer: “It’s a tradeoff. Renting gives you a lot of flexibility because you can move easily for better jobs. Once you buy a house it’s much more difficult to move to a new location so buy a house once you are sure you plan to settle down in the location and are sure that there will be decent amount of opportunities for you and your partner in the area.
Some people make a mistake of buying a house in an area with a weak economy. You own the house and don’t have a to pay rent but if there are no jobs around, it’s not good. It’s better to rent in area with strong economy where there are plenty of high paying jobs than own a house in an area with weak economy and no jobs / low paying jobs imho.”
5. After payroll provider collapses, banks drain employee accounts
The Best Answer: “MyPayrollHR basically manages payroll for many different organizations as a 3rd party.
Normally, the payroll funds are given by the small businesses to MyPayrollHR, who then send the money to a 3rd company called Cachet which manages the direct deposit of the funds into the employees bank accounts.
One day Cachet deposited the money into the employees account, then found out that the bank account that MyPayrollHR was supposed to deposit the money into was empty.
So the Cachet tried to reverse the payments. But they made an error on their application to have the funds reversed, so they had to submit a second form.
Some local banks processed the first form as well as the second form, causing the funds to be double withdrawn. Some banks just went crazy and processed multiple reversals.
Cachet then had a change of heart and decided to cancel the reversals. This threw things further out of whack.
So at present, Cachet is out 26 million in payroll payments. Plus they found that the account that MyPayrollHR was supposed to be depositing tax withholdings into was also empty, so there’s a further 9 million missing from there. And some banks went haywire with processing multiple reversals and cancellation of reversals and their computer systems went nuts.
So long story short, someone at MyParollHR embezzled $26 million in payroll funds, plus another $9 million from their income tax fund. Cachet is left holding the bag and the multiple deposits, reversals, and cancellations caused local banks computerized systems to fail. Also, bank computer systems are antiquated and easily befuddled.
Or it may not have been embezzlement. MyPayrollHR may have been hacked and the money taken that way. But the fact that they denied anything was wrong until the last minute and their website is still accepting new accounts even though the company has supposedly been shuttered leads me to believe that embezzlement is more likely.”
6. Start thinking of “saving money” as “making money” instead.
The Best Answer: “I see this as shifting from a negative to a positive approach to money. Instead of thinking: “I’ve got X to spend, how do I best spend it?”, you’re thinking: “I want to do Y, how much does that really have to cost me?” Basically, the first approach sees money like water in a river – the only question is where to send it. The second approach sees money as water in a lake – only drawn when needed.
It’s not perfect, though, since the second approach can lead to being a penny-wise and pound-foolish idiot. You have to keep a long-term perspective to do it right, and many people struggle to do that.”
7. Is living on 13$ a day possible?
The Best Answer: “I feed a family of four on $125/wk, you should be able to make it on $90/wk. Eggs, beans (dried are less expensive than canned), pasta, in-season produce, meat specials with a sell by of that day or the next can be cooked right away and eaten for a few days. Make coffee, don’t buy it. No alcohol. Cook or pack all your meals. Easy, peasy.
Edit to clarify: $125/wk was my food budget, not my income. Also, I met that budget up to last year, but my income doubled so it’s now up to $650/mo, but $500 can be done if it needs to.”
8. I’m being asked to pay for my own stay on business travel over the weekends. This can’t be right?
The Best Answer: “Think of it this way. Expenses are expenses, whether it’s hotels, food or materials for work. Imagine it wasn’t accommodation but materials. That might make it easier to see how stupid this is:
“Hey ExhaustedAeroPhD, we are running low on funds to buy raw materials for Project X, do you mind paying for them out of your own pocket because we are out of project funds?”
You would tell them to fuck off, right? This is no different. You are not in CA of your own accord, you are there because they are sending you there and they need to pay for it. If they sent you to the International Space Station would they make you pay for the weekends there too at 100,000 USD/ night?”
9. Gave My Two Week Notice At Work And They Counter Offered With More Time And Helping Me Find Better Job.
The Best Answer: “I would stick with it for a little while longer in hopes you get a higher paying/better job. You’ve already made it 3 years, so you can make it another month or two.”
10. Sallie Mae has raised my interest rate to a ludicrous rate and are not informing me why and are straight up ignoring my questions. I need advice on how to battle this or some good loan consolidation options.
The Best Answer: “I know several of my grad school friends reconsolidated their loans w SoFi. You can also look into several of these other companies. https://thecollegeinvestor.com/21558/best-places-refinance-student-loans/“
