People's Craziest Financial Mistakes

“I abused a 0% student overdraft and 0% credit card at university thinking “woo free money”. Now struggling to keep my head above water on 17k pa”

/Pius-Thicknesse

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Too many folks fall into this trap while in school, especially since they aren’t earning any spending money. We think, oh this is money I can spend and I’ll pay it back once I graduate and start working at a real job. That’s fine, except for all the interest you rack up in the meantime. So how should you get money while in school? You can still use student loans you take out for day to day expenses, and they often come with MUCH lower interest rates, and more flexible repayment schedules where you don’t need to start repayment until after school. That, or get a part-time job while in school!

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“Well, first my late husband become bipolar, and manic. Then a heroin addict, who blew millions on hookers & drugs and wait for it, comic books. Then....he refused to file taxes. Or cooperate when I tried to file or fix. Then, it gets better! You're wondering exactly how I found myself in my current situation? While I was personally meeting with accountants, calling the IRS, attorneys & taking care of a preschooler and running a small business of my own, guess what I was lucky enough to get? A brain tumor! Yay!”

/Iwasiamka

We have no words. Sometimes there’s absolutely nothing you can do.

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Came under a severe depression. Chose to live like a king by maxing out my credit card and then call it quits. Ended up not going through with the calling it quits part, so now I'm beginning the debt battle starting today (started a job today)‍

/MrSpookShire

We’re glad you didn’t end up going through with it!

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‍“Took out a 4 year car loan for a car which broke all of the time. That basically ate my earnings for 2 years. Luckily after that I got a big promotion and managed to pay it off early and sell it before it pushed me into more peril!

/SavingNinjaUK

I see so many people make the same mistake with cars, they're just such lustful items. Before you buy it you just think everything will fall into place once you own that car. But it doesn't, the excitement goes away :)

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“I had children.”‍

/UncleArthur

Simple, sweet, and to the point. Having kids can be an expensive enterprise - that being said, it could also be the impetus for you to figure out how to earn more. We’ve seen many stories of folks who received raises, better jobs, etc.

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“No student loans, no credit cards. One year I was very sick and had no health insurance. That’s it.”

/PrimPeonyPetal

An estimated 41% of American adults carry medical debt, so this is something that impacts a wide swath of people. The bad news is, 12% have $10k or more, which is a significant amount. The good news is that medical bills often have errors and are highly negotiable. Read here to find out how to fight an absurd medical bill.

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“I bought a lot of shitcoins and didn't set a stop loss”

/Luffydude

We do not recommend EVER using your credit card to buy crypto. It is highly volatile and so, even if you can potentially make a lot of money, you can just as easily lose it all.

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