Shake shake shake...
Nov. 7th, 2008 09:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Just to shake things up a bit, this Friday I ask you a question! (But you can still ask me a question, too.)
[Poll #1293225]
I encourage thinking outside the box; if your answer doesn't fit neatly into a category, feel free to post additional thoughts.
[Poll #1293225]
I encourage thinking outside the box; if your answer doesn't fit neatly into a category, feel free to post additional thoughts.
no subject
Date: 2008-11-07 09:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-07 10:26 pm (UTC)I would rate my job-security certainty as "fairly certain" (yay city government). The biggest question will be whether they like me enough to keep me at the end of my probation in March, but I doubt that'll be an issue - I seem to get along with everyone well and the work itself isn't hard.
The only real concern for me with #1 is that I'll end up using it for stuff. Not necessarily frivolous things, but semi-important things that I might otherwise have scrimped and saved a tad more to cover. Maybe the discipline will be good for me. :)
no subject
Date: 2008-11-09 06:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-09 09:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-07 10:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-07 10:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-07 10:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-07 10:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-07 10:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-09 10:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-09 10:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-10 07:32 am (UTC)I'd look at refinancing, and then GO FOR #3. Now's a *great* time to invest, but remember the cardinal rule of putting money into stocks: don't put anything into the market that you might want back within 5 years. As for learning, I highly recommend http://fool.com
no subject
Date: 2008-11-10 01:07 pm (UTC)Another alternative is to go half-and-half between options 1 and 2. Set up a high interest savings account or no-risk CD for some of your "extra" money even if it doesn't equal three months' salary, and pay off some of that car debt with the rest.
no subject
Date: 2008-11-08 12:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-08 12:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-08 12:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-08 04:34 am (UTC)Seriously, once people realize "hey we aren't fucked after all" stocks are going back up. Buy while you can, pref. solid tech - Apple, Lockheed-Martin, anything that fell but shouldn't have.
no subject
Date: 2008-11-08 05:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-08 04:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-10 05:41 pm (UTC)1. Three months in at least two different accounts (I've had three different providers become insolvent and it's irritating to temporarily lose access to a one year cash safety margin, which was the case for one of them. But I have others and those keep it to only irritating. If I'd had all of my cash in one place and needed emergency money it could have been more than irritating. Though I also have several credit cards and two arranged overdraft facilities as backup for that.
2. Refinance the loan to three years. Partly to get a lower interest rate. The longer term, even if at the same rate, is to keep on producing a long list of "on time" entries in your credit report. That's worth more to you than the interest cost and no debt and utility bills are not as effective. You aren't paying interest, you're buying an improved credit score.
3. Next time you buy a nice moderately expensive home item, do that with debt as well and put he cash into a savings account of some sort. Same "on time" credit report entries reasoning.
Then when you come to get more significant credit where rates are far more important to you you'll look like a nice reliable payer.
It's irritating that no debt does less for your credit score than regularly serviced debt but those are the rules.
The rules for me are a bit different because I already have a nice cash float and some debts being serviced (though 0% debt for 15 months for 3% fee, for example, so I'll make a profit on it). Corporate bond and equity mutual funds for me. We're in times we'll only see three or four times a lifetime and profits are calling..
You might go with the mutuals once you have those other things in place. Now's a nice time for drip feeding to use purchase price averaging to reduce the volatility in the market. I've seen one of my tax exempt accounts changing in value by as much as 8.5% up and 7.6% down in one day in the last three weeks (with around 15 mutuals in it). That's volatility! Definitely not for the faint-hearted.