What was your worst financial mistake?

latreille89 · June 21, 2013

Well I'm 24 and have owned way to many vehicles. On number 8 and I would say buying older cars and trucks and loading thousands into them was my issue. Finally stopped buying used and got my 2012. I'm paying a little higher for it since I rolled over my loss on my 2010 but I'm happy now and deal with my mistakes. I was handed a lot of money at 18, spent it all, some on school, a lot on junk. Kept spending that way after it was all gone and now I'm paying for it. This is a great thread, hope any young guys read these and see what trouble they can get into. Btw as for the engineers here, private firms may get up to 100 but public industry, maybe 75. I'm a civil engineering technologist and make 57 right now. I couldn't imagine going through all the work for a case of beer maybe.

Chris · June 21, 2013

I have owned 7 vehicles. 6 of them before I turned 19.

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LaserBlueZ71 · June 21, 2013

All I can say for myself is I only have 4 - 5 years left and I will be completely debt free. I have my pickup truck, a small John Deere tractor, and one credit card that is down to a few thousand owing and dropping every month. It sucks right now but if I can tough it out, I can keep the things I broke my back for, and not ever do things that way again. People say sell everything. Well, after working so hard to keep everything for the last few years, I don't want to give it all up now. By doing that, I basically busted my hump for nothing.

SILVERADOSC540 · June 21, 2013

My list of boneheaded financial decisions is too long to list. I'll go with not winning the lottery.

Chris · June 21, 2013

My list of boneheaded financial decisions is too long to list. I'll go with not winning the lottery.

Is the Callaway on the list?

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Daryl Z71 · June 21, 2013

When I bought my old 94 Camaro Z28. Paid $3500 for it. It had problems, and I made the mistake of thinking it was just a plain old 350 that would be decent to fix up price wise. Turns out it was an LT1 and was a major headache. Anything that could go wrong with it did including two Optispark Distributors at $425 a pop. Anyhow after a total engine rebuild, and a bunch of other problems I got fed up and sold it for $2500 because it always had a problem and no one had much interest in buying it at a higher price.

tyhuck · June 21, 2013

Im a chronic truck trader. I started out with a 96 2500 Silverado that I had in HS and college, but sold it in 07 after I had a wreck in it and couldnt afford to fix it. The radiator went out and I decided I didnt want to deal with repairs, so I replaced the radiator and sold it. The day I sold it the water pump puked when the guy got it home.

Then I bought a Jeep. I got tired of not having any cargo space and the 4 banger under the hood was pathetic. I sold it after sinking thousands of dollars into it, and took a major loss because of the 4 cylinder.

My father-in-law gave me an 86 F250 to use while I had the Jeep. I fixed it upand made it a decent looking, nicely running, flatbed pickup. With just a little more $$$ it could have been REALLY nice. Sold it for $600.

Then bought an 06 2500 Sierra crew cab, and again sunk a good amount of cash into it. But, because it wasnt 4wd, I decided to buy a 2001 ZR2 S10, and again, sank even more money in that. But, in order to get the wife out of a Ford, I traded the GMC Sierra. Thats my worst regret.

That put me driving the ZR2 until our first kid arrived. Then I upgraded to the red 05 Z71 that I just sold. I dont even want to think about the amount of money I put into that one. I did recoup some of it by selling the mods, or transfering them to my current truck, but it wasnt near what I paid.

Then the second child came, and the first got too big to fit in the ext cab (seriously, my 2 yr old needs a special carseat hes so big), so I had to upgrade to the crew cab (which if you will remember, I had one of once before).

So, now Im sitting in a truck thats 6 years old, and have 5 years worth of notes on it. Had I just bought the damn thing new in 07 I could have had it paid off for over a year, and with all the money I sank in mod after mod, I could have some really nice toys for the family (like a boat or RV).

music · June 21, 2013

All day long in the energy industry.

Pay is highly dependent on location, employer, and benefits... not to mention the person's skills. I'll happily trade higher pay for better benefits, work conditions, and family-friendly arrangements, so there's always those trade-offs. That said, it's true that our "pay opportunity" will always be tied to our career and education choices... no way around it.

Bad17BowtieZ71 · June 21, 2013

All day long in the energy industry.

I agree to a certain extent about the 100k jobs out of college. You have to be in or willing to move to the right area to get the 100k jobs. Average pay is highly dependent on location. If for instance, you want to stay near your home town like I did, you might need to start at a sub 50k position and work your way up like I did. Quality of life can make up for a very large difference in salary. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else, especially now that we had our first kid, having our parents close by is priceless for us and them. Also need to take into account the cost of living where those 100k jobs are. For reference, I graduated in 2008 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering.

I agree with ya about no more credit cards anymore only what you have in the bank........VERY SMART MAN! Credit cards are spending money you dont have......if you dont have it DON'T BUY IT! Thats what I live by.

I also agree with this to a certain extent. Credit cards can be very dangerous, but to swear them off entirely also isn't that smart either. With almost all credit cards giving rewards nowadays, you are basically throwing more money away. They have to be viewed as a tool though, not a source of money. I definitely agree that if you don't have the money to buy it, then don't buy it. I pay for almost everything with my credit card, but the key is, like you said, I have the money for it in the bank and I pay the credit card off every month so I don't get any interest. I've paid for a washing machine, most of a dishwasher, a large chest deep freezer, and countless other smaller things (blu-ray movies, itunes gift cards, etc.) with the rewards I've earned on my credit card.

And I'm with latreille89, hopefully the younger kids on here read us telling of our mistakes and take them to heart. Learn from these stories that we are sharing rather than needing to learn by making the same mistakes yourselves.

music · June 21, 2013

I also agree with this to a certain extent. Credit cards can be very dangerous, but to swear them off entirely also isn't that smart either. With almost all credit cards giving rewards nowadays, you are basically throwing more money away. They have to be viewed as a tool though, not a source of money. I definitely agree that if you don't have the money to buy it, then don't buy it. I pay for almost everything with my credit card, but the key is, like you said, I have the money for it in the bank and I pay the credit card off every month so I don't get any interest. I've paid for a washing machine, most of a dishwasher, a large chest deep freezer, and countless other smaller things (blu-ray movies, itunes gift cards, etc.) with the rewards I've earned on my credit card.

+1. I've been handling credit cards like that since I first had one (over 20 years ago). We carry two, since some places don't accept Discover, and both are setup to "autopay full balance" each month. Never had a problem doing it like this, but I don't think that everyone is capable of doing it. It's hard to understand, but I've had this same discussion with grown adults, who agree fully and will tell me how stupid other people are with their credit cards, and then later tell me "I skipped paying my card last month because we had this unexpected expense..." If you can't stick to your guns and keep it paid off *no matter what*, then don't have one to begin with!

Bad17BowtieZ71 · June 21, 2013

+1. I've been handling credit cards like that since I first had one (over 20 years ago). We carry two, since some places don't accept Discover, and both are setup to "autopay full balance" each month. Never had a problem doing it like this, but I don't think that everyone is capable of doing it. It's hard to understand, but I've had this same discussion with grown adults, who agree fully and will tell me how stupid other people are with their credit cards, and then later tell me "I skipped paying my card last month because we had this unexpected expense..." If you can't stick to your guns and keep it paid off *no matter what*, then don't have one to begin with!

Very true, some people just aren't built for using credit cards and it's very wise for them to avoid them in that case. For others it can be a very useful tool in making your money work more for you.

SarahsGMC · June 21, 2013

I took general Ed and graphic design classes and that school raped me around every corner absolutely refused to help me whille I had a part time job and two unemployed parents I had to quit because it was too much

SarahsGMC · June 22, 2013

At that time (5 years ago) all I heard was gd pays well I was into it at the time and being 18 my mom always pushed me towards things like that I wanted automotive but all I heard was no no no now that I have the skills I want to do it

MikeNH · June 22, 2013

Dug a good hole with credit cards but I should have that under control within a year or two pending any financial disasters. I'd probably have them all paid off now but without notice at the end of last year there was a big change in how I get paid for travel so now I'm essentially out $500-700/month. Made getting ahead rough.

Also wish I stuck to my guns about going back to school after leaving the dealership. The current gig pays pretty decent for me not having a degree but I really doubt I can keep up with traveling like I do. Everyone I've talked to who does/did field service work is amazed at how often I'm on the road and that I've made it 6+ years. Who knows. Maybe I'll win powerball or maybe Zane will and being a mod will become a paid gig.