If you’ve ever spent any time on the Reddit personal finance threads, you’ve probably realized it is often a goldmine of information. How so? Because regular people ask questions about regular problems and the answers often come from people who’ve walked that journey before.
Of course, it is often overwhelming because there's just so much information. then there are the people who make jokes and other less amusing comments. But take it from me; you'll learn so much from fellow Redditors.
Don’t believe me? We’ll take a glance at some of the best Reddit financial advice below. But before we do, let’s do a fast Reddit 101.
How to access Reddit personal finance threads
I know. One examines Reddit’s front page, and it's like it was designed by coders for coders. With phrases like “r/,” upvotes, downvotes, threads, karma – a hot mess of random insider jargon.
It’s hard to understand what’s going on when you start. But don’t hand over it because the platform is incredibly powerful. It is an organized message board where communities of people with like-minded interests engage.
The community curates all of the material, and users upvote comments they like and downvote those they don't.
Here’s some common lingo:
Subreddits: These channels specialize in a particular topic ranging anywhere from Politics, Funny, Uplifting News, and Gaming all thanks to “Tinder.”
Subreddits are denoted by r/”Topic” so for people like us, we might “join” communities such as r/PersonalFinance, r/Budgeting, r/FIRE, etc. Reddit’s finance tips truly cater to all or any audience.
Upvote / Downvote: As alluded to earlier, readers of a specific thread can upvote or downvote a comment. The “score” you see in between the up and down arrows is just the number of upvotes minus the number of downvotes.
Karma: In an attempt to highlight big contributors, Reddit awards “Karma” or points to users who receive plenty of upvotes on their comments and questions.
OP: Original Poster.
TL;DR: Too Long, Didn’t Read. After a very long post, some users will provide a 1 or two-sentence summary and preface it with TL;DR for the readers who found the original post too long to read.
Now that we’ve gotten that out the way, here are a number of my favorite personal finance tips from Reddit.
13 of the simplest Reddit personal finance tips
Again there's a ton of Reddit financial advice to review. Here are a number of the best threads to get you started.
"Please, for the sake of your wallet, meal prep."
Every Sunday, I spend around 2 hours just cooking as much as I can. I ensure I make enough for my fiancé and me to have lunches for the entire week. That's all it takes, two hours! And like $40 in groceries. once I was really struggling for money, I might still find myself going out to lunch every single day and spending $10-$15 a meal. That's $50-$75 a week! Now I cook for 2 people for less than that.
Nothing might be truer. it's often so tempting to take the easy way out and live off sites like Seamless and Postmates, but the reality is that food costs add up very quickly and could hold you back from achieving your goals, like building your emergency fund or a sinking fund. So, create a monthly hotel plan and start saving some serious cash!
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Always check your statements
"My Dad just found out he's been paying $30/month for AOL dial-up internet he hasn't used for at least the last ten years."
The bill was being auto-paid on his MasterCard. I feel he was aware he was paying it (I'm assuming), but not sure that he really knew why. Or he forgot about it as I do not believe he receives physical bills in the mail, and he auto pays everything through his card.
He's actually super smart financially. Budgets his money, is on target to retire next year (he's 56 now), uses a MasterCard for all his spending for points, and owns approximately 14 rental properties.
I don't think he's used dial-up for at least the last 10....15 years?
Yikes. This stings. I’ve done this myself before with a gym membership. It is often so easy to overlook an autopay expense that sneaks out of your checking account each month.
The best cure? Check your bank statements every month. it'll take just 3 minutes to do and will save you thousands. Unfortunately for this poor fellow, it cost him $3,600, which he could have added to his retirement nest egg over the years.
If you’re unsure about a few changes on the statement, call your bank to inquire. they will usually help you figure out what it is. this is often an excellent Reddit personal finance thread to learn from because it reminds us to keep a close eye on our statements.
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Spending on big-ticket items
"Never examine monthly payments. Negotiate on the ultimate price."
Buying anything under a payment plan is often a real doozy. Most of the time, the terms are vague, and there's almost no discussion about the most important piece of information for you – the final price. For instance:
- Car dealership, "So what does one want your monthly payment to be?"
- insurance broker, "Great, so your deposit is $XX, and your quarterly payments are $XX," etc.
Um, I would like to know what the final door price would be?
"Well, tell me what you'll afford, and I'll see if we will make this work for you. So what proportion are you looking to pay a month?"
Why is that this bad? Because a monthly payment cannot be used to compare apples to apples. Sure they will make your monthly payment super low and just extend your term forever so that they make more money. Or, for insurance purposes, you can't compare that policy to another one.
When faced with a situation where you’re not paying upfront for a product or service, you've got to get in the weeds, do the maths, and understand how much you’re going to be paying in total interest.
When you compare that with the cost of paying upfront or the cost offered by a competitor, you’ll be surprised that what appeared like a great deal might not be so good after all.
"Learn the way to calculate a lease."
Leasing isn't for everybody. It's probably a nasty idea for most people. But if you're going to lease, you would like to know how leases work and where they get the numbers to get the best deal. And knowing the numbers may cause you to realize it's a terrible deal and to stay away.
Leasing isn't the cheapest way to drive a car, but if you're going to go ahead with it, you would like to take the time to do the math. Leasing essentially allows you to rent a new car from a dealership for a fixed amount of time. monthly, you’ll make monthly payments towards the car, and at the top of your lease window, you’ll sometimes have the choice to purchase the car upfront.
Lease monthly payments are typically less than those of car monthly payments. You may, therefore, be wondering what the difficulty is with leasing? The major disadvantage of leasing is that you are effectively paying your hard-earned money to drive an automobile that you do not own. An automobile loan, on the opposite hand, allows you to build equity in the car.
The reality, though, is that for many people, leasing isn't a good idea, it initially gives you the proper to drive and not own the car, and if you are doing choose to buy the car at the end of the contract, the terms aren't always in your best interest.
"Traps to avoid when buying used cars."
Car salesmen aren't the ones you need to fear. Many of them are wonderful people who work long, hard, honest hours to move some automobiles. As my dad told me before he dropped me off to shop for my first used car, "When they get you within the back room, that's when they go to try to screw you."
If you think that that's a joke or an understatement, please accept the very fact that it is neither. once you sit down in the chair in the finance office, you would like to be as alert as a deer in hunting season. Here's how they tried to urge me, and that I hope I can help one person not get taken...
Similar to the Reddit personal finance thread above about how to lease a car, here the OP shares some really useful insights into the important things to look out for when buying a car. Specifically:
You are not needed to accept the add-ons they try to offer you, such as alarm systems, electronics warranty, etc.
If you do not ask, don't expect to be told everything about the car you're buying.
As exciting as the process is, one must go into it fully alert at all times to the tactics deployed at car dealerships. Not all are sneaky, but they are doing have their ways to maximize a sale, and it’s in your best interest to understand what those are!
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Managing your prescription costs
"If you've got an expensive prescription, contact the manufacturer and tell them you cannot afford it."
Bristol Myers just provided me a copay card, reducing my monthly drug cost from $500 to $10. It lasts 2 years, and they will renew it with one phone call. Sorry if this is often a repost, but this was a literal lifesaver on my behalf.
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ll know that insurance costs can be astronomical in the U.S. If you've got a long-term condition that requires expensive medication and few to no generic alternatives exist, you'll try reaching out to the manufacturer of the needed drug and letting them know your situation.
When you have other medical expenses to consider, this can make a huge difference.
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Do you really need all that dental work?
"Be wary of dental scams."
I visited a popular chain for a $57 new patient exam, cleaning, and x-rays. They found multiple cavities, and I spent $600 on getting them fixed. I could only afford to try to do half of them at once and was going to come back to finish on another day.
In the meantime, I got a replacement job that offered dental insurance. So I visited a private dentist's office instead to finish up the work. They stated that I had no cavities or problems with my teeth. I visited a second office just to be safe, and they said the same thing. It seems pretty scammy to me. Just take care.
Dentists do great work, and we all need them. However, like in many other fields, there are those that take advantage of people who might not understand the technicalities during their visits.
Be wary of finding a dentist on discount sites like Groupon together user in the Reddit personal finance thread noted that false claims of cavities were made by a specialist from there. If possible, persist with a family doctor – someone who has been known to you for years and whose work you can truly trust.
Additionally, if you’re faced with procedures outside of normal cleaning, always invite an estimate or what is sometimes referred to as a treatment plan. You’ll be glad you probably did, and you'll use that during a 2nd opinion with another dentist.
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Going from a two-income ménage to only one income
"Should my woman quit work and enthrall home to watch for our child?"
Just had our first sprat some months agone, and at the 11th hour, my woman hit me with, "I want to be a stay-at-home mama." Did not see that one coming. My woman was making nearly $100k, however, so I feel I am in for enough of a big life shift indeed though our bills look enough good.
This Reddit particular finance question may be a tricky bone. Numerous families consider this per annum. Having a baby is one of the most instigative chapters for numerous parents, and thus the desire to have one parent stay at home would be the dream for a huge portion of homes.
In the case of the OP, his woman wanted to quit and stay home, but her income counted for 50 of the ménage income, making it a veritably delicate and potentially parlous decision.
Whatever a family decides to try to do, it's important that a healthy exigency fund is in place ( rather over a time’s worth), you produce a relief one-income budget for the family, which you consult your fiscal counsel in the decision- making process.
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An easy side hustle to start
" Vend the particulars that are not bringing value to you presently."
$ 5 to$ 20 per item might not feel worth the trouble to vend commodity, but it adds up. We have concentrated on this at our house and have made a brace of hundred bucks now.
We love this Reddit particular finance thread because it reminds us we will make some quick cash selling unwanted particulars. during this age where we've too important stuff in our homes, decluttering may be a huge positive that can also come with fiscal benefits.
Spots like eBay and OfferUp give easy ways to upload unwanted particulars for trade. As OP noted, it's going to not feel worth the trouble, but it sure does add up.
" Stop freaking out about"the recession."
I see an awful lot of vestments then about people wondering how on earth they'll conceivably survive this horrible doomsday recession that is just absolutely going to be any day now.
The last recession was called the good Recession for a reason-it was harder- hitting one than those that came ahead. And since it had been largely grounded on a casing extremity, it felt indeed worse because people were losing their homes thanks to ridiculous mortgages that they noway should have been offered or agreed to in the first place. This leads me to.
Just be smart. Are you living within your means now? Great! insure your exigency fund is in good shape, and continue about your business. However, take regard of your budget and see what you can cut out of it if you are overspending. this is frequently a commodity you should be doing anyhow of how the requests look. Find a less precious cell phone plan, gutter that$ 100/ mo string bill, subscribe to a slower internet package, adventure out to eat less frequently, etc.
"What about my stocks? Should I vend all my stocks?"NO!!! Do. Not. Sell. Your. Stocks. the sole exception then's if you really are full and hugely broke else and absolutely need the plutocrat. In fact, the simplest thing you can do in a recession is to buy further stock! A bad request just means that stocks are on trade. Who does not love a reduction? Again, I would not advise buying unless you have the budget to do so.
Getting over the fear of a recession
This is one of my favorite Reddit particular finance threads. However, you'd suppose the catastrophe was about to hit if you’ve watched the news recently. While it's wise to understand what the judges are advising on the eventuality of a recession, it's also important to note that a lot of fear-mongering takes place on Television.
So do your stylish to not horrify. Rather, specialize in making wise everyday opinions that will buffer you from any impact you may face should a recession do. There are ways you will prepare for a recession and also recession- evidence businesses, to suppose about as well. If you duly prepare you will avoid fiscal mishaps in the event of a recession.
Should I essay to negotiate payment, or is this a good starting point?
It isn't uncommon for babe to ask you what your payment prospects are for a part. And if you’ve done this ahead, you’ll know it’s no way an honest idea to throw out a number first.
After immuring to the county for a time, a Civilians Technician position opened, and I was later offered the job after my operation/ interview process. the work was firstly listed for a$ 40k a time payment. wouldn't it be reasonable to ask for$ 45k rather? I’m not sure if negotiating is different in the public sector-I apologize if that comes off naive, but this is frequently my first serious job offer outside of externships and eatery jobs.
This commenter has enough excellent advice
I would always ask; it doesn’t hurt! Once I got an offer for 48, combated with 59 (I figured why not, it had been my first interview/ offer), and got 56. I formerly asked if there was room for concession, and they said no, but the first offer was still on the table. You’ll be remonstrating yourself latterly if you don’t, a minimum of pass, and as numerous have formerly said the worst which will be is that they’ll say no.
This is some of our favorite Reddit fiscal advice because it teaches you to always ask for further plutocrat!
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Being paid less than inferior position workers
"I discovered I was being paid lower than entry-position workers; what do I do?"
It's no fun to confidently subscribe up for a position only to discover down the road that others are making further
I was being paid lower than entry-position workers. I negotiated professionally because of advice from the sub (Reddit particular finance thread), and entered a rise with another one coming in two months!
Still, it's worth raising it strategically with your administrators, If you discover yourself in this situation. no matter the story, they inform you, it's worth putting your bottom down and getting the pay you earn for your experience.
Still, always get that in jotting, If the employer can not offer an immediate rise but offers to make amends down the line. because the saying goes, “ if it isn’t written down, it didn’t be.” make certain to cover your bases in jotting.
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Particular Finance for teenagers
"I notice kiddies don't have important knowledge of fiscal knowledge."
Lately, I have noticed that the plenitude of 4th-5th graders does not have any knowledge in budgeting and saving. I feel that playing a game grounded on fiscal knowledge would be veritably helpful for youthful children and help them make better choices in the future.
What does one suppose? Any advice/ feedback would be greatly appreciated!
This Reddit member handed some excellent fiscal tips for tutoring his son about plutocrat
I have a strategy in place for my oldest child who's 6. whenever he earns any plutocrat for doing a redundant chore or work or is given plutocrat by the family for birthdays and effects like that, he’s to place it into his piggy bank (which isn’t a piggy).
Every 6 months, we open up the penny bank, count up the cash, and I will match every bone he has in there and put it all back by. He’s now doubled his plutocrat. He’s learning the ideas of delaying delectation, saving, and putting your plutocrat to figure for you ( interest) all in one.
Tutoring your kiddies about finances is one of the most important effects you can do. Not only does this educate them on the worth of a plutocrat, but you will help them learn good plutocrat habits to set them up for a financially successful future! Making it pleasurable is the most effective system to hold their attention while tutoring them on fiscal knowledge.
In conclusion, the Reddit r/ personal finance posts are fantastic!
As you will see, Reddit's particular finance vestments have a wealth of data that can really help you presto- track some of your fiscal pretensions. Unlike other networking spots, Reddit really uses the installation of community to communicate and break some of the day-to-day questions that real people have.
Also, don't forget to enroll in our fully free fiscal courses and worksheets to learn further about jilting debt, saving plutocrats, and erecting wealth!
