Brokest/richest you've been?

mr_fegelien

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

I didn't say people aren't poor enough -- what kind of sociopath wants people to be poor? I just mentioned I was surprised. I also thought it would be obvious from my tone that I was saying we should be grateful for all that we have.

I don't think being grateful really helps. If anything, some stories here made me wonder if this was even Ireland or a third world country. Perhaps many posters are older than me and they are talking about times in the 80s/90s.

I wouldn't expect people eating only weetabix in a first world country for a month if they're not homeless and have a minimum wage job/enrolled in college. Some of my cousins in Tanzania eat better than that (but then again, they are rich)

mr_fegelien

BrokenArrows wrote: »

Brokest was when I was in Australia. 4 days left until my flight home to Ireland.
Bank accounts empty, 6k in debt in Ireland. Australian account was even -100, credit card maxed out. $15 in my pocket and I needed $10 to get to the airport.
I bought a bunch of the cheapest noodles I could find and snuck into a backpacker hostel every night and slept in the TV room.
I was never so happy to eat airplane food in my life.

Richest, probably now, but also technically probably the brokest because I have a mortgage.

To be fair, airplane food isn't that ****ty depending on what airline it is.

And has the debt affected your credit rating. I checked with the Irish Credit Bureau as I never paid back my overdrawn €200 from Bank of Ireland as a student and there's nothing on it

khaldrogo

To be honest (thankfully) I’ve never been/felt poor or ever had to not eat or anything like that. Least money I would have had was in undergrad college but i was never stuck for money. Lived at home and worked summers and weekends but the money I earned was for running a car, nights out, lunch etc my parents covered all college expenses and helped out if needed with any expenses I had.

Postgrand was decently paid so that covered almost everything and again parents were there as a fall back. Once I started working after that I’ve always been on decent money and saving every month. I’ll be building a house in the coming year or so which will probably depletes a lot of what I’ve saved etc but I won’t be broke either.

I know I’ve been fairly lucky and I’m thankful for that.

khaldrogo wrote: »

You write this like it's a common thing!!!!

The child benefit my mother received for me and my siblings was spent on clothes and food for us not put away in an account. Basically your family didn't need the benefit at all. They should have given the money to charity imo.

Absolute and utter rubbish. Child benefit is not normally handed over to the child like that poster but many families save it for future expenses like college etc it’s called planning. It’s only 140 a month, much better to save it over many years if you can rather than spend it.

jon1981 wrote: »

I won't argue about how they used the money but the system is broken. Everyone is entitled to the allowance regardless of wealth. That's a problem.
.

Of course everyone should be entitled to it, the wealthiest are the people funding it and they damn well deserve to get their 140 a month back. The last people it should be cut from are those actually funding it, it’s an insane concept saying it should be means tested etc. it’s pretty much the only thing a proper on even very modest income actually gets from the gov and I can’t fathom why anyone would be against that.

biko

I was homeless in London for a while, that wasn't fun at all.

mr_fegelien

biko wrote: »

I was homeless in London for a while, that wasn't fun at all.

Could you give a back story? Is it true that shelters are often worse than the streets due to drugs, gangs, violence, theft?

wexandproud

after first couple of years of marriage with 2 kids 11 months apart was on the bread line and only for parents helping out would not have got by , fell behind in mortgage which was easy with interest rates at 16 or 17%. kept my head down and mouth shut and worked every hour i could , sometimes 15/16 hour days . Got a fairly good promotion and worked less for better money . Payed parents back what i borrowed , caught up on repayments . It was a tough few years .
not wealthy by now by any mean but ''snug ''. few pound put aside , own my own house and income exceeds spending most months by a nice little bit [self employed ] so i'm creeping ahead [touch wood ]

hedzball

Airyfairy12 wrote: »

Jaysus
Even at my brokest I never stole from anyone, if I saw someone drop money I picked it up, called after them and handed it back.
You were only stuck for week was it necessary to sneakily rob money?

Being fair its probably the first and last time the traveller got robbed.



'Hdz

Poorest: now.
Richest: now.

Necro

Brokest: On my knees in Australia after some overindulging on the way in Southeast Asia. Had 20AUD left to my name as I arrived at a roadhouse in NSW to make some money to actually keep on living.

Richest: Over in Australia as well, actually. Fast forward 8 months and I was assistant manager of a motel in North Western Australia. Free accom, use of company car, earning very good money and nowhere to spend it. Work was an absolute bitch though. 12 hr days are not fun.

peekachoo

I remember in college (finished 2 yrs now) many times having to ask my roommates for a loan of 50c for a loaf of bread or milk or something because I was skint, parents could never afford to pay for college, the grant covered the rent but I had to get a loan to go to college in the first place and I barely managed paying for it from my part time job I had at the time. Then to make it worse I had to do 6 months of unpaid placement while also working the part time, had to get a family member (not even direct, an uncle) to pay for my credit union loan for the 6 months and I lived off porridge and ramen noodles.

2 yrs later I landed a dream postgrad job and I have almost 25000€ saved, debt free and can't believe my luck

Eggs For Dinner

Poorest: When I made a cash withdrawal for £10 at an ATM using my credit card and then bringing it inside the bank to make the minimum payment on my Visa bill

Richest: Earning good money in the early '00's and spending €2,600 on a 32' flat screen TV without thinking about it.

Wompa1

Poorest: 400 euro in my overdraft with a 7k euro loan hanging over my head and that wasn't even when making the least amount of money, I was made 89 euro a week and had to live off that. Found myself stuck at one point. I couldn't find anywhere to live and my parents wanted to charge me rent to move back home...I think somebody said something earlier about even the rich are one incident away from being broke. I think the lynch pin for everyone is support from family. People who go abroad tend to have a subconscious safety net at home. My dad hasn't worked since 2k, my parents owe hundreds of thousands to the bank and needed us kids to pay for their home heating oil and bits pieces from 2008-2017. Not even not having a safety net but having a f'ckin anchor. The only thing I'll be inheriting is the dementia.

Richest: About 5 months ago before I discovered my wife's debt, which I cleared off. It'll take about 6 or 7 months to recoup that.

vargoo

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Poorest: now.
Richest: now.

Im same.

Saved a load but waiting on uber expensive surgery.

All gone after.

Mad_maxx

Necro wrote: »

Brokest: On my knees in Australia after some overindulging on the way in Southeast Asia. Had 20AUD left to my name as I arrived at a roadhouse in NSW to make some money to actually keep on living.

Richest: Over in Australia as well, actually. Fast forward 8 months and I was assistant manager of a motel in North Western Australia. Free accom, use of company car, earning very good money and nowhere to spend it. Work was an absolute bitch though. 12 hr days are not fun.

Does anyone actually live in North Western Australia?

SozBbz

Its an interesting question.... I mean I probably fealt richest at a time when I'd the least money, in School and College. The Bank of Mam and Dad were still offering good deals back then Allowance + part time job + no real expenses. Also, I was happy out going out for the night with €20/30 in my pocket.

I'm very lucky in that I've never truely been stuck for money as I've always had the safety net of family and have always been careful with money.

I'm not poor now but definitely the most indebted! 2x mortgages (one in my name, one joint) plus associated tax burden and costs as well as being on the hook for any unexpected expenses. I earn the most I've ever earned, but felt much richer back in college. I'm now very conscious of how much I need to keep earning!

For anyone else who frets about their mortgage, there are a couple of things that might reassure.

You wouldn't think of your income over the next 25 years as making you a millionaire, even though your aggregate future income during that time-period may easily be over a million. Therefore, there's no reason to treat your liabilities, like your mortgage, any differently.

Secondly, say you've already paid off 50k of your mortgage, equivalent to 16% of the total debt (for the sake of convenience we'll ignore interest rates)

That 16% shareholding in the property is yours, and growing, and has probably increased in value compared to when you drew down the mortgage -- up until recently, it was growing at a rate of double digits through residential property price inflation. It doesn't get wiped out if you lose your home, unless you play silly buggers with the bank and go into huge arrears (which itself is effectively income, since you're not paying rent or repayments).

I know it feels like you're broke, but you're probably making a very prudent, sound investment. Unless you bought at the height of the Tiger. Ye lads are never getting your money back.

PHG

Poorest: 8 years ago. I was very sick and hospitalised for 6 weeks. Recovery took just under a year. Had a Ferrari moment when I came out and over the next 6/8 months racked up over 15,000 in debt. On what I have no idea!! Took me a year to clear the bloody mess.

Richest: Now. Thankfully have enough savings to last 6 months if my job went under and a decent pension for my age. All things going well it will be up to a years saving by January and buy on my own flat towards the end of next year.

BrokenArrows

mr_fegelien wrote: »

To be fair, airplane food isn't that ****ty depending on what airline it is.

And has the debt affected your credit rating. I checked with the Irish Credit Bureau as I never paid back my overdrawn €200 from Bank of Ireland as a student and there's nothing on it

Ya plane food isnt terrible, but i never look forward to it.

No the Australia debit never followed me home, and it was nearly 13 years ago now so the debt is long since written off.

vargoo

The World’s Wealthiest Family Gets $4 Million Richer Every Hour

https://www.bloomberg.com/features/richest-families-in-the-world/?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Sunny Disposition

Brokest would have been as a kid, didn’t know any better though, we had nothing but I’d never known anything else. Richest on paper was after the sale of a business while still a young man. On the way up I’d never really got my head around how things were changing and the deal was proposed and concluded within a month. Was only the day after it was over that I really realized I was secure financially, actually a weird feeling when you’ve come up that fast and are still quite young.

Being broke is tough but being rich, while obviously good, probably won’t make you happier. It does give you a chance to do more of what you like though.

is_that_so

Richest : The 20m I had a mortgage cheque in my hand. Poorest :Just after I handed it over.

mr_fegelien

Frozenlibro wrote: »

On the dole was poorest, current job on 86k the richest.

What do you work as?