How Has This Community Helped You?

[cypher1]

Isn't that sad, though? Several of us have said this is the only place we can talk about money openly. It really sucks that we can't have those conversations as easily with friends and family. The fact that money is such a taboo topic is a big reason why so many people struggle to deal with it properly.

Agreed. There's only about 3 people in my life that have a decent idea of the amount I have invested (and they only know about half of it since I don't talk about my current 401k). Only 1 knows my net worth, and my true goals based on my age, which I have no need to really share with others. Although he does say hearing me discuss it only motivates him to focus on his goals as well.

The friends I can talk about it with, we mainly just talk about recommendations/advice, not so much specific numbers. Or I'll tell friends about a recent discussion or thread from this site, or an article I found.

[disneysteve]

this is one of the few places I can be honest about my financial thoughts and plan

Isn't that sad, though? Several of us have said this is the only place we can talk about money openly. It really sucks that we can't have those conversations as easily with friends and family. The fact that money is such a taboo topic is a big reason why so many people struggle to deal with it properly.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

this is one of the few places I can be honest about my financial thoughts and plan

[riverwed070707]

Beyond echoing what some others have said (my finances are exponentially in a better place than they were when I joined), I just like talking about money which is rarely an acceptable topic for any social setting unless you’re on a finance forum. Love to have the space to do that with likeminded people. I’ve picked up a few other forums/groups over the years but this is still my favorite. I prefer the forum format over, for example a Facebook group, because of the ease to search, go back through old threads and direct newbies to relevant content. Sometimes I wish there was a little more traffic but the smaller group has its benefits like being able to not check in for a few days and catch right back up and the familiarity you get with the regular posters which sometimes helps give more context than what might be provided in a single response.

[My English Castle]

I agree with Disney Steve. I think I've made some virtual friends here--especially CCF, the Lauras, CB, Rob, Sarah-Jane, ceejay, Dido, Buenida, Robin, and many others--. It's nice to be able to talk about money and a certain kind of lifestyle with people who think similarly to each other. I've benefited as it's made me more conscious of my spending, and alerted me to things like opportunities for better rates, shortcuts to saving, and also just increased my own accountability. Could I do that on my own? yes, probably. But my work friends have vastly different attitudes towards money, and many folks just aren't comfortable talking about money.

[srblanco7]

This!

Most people are broke and stupid with money. I'm surrounded by it all the time in real life. It is so great to hang out here among others who get it and are responsible with their money. These are my people.

We'd fall squarely in the category of those who have been and continue to be focused on saving and building wealth. I'll echo the sentiment that it's great to be part of a community that is like-minded - with a focus on the long-term, intelligent, decision-making. I also enjoy learning about others successes, as there are many paths to and definitions of success.

[QuarterMillionMan]

This!

Most people are broke and stupid with money. I'm surrounded by it all the time in real life. It is so great to hang out here among others who get it and are responsible with their money. These are my people.

Thank you disneysteve. I agree 100%.

[disneysteve]

it is refreshing to be amongst other savers.

This!

Most people are broke and stupid with money. I'm surrounded by it all the time in real life. It is so great to hang out here among others who get it and are responsible with their money. These are my people.

[QuarterMillionMan]

To be honest this site hasn't really helped me since I have been a lifelong saver but it is refreshing to be amongst other savers. Prior to joining this community mostly everyone I knew spent more than they bring in. It's not hard to figure out that it's not sustainable if one spends more than they take in.

[corn18]

Corn were you really near BK? I can't recall. I feel like you were on the payment plan of life. Not terribly in debt but rather just making payments.

I found this around the same time as DS. Lots has changed. Have i changed? not really. same old same old. But now a lot i thought about has happened. The question now is more how much longer

I was in 2008 when I retired from the Navy. I was paying credit cards with other credit cards. I was fortunate to find a job right away that paid a lot more so we could then keep up with payments. But the more we made, the more we spent. We were one of the 52% that didn't have $400 in case of emergency.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Quite simply, ya'll saved my life. I know that sounds overblown, but it really isn't. This is the first place I stopped to ask questions about my finances. I really wasn't looking for life changing advice, just some help deciding whether to pay off 4 car loans (first warning sign). In usual SA style, you were very persistent in wanting to know more details about my finances so you could offer better advice. I resisted. I got irritated. But I kept coming back (thank goodness). Most know where I was (age 48, -$200k net worth with hundreds of thousands of car and credit card debt, no savings). I made a boatload of money ($300k / year), yet we were still in debt and nearly bankrupt.

Then I read The Millionaire Next Door (recommended on here) and everything changed. And now I am here today seriously considering retiring in 7 months. I am on other fora, but Savings Advice is the place that got me on track. I cannot overstate the impact ya'll have had on my life. Had we not changed, I think I would be dead from stress. Life is good.

Corn were you really near BK? I can't recall. I feel like you were on the payment plan of life. Not terribly in debt but rather just making payments.

I found this around the same time as DS. Lots has changed. Have i changed? not really. same old same old. But now a lot i thought about has happened. The question now is more how much longer

[cypher1]

I found this site 10 years ago at age 29. I just wanted to know more about personal management, which I thought I was a decent saver. But my eyes were open wide once I found this community of similar views on saving. So what started as wanting to get better with money management, verifying priorities and goals, to now focusing more on investing and being more efficient those investments in the last few years. I'm probably not going to reach my goal by age 40 to have net worth of 500K, while being close, but keeps my focused to keep pushing.

Special shoutout to the Decluttering thread as a constant reminder to trim the fat on items being held onto each year. Every 6 months I feel the need to go through my possessions to see what I can clear out. Pretty minimal for clothing, but there's always something else I can find to throw out.

[bjl584]

Quite simply, ya'll saved my life. I know that sounds overblown, but it really isn't. This is the first place I stopped to ask questions about my finances. I really wasn't looking for life changing advice, just some help deciding whether to pay off 4 car loans (first warning sign). In usual SA style, you were very persistent in wanting to know more details about my finances so you could offer better advice. I resisted. I got irritated. But I kept coming back (thank goodness). Most know where I was (age 48, -$200k net worth with hundreds of thousands of car and credit card debt, no savings). I made a boatload of money ($300k / year), yet we were still in debt and nearly bankrupt.

Then I read The Millionaire Next Door (recommended on here) and everything changed. And now I am here today seriously considering retiring in 7 months. I am on other fora, but Savings Advice is the place that got me on track. I cannot overstate the impact ya'll have had on my life. Had we not changed, I think I would be dead from stress. Life is good.

Congrats on the huge turnaround. Always good to see success stories like yours.

[disneysteve]

Quite simply, ya'll saved my life. I know that sounds overblown, but it really isn't. This is the first place I stopped to ask questions about my finances. I really wasn't looking for life changing advice, just some help deciding whether to pay off 4 car loans (first warning sign). In usual SA style, you were very persistent in wanting to know more details about my finances so you could offer better advice. I resisted. I got irritated. But I kept coming back (thank goodness). Most know where I was (age 48, -$200k net worth with hundreds of thousands of car and credit card debt, no savings). I made a boatload of money ($300k / year), yet we were still in debt and nearly bankrupt.

Then I read The Millionaire Next Door (recommended on here) and everything changed. And now I am here today seriously considering retiring in 7 months. I am on other fora, but Savings Advice is the place that got me on track. I cannot overstate the impact ya'll have had on my life. Had we not changed, I think I would be dead from stress. Life is good.

I think yours is the biggest success story I've seen in the 14 years I've been here. And I remember how defensive you were when you first started posting. So many people have come here with that attitude and disappeared when we all started prodding and asking questions. Kudos to you for hanging in and actually being willing to listen and take the advice that you were given. Clearly, the transformation has been remarkable.

[corn18]

Quite simply, ya'll saved my life. I know that sounds overblown, but it really isn't. This is the first place I stopped to ask questions about my finances. I really wasn't looking for life changing advice, just some help deciding whether to pay off 4 car loans (first warning sign). In usual SA style, you were very persistent in wanting to know more details about my finances so you could offer better advice. I resisted. I got irritated. But I kept coming back (thank goodness). Most know where I was (age 48, -$200k net worth with hundreds of thousands of car and credit card debt, no savings). I made a boatload of money ($300k / year), yet we were still in debt and nearly bankrupt.

Then I read The Millionaire Next Door (recommended on here) and everything changed. And now I am here today seriously considering retiring in 7 months. I am on other fora, but Savings Advice is the place that got me on track. I cannot overstate the impact ya'll have had on my life. Had we not changed, I think I would be dead from stress. Life is good.