Let's discuss -Yiddishe Gelt- the mishpacha supplement

amother

Wed, Sep 22 2021, 8:58 pm

Anyone read it over Yom tov?

Being from Brooklyn I found the numbers posted to be inaccurate (how could they be there are at least 10 Jewish communities here).

Some other things I noticed was how common it is for relatives to step in financially in various different ways. I have never experienced this at all and I wonder if this is a frum expectation/reality.

There seemed to be a lot of "we made it work" - that annoyed me, how is that helpful? HOW did you make it work?

And lastly there was talk about setting up a budget and an emergency fund but then when reading through the posts of those in debt, it seemed like emergencies are what pull the financial rug from under people. Saving up for a washing machine is not the same as a medical emergency for example.

I loved the panel discussion. Would have loved an actual breakdown of their budgets that would have really helped.

So much food for thought. I always feel like the loser who chooses to save instead of spend and everyone around me seems to be living it up. I was kind of hoping for some transparency and little more of how they all do it but it was a great read either way.

amother

Ultramarine

Wed, Sep 22 2021, 9:30 pm

I read it. The down payment page didn't make sense mathematically. Otherwise, most stories read the same to me. Be frugal, don't spend what you don't have, pay back debts, and only use CC's if you pay up the full balance at the end of the month. I would have loved to read fewer stories but more in -depth ones. I was very inspired by the couple who got rich and then lost their wealth.

amother

Smokey

Wed, Sep 22 2021, 9:34 pm

Seemed like they made it sound that everyone who buys a house goes into debt or something, (which many people don’t) and you shouldn’t buy until you save up enough.
Problem is it’s never enough.
If we would have bought a house 3 years ago we would have needed 50K down payment and paid $250K less than the market is now.
Now a down payment is 100K after all the fees.
You can never save enough when the market is going up.
So what is the solution?

I was surprise to hear how many people don’t know their finances and only realize what is going on when their cards get declined, and they are 60K in debt.
I think that is the big issue at hand.
When people are tzifloigen and don’t keep cheshbon.
It’s not about buying the house but about some people who aren’t very good at math, or keeping tabs on their life.

Last edited by amother on Wed, Dec 22 2021, 5:54 pm; edited 1 time in total

HonesttoGod

Wed, Sep 22 2021, 9:35 pm

Totally felt the same way.

I wish they would have been more in depth and not “beating around the bush”.

The Brooklyn numbers were so off and I also didn’t like that they didn’t have an average/across board for all cities for example with the mortgages. It made no sense - choose one type of house in frum area and give an average 20% down.

It was great that they opened the topic up but I feel like they really just did a lot of “yeah we’re super careful but we also spend $150 on Mm”.

The interview in the first article really got me nervous - it so missed the point. It was trying to keep the standards but also make it ok for people struggling.

lamplighter

Wed, Sep 22 2021, 9:54 pm

I also found it surprising how many people found themselves in crazy CC debt suddenly. Like that doesn't happen suddenly.

I was hoping for more eitzas. It wasn't very empowering because I didn't really understand the actual cheshbonos of HOW they make frum life work.

I did appreciate that they discussed it bchlal.

Oh and the not sending to overnight camp because of potential materialistic peer pressure was weird to me.

amother

Daffodil

Wed, Sep 22 2021, 9:58 pm

allthingsblue wrote:

Read the Jewish action. They had a more practical take on the topic.

I gave up after a page of reading that I just need to start my own business and make more money. Was there more to it than that that it's worth actually reading?

allthingsblue

Wed, Sep 22 2021, 10:05 pm

amother [ Daffodil ] wrote:

I gave up after a page of reading that I just need to start my own business and make more money. Was there more to it than that that it's worth actually reading?

A lot about the importance of spending less than you earn, not keeping up with the joneses, saving, starting an entry job and not being so makpid on a high salary but at least get your foot in the door and become a valuable employee…

And for the other side, a lot about the responsibility of wealthier people to the community- not to up the standards, to think about supporting schools…

HonesttoGod

Wed, Sep 22 2021, 10:08 pm

allthingsblue wrote:

Read the Jewish action. They had a more practical take on the topic.

YES!! I totally agree. So much more nuanced and more detail not just skirting the issue.

amother

Daffodil

Wed, Sep 22 2021, 10:10 pm

allthingsblue wrote:

Then I guess I'll give it another shot. The first page I read gave me such a bad taste that I gave up.

amother

Tomato

Thu, Sep 23 2021, 3:32 am

I got so turned off in the first article and didn't continue. Hopefully I will make my way through it eventually.
Also I live in Israel and it didn't seem like that article was addressing anything from this side of the world.
I got married with a large amount of savings, we got a gift from my parents and we borrowed a lot to get our down payment. 5 years later our apt went up in value by a million NIS. Had we waited until we saved enough we would be much much worse off.

Thu, Sep 23 2021, 5:46 am

I found it incongruous to have one part of the mishpacha telling me how important it is to save and live frugally, while the other parts were jammed full of adverts of overpriced luxuries which I “need” and “deserve”.

amother

Tomato

Thu, Sep 23 2021, 5:52 am

s1 wrote:

If its truth it does not matter who says it.

amother

Lightpink

Thu, Sep 23 2021, 5:54 am

s1 wrote:

They never "told you" to do anything just like the advertisements aren't telling you that you need something. Why does everyone harp on this? It's the most annoying complaint about the magazines. Yes, there is plenty to complain about in the magazines, but this argument is truly bizarre. In order for their business model to stay afloat they need advertisements or bye bye magazine.