Do family/relatives ask you for money?

[Got Em]

Wow you sound so American! I am Asian too and I only have one sister and if she wanted a car I would buy her a car. She is my younger sister and if she wants something I will give it to her, I see her as a little kid sometimes.LOL...There is no such thing as a "loan" to my sister, if she needs something I will give to her, it makes me happy when she is happy. Americans are different in that they don't really care that much about their family and are very stingy with their money. Its okay to be stingy with your money, but just NOT to your immediate family! I mean what else do you have in this world but them? If I have the money I do not mind giving it away to my sister or parents b/c they are my family and money is just money there is no need to be so damn stingy to your own blood. Plus doesn't it make you HAPPY when you see your family HAPPY? I am HAPPY when my family is happy and I will be upset if my family is ever struggling. Maybe I am too Asian? who knows! but most people in this thread are very American. I am money oriented myself, but I am not stingy with my family.

LOL @ this post crapping on Americans. I'm Chinese myself, and I do see your point, but a lot of White and Black people are very family oriented as well.

As for the rest of your post, I agree with you 100%.

Yeah, never lease a car...its the biggest waste of money. Buy a 12K to 15K used car cash is the smartest way to go. My friend in pharmacy school drives a very hot car...but then I found out her lease payment is $600 dollars a month and I changed my mind! Thats $600 dollars down the toliet per month. Always buy a second hand car and pay it in cash.

I mostly agree with this post, but some of this is incorrect. In general, leasing a car is a bad investment, but if you don't want to deal with selling your car to a private party after the lease (basically you trade your car in), then it may not be that bad if you find a good deal.

Used cars can go both ways. Even with carfax, when you buy a used car, there will be many unknowns. You never know how the car was driven, there may be many missed maintenances, unreported accidents, non-OEM replaced parts, etc. The potential stress of this unknown is a very bad idea for someone who values time.

Paying in cash is usually the best way to go since APRs are usually at 6-10%. However, if you have a deal for 0% or less than 3% APR, then you ALWAYS take it if no cash-back is available. I just bought my parents a 2010 Highlander with all cash, since none of the APR options were available.

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[crazybob]

My sister didn't work much in high school because she felt working will interfere with keeping high GPA. The short summer jobs pay was pretty much used as allowances. If she needed a car to go out with friends, she always had a one of mom/dad's cars to drive.

Now, she is in college, and she still can't really work. (1) Jobs are hard to find nowadays (2) It still interfered with keeping high GPA and she is now a 1st year premed.

Before everyone disagrees with point #2, I just want to say people have different comfort level in multi-task handling. Even though I don't agree with my sister 100%, I respect her decision.

The only hold back on buying a used car and paying cash $12000-$15000 is that I'm upgrading Toyota Camry in 2-3 years. I won't know what to do with it other than sell it cheap or trade it in undervalue (it is very well maintained thus far so I suppose it should last my sister thru med school if she cares for). That's why I just want to give her my Camry in couple years, and meanwhile, save the money toward my next car.

Do pharmacists buy a lot of stuff for their house after paying bills/loans/mortgages/insurance/etc? I talked to an R.Ph. MBA guy who gave a talk at my school, and when he broke down the amount of money for a typical retail pharmacist, it seemed like they could live on a little more than half of their income and spend the rest to save up or do whatever. Or is your 401k high enough that you can't save as much as you would like to?

 

[confettiflyer]

Quit being stupid, you think I'm gonna calculate an amount and give it to them?

haha it appears i didn't bother reading your other posts, thought you were approaching it from the other side

 

[type b pharmD]

Do pharmacists buy a lot of stuff for their house after paying bills/loans/mortgages/insurance/etc? I talked to an R.Ph. MBA guy who gave a talk at my school, and when he broke down the amount of money for a typical retail pharmacist, it seemed like they could live on a little more than half of their income and spend the rest to save up or do whatever. Or is your 401k high enough that you can't save as much as you would like to?

easily dude. you can live on 1/5th of a pharmacist's income.

 

[smileyangel11]

easily dude. you can live on 1/5th of a pharmacist's income.

Gosh, most of my collegues at work probably cannot live on 1/5th or even 1/2 of their after tax payment. Unless, of course, they have a spouse who make good money, or they are single with very little loans/mortgage to pay back.

 

[wes011]

Don't buy your sister a car. What universe do you people come from? Back in the late 90s when I was 16, I worked at some ****ty Taco Bell so I could save up enough cash to buy a piece of **** $500 1985 Ford Escort with like 230k miles on it.

I was cruising around in this thing:

And I was happy as hell. Tell her to get a job. If she insists on a car, buy her a piece of **** that runs and is reliable, but she'd be embarrassed to be seen in. A station wagon would work. Or a minivan.

You don't owe her a car. Start now and she'll expect more...and more...draw the line now.

But I'm a Scots-Irish hilljack...different culture, I suppose.

"Back in the day when I was young I'm not a kid anymore but some days I sit and wish I was a kid again"...sorry got me thinking of the song "Back in the Day" by Ahmad....yes back in the 1990s.

I didn't have a 1985 escort but my first car was a white 1990 Toyota Corolla, very basic....and sometimes I wish I could go back to those days. Life was easy and simple and I'd be lying to say that I don't miss those times.

 

[smileyangel11]

Do pharmacists buy a lot of stuff for their house after paying bills/loans/mortgages/insurance/etc? I talked to an R.Ph. MBA guy who gave a talk at my school, and when he broke down the amount of money for a typical retail pharmacist, it seemed like they could live on a little more than half of their income and spend the rest to save up or do whatever. Or is your 401k high enough that you can't save as much as you would like to?

Again, it depends on the person. I live in a 2 bedrm condo. I haven't bought anything for the condo in the last couple years, provided there is limited space to even place furniture, and nothing on the exterior for me to do. Some of my friends choose to live in houses and are constantly spending money here/there doing projects. The only downfall with living in condo is that association fee can be expensive. The condos in my neighborhood charge an association fee of $300 - 800/mo depending on the size of floor plan/building condition. So add that to mortgage. (again, if you don't live in a condo, some people still spend that much on house fix ups/maintenance/etc) Housing easily get to the $2000-2500 monthly range. (excluding property tax)

Loans vary depending on person. Assuming you have $120,000-130,000 in unsubsidized loans at 6.8% interest w/plan to be done in 10 yr, your monthly payment is ~$1100-1200 minimum.

Maximum contribution to 401 K is something like $16,500 annually in 2009.

So what are we up to? $4-5K per month without income tax/insurance/grocery/bills/ cash saving contribution.

I personally have a hard time saving more than 25% of after-tax income, and majority cash I saved this year went out to subsidize family/relatives. That's why I'm trying to see an concensus on whether what people think about declining money request from family/relative when it is for nonemergent use.

 

[Quiksilver]

My sister didn't work much in high school because she felt working will interfere with keeping high GPA. The short summer jobs pay was pretty much used as allowances. If she needed a car to go out with friends, she always had a one of mom/dad's cars to drive.

Now, she is in college, and she still can't really work. (1) Jobs are hard to find nowadays (2) It still interfered with keeping high GPA and she is now a 1st year premed.

Before everyone disagrees with point #2, I just want to say people have different comfort level in multi-task handling. Even though I don't agree with my sister 100%, I respect her decision.

The only hold back on buying a used car and paying cash $12000-$15000 is that I'm upgrading Toyota Camry in 2-3 years. I won't know what to do with it other than sell it cheap or trade it in undervalue (it is very well maintained thus far so I suppose it should last my sister thru med school if she cares for). That's why I just want to give her my Camry in couple years, and meanwhile, save the money toward my next car.

1. A car is a privilege, not a right. If you can't afford one in school because you are studying all the time why do you need one?
2. My girlfriend and I both worked 20-30 hours in undergrad; shes a med student, im a pharmacy student. Both of us worked our asses off, did research and I once held 3 jobs for an extended period of time (one of which was being a waiter). We both ended up managing it all. We both survived. It gave us people skills. We knew what it was like to earn a living. We also aren't like some of my collegues who at 24/25 are being hired for their FIRST job.

What are 10 hours a week anyways? Im all for helping my family out but I am not all about helping free loaders. The people that deserve the help are the ones who try.
l

 

[Aznfarmerboi]

I got two cars... one of them is pretty fast. Here is my paycheck breakdown

7,000 monthly after taxes and contributions to 401k and health insurance.

1000 for rent
1250 for student loans
800 for car payment
450 for car insurance, phone bill, cable and utilities
400 for food
300 for gas

After all of that, I have about 2,000 left. I usually end up paying off my student loans. Once in a while, I give it to my parents as per OP.