Poll: How "good" are you at finances?

Recently I helped a couple of my friends with some financial trouble. So I was wondering where alot of people fall in terms of managing money. Being an engineer, I'm anal retentive and know where everything is allocated. I also know people who make quite a bit of money at their jobs, but still somehow live paycheck to paycheck. So where do you fall?

I'm in more trouble than I should be, for what I earn. But I also have extenuating circumstances.

It all sucks. I hate money. And the lack of it.�

Got some stuff working OK for the future. Just not so great in the present.

Heh...didn't realize it was a poll until I saw a recent post.

I live paycheck to paycheck in general. Sucks. But I do have a chunk in annuities and contribute to my 401K and have some shares of stock. So...yeah. I'm poor in the present, but I hope I'm at least not shafting my future.

You would be surprised at how many people don't even contribute enough to get a company match to their 401K. One of the friends I helped earns in excess of $60,000 per year, but was only putting 1% into his 401K, when his company will match dollar for dollar up to 3% and 0.50 on the dollar up to another 3% (6% total). That and given he didn't ever balance his checkbook and never really knew how much money he had to spend in a given month.

Yah, I was kind of shocked that someone earning that much a year was not socking huge sums away for the future.

So, yah, be proud that you are at least thinking and doing something about the future. Paycheck to paycheck is not so bad when you are saving for retirement as well. Like you said, sucks, but could be worse.

Well honestly, I'm only doing 1% right now. With 50% match. I bump it up more when money isn't so tight. There's just not a ton I can spare right now.

Whee.

I budget for the bills but I spend too much dining out. I have two kids who need alot of help financially and I am helping my sister out as well. She has three kids and her husband skipped out on her and refuses to pay child support after 20 years of marriage.

Well you should be commended for attending to your family. That stinks that the husband isn't willing to bear his responsibilities.

We try to help out a cousin of ours where we can (buying new clothes, school supplies, etc for his children). Family matters first.

the 403b goes in automatically from my paycheck, and I keep an eye on that. The rent/debts/etc are all budgeted on the 'puter. But I probably don't keep track as well as I should. I kinda have a "spend the extra" policy. ;D

i'm on financial aid, if by that, you mean my parents.

tangent...funny, looking at the recent posts tab on my main screen...this one shows up as "some form of (beetle)" and that struck me as very cute. :)

And you're some form of jkpolk. :)

no, you are very cute. i've seen your pictures.

I budget everything so I'm not living paycheck to paycheck.. Ignoring unexpected expenses that I didn't budget enough for in the last 3 months it works well for me.

I am on unemployment.
But I am not bad at finances.

Being on unemployment does not imply being bad at finances.
I, for example, work at a company that the nature of the work we do is contractually seasonal.

Our boss insists that we collect - he has to pay into the system no matter if we are collecting or not - because he needs to be able to hire us back in the spring. Taking unemployment means that (should something happen to wipe out our savings), we can keep our heads above water without having to commit ourselves to a job out-of-industry (that would be at a lower rate of pay - not that unemployment isn't less than half our pay rate, but I digress).

If not for his insistence, I quite possibly wouldn't collect - it's not quite worth the trouble, as I generally budget well enough (and have enough saved) that I could get through our off-season without the assistence. But at the same time, I probably would anyway, because it can be hard to find decent work, and as I mentioned, there isn't any work in our industry this time of year, as it's contractually seasonal. (ODOT regulations state all work must be completed by the end of September, and extentions can only be granted thru the end of October.)

Of course, it may soon be a moot point, as Ohio is potentially changing the law so that seasonal workers will be unable to collect unemployment at all. Given the number of seasonal workers in my part of the state, I think that's a very poorly thought out idea. But I'll give them leeway if they make a provision that the employers of strictly-seasonal workers will no longer have to pay into the sysetem - if Bruce didn't have to pay into unemployment, he'd probably pay us more hourly, and we'd be able to save more to get us through the winter, so he'd still be fairly-well assured that he wouldn't have to train new techs every year. Failing that, he really will have to try to start getting off-season contracts in Florida and open a branch office - if the budget can support it.

I'm somewhat insulted that unemployment is included in a "lower" option.

Actually, I'm insulted on behalf of anyone on welfare, too. Being on welfare or unemployment doesn't have to have anything at all to do with your ability to manage your finances. Usually it has a hell of a lot more to do with unexpected circumstances - such as being laid off, a car accident resulting in injuries that mean large hospital bills and extensive time off work, etc.

My Dad works at a county office afiliated with ODJFS right now. And attitudes implying that unemployment and welfare (or foodstamps, etc) are only for people who are either too stupid or lazy to do things right keep people who genuinely need help to get by in (or get out of) situations that are not their doing and not their fault from doing so - they're afraid of the stigma attached. Yes, it's stupid of them to let their pride get in the way of seeking the help they need. But it's also stupid of people to judge them.

I'm sorry, but this is a hot-button issue for me. The fact that some people abuse the system does not mean that everybody does.