• SkepticalButOpenMinded@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    1 year ago

    People make lots of financial mistakes for psychological reasons. Keeping needless credit card debt because it “feels good” is precisely the sort of bad decision making that a finance community should discourage. I once had a friend who had $12k in her checking/savings but kept $10k of debt on her CC. Why? Because it “felt better” to see $12k than $2k. It was a small monthly bill, but over the course of a decade, she had paid almost $10k in interest.

    But as I’m writing this, I think I thought of a better reason to prioritize a small emergency fund: avoid payments bouncing and overdraft fees. So maybe a small fund is justified for that separate reason.

    —-

    I am NOT saying don’t pay your bills! I am saying cancel it if it’s truly non-essential. Phone and internet are essential (that flowchart is weird for calling phones non-essential), but people can live without cable and Xbox live until they’ve paid back the worst debt.

    • Affaires de Piasses@lemmy.caM
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      I feel that’s why the flowchart says up to $1000 (I’d personally discard one month of expenses). But you’re also right that it allows you to manage your money without risking quite a bit of fees.

      I also agree with you on the cancelling your bills part. I’d even push it further as a cellphone can be replaced (with free voip apps like fongo/textnow) and you can use your library/local mcdonald’s internet if your really in a terrible spot.

      • SkepticalButOpenMinded@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        Yes I think you’re right. I think I’ve come halfway and softened on my criticisms of this flowchart somewhat.

        I suppose I also think that, from a graphic design standpoint, it’s overly visually complex. I might try my hand at something more straightforward.

        Au fait, j’aime bien ton nom d’utilisateur. Il correspond bien à cette communauté.

        • Affaires de Piasses@lemmy.caM
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          I agree, I also find it very complicated. I’m working on an updated version for this community, but I realise it’s quite hard to nail, both in term of content and of design.

          Merci pour le commentaire. J’avais créé ce pseudo spécifiquement pour r/personalfinancecanada, puis c’est devenu mon identité principale sur reddit.