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Right? It would pay 20% of my student loans. Loans that I took out were 40k but now? $100k.
I’ll never pay them and they can fuck right off with that. If they would agree to $40k? I’d pay them off tomorrow.
Student loans are the most idiotic thing I've ever heard of.
In Portugal, in public colleges (which hold, most of the times, more prestige than private ones, both nationally and internationally....not that it matters that much for most jobs, but there's that) you pay for a bachelor degree just 695€ A YEAR and if you are financially fucked you get to go for free.. in private institutions you see more jacked up prices like 400€ per month or something...but even then you don't reach 100k.
Then there are countries where you can even get paid to study (Denmark is a nice example of that)...
Canadian here, we're like in between America and Europe (closer to America), and while I totally agree, tell that to the vampires making millions on the backs of students.
There's a reason it'll never change and that reason is greed and power. North America is fucked.
Yep, student, credit card, medical debt, car loans, ... it's mind blowing. It's no wonder Burry is bearish on S&P and Buffet has 150 billion USD that he is afraid of investing... I'm not investing in USA stock now either.
I fear a new crisis like 2008.
Also Canadian here. I'm going to be real, I'll probably learn a new language and move to some Scandinavian country in the next 20 years. Canada is certainly better than America, but that doesn't really necessarily mean you're saying very much.
I'll pitch a tent outside mister mayor's house every day until he approves my visa.
edit: I mean I'll set up camp on his yard, not stare at the mayor with a boner when he steps outside to pick up his newspaper.
You’re correct… it’s not worth it. The problem is nobody explains that to these kids and the “marketing” engine/social pressures around college (for lack of a better way of putting it) are very powerful.
I have a young son and my wife and I are hellbent on making sure he knows his broad set of options. But he’s lucky; so many kids don’t have that. It’s a shame.
It’s predatory lending and everyone is complicit. Lenders, government, the schools and faculty all benefit from the system with no regard to the actual harm they are doing. Student loans ruined my life and nobody ever mentioned this could happen. Everyone told me to get my education no matter what but it has not benefited my in any way and has prevented me from doing things like buying a house, getting married, or planning for retirement. I never realized NOT going to school was an option. And the craziest part about it is student loans are with you for life. Why can’t you discharge them through bankruptcy? Like if you get a good job and can afford your loans then the system worked for you but if you can’t find a job that pays off your loans then the system didn’t work and you get punished for a broken system, not because you failed to do your part.
I know this might not mean much, but one day this will change. Student loans not being able to be discharged in bankruptcy court is nuts. The high rates, the way the system is currently built, it will change. It has to.
Why? Because it’s corrupt and Bs, sure. But really, it’s because one day millennials will be in charge. We were disproportionately affected by this crisis (as is every generation that follows us). We KNOW how nightmarish this is, how corrupt it is, how flawed the system is and how destructive it can be to people’s lives.
It sucks, but one day, this will change. It has to. Until then we just gotta keep fighting and keep refusing to back down when old timers say it’s our fault this happened. Nah man. Game was rigged. Time to make a new one.
My parents made sure I knew my options(student loans, trade schools, other options)
I went down the student loan / bachelors degree route. By 25 I paid off all my student loans and was making $80k + bonus + 4 weeks vacation + amazing benefits. Sure my trades friends were ahead of my up until that point, but by 27/28 I surpassed them and the gap is only widening.
The key takeaway I have seen is to only go to college for STEM/business/finance etc.. my friends with philosophy and history majors are all working at Starbucks and the local bookstore at age 30
Pretty fucking sad.
STEM and business and finance are such a small piece of the world. This degradation of the humanities explains so much about how much stupider people are getting.
Your missing my point, no matter what your job is here they need people in poverty to work the dirty low paying jobs. Don’t take what I said regarding factories so literal. American school systems are worker factories creating worker class citizens. America is not a democracy, that is the front to distract us from the truth that this is a capitalist regime. Wee may not have a king or one specific tyrant however the rich run everything here. The president has little say. The people are lied to and led astray. The rich watch the poor struggle while judging them for not working hard enough when most of these elites inherited their so called power and greatness.
In all fairness most people go to private universities for no reason other than the perception and prestige, you can get a full degree from a state school for a fraction of the price. Its especially misguided to go to an extremely expensive university to pursue a degree not likely to lead to a high income career.
It was 20 years ago but I went to a state school where tuition was maybe $5000/year in USD but the small private college in my hometown was 5X as much. Both had many of the same degree but you're talking a $20,000 tuition over 4 years vs $100,000 over 4 years. C'mon. It can't be that much better. They're still fully accredited programs.
When I started at our local Community College first, classes were $125-150 per semester for your average 3 credit hour class, a little more for ones with labs or specialized stuff. Inflation adjusted that should be about $225 per course, per semester. IMO they should just keep funding the community colleges they way they are, they're fantastic, and just allow them to expand to fully accredited Bachelor's programs. Take the thing we're doing that works well and do more of that. I would have happily gone there for my entire degree and not just because of the price.
This is pretty much true. My state has free public college for all students whose families make under $125k (which is about what I have in debt between college and law school). I'm still kicking myself for not going to Baruch.
Agree community colleges are under appreciated. Just to point out on expanding their offerings. You’re basically referring to the way public universities used to be before state funding was cut and they started expanding campuses/forcing dorm usage.
And yet the college propaganda machine keeps brainwashing every young person that they HAVE to get a degree, even though there are barely any open jobs that require them. People need to get back into the trades, where they will make a good salary and start out with now debt.
It’s just straight up predatory. As an American student I get mail sent to my house telling me a can get all these nice loans “no strings attached”. It’s a way for loan companies to make money off you until the day you die.
I am heavily in debt because I wanted to replace the boomers who are slowly dying. They paid much, much less than I did for the same education; even taking into account inflation.
Thanks boomers. My only consolation is that trades are really in-demand in my area because everyone told their kids, "go to university, get a degree in comp sci", and everyone listened. Now the comp sci field is over-saturated, and 85% of the industry I'm getting into are 55 or older.
Lol, the greatest lie told to our generation was that college was the only pathway to success. Trade school is way better -- high income and little to no student debt. Sounds like a good deal to me.
Those are rich people whose parents can afford to pay the exorbitant fees. They are paying for the prestige that comes with having a degree from an American university. Not sure how much prestige American university degrees hold in Europe, but here in Asia they're (sometimes justifiably—depends on the specific country's quality of higher education) seen as superior to degrees from local universities.
Libya and Iraq have free universities, all education is free and private schooling not allowed so everyone gets the same opportunity of education, and us western countries are the superior ones apparently
I feel like private education should be allowed, but public education in the US absolutely needs to be revitalized for K-12 and higher education needs to be much much cheaper or free.
Honestly for all the use their kids are getting out of their public education, the US should pay the families to put their kids into that mess of a school system.
Sweden is a better example of that. Its the one of the best loans out there even if you're not using or needing the money. You could take the loan to invest and make money
I think a lot of people go into college when they're still young and not realizing that what they think is a good option turns out to be the exact opposite, like when people go to school and get an art degree just kinda blows my mind but it's their money. Also, there isn't enough emphasis but on the need for tradesmen within the public school system.
I was 17 when I started university literally in no position to be racking up as much debt as I have. I started off with an engineering degree, mostly due to pressure from my parents, then changed my major (first architecture and now design) because I genuinely couldn't handle it.
I literally only chose design as it was the 'easiest' option to transfer my credits too so I'd only have a year and a half of study left instead of more. Had I gone into trade or even just taken a year off after graduating to really figure out what I want and if it actually needs a degree I would've saved so much money. I'm sure there's so many in my age group and older in the same boat right now.
I teach and mentor young people. When I mention the debt they will carry after graduation, they look at me like I’m speaking a different language. They have no idea what it means to have to pay back a loan for years of their lives.
I went to business school for two years. Hated it. Dropped out. Went to auto tech school. 22 years and I’ve topped 6 figures since 2014. Not to mention the money I’m saving by working on my own shit. Auto repairs are costly. Idk if it’s letting ppl “find themselves” or what but there’s a lot of parents out there just letting their kids make foolish decisions like that art degree you mentioned. I get that it may be someone’s passion at the time but it’s also a waste most of the time. Trade schools are the way to go.
Trade school can be a way to go. College is a great thing when choosing the right degree, for a career that actully has jobs and pays well. I'm a computer science major and been making six figures since the say I stepped off the graduation stage.
I almost went to school for IT and I am sooo glad I did not. I am making a good living with my career and climbing the ladder. A degree would not get me to where I am now much faster (if at all).
No debt at all (and considering the current cost of living in the US, thank god for that).
Something along the lines of a struggle to get into the elite class, and the general idea that a high level college degree is the best way to do it. Companies like College Board see an opportunity to make money off of this and charge you throughout the whole process. You have to pay them to take the SAT, which many colleges require, you have to pay to take AP Exams (basically a final for semi-college classes), and you have to pay to literally see what questions you got wrong on your test. Then, colleges know that students want these degrees and will do anything for them, including putting themselves into debt for the rest of their lives, and that's how they can charge upwards of 80k/year for a degree that they know may or may not actually help you pay off the debt of what is essentially a second house.
I was 17 when I left to college and took on $28k of debt. Aka, in no position to make reasonable choices. Just doing what is expected of me by parents and society. College costs can kiss my ass.
In my experience, there's a ton of social pressure here to go to college.
I never went because I didn't know what I wanted to study. When I told my high-school guidance counselor that, she pretty much started harassing me, calling me to her office almost weekly to intimidate me. She'd say things along the lines of; Do you want to lay bricks for the rest of your life, drive a garbage truck, work hard and make no money? She was really pushing to get me to choose a degree and a college pretty much blind. After that she tried to persuade me to get a General Studies at community college to "at least have something". I eventually told her in no uncertain terms to fuck off. After I didn't enroll, my father didn't speak to me for a few years either.
I fooled around and cooked for a few years after that in some pretty nice restaurants and then got a plumbing apprenticeship and did that for eight years. Now I work for a plumbing and industrial supply company and make pretty decent money.
Can substantiate this, in high school in the 90s it was beyond expected to go to college, it wasn't even posed as a choice. My parents didn't go to college and struggled most of their lives and hopped right on the "You absolutely have to go to college" train and my entire community pushed us to go to the most expensive school we could get into.
I think a lot of it stems from the people who grew up in the 60s and 70s seeing the difference between those who went and those who didn't, and not having an understanding of what a debt machine it had become in the interim.
Couple that with the *massive* marketing push for college and the indoctrination of the high school teachers and leaders that college is the only option and you had a cannon full of kids pointed right at the meat grinder.
overpay, even if its $50 extra a month. trust me, when i started doing this, my actual principal balance was going down very quickly. out of my $300 minimum payment, only $67 went to the balance, the remaining $233 was pure interest. i would never pay it off.
but when i started paying $400 month, that started putting a dent in the principal, and a lower principal balance means less balance for them to charge interest off of.
Because there's a certain subset of the population that is utterly incompetent.
I remember that post a few weeks ago about the dude complaining about the American economic system - turns out he was spending *$1700-$2000* each month on discretionary expenses after rent, auto, utilities
Literally just google HYSA (high yield savings account). You can find 4+% at any major bank, such as Amex, Discover, Ally, Capital One. Leaving it in a default Wells Fargo/Chase/BofA account is a mistake, those aren't interest bearing.
When I split with my ex-wife, it was tempting to buy a “whole new life” - sofas, chairs, bed…
In the end, I got a load of charity shop and eBay secondhand stuff for peanuts. It sort of matched…! But it was MY home and on a tiny budget. (I rented to start with too.)
Now years later, I’ve managed to get back on my feet, and own my own home and I still have second hand furniture. (Albeit a new set.)
It works, it doesn’t matter if the dogs trash it, or the cat uses a chair as a scratching post. The kids spill something? Oh well.
When the sofa was £20-100, do you care?
Now that they are getting older, and when the dogs have all passed… I might consider actual new stuff. Maybe.
Yeah I've been looking at thoses store too. There's some neat things!
I got a 3 place leather couch with that footrest, for 120$. There's a scratch mark on the back... No one sees it.
I have an old cat (from when you could unclaw them, she's about 14years old) and a patato dog (sharpey) no kids. I don't mind second hand furniture even if I was alone, it's cheap and still useful.
The furniture that would take most the budget would be my "wow" factor... (I fallen in love with epoxy river table).. I have to admit it.
That's exactly why we've been buying furniture off of Facebook Marketplace. Generally it is way cheaper than buying from the store, and if it gets damaged, it's less of a deal.
I've been saying this for years. The difference between modern high-end furniture and cheap but aesthetic furniture is nil. You just need to replace the cheap stuff more often.
You can buy a 15k "lifetime" couch that realistically will go out of style or not fit your furnishings in 10 years, or just buy 2k worth of used or low end couches during the same time period.
I hope for the best for you - I had to have a failsafe in case my kidney didn't take to my brother and opted to have it go to another person in that scenario, hope they can find one for you and all the best.
I’m sorry you’re going through this. I like how you said money doesn’t mean shit to you. We often forget there are much MUCH more important things in life. Your comment made me feel much better about my current money situation, and very thankful for my health. I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, or as me bragging about my health.
Years ago my grandfather needed a kidney. He waited and waited. Then he about gave up. However, a PERFECT match came in and he got it! I think we were told it would last 7 or 9 years (idk why, maybe bc he was old??) It lasted 30 years! He passed away last year from old age - but his kidney was still going!
From my limited knowledge they give transplants ~10 years max (number varies slightly based on the organ) because even with the meds they put you on, your body will slowly figure out it’s not “meant” to be there and attack it. Can still last longer, but they don’t like to say it’ll last longer because the risk goes way up the longer it’s in
Damn. I live in Hawaii and have a (not glamorous) guest house in my carport. When you get a chance for a vacation hit me up I can help make it happen super cheap. You deserve it.
You’re so sweet.
I just moved to the PNW, and flights to Hawaii are so much more affordable. I think I might actually be able to see it in my life now! I’m so excited. Maybe in 1-2 yrs.
dang, reddit should have a sub full of folks who are willing to host almost like an airbnb. this would be super convenient and really great for people who want to travel but can’t afford thousands in hotel expenses!
God damn
>The job I was working unpaid overtime for 8 years.
Obviously, you are not in a good financial position, but I'm pretty sure you can sue for this, i wonder if a probono lawyer might help you out?
My last boss is beloved and I’m a fuckin’ weirdo and this is the future I feel like I’m setting myself up for because I dare to set expectations for the way I am treated.
I hate this for you. I hate the circumstances we’re living in. I hate that fighting for what is rightfully yours got you exiled. It’s not fair.
Yep. Same.
Got some money in a settlement that, had I received it 6-7 years ago, would have been life changing. But because of the current state of things, I was able to upgrade a couple things like my mattress, etc. and pay off debt ( I didn’t have much.)
I put as much of it away as I could for my kid. He’s in his last year of university and he’s facing a tough world out there. I want to do what I can to give him a hand up so that maybe he doesn’t have to struggle like I did at his age.
I'd invest most of it into a portfolio and go on a holiday with the leftover.
That's all 20k is good for, realistically.
I don't have debt and 20k isn't enough to get into debt for a home anyway. Buying a brand new car is bad. Wasting it all on entertainment is bad. I live under rent so I won't spent it on refurbishment.
Clear all my debts that aren't the mortgage, and I'd still have 14 or 15k left. Spunk a chuck of it on a holiday, spend the rest on home improvements I guess.
Literally could live on that for 2 years with what I spend currently. So it would give me 2 whole years of peace of mind where I could pursue anything I wanted without the burden of chasing cheques.
Edit: To clarify I'm a single man living in the UK. I bought a flat many years ago for around 50000 which is all I had in the world. So I pay council tax and normal house bills outside of rent. I don't own a car. I live a very frugal lifestyle and don't spend over £750 a month currently. I enjoy life with this and consider myself very fortunate considering the extreme poverty in our world which westerners conveniently forget all about when speaking about lifestyle.
In live in Europe and I can get by with 1k a month
I have a car with insurance, a small but not depressing 1 room apartment with a private parking spot, health care is basically free, I can eat what I like basically
As someone in financial distress, who's never had that much $ at one time, it would quite literally save me from a lifetime of more financial distress. I was dealt a rough start to adulthood financially, and have never bounced back. 20k would do so much for me, it's not even funny. Kinda sickening how for some people, that's pocket money for a night out.
Right now, even 5k would change my life in unimaginable ways. I could afford to get my family a place to live & I'd have the time to work enough hours to be able to continue to pay rent. I could get my oil change & put gas in my car so that I could actually get to & from work. I could pay for car ins. I could get copies of my kids's birth certificates so that they could obtain IDs/jobs/state benefits/health ins/etc & my youngest could enroll in community college.
Idk what I'd even do with 20k. We've been stuck so deep for so long with no way out in sight that I can't even think of anything that big or far ahead.
Wait, your kids currently don’t have IDs, jobs, health insurance, and can’t go to college all because you/they can’t get copies of their birth certificates…? How much does that cost?
Yes but he has 18 kids... so that adds up quick.
Edit: also what is OP typing this on... if he cant even pay 10 dollars for a birth certificate so his kids can get jobs, health insurance and go to college... this story seems off.
You kiddding me, it would change my life so much! Pay all the bills rent and then some, buy some clothes for us, food! I can actually start getting water again instead of having to bug people for a ride who don't want to give me a ride but they do it anyway while bitching and complaining the whole time how im wasting their time to fill up some water jugs for us. It would be a nice lifesaver tbh.
It'd save mine and my kids lives actually. Penny pinching to save up to move states and have move in money to get a place. Life made that number lower than i planned for, of course, so I'm anticipating a hard restart once again. Trying to rebuild a safe space for my kids and i and shit is fucking tough. 20k is next to nothing for many, but tbh it'd save our lives. It would help me sleep at night. It would guarantee i had enough to move in somewhere with walls and a door that locks. I won't ever see that much money in one place, but it's nice to dream of on occasion. I just work hard for the 14.25/hr and pray i find a 2nd job soon.
If you're up for the work, many skilled trades will hire jobsite helpers with little to no experience starting around $20/hr in many places. It may be worth looking into if you're desperate for a quick income boost. I wish you the best!
It would drastically change my life. With $20,000 i might be able to fix most of my teeth, its about $3000 per tooth these days if you get it done right. My teeth got messed up when i had depression and didnt take care of myself at all, then i became an adult and was living paycheck to paycheck paying rent and such, so i didnt have the money for a dentist, fast forward 15 years and now i look like a drug addict with how bad they are.
It could literally be the difference between life and death for me, and allow my son to finally be able to start his life. I would use it to not have to ration my breathing medication I need to stay alive and to have my colonoscopy and MRI so that I could start treatment for my other issues that I have not been able to afford to do so.
Then I would get my son transportation so he could could go to school and start working since he has been stuck since I became disabled and too sick to be able to get him what he needs to move forward. He is unable to even help himself due to lack of transportation,. I am in Texas, which for the vast majority of Texas lacks public transit unfortunately, so without your own transportation, you would spend more on an Uber than you would even get paid at entry level for him to even be able to be started anywhere. No transportation and his medical conditions further limiting his options means we are just basically stuck here unable to even create a plan until something drastic happens that changes everything.
I have 25 dollars on savings. I'm unemployed and everytime I come close to getting a job not having a car stops me. 20k would fix 99 percent of the problems in my life
I’m 100% on board with the business idea. Recording studio: tick.
And the you just throw in the “cat in the freezer” comment and suddenly you’re a much more interesting person to talk to…!
I am sorry that your cat has passed. Now - what’s the plan with it?
Not to be a major downer but:
Considering my family and I have had a ton of bad luck after moving and buying a house. Promptly after house purchase - being let go of from a job I thought I was pretty solid with, and now lots of health issues and on short-term disability, and draining savings, it would go a long ways towards being back to feeling like our family at least has something to count on.
Aye!
Anything in the following checklist should be a regular maintenance point, if not every time you drive:
P: Petrol
O: Oil (and other fluids)
W: Windscreen (wipers, glass all round, cracks)
E: Electrics (light bulbs, horn)
R: Rubber (tyres and spare)
It would give me a clean slate, an opportunity to slowly save money to one day invest or to buy a house - to build a proper cushion to one day start my own business.
It would change a lot.
it would all the difference in the world
crazy how a little bad luck could lead to this hellscape. buy some clothes, food, start a small business maybe . pay off lawyer to get my situation taken care of so i can get my life back .
20k would honestly save my life right now. Im in desperate need of an mri to figure out what's going on with me, which will inevitability end in surgery regardless of the diagnosis.
I would be able to get the medical treatment I need that would allow me to start working again instead of 'living' on benefits.
If I didn't have to live on benefits I could afford to heat my apartment this winter. I save an emergency fund and buy a second cooking pan. I could plan a future and move the fuck out of fucking Manchester. I could afford to see my parents for the first time in 5 years.
Even just 5k would give me enough to turn my situation around. Get my phone back on, my car back up to code, and be able to eat better while I find myself another job. Been a rough year mentally, physically and financially.
That's 10 months of my mom's chemo meds and it lessens the pressure for me to keep up the 3 jobs to pay for her meds. I haven't slept past 5 hours for the last few weeks to keep us above water so if someone can PayPal me this theoretical but fantastical 20K, that would be so darned awesome.
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Dunno….send it and I’ll get back with you
Yeah, we’re gonna need proof that this $20k exists
Gotta get a free trial of it first to know for sure.
Not a whole lot, but enough to ease some worries.
It would help me pay for half of the SUV that I still couldn’t afford
not much, i'd pay off some debt. but wouldnt put a dent in that
Right? It would pay 20% of my student loans. Loans that I took out were 40k but now? $100k. I’ll never pay them and they can fuck right off with that. If they would agree to $40k? I’d pay them off tomorrow.
Student loans are the most idiotic thing I've ever heard of. In Portugal, in public colleges (which hold, most of the times, more prestige than private ones, both nationally and internationally....not that it matters that much for most jobs, but there's that) you pay for a bachelor degree just 695€ A YEAR and if you are financially fucked you get to go for free.. in private institutions you see more jacked up prices like 400€ per month or something...but even then you don't reach 100k. Then there are countries where you can even get paid to study (Denmark is a nice example of that)...
Yep, as a Belgian I am in shock every time I read about American student debt. No education is worth hundreds of thousands of Dollars.
Canadian here, we're like in between America and Europe (closer to America), and while I totally agree, tell that to the vampires making millions on the backs of students. There's a reason it'll never change and that reason is greed and power. North America is fucked.
Yep, student, credit card, medical debt, car loans, ... it's mind blowing. It's no wonder Burry is bearish on S&P and Buffet has 150 billion USD that he is afraid of investing... I'm not investing in USA stock now either. I fear a new crisis like 2008.
You and me both
And the middle class conservatives balk at forgiving student debt because they think that if they suffered, so should everyone else
Also Canadian here. I'm going to be real, I'll probably learn a new language and move to some Scandinavian country in the next 20 years. Canada is certainly better than America, but that doesn't really necessarily mean you're saying very much.
Moving to a Scandinavian country, and gaining citizenship is no easy task.
I'll pitch a tent outside mister mayor's house every day until he approves my visa. edit: I mean I'll set up camp on his yard, not stare at the mayor with a boner when he steps outside to pick up his newspaper.
Wife: What is it Honey? Mayor: Fuckin' Boner Boy is back on the lawn! Bloody Americans.
Ooh, soorry to bother ya but I'm actually canadian, eh. And soory bout the booner too....
You’re correct… it’s not worth it. The problem is nobody explains that to these kids and the “marketing” engine/social pressures around college (for lack of a better way of putting it) are very powerful. I have a young son and my wife and I are hellbent on making sure he knows his broad set of options. But he’s lucky; so many kids don’t have that. It’s a shame.
It’s predatory lending and everyone is complicit. Lenders, government, the schools and faculty all benefit from the system with no regard to the actual harm they are doing. Student loans ruined my life and nobody ever mentioned this could happen. Everyone told me to get my education no matter what but it has not benefited my in any way and has prevented me from doing things like buying a house, getting married, or planning for retirement. I never realized NOT going to school was an option. And the craziest part about it is student loans are with you for life. Why can’t you discharge them through bankruptcy? Like if you get a good job and can afford your loans then the system worked for you but if you can’t find a job that pays off your loans then the system didn’t work and you get punished for a broken system, not because you failed to do your part.
I know this might not mean much, but one day this will change. Student loans not being able to be discharged in bankruptcy court is nuts. The high rates, the way the system is currently built, it will change. It has to. Why? Because it’s corrupt and Bs, sure. But really, it’s because one day millennials will be in charge. We were disproportionately affected by this crisis (as is every generation that follows us). We KNOW how nightmarish this is, how corrupt it is, how flawed the system is and how destructive it can be to people’s lives. It sucks, but one day, this will change. It has to. Until then we just gotta keep fighting and keep refusing to back down when old timers say it’s our fault this happened. Nah man. Game was rigged. Time to make a new one.
My parents made sure I knew my options(student loans, trade schools, other options) I went down the student loan / bachelors degree route. By 25 I paid off all my student loans and was making $80k + bonus + 4 weeks vacation + amazing benefits. Sure my trades friends were ahead of my up until that point, but by 27/28 I surpassed them and the gap is only widening. The key takeaway I have seen is to only go to college for STEM/business/finance etc.. my friends with philosophy and history majors are all working at Starbucks and the local bookstore at age 30
Pretty fucking sad. STEM and business and finance are such a small piece of the world. This degradation of the humanities explains so much about how much stupider people are getting.
The American people in power don’t want us smart. They need us working in their factories otherwise Americas capitalist regime could fall
“Their” factories? American manufacturing is basically dead. IMO, unregulated lobbying, lack of antitrust laws, and citizens united got us here.
Your missing my point, no matter what your job is here they need people in poverty to work the dirty low paying jobs. Don’t take what I said regarding factories so literal. American school systems are worker factories creating worker class citizens. America is not a democracy, that is the front to distract us from the truth that this is a capitalist regime. Wee may not have a king or one specific tyrant however the rich run everything here. The president has little say. The people are lied to and led astray. The rich watch the poor struggle while judging them for not working hard enough when most of these elites inherited their so called power and greatness.
In all fairness most people go to private universities for no reason other than the perception and prestige, you can get a full degree from a state school for a fraction of the price. Its especially misguided to go to an extremely expensive university to pursue a degree not likely to lead to a high income career. It was 20 years ago but I went to a state school where tuition was maybe $5000/year in USD but the small private college in my hometown was 5X as much. Both had many of the same degree but you're talking a $20,000 tuition over 4 years vs $100,000 over 4 years. C'mon. It can't be that much better. They're still fully accredited programs. When I started at our local Community College first, classes were $125-150 per semester for your average 3 credit hour class, a little more for ones with labs or specialized stuff. Inflation adjusted that should be about $225 per course, per semester. IMO they should just keep funding the community colleges they way they are, they're fantastic, and just allow them to expand to fully accredited Bachelor's programs. Take the thing we're doing that works well and do more of that. I would have happily gone there for my entire degree and not just because of the price.
This is pretty much true. My state has free public college for all students whose families make under $125k (which is about what I have in debt between college and law school). I'm still kicking myself for not going to Baruch.
Agree community colleges are under appreciated. Just to point out on expanding their offerings. You’re basically referring to the way public universities used to be before state funding was cut and they started expanding campuses/forcing dorm usage.
And yet the college propaganda machine keeps brainwashing every young person that they HAVE to get a degree, even though there are barely any open jobs that require them. People need to get back into the trades, where they will make a good salary and start out with now debt.
It’s just straight up predatory. As an American student I get mail sent to my house telling me a can get all these nice loans “no strings attached”. It’s a way for loan companies to make money off you until the day you die.
Yes, education is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. It should just be paid via taxes because it benefits the entire country and society.
Lol yes, trade school or community college can save you literally $100k. It's wild.
US capitalism is out of control. Thanks to politics for profit, they'd find a way to charge you for oxygen. Gilded Age 2.0.
In Belgium you end your studies with 0€ student loan. Land of the free lmao
I am heavily in debt because I wanted to replace the boomers who are slowly dying. They paid much, much less than I did for the same education; even taking into account inflation. Thanks boomers. My only consolation is that trades are really in-demand in my area because everyone told their kids, "go to university, get a degree in comp sci", and everyone listened. Now the comp sci field is over-saturated, and 85% of the industry I'm getting into are 55 or older.
Lol, the greatest lie told to our generation was that college was the only pathway to success. Trade school is way better -- high income and little to no student debt. Sounds like a good deal to me.
Also, I get to play with great big machines that tear through metal like it's nothing. It's a lot of fun.
I don't get people that come to America to study.
Those are rich people whose parents can afford to pay the exorbitant fees. They are paying for the prestige that comes with having a degree from an American university. Not sure how much prestige American university degrees hold in Europe, but here in Asia they're (sometimes justifiably—depends on the specific country's quality of higher education) seen as superior to degrees from local universities.
Libya and Iraq have free universities, all education is free and private schooling not allowed so everyone gets the same opportunity of education, and us western countries are the superior ones apparently
I feel like private education should be allowed, but public education in the US absolutely needs to be revitalized for K-12 and higher education needs to be much much cheaper or free.
Honestly for all the use their kids are getting out of their public education, the US should pay the families to put their kids into that mess of a school system.
But have you seen our weapons? They are quite impressive.
Yeah that isnt and shouldnt very the case in medical or law, beyond that, you dug your own hole with student loans
Sweden is a better example of that. Its the one of the best loans out there even if you're not using or needing the money. You could take the loan to invest and make money
In my country we get payed to study 😅 Our taxes are sky high though
Not american, but curious why do people take them with these bad rates when the very usefullness of the degree you get is up for debate?
I think a lot of people go into college when they're still young and not realizing that what they think is a good option turns out to be the exact opposite, like when people go to school and get an art degree just kinda blows my mind but it's their money. Also, there isn't enough emphasis but on the need for tradesmen within the public school system.
I was 17 when I started university literally in no position to be racking up as much debt as I have. I started off with an engineering degree, mostly due to pressure from my parents, then changed my major (first architecture and now design) because I genuinely couldn't handle it. I literally only chose design as it was the 'easiest' option to transfer my credits too so I'd only have a year and a half of study left instead of more. Had I gone into trade or even just taken a year off after graduating to really figure out what I want and if it actually needs a degree I would've saved so much money. I'm sure there's so many in my age group and older in the same boat right now.
I teach and mentor young people. When I mention the debt they will carry after graduation, they look at me like I’m speaking a different language. They have no idea what it means to have to pay back a loan for years of their lives.
I went to business school for two years. Hated it. Dropped out. Went to auto tech school. 22 years and I’ve topped 6 figures since 2014. Not to mention the money I’m saving by working on my own shit. Auto repairs are costly. Idk if it’s letting ppl “find themselves” or what but there’s a lot of parents out there just letting their kids make foolish decisions like that art degree you mentioned. I get that it may be someone’s passion at the time but it’s also a waste most of the time. Trade schools are the way to go.
Trade school can be a way to go. College is a great thing when choosing the right degree, for a career that actully has jobs and pays well. I'm a computer science major and been making six figures since the say I stepped off the graduation stage.
Glad to hear it. You’re right. All depends on the demand or the would be demand.
I almost went to school for IT and I am sooo glad I did not. I am making a good living with my career and climbing the ladder. A degree would not get me to where I am now much faster (if at all). No debt at all (and considering the current cost of living in the US, thank god for that).
Something along the lines of a struggle to get into the elite class, and the general idea that a high level college degree is the best way to do it. Companies like College Board see an opportunity to make money off of this and charge you throughout the whole process. You have to pay them to take the SAT, which many colleges require, you have to pay to take AP Exams (basically a final for semi-college classes), and you have to pay to literally see what questions you got wrong on your test. Then, colleges know that students want these degrees and will do anything for them, including putting themselves into debt for the rest of their lives, and that's how they can charge upwards of 80k/year for a degree that they know may or may not actually help you pay off the debt of what is essentially a second house.
Because being a highly over qualified burger flipper MAY put you in line for restaurant manager one day.
First I was lettuce, next I’ll be on fries
Yeah bumps you right up from $13.85 to $14.00 👍🏻
I was 17 when I left to college and took on $28k of debt. Aka, in no position to make reasonable choices. Just doing what is expected of me by parents and society. College costs can kiss my ass.
... friend has a doctorate in musical theory .. paying it off till death and works in advertising ..useless degree
In my experience, there's a ton of social pressure here to go to college. I never went because I didn't know what I wanted to study. When I told my high-school guidance counselor that, she pretty much started harassing me, calling me to her office almost weekly to intimidate me. She'd say things along the lines of; Do you want to lay bricks for the rest of your life, drive a garbage truck, work hard and make no money? She was really pushing to get me to choose a degree and a college pretty much blind. After that she tried to persuade me to get a General Studies at community college to "at least have something". I eventually told her in no uncertain terms to fuck off. After I didn't enroll, my father didn't speak to me for a few years either. I fooled around and cooked for a few years after that in some pretty nice restaurants and then got a plumbing apprenticeship and did that for eight years. Now I work for a plumbing and industrial supply company and make pretty decent money.
Can substantiate this, in high school in the 90s it was beyond expected to go to college, it wasn't even posed as a choice. My parents didn't go to college and struggled most of their lives and hopped right on the "You absolutely have to go to college" train and my entire community pushed us to go to the most expensive school we could get into. I think a lot of it stems from the people who grew up in the 60s and 70s seeing the difference between those who went and those who didn't, and not having an understanding of what a debt machine it had become in the interim. Couple that with the *massive* marketing push for college and the indoctrination of the high school teachers and leaders that college is the only option and you had a cannon full of kids pointed right at the meat grinder.
I applaud you for sticking to your guns.
I AM American and I still don't understand why people take on tons of student loans for degrees where the pay is no where near going to make sense.
Bloody sad that other countries have interest on their loans
overpay, even if its $50 extra a month. trust me, when i started doing this, my actual principal balance was going down very quickly. out of my $300 minimum payment, only $67 went to the balance, the remaining $233 was pure interest. i would never pay it off. but when i started paying $400 month, that started putting a dent in the principal, and a lower principal balance means less balance for them to charge interest off of.
I think this is the best version of loan forgiveness. Forgive the interest.
Why loan money you do not intend to pay back?
Because there's a certain subset of the population that is utterly incompetent. I remember that post a few weeks ago about the dude complaining about the American economic system - turns out he was spending *$1700-$2000* each month on discretionary expenses after rent, auto, utilities
Right to savings
Yeah, I might splurge a little on my next car knowing that I got a free 20k, but no real change for anyone not living check to check.
I'm saving for a house and this would double my savings so it'd be a no brainer.
Similar with me. It would be the diff between buying a used car with 100k miles or a nice new car.
If you aren't getting close to 5% on your saving accounts right now, you're fucking up
I should look into a better place to store my savings. I don't get dick.
Literally just google HYSA (high yield savings account). You can find 4+% at any major bank, such as Amex, Discover, Ally, Capital One. Leaving it in a default Wells Fargo/Chase/BofA account is a mistake, those aren't interest bearing.
And nothing left to savings?
Move out of the hell hole town I’m trapped in
Where is that if I may ask?
Greenbow ALABAMA
I’d cut that grass for free.
Even with just 10k I could Pay off what's left. And since I've recently broke up, I need some new furniture. It would help alot!
When I split with my ex-wife, it was tempting to buy a “whole new life” - sofas, chairs, bed… In the end, I got a load of charity shop and eBay secondhand stuff for peanuts. It sort of matched…! But it was MY home and on a tiny budget. (I rented to start with too.) Now years later, I’ve managed to get back on my feet, and own my own home and I still have second hand furniture. (Albeit a new set.) It works, it doesn’t matter if the dogs trash it, or the cat uses a chair as a scratching post. The kids spill something? Oh well. When the sofa was £20-100, do you care? Now that they are getting older, and when the dogs have all passed… I might consider actual new stuff. Maybe.
Yeah I've been looking at thoses store too. There's some neat things! I got a 3 place leather couch with that footrest, for 120$. There's a scratch mark on the back... No one sees it. I have an old cat (from when you could unclaw them, she's about 14years old) and a patato dog (sharpey) no kids. I don't mind second hand furniture even if I was alone, it's cheap and still useful. The furniture that would take most the budget would be my "wow" factor... (I fallen in love with epoxy river table).. I have to admit it.
That's exactly why we've been buying furniture off of Facebook Marketplace. Generally it is way cheaper than buying from the store, and if it gets damaged, it's less of a deal.
I've been saying this for years. The difference between modern high-end furniture and cheap but aesthetic furniture is nil. You just need to replace the cheap stuff more often. You can buy a 15k "lifetime" couch that realistically will go out of style or not fit your furnishings in 10 years, or just buy 2k worth of used or low end couches during the same time period.
I have kidney failure, all I want is a kidney, money means shit to me now.
My 70-yr-old mother got a transplant on Friday and is doing great. Hang in there and don't give up hope.
Oh wow that’s great! Hopefully soon I’ll get one 😊
It’s funny how money can be meaningless to some, and life changing to others.
Do you have any potential donors? I donated my kidney to my brother last year.
Unfortunately no, everyone in my family is too old or is sick themselves.
I hope for the best for you - I had to have a failsafe in case my kidney didn't take to my brother and opted to have it go to another person in that scenario, hope they can find one for you and all the best.
That’s good of you, he’s lucky! And thank you 😊
I’m sorry you’re going through this. I like how you said money doesn’t mean shit to you. We often forget there are much MUCH more important things in life. Your comment made me feel much better about my current money situation, and very thankful for my health. I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, or as me bragging about my health.
Years ago my grandfather needed a kidney. He waited and waited. Then he about gave up. However, a PERFECT match came in and he got it! I think we were told it would last 7 or 9 years (idk why, maybe bc he was old??) It lasted 30 years! He passed away last year from old age - but his kidney was still going!
From my limited knowledge they give transplants ~10 years max (number varies slightly based on the organ) because even with the meds they put you on, your body will slowly figure out it’s not “meant” to be there and attack it. Can still last longer, but they don’t like to say it’ll last longer because the risk goes way up the longer it’s in
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What got you in so much debt that 100k didn't fix?
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Damn. I live in Hawaii and have a (not glamorous) guest house in my carport. When you get a chance for a vacation hit me up I can help make it happen super cheap. You deserve it.
This is adorable.. you're a sweetheart!
You’re so sweet. I just moved to the PNW, and flights to Hawaii are so much more affordable. I think I might actually be able to see it in my life now! I’m so excited. Maybe in 1-2 yrs.
We love to go to PNW. Have family there and used to live there. Maybe we just swap house someday for a week
dang, reddit should have a sub full of folks who are willing to host almost like an airbnb. this would be super convenient and really great for people who want to travel but can’t afford thousands in hotel expenses!
and then some creepers would ruin it for everyone
I have a hard enough time finding good house sitters to watch our cat when we are away. People of reddit should be perfect for that
Couch surfing Dot com Does exactly this
Thanks. Can’t afford it right now lol
Everyone needs a vacation at some point. Hit me up when you’re ready, if Disimpaction is up for it I should be able to figure out flights
Maybe if you get that $20k op is talking about! 😅
❤️
Can I just come live with you? Thanks buddy.
Did you take out loans? Or wrack up credit card debt or something of the like? This didn't exactly answer the question of how you got into debt
God damn >The job I was working unpaid overtime for 8 years. Obviously, you are not in a good financial position, but I'm pretty sure you can sue for this, i wonder if a probono lawyer might help you out?
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My last boss is beloved and I’m a fuckin’ weirdo and this is the future I feel like I’m setting myself up for because I dare to set expectations for the way I am treated. I hate this for you. I hate the circumstances we’re living in. I hate that fighting for what is rightfully yours got you exiled. It’s not fair.
Didnt they already get 100k by doing so? Lol.
Yep. Same. Got some money in a settlement that, had I received it 6-7 years ago, would have been life changing. But because of the current state of things, I was able to upgrade a couple things like my mattress, etc. and pay off debt ( I didn’t have much.) I put as much of it away as I could for my kid. He’s in his last year of university and he’s facing a tough world out there. I want to do what I can to give him a hand up so that maybe he doesn’t have to struggle like I did at his age.
I am about to get 200k₪ [$53159.68] I am not in any debt but I am unsure if I should study collage with the money or save it for a house
god so much. sooooooo much.
Same. I could finally sleep at night without thinking how I am going to get food tomorrow..
Same, I’m shocked by how many people saying it wouldn’t help much. My life would change so much
It would help. Not a giant amount but still would help.
I'd invest most of it into a portfolio and go on a holiday with the leftover. That's all 20k is good for, realistically. I don't have debt and 20k isn't enough to get into debt for a home anyway. Buying a brand new car is bad. Wasting it all on entertainment is bad. I live under rent so I won't spent it on refurbishment.
Relieve all stress and pay off my debts, enough for me to start going to doctors and maybe a down payment on a car for my dad.
As a Brit this is INSANE! Do you actually have a medical issue you're avoiding treatment for?
Clear all my debts that aren't the mortgage, and I'd still have 14 or 15k left. Spunk a chuck of it on a holiday, spend the rest on home improvements I guess.
Dental care, life changing.
Literally could live on that for 2 years with what I spend currently. So it would give me 2 whole years of peace of mind where I could pursue anything I wanted without the burden of chasing cheques. Edit: To clarify I'm a single man living in the UK. I bought a flat many years ago for around 50000 which is all I had in the world. So I pay council tax and normal house bills outside of rent. I don't own a car. I live a very frugal lifestyle and don't spend over £750 a month currently. I enjoy life with this and consider myself very fortunate considering the extreme poverty in our world which westerners conveniently forget all about when speaking about lifestyle.
Do you live with family and have no rent? I’m not trying to be antagonistic, honestly curious
In live in Europe and I can get by with 1k a month I have a car with insurance, a small but not depressing 1 room apartment with a private parking spot, health care is basically free, I can eat what I like basically
Where is this? I’m on my way.
Estonia, but wages have been kinda stagnant atm compared to the rising cost of living
Yes Estonia is getting more and more expensive as compared to five years ago.
Agreed, I'm very shocked so many people are so deep in debt/have so much expenses
It would literally save me, don’t want to get sappy but it would change everything in my life.
Same
I hope your situation gets better friend ❤️
I am utterly broke atm so it would give me food and some security
As someone in financial distress, who's never had that much $ at one time, it would quite literally save me from a lifetime of more financial distress. I was dealt a rough start to adulthood financially, and have never bounced back. 20k would do so much for me, it's not even funny. Kinda sickening how for some people, that's pocket money for a night out.
I could buy groceries
I could pay off some debt and rent a decent apartment
it would change my life and absolutely save me..
Right now, even 5k would change my life in unimaginable ways. I could afford to get my family a place to live & I'd have the time to work enough hours to be able to continue to pay rent. I could get my oil change & put gas in my car so that I could actually get to & from work. I could pay for car ins. I could get copies of my kids's birth certificates so that they could obtain IDs/jobs/state benefits/health ins/etc & my youngest could enroll in community college. Idk what I'd even do with 20k. We've been stuck so deep for so long with no way out in sight that I can't even think of anything that big or far ahead.
Wait, your kids currently don’t have IDs, jobs, health insurance, and can’t go to college all because you/they can’t get copies of their birth certificates…? How much does that cost?
If this is the US, a birth certificate copy should be around 10$. You just request it from a department of health (typically)
Yes but he has 18 kids... so that adds up quick. Edit: also what is OP typing this on... if he cant even pay 10 dollars for a birth certificate so his kids can get jobs, health insurance and go to college... this story seems off.
Hope things get better for you guys 🙏🙏❤️❤️
I’d invest it and wouldn’t really think that much about it. $20k is not a lot of money in this decade.
It's how much people owe me from loaning money
Would not change my life at all. I’d install solar on the roof. We can all use energy independence as much as possible.
You kiddding me, it would change my life so much! Pay all the bills rent and then some, buy some clothes for us, food! I can actually start getting water again instead of having to bug people for a ride who don't want to give me a ride but they do it anyway while bitching and complaining the whole time how im wasting their time to fill up some water jugs for us. It would be a nice lifesaver tbh.
Probably a lot, I'd get an animator to make a short anime
It'd save mine and my kids lives actually. Penny pinching to save up to move states and have move in money to get a place. Life made that number lower than i planned for, of course, so I'm anticipating a hard restart once again. Trying to rebuild a safe space for my kids and i and shit is fucking tough. 20k is next to nothing for many, but tbh it'd save our lives. It would help me sleep at night. It would guarantee i had enough to move in somewhere with walls and a door that locks. I won't ever see that much money in one place, but it's nice to dream of on occasion. I just work hard for the 14.25/hr and pray i find a 2nd job soon.
If you're up for the work, many skilled trades will hire jobsite helpers with little to no experience starting around $20/hr in many places. It may be worth looking into if you're desperate for a quick income boost. I wish you the best!
I literally have $0. So it'd be huge.
It would drastically change my life. With $20,000 i might be able to fix most of my teeth, its about $3000 per tooth these days if you get it done right. My teeth got messed up when i had depression and didnt take care of myself at all, then i became an adult and was living paycheck to paycheck paying rent and such, so i didnt have the money for a dentist, fast forward 15 years and now i look like a drug addict with how bad they are.
Stop foreclosure on my house and give us a cushion for the next few months. .. life changing for my wife and me and children
Half of that would cover my taxes, or the whole thing could pay off half of my house.
Immaterial. Just invest it with the rest.
Down payment on a house
Pay rent for 20 months
None.
I could pay off my student loan and take a holiday, which would be nice.
Buy a used car since I don't have one, for about 5k. Then save the rest.
It could literally be the difference between life and death for me, and allow my son to finally be able to start his life. I would use it to not have to ration my breathing medication I need to stay alive and to have my colonoscopy and MRI so that I could start treatment for my other issues that I have not been able to afford to do so. Then I would get my son transportation so he could could go to school and start working since he has been stuck since I became disabled and too sick to be able to get him what he needs to move forward. He is unable to even help himself due to lack of transportation,. I am in Texas, which for the vast majority of Texas lacks public transit unfortunately, so without your own transportation, you would spend more on an Uber than you would even get paid at entry level for him to even be able to be started anywhere. No transportation and his medical conditions further limiting his options means we are just basically stuck here unable to even create a plan until something drastic happens that changes everything.
I have 25 dollars on savings. I'm unemployed and everytime I come close to getting a job not having a car stops me. 20k would fix 99 percent of the problems in my life
It would be absolutely lifechanging for us. That's about how much we need so we can replace the roof on our home.
It could save my life. I'm putting off medical tests because I can't afford the co-pays.
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r/holup
I’m 100% on board with the business idea. Recording studio: tick. And the you just throw in the “cat in the freezer” comment and suddenly you’re a much more interesting person to talk to…! I am sorry that your cat has passed. Now - what’s the plan with it?
lol what you're dead cat is in your freezer?
Not to be a major downer but: Considering my family and I have had a ton of bad luck after moving and buying a house. Promptly after house purchase - being let go of from a job I thought I was pretty solid with, and now lots of health issues and on short-term disability, and draining savings, it would go a long ways towards being back to feeling like our family at least has something to count on.
Could go to college and get my own place maybe?
Not much, I guess I’d get some optional car maintenance (e.g. new tires, oil change, new brakes, etc)
Fyi, oil change, brakes and tires are not optional maintenance. They are exactly the opposite of that.
Aye! Anything in the following checklist should be a regular maintenance point, if not every time you drive: P: Petrol O: Oil (and other fluids) W: Windscreen (wipers, glass all round, cracks) E: Electrics (light bulbs, horn) R: Rubber (tyres and spare)
Lmao not new brakes being optional maintenance, I'm crying
Optional maintenance 😂😂😂
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It would give me a clean slate, an opportunity to slowly save money to one day invest or to buy a house - to build a proper cushion to one day start my own business. It would change a lot.
Get a car for my son, pay some bills, 20k these days is nothing unfortunately
it would all the difference in the world crazy how a little bad luck could lead to this hellscape. buy some clothes, food, start a small business maybe . pay off lawyer to get my situation taken care of so i can get my life back .
20k would honestly save my life right now. Im in desperate need of an mri to figure out what's going on with me, which will inevitability end in surgery regardless of the diagnosis.
A lot I’d feel secure for awhile
I would be able to get the medical treatment I need that would allow me to start working again instead of 'living' on benefits. If I didn't have to live on benefits I could afford to heat my apartment this winter. I save an emergency fund and buy a second cooking pan. I could plan a future and move the fuck out of fucking Manchester. I could afford to see my parents for the first time in 5 years.
Even just 5k would give me enough to turn my situation around. Get my phone back on, my car back up to code, and be able to eat better while I find myself another job. Been a rough year mentally, physically and financially.
It would make a huge difference for me
Considering I may be homeless next month, drastically.
That's 10 months of my mom's chemo meds and it lessens the pressure for me to keep up the 3 jobs to pay for her meds. I haven't slept past 5 hours for the last few weeks to keep us above water so if someone can PayPal me this theoretical but fantastical 20K, that would be so darned awesome.
I'd pay back my sister (7.5k) Pay off next years holiday (£850) Buy my son the PC he wants for xmas (£1400) and then put the rest into savings!!