[cheemo]

Pico slim, music and the rest in a savings account.

 

[derek800]

Sadly not getting a refund this year, I actually owe money for the first time.

 

[mangamonster]

Man, I remembered last year...I accidentally claimed 2 by accident (I have no idea how this happened) and wasnt prepared to pay 1.5k in taxes. It was sooo sad because I was expecting some mula to go on a trip

 

[Landis]

Mine will probably be going toward a new source.

I don't expect to have any left over!

 

[FlyingInABlueDream]

As a restaurant server, I fully expect to owe something in the 1.5-2k range. Again. For the 6th year in a row (customers can talk down to me all they want, I make 40,000 a year and never get up before 1pm).

 

[mangamonster]

Ugh! I've been putting together all sorts of goodies to buy, but I can't make a damn decision! hehe...it's either go all in and buy the Sen HD800 or get a combo of things...I was thinking the pico amp and Grado RS1...so many choices.

My list so far

-Beyerdynamics DT990
-Sennheiser HD650
-Sennheiser HD800
-Gilmore Lite Headphone Amp
-Grado SR325is
-Grado RS1i
-Pico Portable amp

 

[The Monkey]

I prefer not to give the Gov't a no-interest loan, so I will end up owing.

 

[10068]

This thread title represents something very wrong with how we see money and possessions in the USA. My refund is going into savings, Stocks or a CD.

 

[TheAudioDude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Monkey /img/forum/go_quote.gif I prefer not to give the Gov't a no-interest loan, so I will end up owing.

Exactly. Hopefully I just get a little bit back or owe a little bit. I'd rather have put that extra money into my savings throughout the year so I could earn interest on it. It seems like a lot of people I talk to think that getting thousands of dollars back is a good thing... well for some people it is. If they had that extra money last year, they most likely would have spent it rather than save it. I guess this is their second chance...

Me, I'm putting anything I get back into savings.

 

[10068]

.

 

[TheAudioDude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sduibek /img/forum/go_quote.gif That's the spirit! I run a discussion gruop every Wed, and a gentlemen made an interesting observation that maybe in the USA we have such high levels of things like Depression and ADD/ADHD because of our culture -- fast-paced, never satisfied, consumption & consumerism, etc. etc. It is a valid point. Always looking to Get New Stuff and all that isn't healthy. Money (i.e. the comfort of not having to worry about hypothermia or starvation) can indeed make you happy, but owning more Stuff isn't going to fix the problems inside. Therapy and counselling (in my experience) tend to be looked down as shameful or unnecessary, so we try to fill that void with other things and it doesn't work. Everyone has work to do on their body/emotions/mind or whatever, and buying more crap ain't going to fix that, sorry to break it to ya. What does ADD, Depression, and Obesity have in common? A consumerist and consumption-based culture. "A poor man sees money as something to spend, A rich man sees money as something to save"

I totally agree with that. I mean, yeah, I occasionally spend a lot of money on things (why do you think I'm on this website to begin with?

) but it never gets out of control.

"Live below your means and you'll always be wealthy."

I've never been in debt and I never will be. The only exception to that rule is buying a house or a car; but still, both will be below my means.

For anything else, if I don't have enough money to pay for it in cash, then I'll wait until I can afford it and THEN have money left over. It's hard to understand how many people just don't get that.

 

[MrGreen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Monkey /img/forum/go_quote.gif I prefer not to give the Gov't a no-interest loan, so I will end up owing.

Same!

 

[10068]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheAudioDude /img/forum/go_quote.gif I totally agree with that. I mean, yeah, I occasionally spend a lot of money on things (why do you think I'm on this website to begin with? ) but it never gets out of control. "Live below your means and you'll always be wealthy." I've never been in debt and I never will be. The only exception to that rule is buying a house or a car; but still, both will be below my means. For anything else, if I don't have enough money to pay for it in cash, then I'll wait until I can afford it and THEN have money left over. It's hard to understand how many people just don't get that.

Well, to be fair, I didn't "get it" until quite recently. I look at it this way - i'm only 25. I have plenty of decades ahead of me to become rich, which I have no doubt I will, whether monetarily or otherwise. Why spend my income now on stuff like CDs and T-shirts when I could/can be spending it on education, physical/emotional/mental healthcare, and building some type of nestegg?

 

[TheAudioDude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sduibek /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, to be fair, I didn't "get it" until quite recently. I look at it this way - i'm only 25. I have plenty of decades ahead of me to become rich, which I have no doubt I will, whether monetarily or otherwise. Why spend my income now on stuff like CDs and T-shirts when I could/can be spending it on education, physical/emotional/mental healthcare, and building some type of nestegg?

I'm in the same boat; I'm only 24 and I very rarely go out to places like bars and whatnot every weekend like some people I know, for the same reason as you. The same goes for a lot of other things. To me, spending money on videogames or audio-related things makes more sense than spending $60 in one night at a bar. I tend to look at things for the long-term enjoyment. I'll go out occasionally and have a good time, but I don't make it my life.

I'm also building up my nest-egg, and I don't want to sound pompous but I'm doing a good job of it. I'm putting away 15% of my salary into a 401k, but I haven't opened up an IRA yet, which is something I plan on doing soon. In the past 15 months, I think I've managed to save a little less than half of my take-home salary.

My ultimate goal is to put a nice chunk of a down payment into a townhouse and still have a lot left over. But I'm second-guessing that, since at my age it's really hard to determine what I want to do with my career. Renting for now is much, much cheaper than what I'd end up spending on a mortgage.

 

[mangamonster]

I don't think spending tax returns is unwise. People should spend the money they work hard for the way they please. I have a healthy savings, a nice retirement plan and will be purchasing another home towards the end of the year. I would think that audiophiles here on the forums wouldn't have any problems putting their moneys towards dollar demanding equipment and sharing those experiences with the world despite those dollars coming from tax returns or half of their monthly paycheck...isn't that a large part of what head-fi is about?

Of course, I'm no longer in my young 20's and my day's of eating ramen and tuna/rice/hotsauce are way behind me and can finally afford a little pleasure now