It’s safe to say that most of us could be at least a little more cautious with our money, but some people…wow…they need to take a class or their friends need to do an intervention or something, because it is NOT GOOD.
And I’m sure you know at least one person like this, right?
Folks on AskReddit talked about how they can tell someone is bad with their money.
Let’s see what they had to say.
1. Workin’ it off.
“There’s a guy in my neighborhood. He does odd jobs around my house.
Good work and very helpful as I travel a lot. He’s clearly awful at managing his money. He comes by my house one time all in panic as his truck had broke down and he was in a jam. My wife calls me and asks if we could lend him $750.
I said, sure, but don’t expect him to pay it back anytime soon. He’ll probably have to just work it off. My wife’s like, oh, no, he’s going to get it right back to us. I said, ok…
Now, she’s all in huff because it’s been a couple months and when we see him, he doesn’t even mention it. The funny thing is, she’s the one with the issue. I knew it would be this way from the get-go.”
2. Fancy!
“$400 shoes and no electricity.
The phrase my grandmother would’ve used is “fur coat and no knickers”.”
3. Jeez…
“I used to work for a utility company. We would shut people’s electric off and then they’d come into the office to pay with cash to get turned back on.
Half of them I could tell weren’t good with money because they’d have their nails done, hair dyed, coach purse and wallet, crying because “I only have $30 to my name. I can’t pay $300 to get my electricity back on. What can you do for me?””
4. Do the math.
“They dont “do the math”.
People who don’t actually figure out what the best way of doing something finance related is. Whether its planning for a big purchase or buying something or changing something. By that I mean:
Is this job opportunity actually better than the other one cause you’re getting a 5% bump in base salary?
How much will you actually be paying for this car loan?
What’s your budget?
When will you pay off your debt and how?
How much savings will you have in 10 years? When you retire?
How much runway do you have if you lose your income?
This is all simple addition and subtraction and maybe a little bit of multiplication and it would allow people to be so much better informed and make better choices with money but they simply choose not to do it.”
5. Hmmm…
“My Midwestern uncles.
Chastise my dad for leaving the church, moving to NYC. “Biggest mistake of your life, you’re throwing it away.”
Laugh at my dad for wanting to be an artist and photographer. Tell him they won’t loan him anything when he’s broke and a drug addict like the rest of that city and those artists.
Uncles all start their own business. “Real businesses. Owned by real conservatives with real values using their real knowledge of real business and real economics.”
Republicans keep f**king over small businesses in their area, and across the country.
They all goes out of business. Sometimes more than once.
Uncles now beg dad for loans. Work mid-level management jobs making barely more than minimum wage because Red States.
Dad loans them money because he’s kind, and can afford to. Signs checks as “Socialism Reimbursement Check for [Uncle]” on every memo. After every check calls and asks if they got their socialism payments.”
6. That’s a sign.
“I know someone who works 40+ hours a week. They live alone and are single. Somehow, though, they would never have enough money to pay for themselves when going out to eat.
Logically, they shouldn’t have this problem, but they do, which tells me there is bad spending going on.
Based on their hobbies, I am guessing it all gets spent on Steam / Origin / Epic games.”
7. Awful.
“I worked as a bank teller in college. I felt horribly for one woman.
We would actually let her in early on Friday mornings on her way to work to empty her bank account, because her husband was addicted to the lottery quick draw game, and the coffee shop he went to on his lunch break at work had one.
If she didn’t pull their paychecks out before he took lunch, he would literally sit there and pull all of their money out of the atm playing the game.
It was terrible. While most people look at the lottery as a once in a while thing, it’s a very serious addiction for others.”
8. Listen to this one!
“They have a new get rich quick scheme every second week.
Once a taxi driver offered to tell about his terrific business idea, apparently he wanted me to be part of it.
He was unkempt and a bit smelly. Normally, if that were an ordinary taxi ride, I wouldn’t mind. But dude…”
9. Oof!
“”I know I should hold on to it because I’ll need it for bills, but if there is money in my account I just spend it on things.”
~From a 35 year old woman with 2 college degrees.”
5. Uh oh…
“I had a coworker who explained how smart he was by rotating credit cards to pay off other credit cards when there is “no interest for 6 months”.
I told him “Stop buying things and pay the card off, idiot”.”
11. We all know one of these.
“Constantly borrows money from friends/family but never pays it back
Bonus points if:
they never give a reason or vague reason for the money
uses manipulation or having their friends pressure/guilt you into giving them money
Also constantly buying expensive stuff or always eating out but is always behind their bills (plus doing the borrowing money thing).
Pretty much prioritizing their WANTS over their or others NEEDS when managing money or paying for things.”
12. Wow.
“I had a friend who I played Xbox with online.
He would not be on for weeks at a time because he’d sold his Xbox to pay bills.
As soon as he had money again, he’d pay $400 for a new console, then he’d run out of money and pawn it for $50-100.
This happened 5 or 6 times a year.”
13. Gonna win big!
“Lottery addicts.
Had an uncle who squandered his life savings convinced he was gonna hit it big any day.
Lotteries are legal, softcore gambling, and can be addictive when you have too much hope.”
14. Comes and goes.
“When they say things like “Money comes and goes”.
My MIL’s favorite. Had to move back to her home country because she couldn’t retire here on her social security.
After having a 6 figure income for over 10 years. Now the dollar is dropping….”
15. Ugh.
“They flex their s**t on Instagram/ Tiktok.
Why be fiscally responsible when you can spend 10k on Yeezys?”
16. The trifecta.
“Has nicer stuff than anyone you know.
Uses c**aine.
Borrows $10 for lunch.”
17. Better get that under control.
“She’s married to me and the Amazon delivery driver said we are the only stop on his route that he doesn’t need GPS for…”
18. Irresponsible.
“I know a kid whose parents got him his own credit card when he was 17 to help him ‘build his credit.’
It had a $10,000 limit that he maxed out in just a few short months from buying snacks & cigarettes at the gas stations.
He then turned 18 and just opened up a fresh new credit card and continued the process.
It was all fun and games until one day he woke up and was $20,000+ in debt at 19 years old from just buying himself and his buddies snacks every day.”
19. Wow.
“They make a great income but are still loaded down in debt.
I know a doctor that lives paycheque to paycheque.
It’s almost sad watching her p**s money away on superficial things.”
20. Showing off.
“Expensive car like a BMW or decked out fully-loaded truck with the lift kit and everything, but they’re living in a c**ppy apartment or a house where the yard is a mess, fence falling over, etc.”
21. MLM.
“They are involved in multi-level marketing schemes, and when asked by friends why you need to pay into such schemes, they say “well, you need to spend money to make money.””
22. I don’t think so.
“When you buy a meal in a restaurant and they start talking about how much money you’ve both saved by eating there instead of cooking at home, because “it’s so cheap here”.”
23. Yowza!
“I know a guy who lived in a 2 bedroom apartment with 3 guys for a few years.
Then he bought a Tesla Model X, new.
Told me he was saving up for a house. He finally bought his house, few weeks ago. It was 40k in Gary, Indiana.
His job? He drives Lyft full-time.”
24. Who does that?
“People that publicly complain about their bills. Not only are they broadcasting that they don’t pay their bills, but they’re asking for, at the very least, sympathy.
One example: I overheard a woman saying her phone bill was too expensive for that month, but she was in an expensive Japanese restaurant where meals go for $30 plus dollars for one person.
Fairly certain the group of people she was with picked up her bill.”
25. Hmmm…
“I had a friend who was always complaining he was broke.
His car was broken said he couldn’t afford to fix the 600 dollar repair bill and was going to lose his job because he couldn’t get to work. 3 days later posted on facebook how he just got the brand new Xbox(it had just come out that week).
I asked if he got his car fixed and he blocked me.”
26. Living above your means.
“Living check to check when you make a decent salary. That means you’re spending more than you make.
Daily Starbucks isn’t necessary, 2-3 trips to Costco within 2 weeks isn’t necessary. Buying new home decor every week isn’t necessary.
At lastly, if your car payment is half your paycheck then you’ve got a car that’s too expensive for you.”
How do you think you can tell someone is bad with their money?
Tell us what you think in the comments.
Thanks a lot!
