It's a dilemma

[Nosandwich]

I have been pretty much disabled the past two years. My goal and expectation is to bounce back, but I may not make it. Mama has been taking care of me. She didn't bother to tell me she was going broke doing it. Mama and I have a connection, we both want to give. A lot of people think their mothers deserve sainthood. Mine does. And, btw, I met Mother Teresa face to face....why the heck did I say that?

Anyway, mama is rich now, relatively. She has more money than life expectancy left. I have already prepped her for some huge charges on her credit card, because I have been passing up a lot of stuff because it was mama's money and not mine, and she was going broke because of me.

Now, I have a credit card in my wallet with a $17,800 limit. I could buy anything I wanted and mom wouldn't know for a month. Then she probably wouldn't be too mad for long, because I'm her favorite child....( something I earned at a very early age when I told her I loved her, and something else....I don't remember, but it was MOVING , and for reals.)

But, what I really want is $20-30,000 to invest in real estate. She is against it, because she had a bad experience, but I have worked for idiots getting rich that way, spent nearly 30 years in construction, I CAN'T LOSE MONEY!!!!

But, anyway, what would you do with that credit card? Remember now, I KNOW my mom, and already warned her that sucker was getting rung up some.

Without revealing much more $17,000 and $20,000 are just a pretty small fraction of the money she has, and more is coming.

 

[anickode]

Honestly, I'd take it outta my wallet and put it in the lockbox. Credit cards are nothin but trouble. Sometimes they make sense to use if you're paying it off every month and you're getting something worthwhile in return, like Sky miles or whatever, but for the most part, I try to avoid them unless it's a serious situation. I'm talking eating or not eating, or fixing the car so I can get to work and keep my job.

 

[itsid]

That credit card ought to be your health/life insurance backup,
not your "Doug has a stupid idea" toymoney.

get rid of that credit card as anickode said !
Don't earn yourself the title "mom's doofus child" in the remaining years of your life!

Do not disrespect your mom.. she said no, it's her money not yours.. nothing else to say about it.

'sid

 

[nbaffaro]

That credit card should be used as a last resort for any type of legit emergency. Say you go on a trip and your car gets a flat tire. You need a tow, but it's late all the shops are closed. Have to wait till the next day. Need a hotel room.

I'm sorry that you are disabled. I don't know your back story. But, you are able bodied enough to type at least a coherent paragraph. There is something you can do to make some money. I don't know what or how but you can.

You'll never make enough in real estate to cover the interest on the card. It's a lose lose proposition.

And for those that are reading this at 13-19. Credit Cards WILL get you in to financial trouble. You need to get used to the idea that if you don't have the money you shouldn't buy it. No matter how much you want it!

 

[Nosandwich]

No, you misunderstood. I'm going to run up a few grand on the credit card, max. I've already warned my mom I was, unless she told me not to, which she did not.

The real estate deal will be cash. I just have to talk her into it. First, I have to find a house.

^^^^^^That is how I'm going to make money. Pay her back and get back on my feet finacially. May wind up using the credit card for materials during the process, but it's fine, it's free to use because mom will pay it off and avoid any finance charges. It's just easier than cash.

I should add credit cards are not a problem when you have 10 times their credit limit in the bank, cash. Mom uses the same credit card. She uses it to buy everything and pay her bills. Same here, ATM. She pays it off every month and gets a check back from Visa.

It's when you don't have money that you get in trouble. If you don't have cash on hand, then layaway is your best move.

 

[Panhead5496]

And for those that are reading this at 13-19. Credit Cards WILL get you in to financial trouble. You need to get used to the idea that if you don't have the money you shouldn't buy it. No matter how much you want it!

+1000000

I just got a credit card at my age of 22 and the temptation is tough.

The deal I got was no interest if paid fully by June 2019, so I bought a few things to slowly pay off and help build credit.

Had I had a credit card at a younger age it might have ended badly LOL!


Doug, like the other guys are saying I think you should just invest in something a little less risky. My dad tried to do real estate several years back (he got out right before the economy crashed thank goodness) and it very hard to actually make a decent profit at it. And lots of headaches!

 

[Nosandwich]

Let me add, I don't make any large purchases without consulting mom. I've been a provider for myself and my family for many years, and when I became unable to even provide for myself, it was a pretty hard hit.

Alex, the housing market in the DFW area of Texas is booming. I have the tools and the skills to do a lot of the work. This real estate thing isn't some pie in the sky dream, it's reality. One of my best friends put himself through law school with real estate and became (guess what?) a real estate lawyer. He died a millionaire a couple of times over.

It's definitely not for everyone. Those TV guys aren't some kind of philanthropic angels that just want to share the wealth, they want YOU to share yours to make them wealthier. You have to have the right property and the right approach to maximize profit. Otherwise, property taxes are going to eat up a bunch of the profits.

Also, I should add, some of the money I prepped mom for is things like finishing my half re-roofed house. Getting working Central AC. Maybe even fixing my second car, or getting a different one.

Also, I will be needing to pay help to help me get stuff done around here. Everything has went to crap in the last 2 years. I don't even have a working washing machine, and I don't think I can replace it single handedly. This just happened, so, I haven't even made a trip to the laundromat yet, but I need to.

The backyard is a jungle. (It's mainly cultivated ground back there, so, it's not like just running a mower over it.)

Anyway, mom and I have always lived frugally. Mom especially. The other thing is what to do with all the money. A savings account at a bank is a poor return on your money.

Personally, I invest heavily in real estate, but, IDK, have to really think about it and pow wow with the siblings and see what the brain trust comes up with. Maybe gold?

One more thing, I've had the card for 2 years, and I have never went crazy with it because I knew I might hurt mom if I did, so, besides necessary stuff, I've been looking at stuff and drooling, thinking, man, if I just had some kind of piddly job, I could afford that. BTW, Stepdad has a bond maturing, so throw another $24k in the kitty for now, and remember, she has more coming.

Soooo... @$200,000 in the bank ATM, and more BIG chunks coming....

 

[itsid]

Alex, the housing market in the DFW area of Texas is booming. I have the tools and the skills to do a lot of the work.

...
you have also the health of a coma patient..
Sure you can do the work if your meaty (or in your case bony) vessel let's you..

Frankly, chances are you can't do as much as you'd like
And that's the point where your plan is -forgive me- stupid.

I remember the "booming real estate" from a few years ago in the US,
where IDK how many people lost all their savings AND houses,
so forgive me if I take such claim with a grain of salt.

Taking these two major risk factors together and you end up with a
big chance of catastrophic failure.

Don't get me wrong Doug, if you came up with a foolproof plan to earn money and needed an investment for that..
I'd be with you...
heck even if you'd said you'd buy a Hemi Cuda for a couple grand and restore it to former beauty..
I'd raise my thumb (tough to lose money on classic cars these days even if you can't do much just stop it from rotting, it'll get more expensive)

but a house.. Nope, I'm sorry.. I still say "forget about it!"

'sid

 

[landuse]

I would also be wary of credit cards. When I first started working I got one and did silly things with it. I ended up owing the bank a lot of money and eventually after a few years settled it and closed that credit card account. I found pleasure in cutting the card up

Fast forward a few years to some time last year where due to certain factors it just made sense for me to get a credit card again. I made sure though that the credit limit was as small as the bank would allow (about $70 American). When I told the lady at the bank that I didn't want an overdraft at all, she gave me the funniest look. People only seem to get credit cards when they don't have money....and that's the ultimate worst time to actually have one.

So children, and all those other people out there, please don't get a credit card unless you need to and are responsible enough to use it wisely.

 

[ezcome-ezgo]

Step right up folks, let me tell you a secret: Just a few scant hours from here, in the beautiful North Georgia mountains, there's a parcel of land that people write stories about. Singular in it's wealth of resources (I didn't say there was gold there, but I didn't say there wasn't), nothing but spectacular vistas in 370 degree views. The purest mountain water bubbling up from the soil, so clean you can smell it. All utilities are installed in this wooded, creekside, mountaintop 2 acre lot, ready for the home of your dreams. Just send me a check for $6000 and the deed will be forwarded to you pending litigation.

 

[Tpdingo]

Step right up folks, let me tell you a secret: Just a few scant hours from here, in the beautiful North Georgia mountains, there's a parcel of land that people write stories about. Singular in it's wealth of resources (I didn't say there was gold there, but I didn't say there wasn't), nothing but spectacular vistas in 370 degree views. The purest mountain water bubbling up from the soil, so clean you can smell it. All utilities are installed in this wooded, creekside, mountaintop 2 acre lot, ready for the home of your dreams. Just send me a check for $6000 and the deed will be forwarded to you pending litigation.

Hahahaha.... beautifully summed up!

Hello this is Microsoft technical support and we are calling you because we have found some problems in your plan!

 

[Kartorbust]

I wouldn't do any investing in something that's volatile. I would probably invest it small stuff where the outcome, may not be large, but is almost a 100% guarantee of a decent profit.

I'm on the fence with credit cards. I have one currently and had another one before. Being 26 now, my credit score is decent, just not great. When we moved here to Lincoln last year, we didn't have couches for the apartment. So we decided to bite the bullet and applied for one from Ashely Home store. It has been helpful to at least get a couple couches and build up my credit score. Especially now since this past June, the Mountaineer she bought decided to blow up (engine decided to die on me), so I've been working to build up credit to buy us a different vehicle, and now that we are married, we need to start thinking more of our future.

I would maybe start with $2000 tops and just try to invest it in something that's lower risk but has a decent return, to make maybe 10% more than what you put into it. And just keep using the profits only to invest. But that's just me.

 

[Nosandwich]

Just to try and clear things up a bit. Talking with mom just now, she has a freezer that needs defrosting. I said mine too, I needed to check the gasket. She said she knew hers was bad, but a new one was $80. Said dad thinks we ought to get a new one, the case is rusting up, too. I said yeah, mom, GET A NEW ONE!!!!

Yeah, but then you got to take the old one out, and put the new one in, and the truck is acting up....." MOM!!! You go to the store, you buy one you like, you pay a small delivery fee, ( if it's not included in the price) they take your old one out they put the new one in.....

It's really not dawning on her she has close to a quarter million in cash. Not that I don't have a bunch of free pecan wood to cut up for the smoker, and a neighbor is giving me a freezer that works, but, freezes and defrosts constantly.

She also said: " Oh, I've got another $2,000 in cash for you whenever you want to come get it." Yep, that'll be tomorrow, and I'm going to try to kidnap mom and take her freezer shopping.

So, you see, mom is too frugal to spend money on herself, but, she's got cash to give me I'm not even asking for?


Gonna be a VERY Merry Christmas at mommas. You get at an envelope of cash, and you get an envelope of cash....all the kids are going to be happy.

But it reminds me, we children are trying to convince mom to get a new car, but she's not having it. Not new new, just something a leeeeetle bit newer than a 2002 clunker with problems.

 

[Panhead5496]

Just curious, and you don't have to answer me, but where did your mom get all this money from? Is she just a good saver or was there some kind of payout from a insurance claim or something?

 

[ezcome-ezgo]

Black gold, Texas tea.

 

[Nosandwich]

Sold the family ranch. Told me back in June that it was all sold, and it was supposedly $1.7 million, 1/4th of which was hers, but she would have to wait until the 29th to get it. Well....It's a beoch waiting this long being broke.

Finally got some of the money. It was starting to feel like something that was just talk. Now, it turns out that there were several buyers, and this little 44 acre deal was only $660,000, but there's more on the way in the next week or 2. Also, mom and stepdad were pretty frugal. Dad just cashed a bond that matured for $24,000.

( She only has to share that with me!)

To clarify, I think the ranch is around 120 acres.

BWAHAHA, tell me you can't make money in real estate in TEXAS!!!!

 

[Kartorbust]

Fertile farm land can go for some major coin.

 

[Nosandwich]

Fertile farm land can go for some major coin.

No, guess what? The guy that bought 44acres is going to develop it and build houses. Poor sucker is only going to make a couple of mil.

 

[Kartorbust]

I hate land developers, always destroying farm fields in favor for housing. Well I guess they have to make room for those leaving the People's Republic of California.