Bankruptcy advice? Other ideas I haven't come up with?

[Exterous]

No shit. It always amazed me that they didn't even teach how to balance a checkbook in H.S. I had a few friends right after H.S. that had the mindset of "I can't be out of money yet, I still have checks!"

There's a lot of evidence out there that occasional financial education in school has zero effect on people's ability to manage their finance. Part of the issue is that kids form monetary habits as early as 5 and these need to be continuously reinforced over the years so this rests much more on the parents to actually parent. Failing that Just In Time education can work (They get the lesson(s) right before they undertake the financial activity) but you're not going to be able to get a school to do JIT for checkbook balancing, mortgage decisions or investing in a 401k

 

[highland145]

There's a lot of evidence out there that occasional financial education in school has zero effect on people's ability to manage their finance. Part of the issue is that kids form monetary habits as early as 5 and these need to be continuously reinforced over the years so this rests much more on the parents to actually parent. Failing that Just In Time education can work (They get the lesson(s) right before they undertake the financial activity) but you're not going to be able to get a school to do JIT for checkbook balancing, mortgage decisions or investing in a 401k

My Dad's parenting, "I'm going to pay the bills. If there's any left over we might get groceries."

 

[skull]

I know he supported the last kid through med school. Who knows how much he came out of pocket. I know the last go round was when he moved her to Charleston a few months back. Downtown rent+deposits because she had to be x distance from the hospital, $3K might be on the light side. Now, she surely shouldn't have her hand in his pocket.

Maybe he just likes me.

Sounds like my sister, whos officially a doctor with no student loans still asking my parents for help.

My illiterate buddy has to borrow money too, unfortunately I don't get any interest but if he fails to pay I get a nice gun for a good price.

 

[Exterous]

My Dad's parenting, "I'm going to pay the bills. If there's any left over we might get groceries."

Its pretty interesting that some kids can be raised in that environment, say "Yeah I'm not going to live like that" and learn from their parents mistakes while others in the same environment follow the same habits. Two kids in the same house can come out with very different financial abilities. Its not well correlated to intelligence either. The person with higher intelligence is more likely to publicly mask their inability to manage finances with nice looking cars and houses they can't afford. Unfortunately I don't think they'll be able to narrow in on why that difference exists any time soon

 

[Viper GTS]

2 Thoughts:

1) Does your wife know you're paying your mistresses rent?

2) Hairdressers often get the "independent contractor" bullshit treatment - they charge $100 for a haircut, but 50%+ goes to "seat rental" and whatnot. If she did housecalls, she could charge her clients less and keep more of it.

1) This is a joint project, she's arguably more involved in it than I am.
2) Yes she does housecalls. There's a few hundred a month (mostly from us) from that.
3) $100 for a haircut is not happening, we're talking chain salon and very low income area/clientele. $14 haircuts and $1-2 tips. She's an employee, there's no seat rental going on here.

She needs to find a better place to work at, my aunt brings home over twice what shes making just in tips, in the midwest.

Completely agree, but from what I understand to get a higher end salon job you need a client base to take with you. Her clients are for the most part equally low income and the jump from a chain to a real salon isn't going to happen. Ultimately I'd rather prepare her for a career with real earning potential vs try to get her into a marginally better hairdressing job.

Usually the estate of the person who died would pay the funeral bills. Were there no assets at all there?

Less than nothing. We're dealing with a multi-generational history of substance abuse and mental health issues.

Viper GTS

 

[highland145]

Its pretty interesting that some kids can be raised in that environment, say "Yeah I'm not going to live like that" and learn from their parents mistakes while others in the same environment follow the same habits. Two kids in the same house can come out with very different financial abilities. Its not well correlated to intelligence either. The person with higher intelligence is more likely to publicly mask their inability to manage finances with nice looking cars and houses they can't afford. Unfortunately I don't think they'll be able to narrow in on why that difference exists any time soon

My siblings and I are stair steps but opposite on $$. I was a lot like like my Dad, debt is bad/don't spend that $$. Before I got married, at 32, I'd never charged more than $500 on a card. Boy, has that changed in the last 20 years..... My bro (self employed since he was 18) and sis( self employed since she was ~25) will go in debt at the drop of a hat if they think they can make money on it. And they have, mostly.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

At $15/hr...

A living wage is a living wage. Dummies gotta eat.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

3) $100 for a haircut is not happening, we're talking chain salon and very low income area/clientele. $14 haircuts and $1-2 tips. She's an employee, there's no seat rental going on here.

Completely agree, but from what I understand to get a higher end salon job you need a client base to take with you. Her clients are for the most part equally low income and the jump from a chain to a real salon isn't going to happen. Ultimately I'd rather prepare her for a career with real earning potential vs try to get her into a marginally better hairdressing job.

Then no matter what she does, there's going to be no small amount of effort/change involved. So does she like what she's doing? Is she actually any good at it?

Given what my housemate pays for a styling every two months... a "better" hairdressing job beats out a lot of entry- and mid-level IT work, salary-wise. Depending on your price, market, and specialty, anyways.

And if you have the skills and are motivated enough to recruit and maintain a client base. (Been there, done that, hate freelancing.)

 

[Darwin333]

1) This is a joint project, she's arguably more involved in it than I am.

That's hot.

Completely agree, but from what I understand to get a higher end salon job you need a client base to take with you. Her clients are for the most part equally low income and the jump from a chain to a real salon isn't going to happen. Ultimately I'd rather prepare her for a career with real earning potential vs try to get her into a marginally better hairdressing job.

Is she even remotely easy on the eyes? If so she can get a waitressing gig or schlep beers and should be able to make a good bit more.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Is she even remotely easy on the eyes? If so she can get a waitressing gig or schlep beers and should be able to make a good bit more.

I'm not sure I would recommend somebody whose family has a history of drug addiction work in a restaurant environment. Easy access to drugs plus getting the majority of your income in cash at the end of your shift? Eeeeehhhhh...

 

[kranky]

ViperGTS, you're a good dude for helping out like you are. :beer:

I don't know if BK is the right option and I'll defer to jeeebus' opinion. Only thought I have is whether she could pick up some extra bucks doing waitressing when she's not working her main gig. Or would that also limited due to the area's economy?

 

[WhiteNoise]

Off topic a bit but what job does she have. $17888. would be minimum wage. Its been many years since I looked it up. She needs a better job. I do not understand how anyone would not try to get a better paying job as an adult. Take night classes. Community college, or some state/city run course that are usually free. Anything to improve your quality of life.