Experts at wasting money

[DallasSteve2]

No, I'm not talking about the US government.  I'm talking about Colombianas.  You'd think that people who have so little money would learn to watch their expenses.  Not so.  Have less, waste more.

Cheap gringo that I am, I can keep my monthly phone bill at around $25 a month (excluding long distance).  I don't need a lot of fancy "Call this and that" services.  Yesterday the phone bill arrived: $65!  

SIXTY-FIVE $%#@!*& DOLLARS.

My wife's 12 year old daughter has discovered the telephone, and it appears that some teen and pre-teen boys have discovered her phone number.  Furthermore, evidently her telecommunications needs are a little more sophisticated than mine.  She needs to conference in her friends on three-way calling.  At $1 a pop.  40 times last month.

OK, I can buy that service for $5 a month.  But we don't need it.  I didn't know she was doing it.  She probably didn't know it was costing me any money, but why check.  Her friend tells her how to do it, so do it.  Ooops!

I admit $40 isn't the end of the world.  But it's the ongoing drip, drip, drip of complete financial carelessness that wrecks our budget.  It used to be they were a financial surprise every month.  Now it seems like they have a surprise every week.

I saw an old movie the other day where Richard Pryor had to spend millions of dollars as fast as he could.  He did it all wrong.  He should have married a Colombiana.  They can waste money faster than a drunken congressman.

Steve

[Brazilophile]

... in response to Experts at wasting money, posted by DallasSteve2 on Sep 10, 2003

Steve,

I noticed the EXACT same thing when I was dating a Colombiana a few years ago.  The problem is that those (of ANY nationality) who don't get any practice in budgeting and managing money because they don't have any money to budget, waste money unbelievably when they do they their hands on some.

There are many American examples.  Two formerly wealthy celebrities who came from humble beginnings come to mind.  Rapper MC Hammer declared bankrupcy several years ago after earning 33 million dollars the previous year.  Mike Tyson just declared bankrupcy.  My bet is that Sean Coombs aka P. Diddy will be the next one despite his having a business degree.  He spends money faster than firemen putting out a 5 alarm fire spend water!

[Michael B]

... in response to Re: Experts at wasting money, posted by Brazilophile on Sep 11, 2003

[This message has been edited by Michael B]

True. I saw a TV documentry once, something like 'And where are they now?' about people who had won lotteries. Most of them were broke a few years later. There was one guy they tracked down who was driving an airport shuttle in Las Vegas (where he had moved after he won 14 million dollars in some state lottery). The guy had gone through 14 million dollars in 5 years. The announcer asked him what happened to the money and he said --Let me just put it this way, there isn't a dealer or a waitress in this whole city who doesn't call me  'Sir!'

[DallasSteve2]

... in response to Re: Re: Experts at wasting money, posted by Michael B on Sep 11, 2003

This may be obvious, but my guess is that people who worked harder and waited longer to get rich, will work harder to protect their fortune.  Those who get the money easy and fast (lottery, celebrity, marry an American) will take it for granted and not protect it.

Steve

[A1A]

... in response to Experts at wasting money, posted by DallasSteve2 on Sep 10, 2003

My 13 yo daughter prefers the computer.  She will sit there
for hours,  instant messaging 4-5 friends at a time.
Works out great on Sunday afternoon, I can watch football in peace.
A1A

[Cali vet]

... in response to Experts at wasting money, posted by DallasSteve2 on Sep 10, 2003

Put the little tyke in a convent for girls, that'll put a stop to it.

[moam]

... in response to Experts at wasting money, posted by DallasSteve2 on Sep 10, 2003

He he he he he, she's a pre teen Steve, you haven't seen anything yet-wait until she gets to be 14 or 15 years.
I have a 17 and a 14(soon to be 15)year old(both girls), I have to wait in line to get to the phone. I guess it is pay back time from when I was a kid, I lived on the phone when I was not working after school.

PS. Only $65! I would do hand stands in the middle of the freeway due to the joy of getting a phone bill that read $65.00. I have been trying for a year to get one month in under $150.00, be glad that you only have a daughter Good luck!

Gary

[mudd]

... in response to Experts at wasting money, posted by DallasSteve2 on Sep 10, 2003

i found out that when you make THEM pay for their little mistakes and over charges, its a diffrent story. if they dont have money, you swap it for chores around the house. in my case, i make them mow the lawn, pick up the dog pue :-) vaccum the house ect, it works. it makes them think when they go over or do something stupid, that they will have to work to pay it off.

[cancunhound]

... in response to Re: Experts at wasting money, posted by mudd on Sep 10, 2003

[mudd]

... in response to Referring to the wife of course (n/t), posted by cancunhound on Sep 10, 2003

n

[lswote]

... in response to Experts at wasting money, posted by DallasSteve2 on Sep 10, 2003

[This message has been edited by lswote]

This appears to have nothing to do with Colombianas and everything to do with kids.  My children, when teenagers, found all kinds of new ways to spend my money.  My son for instance, let his car roll down into a creek.  $650 to have it pulled out at 2:00 in the morning.  My youngest daughter had to have progressively larger limousines for her birthday parties each year.  And my oldest daughter decided that precautions for premarital sex didn't apply to her and presented us with a granddaughter when she was 17 years old, the delivery and all associated expenses paid for by yours truly.

You better brace yourself, because kids cost money and the older they get, the more they will cost you.

[DallasSteve2]

... in response to Puleeze Steve, you have it all wrong, posted by lswote on Sep 10, 2003

You're right that this instance was a child problem.  And the prospect of an unwanted pregnancy as she gets a little older terrifies me.  I think I need to go buy a shotgun.  Her real dad is not here to chase away the stray dogs.

But my experience with 2 Colombianas says that they never worry about the financial consequences of their actions.  I don't know what causes that.  One small example from my wife:

I told her she had 300 minutes per month on her cell phone.  It didn't take long for her to drift pass that with idle conversation among her friends for another $40 surprise on our cell phone bill.

A small example from my ex:

About 6 weeks after she got her license she got a ticket for doing 50+ in a 35 MPH zone.  After more years driving than you or I want to admit we could probably travel safely at those speeds but after only 6 weeks she has no business leadfooting.  But then what's a couple hundred dollars among friends.

As I say, if I had very little money I would learn to be even more tight with a dollar than I already am.  But if they learned it, Immigration must erase it from their memory when they enter the US.

Steve

[lswote]

... in response to Yes and No, posted by DallasSteve2 on Sep 10, 2003

My experience with my wife is just the opposite of yours. I told her she has 1000 minutes a month on her cellphone, about 30 minutes a day and please have all her friends call her on the regular phone when she is home so it doesn't run up cellphone minutes.  She hasn't gone over yet in 6 months use.  

She has yet to get a traffic ticket while I got one at the end of July for going 22 over the limit.

I think it just depends on the person.

[DOMINGUIN]

... in response to Yes and No, posted by DallasSteve2 on Sep 10, 2003

You mentioned the example of your ex wife getting an expensive speeding ticket.  Wasn't she very young, 20 years or so younger then you, like 21 or so? And a driving record is a by product of maturity, not ethnicity. I would think that most new drivers get in an accident or get a ticket their first 12 months.

And isn't your second wife (something like 17 years younger then you and she came with two small children. There were tons of women in Cali for you to date, with different life situations, but this is the woma and the life situaiton that you chose.  I doubt that no one forced you to get married or acquire an instant family.  And, if thrift is so important to you, then why did you take on such a large "nut."

I don't know many Americans who even know how to use their cell phone feature to find out how many minutes they have racked up for the month.  Maybe your wife is lonely and needs to talk to her friends.  And your 12 year old stepdaughter is morphing into an American teenager, soon to vanish into her own world, stuck between childhood and wanting to be an adult, getting pushed and pulled by her emotions and hormones, wanting to fit in with her friends. Parental figures are usually not high on their priority list until they get much older.  And I'm speaking form the experience of a father.

Better get used to it.  Because if you're a control jockey you are in for the ride of your life.

[DallasSteve2]

... in response to Re: Yes and No, posted by DOMINGUIN on Sep 10, 2003

You are right.  

My post was not meant as a plea for help, but rather a slice of life with a Colombiana.  It's frustrating to see the money being wasted at times, but in the end I'm getting what I was looking for, which is an attractive woman who loves me and gives me a lot of affection.

Steve