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HomerandomYou know you're a PFer when....

You know you’re a PFer when….

You ever heard the jokes “You know you’re a (insert blank here) when….”? They go something like this

You know you’re a redneck when…

…The Salvation Army declines your furniture.

…You think fast food is hitting a deer at 65.

…The biggest city you’ve ever been to is Wal-Mart.

Well, seeing that it’s Friday (and most of us have mentally checked out for the day), I was thinking we could spin these jokes a little bit and relate them to PF and the crazy a$$ things we do. Is this a little juvenile? Probably. But if you were looking for a boring blog you should have gone here. I like to keep things fun. Here’s what I came up with

You know you’re a PFer when…

…you look at your checking account more than twice a day, even when you didn’t spend any money

…you have more ING savings accounts than pairs of underwear

…someone asks to see your Bible and you give them The Total Money Makeover

…you tell your friends you can’t go out because you’re “super tired” when really you’re just “super frugal”

and

…you spend more time at work reading PF blogs than actually working

Alright kiddos, that’s all I could come up with for now. I want to see what crazy things you can conjure up. Your clever/snarky/sarcastic attitude is what will make this post something worth reading. Drop your “You know you’re a PFer when….” in the comments below!!!

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37 COMMENTS

  1. I can’t wait to read the posts on this one!

    When someone says it’s garbage day, you see it as free stuff day.

    When you have a spreadsheet that tabulates all activities in your life. (I have a friend who had a section dedicated to girlfriend/dating costs)

    When someone suggests an excursion and you can’t help but mentally tabulate all the costs of the event including gas, food, entry fee, etc.

    When you get just a little nauscious when you’re about to plunk down a big chunk of change on something…even if you saved and have the cash for it.

    When you catch yourself saying “I can’t believe so and so spent $____ on ______.”

    When it feels like the end of the world if you’ve been suckered into paying a late payment or interest on something.

    When you look at someone as if they have 4 heads when they say “It’s only money.”

  2. You know you’re a pfer when you dream of the day you can pay cash for an extremely large purchase (like a home)

    when you go without a coat for 3 months because you’re convinced the one you want will go on sale at some point

  3. Your newest T-shirt says ‘Vote For Pedro’ (Napoleon Dynamite reference)

    You brag about your coupons savings, not the great purse you just bought (unless you got a purse really cheap, with a coupon from that store)

    Your kids know they aren’t getting whatever it is they want because it isn’t on sale

    Your spouse is afraid to go grocery shopping because he/she is afraid to come home and be told that they shouldn’t have spent as much as they did, didn’t buy what was on sale, etc…

    You actually know the current price for an ounce of gold

    You LIKE spreadsheets

    You are actually in a better mood when the stock market is up

    You have a plan to retire early!

  4. You know you’re a pfer when you actually care about having typed “conversations” about money with people you’ll never meet and whom you don’t even know by name or sometimes even gender. Present company, of course, always excepted.

  5. You know you’re a PFer when you prefer to stay home on a Friday night, watch 3 hours of Til Debt Do Us Part (even if you’ve seen them all at least twice before), while making your meal plan and grocery list, and working on various contingencies for your budget (can you imagine anyone actually doing this…almost every Friday?) 😉

  6. You know you are PFer when:
    * You speak about financial experts (Suzie Orman, Dave Ramsey, David Bach) like they are your personal friends.

    * You watch Personal Finance shows and you can give the caller the correct answer before the host

    * You were the only one of your family/friends not concerned about the Great Recession because you knew you had enough money to be OK, no matter the outcome

    * You are proud to admit you got something second hand and brag about all the money you saved

    * You are no longer impressed by others’ big ticket purchases because you view them as DEBT instead of luxuries/rewards

  7. Another one:

    * When you feel like every commenter before you stole YOUR perfect comment to the question, “You know you’re a PFer when:”

    Like everyone else, I can’t wait to read all of the other responses…..

  8. You know you’re a PFer when you make an online transaction, instantlycheck your account to see if it went through yet… and are annoyed if it takes more than thirty seconds.

    I mean… How dare they!

    Oh and it’s not that you *LIKE* spreadsheets… it’s that you *LOVE* spreadsheets.

  9. You know you’re (etc.) when you actually stay home on a Saturday night and watch Suze Orman, or worse, you actually look forward to it.

  10. You spend your Saturday night organizing your coupons, and don’t feel bad about it.

    You can’t wait for payday so you can pay off more debt!

    You walk through your house looking for more stuff to sell.

    Your kids see money, and automatically put it in their piggy bank.

    You get a little ahem…..”amorous” when you are able to get tons of groceries for pennies on the dollar.

    You are not only involved in your own debt solutions…but you know all your fellow PFers debts too.

    Love all the comments….can’t wait to read more.

  11. I don’t really have anything to contribute since I’m new, but all of these have made me realize how much they fit me already! Hilarious!

  12. You know you’re a PFer when…

    When your spouse calls you “The Budget Nazi”.

    You would rather discuss the merits of whole life vs. term life insurance than talk about your feelings.

    Getting gazelle intense doesn’t involve an African Safari

  13. You know you’re a PFer when…

    …you get giddy hearing Dave Ramsey being mentioned on NPR.

    …you cringe at violent movie scenes thinking about the cost of cleanup.

    …you get excited when your husband says, “fine, we can review the budget.”

    …you balk at the idea of a new car payment.

    …when someone asks how you’re doing, you immediately think of your net worth.

    …you argue whether net worth should include a house or not…don’t even get you started on cars.

    …your idea of trolling on a personal finance blog means mentioning the benefits of extending mortgage payments to get the interest deduction.

    …your dreams of winning the lotto include investment ideas.

    …you want to argue with me on the idea of buying a lottery ticket and paying a “stupid tax”.

    …you just rolled your eyes at me for cutting you off mid-argument, lol.

  14. BTW, I actually giggled out loud to “…you have more ING savings accounts than pairs of underwear”.

  15. Oh,

    …you have end-of-the-month money discussions/arguments with your spouse over whether the extra should go to the car or the house.

    …your biggest financial married argument ever was when your husband said “we are saving too much”. WTF?!

    …you explain your “fun money” account to the sales ladies at Zales. (To my credit, they actually thought it was a good idea…I even suggested ING)

  16. you might be a pfer if you:

    find mint.com exciting
    check the comments on your favorite pf blogs several times a day, everyday.
    your husband asks how the finances are for the month, and you recite a 30 minute review of every expense that was over budget, and then finish with the statement we were positive x number of dollars.

  17. […] You know you’re a PFer when…. – Punch Debt in the Face (“…someone asks to see your Bible and you give them The Total Money Makeover”) […]

  18. I am all of these, but one I am and didn’t see…

    You know you’re a PFer if the teller at the bank is asking you if you’re getting cash again to put in your envelopes for your different budgets, and then you strike up a conversation with her about all the great sites you use to monitor your spending/money/saving/networth. (and she actually writes them down!)

    oh, and this one

    You know you’re a PFer when you’re making photocopies of money saving articles and passing them out at work.

  19. You know your a Pfer when…..

    -You get anxious when you have not looked at your budget spreadsheet and/or mint.com every few hours.

    -refusing to buy anything from the internet unless there is no sales tax and the shipping is free.

    -Looking at your friends leased BMW 3 series and trying not to vomit.

  20. … when you get in the car and the kids ask, “Do we have to listen to Dave Ramsey again?”
    … when your 5 year old hears a book on tape in the car and tells you, “That sounds like something Suze Orman would say, but it doesn’t sound like her voice.” (for the record, it was a Suze book being read by a voice-over actress)
    … when your 7 year old looks at something he wants and tells you how many weeks he has to save his allowance to buy it.
    … when the idea of a new car is no longer appealing and you would rather spend the money paying off the mortgage.
    … when you have a subscription for 4 Sunday papers, just to get the coupons.
    … when the people at CVS ask you how to work their Extra Bucks program to get the best deals.

  21. I tweeted this one to Ninja, but wanted to contribute here as well…

    You know you’re a PFer when you calculate if it’s cheaper to cash in your coins via CoinStar or purchase the wrappers to roll them in. (And I know it goes without saying that wrappers always win.)

  22. …when you have three budget spreadsheets for daily expenses, monthly budget and annual blueprint.

    …when you don’t update your spreadsheets, you know something is wrong in your life.

    (I’m also guilty of reading too many pf blogs at work)

  23. You know you’re a pfer when..

    you put off some perchase for a few *years* waiting for the price to go down, and I’m talking a couple hundred, not thousand dollars..

    When you think, “Winter only lasts a few months” when your shoes develop holes and jacket from high school no longer fits.

    When you plan your childrens births around your friends and neighbors kids ages so you can take their hand-me-down clothes and toys.

  24. You feel like you’ve just been pronounced Queen of the entire world when someone asks you about money and you get to share your wisdom.

  25. Wow, looks like I’ve finally found my home! These were hilarious and I totally identified with all of them… especially the ones about logging in to check your bank accounts multiple times a day and spreadsheeting EVERYTHING.

    How about: looking forward to payday because you LOVE paying your bills, not because you love to buy things.

    • …when you stand in the Customer Service line for 5 minutes because the cashier at Wal-Mart forgot to price match your milk even though you clearly asked her to…for a 39 cent refund.
      But, you know, it was the principle of the matter!

  26. ….when your wife shows you a beautiful pair of diamond earrings and tell you they are her birthday present from you. Then she tells you they were “75”. Hundred? No, $75. “Joe, you know we discuss any purchases over $2000, first”
    I love my wife.

  27. I’m totally guilty of loving to pay my bills, per Beth’s comment.

    Here are a few more:

    When you always have a few ads in rotation on craig’s list or the like.

    When you feel like you’re slacking when you don’t have ads up and start looking through your closets for something else to post.

    When you’ve gotten so good at grocery shopping that you’ve memorized the lowest ever price on all of your grocery staples.

    When you actually prefer buying things used instead of new because you know you got a better deal on it.

    When you’re constantly debating with yourself what else you can cut down on even if those things are well within your budget.

    When you look at someone getting out of a flashy new car and instead of thinking “wow, he must be doing pretty well for himself”, you think “that dude’s a chump.”

  28. when you stop dying your hair the shade that you love because you realize it takes 6 hours at work to pay for…and you’d rather have six extra hours “off” in retirement than a fake hair color

  29. […] You Know You’re a PFer When… at Punch Debt in the Face […]

  30. … your Significant Other is ashamed to tell you about her credit score because it’s in the mid 600s. (That one actually happened)

    … you check mint repeatedly even when you know you haven’t spent anything… then you log into each individual site anyway… to make sure that mint is really up to date.

    … you’re frequently getting free items at the grocery store because you are hyper aware of what price you are expecting to pay for everything and know when it’s off by 10c.

    … the guy behind you asks, “Are you serious?” when you point out that something is 10c more than the price on the shelf and you respond, “Of course I am serious.”

    … you haven’t been in a movie theater in over two years.

    … you finally got around to selling your TV. What’s the point of keeping it around when you don’t have cable and your computer monitor is almost the same size and can connect to the DVD player.

    … you make your own bread, bagels, and sandwich rolls and openly encourage everyone around you to stop wasting money paying other people to make bread for them. Eight sandwich rolls are $3.98 at my grocery story and you can make 8 for around $0.50 worth of ingredients plus there’s no preservatives or high fructose corn syrup. Bagels and bread have similar and often higher savings.

    … you realize that 30% of your food money is spend eating out and instead of feeling glad that you’re beating the US average of 42%… you are disgusted with yourself and resolve to bring that down to under 10%.

    I think that’s all I have right now.

  31. Hard to really crack a joke about it. I just know I’m a PFer because I’m an obsessive compulsive investments tracker. I’ve developed the habit of studying the subject day and night. All for securing my future, I’ve fallen onto a few bad habits. Gah! ;_;

    But if pressed, it would be something like..

    You know you’re a PFer when… The most common conversation decline you receive is “I’m not interested in money.”

  32. …when you forget to email your budget spreadsheet to yourself at work, and can whip up a new one from memory in 5 minutes.

    …when you can predict what a PF article will say just by reading the title (well, except PDITF!).

    …when your spouse begs you to redefine “broke” b/c you’re not out of money, just out of “fun money”!

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