Conversation with the Brother

So, I had a nice long talk with my older brother over the weekend. When it comes to money, he has always been more frugal than myself. He's in his mid-30's and I know already has well over a quarter million in his retirement fund and, as I found out, at least ten thousand in his savings.

We were talking about his eventual work assignment that will send him overseas for about a year coming up soon. He's trying to convince the parents to stay at his house rent free in exchange for paying the bills. He said after the pay increase and extra expenses, he would clear over $50,000 in addition to his regular salary (which he would spend very little of as well) being gone for the year. We started talking about what to do with it and I suggested getting a high-yield savings account for starters and then maybe investing some of it as well.

He told me two stories of people at work that just blew me away.

1. A lady who sits near him he says he hears on the phone at least a couple times a month talking to someone or other about how this or that payment is going to be late. This is also the same person he sees pricing out cruises and vacations on a regular basis. If this is you, please stop! You first have to spend less money so you have enough to pay your bills on time, then you can save money for a vacation.
2. After a stop by the work ATM, my brother found the person before him had left his receipt in the machine. He was shocked when he discovered they had over $50,000 in their checking account. In his words, "That's just stupid, there's no way your checking account pays you enough interest to keep that much money in there. I only keep enough in there to have a couple hundred left when I get paid, then move any extra over to the savings account when I do."

That last bit of advice he gave is right on and something I'm hoping to do here soon. I want to keep us on a very regular budget from paycheck to paycheck and then put anything we don't spend back to our savings account. So, as we get the next paycheck direct deposit, I'll move what was left before that into the savings. That way it will continue to grow with interest until we need it for the larger expenses. This was probably the most financial depth my brother and I have ever gone. I was honest that we have not done as well as him but were changing and making progress.

So, what stories do you have of people you work with?