Author Topic: Overheard at Work  (Read 13253163 times)

CptCool

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17050 on: March 30, 2017, 08:47:25 AM »
One of my guilty little pleasures is looking up what my co-workers paid for their homes. I feel downright giddy when I see that they've paid $100k to $200k more than me for the privilege of owning a piece of the real estate pie in this very high cost of living metro area. Sure, our house is small and not in the fancy school district, but for me, it's our golden ticket out of the cube farm.

We bought our house in 2001 for $220k, and almost every one of my co-workers was buying a McMansion for $445k+. I remember the mortgage company telling me we could get a mortgage for close to $500k - no thanks.
I paid 55k for mine in a lcol area and felt like it was more than I needed. I have friends (we are all 3-4 years out of college and I work with two of them) dropping 200k on houses and I can't wrap my head around it. One couple with no plans of having kids bought a 3 bed 2 bath. I understand wanting to have room for guests, but that seems a little excessive, especially considering I have a two bedroom 1.5 bath with a full basement for 25% the price.

In my area, a lot of neighborhoods are majority 3br/2ba houses, which might be the case for your friends as well.

gReed Smith

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17051 on: March 30, 2017, 09:10:20 AM »
One of my guilty little pleasures is looking up what my co-workers paid for their homes. I feel downright giddy when I see that they've paid $100k to $200k more than me for the privilege of owning a piece of the real estate pie in this very high cost of living metro area. Sure, our house is small and not in the fancy school district, but for me, it's our golden ticket out of the cube farm.

I've mentioned this before, but my coworkers seem to alternate between calling my (perfectly nice, safe, middle-class) neighborhood "the ghetto" and complaining about their long commutes and huge mortgages. Look down all you want, you're the fool who still has a bank note on his house and car at 60.

I have that too.  My coworkers think I live in the ghetto because -HORROR!- it's a racially integrated middle-class neighborhood. But the truth is, it's an extremely homogeneous neighborhood where everyone drives a truck or van to work, works hard and appreciates what they have.

Spiffy

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17052 on: March 30, 2017, 10:50:09 AM »
One of my guilty little pleasures is looking up what my co-workers paid for their homes. I feel downright giddy when I see that they've paid $100k to $200k more than me for the privilege of owning a piece of the real estate pie in this very high cost of living metro area. Sure, our house is small and not in the fancy school district, but for me, it's our golden ticket out of the cube farm.
Oooh, the nosey person in me wants to do that too! How does one go about this?

dandarc

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17053 on: March 30, 2017, 11:24:46 AM »
One of my guilty little pleasures is looking up what my co-workers paid for their homes. I feel downright giddy when I see that they've paid $100k to $200k more than me for the privilege of owning a piece of the real estate pie in this very high cost of living metro area. Sure, our house is small and not in the fancy school district, but for me, it's our golden ticket out of the cube farm.
Oooh, the nosey person in me wants to do that too! How does one go about this?
It is public record in most jurisdictions.  You just go to the property-appraiser or county clerk's website and search.

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17054 on: March 30, 2017, 11:42:13 AM »
One of my guilty little pleasures is looking up what my co-workers paid for their homes. I feel downright giddy when I see that they've paid $100k to $200k more than me for the privilege of owning a piece of the real estate pie in this very high cost of living metro area. Sure, our house is small and not in the fancy school district, but for me, it's our golden ticket out of the cube farm.

We bought our house in 2001 for $220k, and almost every one of my co-workers was buying a McMansion for $445k+. I remember the mortgage company telling me we could get a mortgage for close to $500k - no thanks.
I paid 55k for mine in a lcol area and felt like it was more than I needed. I have friends (we are all 3-4 years out of college and I work with two of them) dropping 200k on houses and I can't wrap my head around it. One couple with no plans of having kids bought a 3 bed 2 bath. I understand wanting to have room for guests, but that seems a little excessive, especially considering I have a two bedroom 1.5 bath with a full basement for 25% the price.

In my area, a lot of neighborhoods are majority 3br/2ba houses, which might be the case for your friends as well.

Two extra bedrooms is certainly a luxury, but I think it's understandable.  If they can afford it, I see the reasoning as: you want an office space and guest room.  Moreover, the extra bedrooms likely cost very little in $/sqft since 1 and 2br homes are uncommon and often higher $/sqft.  In summary, I think a lot of us would make this "mistake". 

ysette9

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17055 on: March 30, 2017, 12:04:52 PM »
My good friend at work posted the other day that they bought a new car. When I asked him about it, he said that they had finally eliminated their credit card debt after several years of work, so they are celebrating by adding more debt, "like good consumers". There was a smiley face at the end of that sentence, but....

I find his situation an interesting one. We started at the same company within six months of each other in the same job role with similar degrees from the same school. I did benefit from several years of subsidized housing due to a family situation, but otherwise our situations are very similar. We both got our companies to pay for our master's degrees. Our career trajectories have been a little different as I went into management and he headed in the research direction. He married an IT professional (later turned stay-at-home parent) and I married an engineer. I really hope he has been putting money into 401(k) because I don't think they have any other savings. A couple of years back he talked about how they were using YouNeedaBudget to help them spend within their means after they realized they were spending beyond their means with credit cards.

Contrast to my fortunate situation having married someone who was always very frugal. Our net worth is in the $1.5+ range and I think we should be done in another 5 years, max. The funny thing is that on the outside our lifestyles don't seem too much different, with the exception that he would always buy lunch during the workweek whereas I mostly brought mine. Obviously there are a million other decisions that add up to big differences, not just lunch, but I have a hard time seeing drastic differences between us other than a commitment to saving on one side and not the other.

Dave1442397

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17056 on: March 30, 2017, 01:43:55 PM »
One of my guilty little pleasures is looking up what my co-workers paid for their homes. I feel downright giddy when I see that they've paid $100k to $200k more than me for the privilege of owning a piece of the real estate pie in this very high cost of living metro area. Sure, our house is small and not in the fancy school district, but for me, it's our golden ticket out of the cube farm.
Oooh, the nosey person in me wants to do that too! How does one go about this?

You can also just go to zillow.com, pick a house, and look at "Price / Tax History". Around here it only shows the most recent price paid for the house.

I used it to check a co-worker who just moved to Georgia - $775k for a 6800sq ft house. He must be working hard!

RyanAtTanagra

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17057 on: March 30, 2017, 01:51:41 PM »
You can also just go to zillow.com, pick a house, and look at "Price / Tax History". Around here it only shows the most recent price paid for the house.

I used it to check a co-worker who just moved to Georgia - $775k for a 6800sq ft house. He must be working hard!

Christ that's a big house.  My sister owned a 5000sq ft house, which was a beautiful and comfortable house, but ridiculously big.  6800, I can't even imagine living in a house that big... there'd be parts of the house I'd wander in to and go 'shit, i forgot about this room'.

dandarc

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17058 on: March 30, 2017, 01:54:45 PM »
Christ that's a big house.  My sister owned a 5000sq ft house, which was a beautiful and comfortable house, but ridiculously big.  6800, I can't even imagine living in a house that big... there'd be parts of the house I'd wander in to and go 'shit, i forgot about this room'.
I do that sometimes in my 1400 square foot house.  Even if it was free, I don't think I'd want to live in a 5000+ foot house.

marielle

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17059 on: March 30, 2017, 02:00:53 PM »
A girl at work (27 yrs old I think) recently had her mom's house burn down and she told me she had $20k of shoes she lost. Not even including heels or her kid's shoes, but her Jordans and other shoes that are often $160 a pair. She's been collecting them since high school.

She's making $11-$12 an hour right now, and made like $18 an hour in the past. So $20k is not a small chunk by any means.

They did have insurance on the house but not enough to cover everything after the house itself.

I'm glad I don't really have anything to lose if my house/apartment burns down (other than pets of course). The two most expensive things would be my bike, then my mattress.

ysette9

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17060 on: March 30, 2017, 02:51:55 PM »
Good Lord!.

Quote
I'm glad I don't really have anything to lose if my house/apartment burns down (other than pets of course)

Isn't that an amazingly freeing feeling? I had family members whose house was burglarized while they were on vacation and they lost a lot of valuable items (coins, antiques, tools). They went through a ton of stress, time, money, and hassle with the police reporting, installing a security system and cameras, and being paranoid about always locking their house. I don't envy that.

If our house were to burn down the only things I would care about are 1) photos (backup drives are in the safe, but need to be rotated out more frequently) and 2) my toddler's favorite stuffed animal, 3) sentimental papers from childhood that are meaningless to anyone but me. Everything else can be replaced or is something we can live without.

ketchup

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17061 on: March 30, 2017, 03:02:50 PM »
A girl at work (27 yrs old I think) recently had her mom's house burn down and she told me she had $20k of shoes she lost. Not even including heels or her kid's shoes, but her Jordans and other shoes that are often $160 a pair. She's been collecting them since high school.

She's making $11-$12 an hour right now, and made like $18 an hour in the past. So $20k is not a small chunk by any means.

They did have insurance on the house but not enough to cover everything after the house itself.

I'm glad I don't really have anything to lose if my house/apartment burns down (other than pets of course). The two most expensive things would be my bike, then my mattress.
Holy shit.

Holy.  Shit.

I mean everyone has their hobbies, but... holy shit.

mtn

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17062 on: March 30, 2017, 03:19:13 PM »
You can also just go to zillow.com, pick a house, and look at "Price / Tax History". Around here it only shows the most recent price paid for the house.

I used it to check a co-worker who just moved to Georgia - $775k for a 6800sq ft house. He must be working hard!

Christ that's a big house.  My sister owned a 5000sq ft house, which was a beautiful and comfortable house, but ridiculously big.  6800, I can't even imagine living in a house that big... there'd be parts of the house I'd wander in to and go 'shit, i forgot about this room'.

A lot of times the rooms just get bigger. An estate sale we went to recently was kind of like this:

-Master bedroom had a king bed, then a love seat and two sitting chairs with a coffee table.
-Family Room, kitchen, and eating area all were kind of the same room, and all opened into the sunroom/breakfast nook. All enormous
-Smallest bedroom (there were 3) was bigger than our master bedroom (we have 4)

mtn

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17063 on: March 30, 2017, 03:23:11 PM »
Good Lord!.

Quote
I'm glad I don't really have anything to lose if my house/apartment burns down (other than pets of course)

Isn't that an amazingly freeing feeling? I had family members whose house was burglarized while they were on vacation and they lost a lot of valuable items (coins, antiques, tools). They went through a ton of stress, time, money, and hassle with the police reporting, installing a security system and cameras, and being paranoid about always locking their house. I don't envy that.

If our house were to burn down the only things I would care about are 1) photos (backup drives are in the safe, but need to be rotated out more frequently) and 2) my toddler's favorite stuffed animal, 3) sentimental papers from childhood that are meaningless to anyone but me. Everything else can be replaced or is something we can live without.

I'm trying to think of things that I'd really be upset about. My dogs, obviously. I consider [most] of my guitars to be living breathing creatures, I'd be upset about them. Then there are some things like my stereo that I really, really like and would be hard to replace since it is mostly vintage. But I'd be upset because it is a pain in the butt to actually replace them--they don't make a 1974 tube amp anymore. Otherwise everything is pretty replaceable. The things that aren't replaceable are heirlooms, but I'm not particularly attached to them other than the fact that the dining room set is perfect for our house.

Just a friendly reminder to everyone, take a video of everything in your house at least once a year and load it somewhere offsite (i.e. private setting youtube). Without receipts and documentation, even if the insurance did cover the shoes, would they have believed her?

Dave1442397

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17064 on: March 30, 2017, 03:53:35 PM »
You can also just go to zillow.com, pick a house, and look at "Price / Tax History". Around here it only shows the most recent price paid for the house.

I used it to check a co-worker who just moved to Georgia - $775k for a 6800sq ft house. He must be working hard!

Christ that's a big house.  My sister owned a 5000sq ft house, which was a beautiful and comfortable house, but ridiculously big.  6800, I can't even imagine living in a house that big... there'd be parts of the house I'd wander in to and go 'shit, i forgot about this room'.

A lot of times the rooms just get bigger. An estate sale we went to recently was kind of like this:

-Master bedroom had a king bed, then a love seat and two sitting chairs with a coffee table.
-Family Room, kitchen, and eating area all were kind of the same room, and all opened into the sunroom/breakfast nook. All enormous
-Smallest bedroom (there were 3) was bigger than our master bedroom (we have 4)

Maintenance is expensive, too. I have another friend with a 7500 sq ft house in Ohio. He just paid $78k for a new roof.

At least he can afford it. I wouldn't be surprised if he makes $78k in a couple of days.
« Last Edit: March 31, 2017, 05:52:15 AM by Dave1442397 »

Linea_Norway

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17065 on: March 31, 2017, 01:42:15 AM »
I had family members whose house was burglarized while they were on vacation and they lost a lot of valuable items (coins, antiques, tools). They went through a ton of stress, time, money, and hassle with the police reporting, installing a security system and cameras, and being paranoid about always locking their house. I don't envy that.

And this is smart. I've heard that burglars often visit the same house some weeks later, after the owners have replaced their stuff with new things.

paddedhat

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17066 on: March 31, 2017, 06:39:45 AM »
I've spent the last year listening to an employee of mine drone on and on about the pains of building a custom home. She and her husband combined might make what my wife and I make (she's a teacher at Headstart and is waaay underpaid), yet they spent over $400k on this house. We live in a LCOL area - median homes are in the $165k range - so this is definitely more house than they need for the three of them. We paid $210k for our place, which is less than half what they spent (last I heard with overruns, attorney fees, etc. they were approaching $459k). I was barely comfortable with $210k, but we also opted for a 15 year mortgage. Makes me kinda sad really, especially since they both work for the same company and literally have all their eggs in one basket.

The other point to factor is that their finished product will be a perpetual outlier in their community. I lived in, and built new homes in an area that closely matched your demographics, in fact the average resale number was $164K recently. The problem with isolated homes that are 2X+  the average in a LCOL, low housing cost area is that they tend to be a real bad 'investment". In a healthy market, a new home should be about 30% more than an existing similar older one. So it should be possible to find a similar decades old place for the low $300k range in their case. Unfortunately, what I frequently observed was a picture that wasn't so bright.  I lived in a nice community where most places were fairly new and worth less than $200k. A neighbor spent well over twice that to build a large, lavish Cape Cod. When it was time to sell they listed it for the mid-400s. The place showed incredibly well, and was in mint condition. In another location it might of been a spectacular bargain.  It took five years of being listed, and continual price reductions, until the couple took an offer in the high $200s recently.  They took a loss of almost $200K since the home just didn't fit the market.

mtn

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17067 on: March 31, 2017, 09:36:10 AM »

The Saab is a nice car. Probably 8 years old and in really good condition(I don't know my Saabs). 

Why lease another car? Why lease a car and run up the miles to the point you can't drive it, specially when you have a perfectly good running car???

I guess now I know why she considers the retiree lucky.

As a former SAAB owner, and someone who dearly misses my SAAB, I would never own a SAAB if I had to rely on it. It would only be part of an equation where I had an extra car (2 for me, or 3 for my wife and I). They make BMW's look like Toyota of the 90's in terms of reliability.

cheapass

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17068 on: March 31, 2017, 09:45:41 AM »
The wife went out for a happy hour with a couple of coworkers last night. One of the CW recently took a position in a high stress, marginally higher paying role and she's been trying to convince my wife to apply for an opening in her department. For context, CW just leased (rented) a BMW and bought a fancypants luxury purse.

Check comes, CW grabs it... "Here, let me pay for this, I have money now. See, if you take that job you can have money too!"

Oh yeah, thanks for taking the bill, that $50 tab for 3 people was going to sink our family into financial catastrophe!! If only we could afford to spend money too!!

Ann

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17069 on: March 31, 2017, 10:02:17 AM »
The wife went out for a happy hour with a couple of coworkers last night. One of the CW recently took a position in a high stress, marginally higher paying role and she's been trying to convince my wife to apply for an opening in her department. For context, CW just leased (rented) a BMW and bought a fancypants luxury purse.

Check comes, CW grabs it... "Here, let me pay for this, I have money now. See, if you take that job you can have money too!"

Oh yeah, thanks for taking the bill, that $50 tab for 3 people was going to sink our family into financial catastrophe!! If only we could afford to spend money too!!
Condescending, but at least she didn't turn to your wife and ask if she could "cover" the bar tab this time because she was a little behind, what with her new lease at all . . .

Just Joe

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17070 on: March 31, 2017, 10:16:24 AM »
And this is smart. I've heard that burglars often visit the same house some weeks later, after the owners have replaced their stuff with new things.

This happened to some friends a few years ago. Think you lose peace of mind when you got robbed? How about twice? They lost some nice things.

My roomies and I were robbed years ago. I had nothing so I lost a walkman radio and not much else. Roomie #1 was a shopper and lost $2K worth of electronics and music. Remember when stereos and basic TVs were expensive?

He didn't care. Just an excuse to go shopping again.

MgoSam

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17071 on: March 31, 2017, 10:56:46 AM »
The wife went out for a happy hour with a couple of coworkers last night. One of the CW recently took a position in a high stress, marginally higher paying role and she's been trying to convince my wife to apply for an opening in her department. For context, CW just leased (rented) a BMW and bought a fancypants luxury purse.

Check comes, CW grabs it... "Here, let me pay for this, I have money now. See, if you take that job you can have money too!"

Oh yeah, thanks for taking the bill, that $50 tab for 3 people was going to sink our family into financial catastrophe!! If only we could afford to spend money too!!
Condescending, but at least she didn't turn to your wife and ask if she could "cover" the bar tab this time because she was a little behind, what with her new lease at all . . .

Having not been a professional for very long, did it used to be a thing where people insisted on picking up the check? I ask because it seems almost second-nature for waitresses to ask "separate checks," and for us to nod our head. I prefer it this way as I pay for what I've ordered and I won't be paying for my friend's top shelf vodka.

MrMoogle

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17072 on: March 31, 2017, 11:05:12 AM »
The wife went out for a happy hour with a couple of coworkers last night. One of the CW recently took a position in a high stress, marginally higher paying role and she's been trying to convince my wife to apply for an opening in her department. For context, CW just leased (rented) a BMW and bought a fancypants luxury purse.

Check comes, CW grabs it... "Here, let me pay for this, I have money now. See, if you take that job you can have money too!"

Oh yeah, thanks for taking the bill, that $50 tab for 3 people was going to sink our family into financial catastrophe!! If only we could afford to spend money too!!
Condescending, but at least she didn't turn to your wife and ask if she could "cover" the bar tab this time because she was a little behind, what with her new lease at all . . .

Having not been a professional for very long, did it used to be a thing where people insisted on picking up the check? I ask because it seems almost second-nature for waitresses to ask "separate checks," and for us to nod our head. I prefer it this way as I pay for what I've ordered and I won't be paying for my friend's top shelf vodka.
There's a couple ex coworkers that I'll usually (try to) buy lunch for when it's 1 on 1.  We don't go out for drinks, and it's usually just water and a meal.  But about half the time they buy lunch for me, so it works out. 

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17073 on: March 31, 2017, 03:42:50 PM »
The topic of saving came up at work.

One girl (early 20s) said she couldn't save more than $50/week.

Earlier in the week she had been raving about her favourite shampoo, which happens to cost $18 for 385ml (and the same for conditioner).

I'm sure the spending and lack of saving are completely unrelated...

Ebrat

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17074 on: March 31, 2017, 05:22:32 PM »
The topic of saving came up at work.

One girl (early 20s) said she couldn't save more than $50/week.

Earlier in the week she had been raving about her favourite shampoo, which happens to cost $18 for 385ml (and the same for conditioner).

I'm sure the spending and lack of saving are completely unrelated...

I mean, I spend a facepunch-worthy $65 for a liter of shampoo, but it lasts me over a year, and I'm saving way more than 50 buck a week...

Goldielocks

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17075 on: March 31, 2017, 10:40:15 PM »
I have a work issue today.  After reading about all the shame and comedy when employees complain that their paychecks are late, I feel a bit selfish for this...

I quit work on March 10th, last day, with over 6 weeks of notice given.   HR has failed to enter my final paperwork twice now, so that I have have to wait an extra 4 (FOUR!) weeks to get my vacation payout.   This was intended to be my self-created severance pay, representing 5 weeks of work.


Am I crazy to feel put out that they made mistakes and delaying payout by 4 weeks?   I don't NEED the money today.  I would just sleep better if I had control over it.

Smokystache

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17076 on: April 01, 2017, 05:25:32 AM »
This is a little different type of story - but it makes me want to face-palm so....
I teach at a small private college. One of my freshmen advisees is working 50 hours a week to help pay for college and trying to be a pre-med major (even though she hates science classes ... but that's another post). She is currently averaging about a D in her classes and failing our most basic chemistry class (chemistry for non-science majors). Her time working is definitely causing her poor GPA.

"But I have to work to pay for college!" Me: "Yes, but working that much is causing you to fail most of your classes. What good does it do to work like a dog to pay for classes that you don't pass. If you don't pass them, they don't count - even if you transfer."

"But I have to work to pay for college ...."   Sigh.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17077 on: April 01, 2017, 05:40:50 AM »
I have a work issue today.  After reading about all the shame and comedy when employees complain that their paychecks are late, I feel a bit selfish for this...

I quit work on March 10th, last day, with over 6 weeks of notice given.   HR has failed to enter my final paperwork twice now, so that I have have to wait an extra 4 (FOUR!) weeks to get my vacation payout.   This was intended to be my self-created severance pay, representing 5 weeks of work.


Am I crazy to feel put out that they made mistakes and delaying payout by 4 weeks?   I don't NEED the money today.  I would just sleep better if I had control over it.

No, you are nor crazy. A company could also go bankrupt while you are still waiting for your money.
I don't know their agenda, but they might have done it on purpose for whatever reason. Maybe just jealousy. Ask again for your money at a level higher in the organization.

Ann

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17078 on: April 01, 2017, 06:27:59 AM »
I have a work issue today.  After reading about all the shame and comedy when employees complain that their paychecks are late, I feel a bit selfish for this...

I quit work on March 10th, last day, with over 6 weeks of notice given.   HR has failed to enter my final paperwork twice now, so that I have have to wait an extra 4 (FOUR!) weeks to get my vacation payout.   This was intended to be my self-created severance pay, representing 5 weeks of work.


Am I crazy to feel put out that they made mistakes and delaying payout by 4 weeks?   I don't NEED the money today.  I would just sleep better if I had control over it.

While it is sad when a delayed check completely screws up someone's life because they are so financially on the edge, I don't think it's non-Mustachian to complain when a paycheck it late.  An employer expects the employees to be on time (or have projects in on time if they work from home).  Employees should expect to be paid on time.  In general the pay schedule to explained during orientation or in the employee manual. 

FIT_Goat

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17079 on: April 01, 2017, 09:47:33 AM »
A delayed paycheck would mess my system up, if I wasn't expecting it. I have every dollar going to different areas with automatic transfers. My usual buffer in my checking account is less than a full paycheck. I could move money from my emergency fund to cover a missed check or even several checks, but if I didn't expect it I could bounce.

Fortunately, my job is really good about pays. It is usually in my account the day before it is supposed to be. I would be pretty upset if they failed to pay me. Even though it wouldn't wreck me.

RWD

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17080 on: April 01, 2017, 10:06:34 AM »
A delayed paycheck would mess my system up, if I wasn't expecting it. I have every dollar going to different areas with automatic transfers. My usual buffer in my checking account is less than a full paycheck. I could move money from my emergency fund to cover a missed check or even several checks, but if I didn't expect it I could bounce.

Fortunately, my job is really good about pays. It is usually in my account the day before it is supposed to be. I would be pretty upset if they failed to pay me. Even though it wouldn't wreck me.

I used to run relatively tight tolerances like that on my checking accounts. Then I got burned when my credit union changed their online systems and it didn't save an auto-transfer that I needed to pay my mortgage on time. The transfer was set the week before the mortgage was due, so I didn't catch it until the mortgage payment bounced... Now I keep approximately a one-month expenses buffer to give myself plenty of time to catch potential issues in advance.

alewpanda

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17081 on: April 01, 2017, 11:05:58 AM »
A girl at work (27 yrs old I think) recently had her mom's house burn down and she told me she had $20k of shoes she lost. Not even including heels or her kid's shoes, but her Jordans and other shoes that are often $160 a pair. She's been collecting them since high school.

She's making $11-$12 an hour right now, and made like $18 an hour in the past. So $20k is not a small chunk by any means.

They did have insurance on the house but not enough to cover everything after the house itself.

I'm glad I don't really have anything to lose if my house/apartment burns down (other than pets of course). The two most expensive things would be my bike, then my mattress.


I babysit occasionally for friends of mine with 4 kids.  I know they buy lots of junk food, toys, and of course, have the expenses of 4 kids.  They laugh about the expense of groceries and how it matches their mortgage payments.... she works a government job in accounting or something related and he is a school teacher.


He has (at last count) 3 utility shelves (the metal/garage style ones) filled FULL (think, stacked from shelf to the bottom of the next shelf)  of Jordans and fancy Nike shoes.  The top of their wall length closet is also packed from shelf to ceiling with such shoes.  They are still in the boxes, he rotates wearing them, and if it rains, he has a back up pair of "crappy" (aka, normal) shoes to wear instead, and carries his Jordans in his backpack.

He likely has over 300 pairs of these things.  And he is over 6 foot, so I'm sure his size is unusual and potentially more expensive (I wouldn't know...I've never bought Jordans). 



If that were all, I'd be like "whatever, thats his thing".  NOPE.  He also has almost a full basement (2 small rooms are kids rooms, that main living space and extra room in the basement are his) FULL of cardinal baseball stuff.

Collectibles, signed stuff, autographed balls, etc.  FULL, as in, no wall space, most of the floor space taken up with the displays....shelves everywhere full.

The amount of money spent on his "collections" makes me wince...particularly since I get their mail for them too, and I know they still owe on student loans, and they are in their early/mid 30s. 

LennStar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17082 on: April 01, 2017, 12:23:21 PM »
So he isn't even "collecting" those shoes, but using them?
And then not using them if they might *gasp* get wet?
WTF?
He has more then I will ever use in my whole life, so even if he wears a few pairs down he still has lots and then can put back the out-used in their box without having to take them out again!


alewpanda

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17083 on: April 01, 2017, 05:23:17 PM »
So he isn't even "collecting" those shoes, but using them?
And then not using them if they might *gasp* get wet?
WTF?
He has more then I will ever use in my whole life, so even if he wears a few pairs down he still has lots and then can put back the out-used in their box without having to take them out again!

Yeah, its pretty outrageous.  I wear out maybe a pair of shoes a year...maybe 2 if you count summer sandals.  And I wear the same couple year round...

I know he is still occasionally purchasing too...he and his son occasionally get matching pairs (son is 2) and he posts new pairs once in a while on social media. 

Its painful...

Ralph2

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17084 on: April 01, 2017, 11:14:49 PM »
My coworkers were late to our usual 'coffee run' (to the kitchen to use the company-provided Keurigs), because they were shopping. Apparently Lids is having a huge sale on MLB gear. One guy said he bought 10 shirts - I said I recently had to pare down my clothing because dresser was full, and his response was 'that's when you overflow to the guest bedroom closets'. Kidding? Not sure.

The bad part is...I'm thinking about buying a couple things too. *facepalm*
Though I won't feel guilty at all about buying a few gift items (because it is a good deal), it's the things I want but don't need that are haunting me.


And I feel bad because I bought a new belt before the old one broke, didn't even try to repair the old one;)
The old belt will be repurposed or disposed of.

Depends on how often you buy things that are wants that differs us from the over spenders, it also matters if the wants are just stockpiled and never used.

Note to self, check the nut & bolt collection in case I nee to replace some not used that are rusty

Joggernot

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17085 on: April 02, 2017, 07:01:11 AM »
And I feel bad because I bought a new belt before the old one broke, didn't even try to repair the old one;)
The old belt will be repurposed or disposed of.
Give the belt to someone who does woodcarving or likes to sharpen kitchen knives.  They will make a strop from it and will be grateful for the leather.

LennStar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17086 on: April 02, 2017, 07:28:30 AM »
And I feel bad because I bought a new belt before the old one broke, didn't even try to repair the old one;)
The old belt will be repurposed or disposed of.
Give the belt to someone who does woodcarving or likes to sharpen kitchen knives.  They will make a strop from it and will be grateful for the leather.
How do you sharpen a knife with leather?

lemanfan

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17087 on: April 02, 2017, 07:35:11 AM »
How do you sharpen a knife with leather?

The final part of sharpening, when refining the edge to get the final sharpness out of the blade is called "stropping".  Leather is sought after for this. Sometimes the leather is "loaded" with a polishing compound, but often the leather is used as is.

If you e.g. see an old time barber with a straight razor, they often do the stropping of the razor on something that looks like leather belt. 

Newspapers or cardboard pieces are also sometimes used for this purpose. Or a very fine grained sharpening stone.
« Last Edit: April 02, 2017, 07:43:36 AM by lemanfan »

jinga nation

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17088 on: April 03, 2017, 06:52:16 AM »
And I feel bad because I bought a new belt before the old one broke, didn't even try to repair the old one;)
The old belt will be repurposed or disposed of.
My parents and grandparents (I grew up in a multi-gen home) raised my brother and me this way. Trainers replaced when old ones were worn out. If they were tight, they went to my brother. Some shirts and pants passed from my dad to me to my brother. Pants became shorts; grandma got mad sewing macheen skillz, yo! New pair of clothes and shoes either on birthday or Diwali (Indian New Year's Eve), but not both, and not always.
My brother and I used to complain how our cousins had so much, but now we realize that the minimalist training was good for us, and we're grateful for it. My wife grew up the same way. Focus was on health and fitness instead of materialism.
George Carlin said it best: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvgN5gCuLac

kelvin

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17089 on: April 03, 2017, 11:44:56 AM »
I have a work issue today.  After reading about all the shame and comedy when employees complain that their paychecks are late, I feel a bit selfish for this...

I quit work on March 10th, last day, with over 6 weeks of notice given.   HR has failed to enter my final paperwork twice now, so that I have have to wait an extra 4 (FOUR!) weeks to get my vacation payout.   This was intended to be my self-created severance pay, representing 5 weeks of work.


Am I crazy to feel put out that they made mistakes and delaying payout by 4 weeks?   I don't NEED the money today.  I would just sleep better if I had control over it.

That last line about control? That's why you're leaving the company in the first place. Go ahead and be upset about it, you're trying to get your life together and they're still f***ing it up.

LennStar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17090 on: April 03, 2017, 11:59:25 AM »
I have a work issue today.  After reading about all the shame and comedy when employees complain that their paychecks are late, I feel a bit selfish for this...

I quit work on March 10th, last day, with over 6 weeks of notice given.   HR has failed to enter my final paperwork twice now, so that I have have to wait an extra 4 (FOUR!) weeks to get my vacation payout.   This was intended to be my self-created severance pay, representing 5 weeks of work.


Am I crazy to feel put out that they made mistakes and delaying payout by 4 weeks?   I don't NEED the money today.  I would just sleep better if I had control over it.

That last line about control? That's why you're leaving the company in the first place. Go ahead and be upset about it, you're trying to get your life together and they're still f***ing it up.
Start to add interest on the pay you are (over)due. 6% over baserate is the legal here.

BDWW

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17091 on: April 03, 2017, 12:50:13 PM »
And I feel bad because I bought a new belt before the old one broke, didn't even try to repair the old one;)
The old belt will be repurposed or disposed of.
Give the belt to someone who does woodcarving or likes to sharpen kitchen knives.  They will make a strop from it and will be grateful for the leather.

It's a nice thought, but most belts make terrible strops. Here's a hint if you want a quality leather product, make sure it says "Top Grain" or "Full Grain".   The "Genuine Leather" label only means it actually came from a cow, but the leather quality is terrible. Often belts are some sort of fabric core with a very thin layer of "genuine" leather on top. And by the time they wear out, the leather is haggard and pretty worthless. Also, most belts are too thin width-wise (vertical while wearing) to be much use. Now if it's a wide, solid leather belt, that might be worth something.

Edit: Oh yeah, stay away from anything that says "Bonded Leather", that's what designates it as pretty much leather veneer over some other material.
« Last Edit: April 03, 2017, 12:52:49 PM by BDWW »

Joggernot

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17092 on: April 03, 2017, 02:45:37 PM »
I'm in Texas and buy wide "cowboy" belts from our local thrift store and glue them to a flat board.  But you are definitely right about "dress" belts.  They don't work.

Dicey

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17093 on: April 04, 2017, 09:19:06 AM »
One of my guilty little pleasures is looking up what my co-workers paid for their homes. I feel downright giddy when I see that they've paid $100k to $200k more than me for the privilege of owning a piece of the real estate pie in this very high cost of living metro area. Sure, our house is small and not in the fancy school district, but for me, it's our golden ticket out of the cube farm.
Oooh, the nosey person in me wants to do that too! How does one go about this?
Zillow is easier. Just type in the address and scroll down to the Price History tab. It also shows you how much over the asking price they paid. Sometimes their listing photos are still up, for added voyeuristic thrills.

Dicey

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17094 on: April 04, 2017, 09:39:01 AM »
She smokes about 2 packs a week at $50 a pop ($1/cig). Plus her partner smokes even more. Total: $800/month

Cigarettes come in packs of 50 and are $50 there?  Not sure which of those numbers is weirder..

OMG, I looked this up, and yes, there is a $40+ tax on a pack of cigarettes in Australia. And they are sold in packs of 20-50 with various increments in between.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3572446/Budget-2016-cigarettes-40-packets-make-Australia-world-s-expensive.htmlu

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigarette_pack (source for packs of 50)

I have to come out here as a smoker, which is totally un-mustachian, as it is pretty clearly destroying my health (and even though I equate smoking with pleasure, it's not really the pursuit of happiness). But, I roll my own and use pipe tobacco, which is the same as cigarette tobacco, just cut differently, as I understand it -- and it is not taxed at the rate cigarettes are in the U.S.  It costs me $1 per pack!

You're killing yourself, but you're doing it frugally? #Getthefuckouttahere!

marielle

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17095 on: April 04, 2017, 10:32:22 AM »
Got a coworker some snacks from the international food store since he's not close to one. He said he can't pay me until Friday (payday). The total is $5...

He only makes $12/hour but still!

He also just bought an SUV for $6000 (with a loan of course) despite being 20, single, and no kids. At least he drove the last car past 300k miles. I really don't get people and their SUVs, especially in the south where it snows MAYBE once a year.

BlueHouse

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17096 on: April 04, 2017, 11:15:50 AM »
Got a coworker some snacks from the international food store since he's not close to one. He said he can't pay me until Friday (payday). The total is $5...

He only makes $12/hour but still!

He also just bought an SUV for $6000 (with a loan of course) despite being 20, single, and no kids. At least he drove the last car past 300k miles. I really don't get people and their SUVs, especially in the south where it snows MAYBE once a year.

I just cannot understand how someone could expect you to cover them until payday, regardless of how much it was.  Now, I'm assuming that they asked you to pick these items up knowing that they couldn't repay you immediately.  If that is so, that is so so wrong.  Who made you their bank?

marielle

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17097 on: April 04, 2017, 11:29:42 AM »
Got a coworker some snacks from the international food store since he's not close to one. He said he can't pay me until Friday (payday). The total is $5...

He only makes $12/hour but still!

He also just bought an SUV for $6000 (with a loan of course) despite being 20, single, and no kids. At least he drove the last car past 300k miles. I really don't get people and their SUVs, especially in the south where it snows MAYBE once a year.

I just cannot understand how someone could expect you to cover them until payday, regardless of how much it was.  Now, I'm assuming that they asked you to pick these items up knowing that they couldn't repay you immediately.  If that is so, that is so so wrong.  Who made you their bank?

Nah, that wasn't really the case. I wasn't going to go to the store until after payday anyway, but ended up being able to go a week early and asked if he wanted them now. I posted the story because he can't cover a $5 expense unless it's after payday...

BlueHouse

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17098 on: April 04, 2017, 01:38:50 PM »
Got a coworker some snacks from the international food store since he's not close to one. He said he can't pay me until Friday (payday). The total is $5...

He only makes $12/hour but still!

He also just bought an SUV for $6000 (with a loan of course) despite being 20, single, and no kids. At least he drove the last car past 300k miles. I really don't get people and their SUVs, especially in the south where it snows MAYBE once a year.

I just cannot understand how someone could expect you to cover them until payday, regardless of how much it was.  Now, I'm assuming that they asked you to pick these items up knowing that they couldn't repay you immediately.  If that is so, that is so so wrong.  Who made you their bank?

Nah, that wasn't really the case. I wasn't going to go to the store until after payday anyway, but ended up being able to go a week early and asked if he wanted them now. I posted the story because he can't cover a $5 expense unless it's after payday...
Ahhh, got it.  not being able to cover $5 is not great. But I'm glad they weren't also taking advantage of your generosity. 

Vindicated

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #17099 on: April 04, 2017, 01:50:28 PM »
I really enjoy my coworkers.  They're a fun bunch.  But when I leave the group outing at 7pm to get home in time to tuck my son in, they stay out.  LATE.

My workplace is made up of serious gamblers and strip club connoisseurs.  It's not unusual to hear about someone dropping $800 on blackjack the night before, or having a coworker tell me he didn't sleep the night before because he went from restaurant, to bar, to strip club, to casino, home to shower, then to work.

I'm sure I'll have some more stories to share.