Author Topic: Overheard at Work  (Read 13253028 times)

Insanity

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1800 on: February 18, 2014, 12:09:42 PM »
I know the whole "should you pay for your kid's college" thing depends on your parenting/financial philosophy, but if you're willing to pay for college, shouldn't you...I don't know...get to have a say in where the kid goes?? A 17-year-old is not capable of making such a big decision, nor should his parents just sit idly by while their son makes decisions on what their money should go toward!

I made my decision at 16.  My parents supported it. 

Of course, they didn't get me a car.  But then, they never said they were getting me a car for a high school graduation gift.

Random Hangers

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1801 on: February 18, 2014, 12:15:22 PM »
I think the difference (for me anyway) is that if the kid stays in-state, the four years of tuition is already paid for via the pre-paid program. If he goes out of state, his parents will have to come up with the out-of-state tuition and I'm not sure how much of the pre-paid will apply. So it would be like them paying for it twice, which I would think would factor into the equation.

Insanity

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1802 on: February 18, 2014, 12:21:57 PM »
I think the difference (for me anyway) is that if the kid stays in-state, the four years of tuition is already paid for via the pre-paid program. If he goes out of state, his parents will have to come up with the out-of-state tuition and I'm not sure how much of the pre-paid will apply. So it would be like them paying for it twice, which I would think would factor into the equation.

how was the pre-pay set up?

Random Hangers

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1803 on: February 18, 2014, 12:44:44 PM »
Not sure how the pre-pay was set up, since I was just eavesdropping. The guy implied that, depending on the college, it might try to match some of the pre-pay amount with a scholarship. So it's a FL pre-paid program, but when they spoke to some college in AL after Son got accepted there, it said that it would drop the tuition basically to the same rate that an in-state Alabama resident would pay, to sweeten the deal.

But that means the dad would still have to come up with that tuition, versus if the kid went to a Florida school and tuition was (largely?) taken care of.

huadpe

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1804 on: February 18, 2014, 01:39:06 PM »
Not sure how the pre-pay was set up, since I was just eavesdropping. The guy implied that, depending on the college, it might try to match some of the pre-pay amount with a scholarship. So it's a FL pre-paid program, but when they spoke to some college in AL after Son got accepted there, it said that it would drop the tuition basically to the same rate that an in-state Alabama resident would pay, to sweeten the deal.

But that means the dad would still have to come up with that tuition, versus if the kid went to a Florida school and tuition was (largely?) taken care of.

http://www.myfloridaprepaid.com/what-we-offer/four-year-university-plan/

Looks to be that?  In that case, the amount paid to FL can be applied to tuition at any school in the US.  If the kid gets a certain scholarship, then FL will pay another school the amount it would have covered at a FL school (more than what was paid in).  I suppose it would depend on the financial aid offer, but it's possible an out of state school could end up being not much more expensive than in state, and then needing to decide if that's worthwhile.  My guess is not, but I am not an expert, just googled it.

Random Hangers

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1805 on: February 18, 2014, 01:54:40 PM »
Oh, dear. Anyone know where I can get a Jumping to Conclusions mat for myself these days? :-) I must've misinterpreted what the guy was saying; I thought he was going to have to pony up more cash if Son went out of state, but I guess that might not be the case. Mea culpa!

swick

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1806 on: February 18, 2014, 02:15:52 PM »
2010 :Overhearing one of the boys at work saying that they have a hard time living on such small wages in such an expensive province (Alberta). He couldn't make his child support payment this month because of a drunk driving charge he received awhile back and how is current GF totalled his car and was charged with no insurance and no drivers licence... A few weeks later his GF bought him $2000 bucks in coke to help him relax for his birthday.

2011: Another guy, who while not too horrible with his money (only has a 60K loan on an used Audi, living with mom & dad, no savings), also needed to somehow save up 10k to pay for his lawyer to fight his DUI charge. He really needs to drive; how else will you go out and spend 2k a night partying if you can't drive there?

Both were fired for being idiots at later dates .....
This right here is why car insurance is so darn expensive in Alberta!

The Bearded Bank Builder

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1807 on: February 18, 2014, 02:54:33 PM »
I had to fly with the VP of Marketing from my company to a client visit (She makes easily 4x my salary).  In the limo ride to the airport she starts to tell me how difficult it is to have two houses.  You see, she and her husband bought a house on the other side of lake Michigan (from Chicago) to have a place to go on the weekends.  She says, "You have no idea how much it costs to have two houses.  You need two of everything, vacuum cleaners, stoves, and don't get me started on my husband having to have a home theater setup in both locations.  This is costing me a fortune."

She is right that I have no idea (and never want to).

*Queue sarcastic sympathy* Aww, the poor thing, she just doesn't have enough money. I blame this on the government. *Queue dramatic voice* Can't a person have 2 luxury homes with home theaters without it being a financial burden??!!! The American Dream is dead! At least she's not one of those poor souls with only one house and NO HOME THEATER! Oh, the horror of it all!

*Back to normal voice* Btw that really disgusts me that she is both complaining about voluntarily spending huge sums of cash and at the same time clearly bragging about it...blecchhh.

Prairie Gal

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1808 on: February 19, 2014, 08:40:39 AM »
I was talking to a young co-worker recently (he is only 19) and he was telling me (in a bragging way) about his fancypants Jeep that he got. He pays a ton in insurance, maintenance costs are sky-high and for some reason the stupid car doesn't even have a spare tire because the front and rear wheels are different sizes (not even sure how that is possible). Anyway, because I do the payroll I know that this kid doesn't make much money. I tried to get through to him that he was basically working so that he could drive a fancy car, and that it was sucking him dry.  Yup, he agreed, but had no plans to sell it, he wanted to drive a fancypants car. BTW, he lives at home and has no plans to move out on his own.

AlanStache

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1809 on: February 19, 2014, 08:51:28 AM »
Quote
I was talking to a young co-worker recently (he is only 19) and he was telling me (in a bragging way) about his fancypants Jeep that he got. He pays a ton in insurance, maintenance costs are sky-high and for some reason the stupid car doesn't even have a spare tire because the front and rear wheels are different sizes (not even sure how that is possible). Anyway, because I do the payroll I know that this kid doesn't make much money. I tried to get through to him that he was basically working so that he could drive a fancy car, and that it was sucking him dry.  Yup, he agreed, but had no plans to sell it, he wanted to drive a fancypants car. BTW, he lives at home and has no plans to move out on his own.

You clearly dont live in a military town, this is about SOP for a good percent of those under 25 and is so common it does not even elicit an internal mental note.  Ridding a bike around base housing is like riding past a row of car dealerships, minus the inflatable dancing tube men.  Wish it were not so but maybe you can over the months save one guy.

fantabulous

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1810 on: February 19, 2014, 02:04:04 PM »
You clearly dont live in a military town, this is about SOP for a good percent of those under 25 and is so common it does not even elicit an internal mental note.  Ridding a bike around base housing is like riding past a row of car dealerships, minus the inflatable dancing tube men.  Wish it were not so but maybe you can over the months save one guy.

I don't suppose there's a position for "wacky waving arm inflatable specialist", is there?

jba302

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1811 on: February 19, 2014, 02:38:09 PM »
He pays a ton in insurance, maintenance costs are sky-high and for some reason the stupid car doesn't even have a spare tire because the front and rear wheels are different sizes (not even sure how that is possible).

I'm going to lose sleep if you don't follow up on what he means by this. Front/back might make sense (but be dumb). Side/Side would be dangerous. Maybe he means the spare offset is different, but that would be better than no spare and not as risky as no spare.

jordanread

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1812 on: February 19, 2014, 03:37:06 PM »
I accidentally turned on talk radio, and got to listen to the pure outrage of people when it "was discovered" that the Department of Transportation is taking money earned by vehicle registration fees to invest in public transit instead of widening roadways.

kittenstache

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1813 on: February 19, 2014, 04:03:05 PM »
Co-worker just bought her 15 1/2 year old daughter a Jeep Cherokee "so she can get her learner's permit".
Said co-worker is paid $11/hr, gets no child support from her ex, and she repeatedly says she'll have to "work 'till I die".

windawake

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1814 on: February 19, 2014, 08:49:27 PM »
I heard a good thing at work! I was chatting with my favorite coworker and mentioned something about MMM. He goes, what's that? I said, oh just this guy who retired at age 30 by saving over 60% of his income. And he leans towards me and in a whisper says, I do that.

HappierAtHome

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1815 on: February 19, 2014, 09:14:35 PM »
Co worker (who I love and wish wasn't like this) said she had to buy a $2000 mattress on a payment plan because she didn't have the money :-(

MMMdude

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1816 on: February 19, 2014, 09:20:23 PM »
Not so much something I overheard at work, but something my boss did.   He is quite wealthy and when I broached the topic of retirement he said it's not possible as he is accustomed to a certain lifestyle.  He had a 2012 truck and the other day bought the exact same truck, but in a 2014 model.  Only difference is interior and rims but they are only slightly different.  I guess that lifestyle includes dumb things like that

Adventine

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1817 on: February 19, 2014, 11:30:08 PM »
I heard a good thing at work! I was chatting with my favorite coworker and mentioned something about MMM. He goes, what's that? I said, oh just this guy who retired at age 30 by saving over 60% of his income. And he leans towards me and in a whisper says, I do that.

Not gonna lie, this is like my ultimate work fantasy.

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1818 on: February 19, 2014, 11:44:28 PM »
I heard a good thing at work! I was chatting with my favorite coworker and mentioned something about MMM. He goes, what's that? I said, oh just this guy who retired at age 30 by saving over 60% of his income. And he leans towards me and in a whisper says, I do that.

Not gonna lie, this is like my ultimate work fantasy.

I'm hoping all my coworkers (at or below my level) are like this.  Nobody owns a new car or drives to work, and most cars are really old.  It's clear nobody spends a lot on clothes.  Housing is expensive, but everyone seems to have reasonable accommodations for the area.  Many are married with a second income.  Vacations seem to be of the "visit my family in the midwest" variety.  It's possible they are just paying down student debt and will inflate their lifestyle soon.

Otsog

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1819 on: February 20, 2014, 12:00:04 AM »
From a gaming message board, these are all from the same guy in the same thread (that he started):

- sooooo this valantines day weekend I... spent just shy of $1500 on dinners. note to self to find one steady girlfriend for the month of February next year instead of juggling small casual stuff off okcupid and match.

- living in chicago, in mah 30s, you can't get away with taking a chick to fucking cheese cake factory anymore. If it aint michelin stared you can't fuck with it.

- Alinea, North Pond and Girl and the Goat. Girl and the Goat of course not a Michelin starred restaurant but the 'hip' place (and I think a james beard winner?) Also the cheapest, only about ~$80 a person with drinks which is perfectly reasonable in chicago. Alinea was the main squeeze girl who at this point probably does want to make things exclusive. But what's kinda funny about that is saturday I met a 4th chick just for lunch and she was super cool and chill, before that I would have gone along.

The rest of all you will hopefully one day be in a position where $1500 on food in a weekend wont be any big thing, keep up the work  :ok:

- I make a very comfortable living and I do pretty much live what most people would consider ridiculously frugally on what I make (i think i'm the only 1 in the position I hold at my office who is paying less than $2,000 a month in rent/mortage and less than $500 a month on a car note, hell, i dont think any of the other directors are paying less than probably $800 a  month on their dumb ass luxury cars.) I go to restaurants half a dozen to maybe a dozen times a year. New Years Eve, Valantines Day, my mom's birthday, mothers day and the other half dozen times I simply can't get out of it cause of work and naggy friends. So when I do go out it's all or nothing. I've posted a ton in the cooking threads that we did for like 2 weeks the other year so it's pretty obvious I love to cook and 9 outta 10 dates I go on do start out with me making dinner cause I'm cocky and think what I make is better than anything most restaurants can offer (and chicks dig it of course hehe) but I do love to dine it up in the big fancy places and honeslty not just to name drop but to see what it is people pay hundreds of bucks for.

Frugal_is_Fab

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1820 on: February 20, 2014, 04:00:47 AM »
Just saw the funniest thing near work but not inside it.   My office is in a very wealthy suburb of LA where some celebrities live. (I don't live there!)  Anyway, I saw a newer Mercedes Benz with "Student Driver" signs posted all over and the company name was something like "Mercedes driving school".   Does this imply that new teen drivers in this community get 50k+ cars as the first car?   WTF!!!!

Anyway...hysterical.  It's important to go to school to learn to drive a luxury car.  Nothing less will do for the little darlings.  HA! HA! HA!
« Last Edit: February 20, 2014, 04:02:25 AM by Frugal_is_Fab »

Frugal_is_Fab

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1821 on: February 20, 2014, 04:14:03 AM »
Overheard some folks I don't know at work during my lunch break:
She: So has your son decided where to go?
He: Not exactly.
She: [To other co-worker] He's paid into the state pre-paid program, but his son doesn't know if he wants to stay here.
He: We talked about it this week, and Son just isn't sure where he wants to go. He did remind us that we promised him a new car when he graduates high school. I told him he has a better shot at a new car [I presume otherwise it would be used, lol] if he stays in state. That way he'd get the new car, have 4 years of college paid for, and it will give us those 4 years to save up for his graduate school. I hope he chooses that.
She: Yeah, that's the best option. Hopefully he'll realize that soon."






I know the whole "should you pay for your kid's college" thing depends on your parenting/financial philosophy, but if you're willing to pay for college, shouldn't you...I don't know...get to have a say in where the kid goes?? A 17-year-old is not capable of making such a big decision, nor should his parents just sit idly by while their son makes decisions on what their money should go toward! And saving up for his graduate school, too? This guy looked older, at least in his late 40s/early 50s; I think that money would be better served going into his retirement fund.

Never mind the whole idea of buying a college freshman a new car when most college campuses either don't have room for or straight up don't allow cars your first year. And what do you need one for? You can walk most campuses pretty easily and really only need to bum rides to the airport or train/bus station to go home for the holidays. Sheesh.

This reminds me of my year of internal eye rolling while I had to listen to a coworker's endless bragging about her "wonder" son who was going to an expensive out of state school as a freshman to major in engineering , whereas my lesser child went to a mere community college the two years.   After all the drama of her getting darling to school, established in an expensive fraternity and paying for it all,  her little darling decided to leave the expensive out of state school and is now at (drum roll please!!!).   Community College!
He also doesn't like engineering and has no major

Doesn't even have a full schedule of classes because he had to enroll late after returning from expensive out of state school.  30k flushed down to commode!
« Last Edit: February 20, 2014, 04:16:36 AM by Frugal_is_Fab »

Frugal_is_Fab

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1822 on: February 20, 2014, 04:37:39 AM »
OK, this does not belong here at all, since it wasn't overheard and it's not shame-worthy.  But I'm too lazy to start my own thread, and this one has the word "work" in the title, so good enough.

A colleague of mine came up to me today and said, "Every time I go to spend money, I think of what you told me:  every bit of money I spend now is taking away freedom of choice from the future me.  Sometimes I still spend it, but sometimes that stops me."

How cool is that?

Totally cool!  I know it will never happen to me.  This is why I have to come out here a vent once in awhile.

Sometimes I want to put a big giant NO sign on my cube wall because people have no memory

NO! I don't want to go out for a $20 lunch
NO! I don't want to go to Starbucks!
NO! I don't want to be in the Lotto Pool
NO! I didn't watch last night's episode of (fill in the blank dumbass reality show).   I've been researching investments instead.


Of course, I'm much more tactful in real life.

skyrefuge

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1823 on: February 20, 2014, 09:24:58 AM »
I saw a newer Mercedes Benz with "Student Driver" signs posted all over and the company name was something like "Mercedes driving school".

Looks like it's this: http://www.mb-drivingacademy.com

$1390 for their integrated program for teen driving.

A comparable program at http://www.deltadrivingschool.com/ (randomly picked from a Google search) is $860. So the Mercedes one actually isn't quite as bad of a ripoff as I was expecting, I thought it would be like 3x the normal cost; this is only 1.6x.

However, Mercedes-Benz almost surely created their school primarily as a marketing effort, so the fact that they can actually get *income* from their advertising is the evil-genius part to the whole scheme (and that's what truly makes it Antimustachian!)

(it should be noted that the Mercedes program has 16 hours of behind-the-wheel training, so I priced Delta with the same amount. California only requires 6 hours though, so the requirements can be met for considerably less money than even Delta).

stevesteve

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1824 on: February 20, 2014, 09:39:09 AM »
On my way to work on the platform I heard a woman tell a sad story:

"I've never been this behind before.  I haven't bought anything extra.  ...  Well, I bought some shoes.  ... I guess I also get pants but..."

It was kind of sad.

I don't hear much at my current work.  I think most everyone I work with would be pretty ashamed to talk about being in debt.  I bet a few of them are frugal and most make good money, save a bit for retirement, and spend a good amount on 'nice things'.  In general the only time I hear about money is 'my house renovation quote cost too much so I didn't do it' or 'it's worth spending a bit to have someone move for you'.

OK, this does not belong here at all, since it wasn't overheard and it's not shame-worthy.  But I'm too lazy to start my own thread, and this one has the word "work" in the title, so good enough.

A colleague of mine came up to me today and said, "Every time I go to spend money, I think of what you told me:  every bit of money I spend now is taking away freedom of choice from the future me.  Sometimes I still spend it, but sometimes that stops me."

How cool is that?

Totally cool!  I know it will never happen to me.  This is why I have to come out here a vent once in awhile.

Sometimes I want to put a big giant NO sign on my cube wall because people have no memory

NO! I don't want to go out for a $20 lunch
NO! I don't want to go to Starbucks!
NO! I don't want to be in the Lotto Pool
NO! I didn't watch last night's episode of (fill in the blank dumbass reality show).   I've been researching investments instead.


Of course, I'm much more tactful in real life.

Yeah, I definitely hope you're more tactful!  I've taken a different angle.  Yes, I will go to Starbucks with you for the walk.  Yes, I will go to lunch sometimes and get a cheap soup, a drink, or sometimes nothing.  We also have cafeteria places where I can eat my homemade lunch while they eat whatever.  No, I will not be in the Lotto pool.

I like my coworkers so I generally like to do things with them.  I don't want to be the guy who just sits in his cubicle at lunch and would much rather eat with my coworkers.  I like to think I get the best of both worlds.

Ashyukun

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1825 on: February 20, 2014, 09:49:01 AM »
He pays a ton in insurance, maintenance costs are sky-high and for some reason the stupid car doesn't even have a spare tire because the front and rear wheels are different sizes (not even sure how that is possible).

I'm going to lose sleep if you don't follow up on what he means by this. Front/back might make sense (but be dumb). Side/Side would be dangerous. Maybe he means the spare offset is different, but that would be better than no spare and not as risky as no spare.

Eh, front/back isn't really a problem though isn't very common. One of my cars has it because they needed to do it for weight balance, and I often see it on more purpose-built (usually for racing) vehicles. It is odd though that they wouldn't include a spare at all- my car with the different size wheels/tires still has a common lug pattern and a spare, so while it will drive a bit oddly you can pop any of the tires and still put the spare on and still be able to limp to a service place.

lifejoy

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1826 on: February 20, 2014, 10:01:00 AM »
I heard a good thing at work! I was chatting with my favorite coworker and mentioned something about MMM. He goes, what's that? I said, oh just this guy who retired at age 30 by saving over 60% of his income. And he leans towards me and in a whisper says, I do that.

Not gonna lie, this is like my ultimate work fantasy.

Mine too! I want to be the one that gets to whisper those magical words!!

Elaine

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1827 on: February 20, 2014, 01:57:50 PM »
Oh my god, this is insane you guys. My work has an INCREDIBLE retirement plan, full matching. This girl and I talk about money a lot, and she thinks she's very frugal- I thought she was too until she told me that she doesn't use our 401b because she's "saving for a house". WTF?!

nicknageli

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1828 on: February 20, 2014, 02:07:52 PM »
Oh my god, this is insane you guys. My work has an INCREDIBLE retirement plan, full matching. This girl and I talk about money a lot, and she thinks she's very frugal- I thought she was too until she told me that she doesn't use our 401b because she's "saving for a house". WTF?!


galliver

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1829 on: February 20, 2014, 07:59:13 PM »
Overheard some folks I don't know at work during my lunch break:
She: So has your son decided where to go?
He: Not exactly.
She: [To other co-worker] He's paid into the state pre-paid program, but his son doesn't know if he wants to stay here.
He: We talked about it this week, and Son just isn't sure where he wants to go. He did remind us that we promised him a new car when he graduates high school. I told him he has a better shot at a new car [I presume otherwise it would be used, lol] if he stays in state. That way he'd get the new car, have 4 years of college paid for, and it will give us those 4 years to save up for his graduate school. I hope he chooses that.
She: Yeah, that's the best option. Hopefully he'll realize that soon."






I know the whole "should you pay for your kid's college" thing depends on your parenting/financial philosophy, but if you're willing to pay for college, shouldn't you...I don't know...get to have a say in where the kid goes?? A 17-year-old is not capable of making such a big decision, nor should his parents just sit idly by while their son makes decisions on what their money should go toward! And saving up for his graduate school, too? This guy looked older, at least in his late 40s/early 50s; I think that money would be better served going into his retirement fund.

Never mind the whole idea of buying a college freshman a new car when most college campuses either don't have room for or straight up don't allow cars your first year. And what do you need one for? You can walk most campuses pretty easily and really only need to bum rides to the airport or train/bus station to go home for the holidays. Sheesh.

This reminds me of my year of internal eye rolling while I had to listen to a coworker's endless bragging about her "wonder" son who was going to an expensive out of state school as a freshman to major in engineering , whereas my lesser child went to a mere community college the two years.   After all the drama of her getting darling to school, established in an expensive fraternity and paying for it all,  her little darling decided to leave the expensive out of state school and is now at (drum roll please!!!).   Community College!
He also doesn't like engineering and has no major

Doesn't even have a full schedule of classes because he had to enroll late after returning from expensive out of state school.  30k flushed down to commode!

I had 4 friends whose parents sent them to Fancypants Private HS. (Tuition is currently $38,900, but this was around 10 years ago). I went to (carefully selected) public schools. 3 friends actually did quite well, but no better than my classmates. At the moment, one is finishing up her clinical year of Psych doctorate, two graduated from Vassar and are working in industry, and one...well...she's doing fine, too. However, she spent a year at a big state school as far from her parents as she could get, partied/failed out, went to CC for 2-3 years while working odd jobs, and has now settled down with her third job in marketing and a fiance in software. My mind spins at the money spent on education to no clear advantage...

Adam Zapple

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1830 on: February 20, 2014, 09:03:42 PM »
A conversation between two co-workers about another co-worker:

Co-worker 1: "That guy is the cheapest S.O.B. on the planet.  The guy's a millionaire and he's NEVER owned a new car.  Last year he got hurt repairing his roof because he was too f-ing CHEAP to hire someone!"

Co-worker 2:  "If I was a millionaire I wouldn't have a new car....I'd have a private helicopter to fly me around."

Fireman

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1831 on: February 20, 2014, 09:24:39 PM »
Co-worker 2:  "If I was a millionaire I wouldn't have a new car....I'd have a private helicopter to fly me around."

Hilarious! 


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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1832 on: February 20, 2014, 11:29:07 PM »
Quote
I was talking to a young co-worker recently (he is only 19) and he was telling me (in a bragging way) about his fancypants Jeep that he got. He pays a ton in insurance, maintenance costs are sky-high and for some reason the stupid car doesn't even have a spare tire because the front and rear wheels are different sizes (not even sure how that is possible). Anyway, because I do the payroll I know that this kid doesn't make much money. I tried to get through to him that he was basically working so that he could drive a fancy car, and that it was sucking him dry.  Yup, he agreed, but had no plans to sell it, he wanted to drive a fancypants car. BTW, he lives at home and has no plans to move out on his own.

You clearly dont live in a military town, this is about SOP for a good percent of those under 25 and is so common it does not even elicit an internal mental note.  Ridding a bike around base housing is like riding past a row of car dealerships, minus the inflatable dancing tube men.  Wish it were not so but maybe you can over the months save one guy.

It pains me to see a 20 year old soldier spend literally his entire paycheck on a car that he doesn't do anything with.  You mention riding around the housing area while I face palm every morning when I pull into the barracks parking lot.  I have a warrant officer with 18 years in who is just now talking about dabbling in the stock market. He'll have a decent pension when he retires and should have no problem with a second career, but I want to ask him what he's been doing with his money all this time.

mgarl10024

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1833 on: February 21, 2014, 05:10:47 AM »
Co-worker 2:  "If I was a millionaire I wouldn't have a new car....I'd have a private helicopter to fly me around."

I wonder if this co-worker is confused between someone who has wealth of a million or someone who annually earns a million.

Slightly off topic and grossly simplifying, in the UK, there are two main political parties - the Tories (Conservatives) are a low tax, small government party, and Labour who are a high tax, large government party.
There is also tiered income tax, whereby the more you earn, the higher the rate on the amount above the limit is.
There has recently been a lot of debate about what the rate should be for income earned above £150,000.  Before leaving office, Labour raised it to 50%, and since coming into office the Conservatives have lowered it to 45% and (it is commonly believed) would like to put it back down to 40%.  Labour is against this.

The thing that infuriates me (politics aside) is that Labour insist on calling this a "Millionaire's Tax Cut".  Labour make the argument that every person who earns £1,000,000 in a year would be £40,000 better off, and makes political capital from this as it resonates with the public.
However, if you subscribe to the view (like me) that a millionaire is simply someone with wealth over a million, calling it a "Millionaire's" Tax Cut is just wrong
- someone earning £200,000 with no stored wealth is not a millionaire, but would benefit from a lowering of the rate over £150,000
- someone with wealth of over a million, with no income, who is a millionaire would not benefit from a lowering of the rate over £150,000

I can only imagine that Labour (who aren't silly enough to make this mistake) were deliberately confusing the definition of a millionaire, but I was amazed at how successful they were.  In the end I had to stop watching the debates as it just got me annoyed.  :-)

https://www.labour.org.uk/poster-on-camerons-tax-cut-for-millionaires
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/reality-check/2012/oct/02/is-david-cameron-really-going-to-give-each-millionaire-a-40-000-tax-cut

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1834 on: February 21, 2014, 05:41:42 AM »
I would need more than a million but.... If I had money to burn a helicopter would be pretty bitchin'. I would like to see peoples faces when I meet them for dinner or something and put it down in the parking lot. My helicopter would also have missiles so I cold blow shit up too.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1835 on: February 21, 2014, 07:48:20 AM »
I had 4 friends whose parents sent them to Fancypants Private HS. (Tuition is currently $38,900, but this was around 10 years ago). I went to (carefully selected) public schools. 3 friends actually did quite well, but no better than my classmates. At the moment, one is finishing up her clinical year of Psych doctorate, two graduated from Vassar and are working in industry, and one...well...she's doing fine, too. However, she spent a year at a big state school as far from her parents as she could get, partied/failed out, went to CC for 2-3 years while working odd jobs, and has now settled down with her third job in marketing and a fiance in software. My mind spins at the money spent on education to no clear advantage...

The house we just bought, the old owners have 4 kids (about 7 to 15).  ALL FOUR have gone to private school from day 1.  And not because the schools are bad - we now live in such a nice school district that people keep asking us when we're going to have kids (because that's apparently the only reason to move there).  DH thinks they are wealthy enough just have money to burn.  I think burning money like this is not necessarily indicative of wealth (and contributes to the opposite!).

Undecided

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1836 on: February 21, 2014, 09:26:37 AM »
I had 4 friends whose parents sent them to Fancypants Private HS. (Tuition is currently $38,900, but this was around 10 years ago). I went to (carefully selected) public schools. 3 friends actually did quite well, but no better than my classmates. At the moment, one is finishing up her clinical year of Psych doctorate, two graduated from Vassar and are working in industry, and one...well...she's doing fine, too. However, she spent a year at a big state school as far from her parents as she could get, partied/failed out, went to CC for 2-3 years while working odd jobs, and has now settled down with her third job in marketing and a fiance in software. My mind spins at the money spent on education to no clear advantage...

The house we just bought, the old owners have 4 kids (about 7 to 15).  ALL FOUR have gone to private school from day 1.  And not because the schools are bad - we now live in such a nice school district that people keep asking us when we're going to have kids (because that's apparently the only reason to move there).  DH thinks they are wealthy enough just have money to burn.  I think burning money like this is not necessarily indicative of wealth (and contributes to the opposite!).

Some of the posting here just sounds like gossip. How does galliver know how any of those kids would have turned out absent the Fancypants school? The judgment of personal decisions that aren't obviously purely economic ones strikes me as nasty and uninformed.

rocksinmyhead

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1837 on: February 21, 2014, 10:18:36 AM »
Oh my god, this is insane you guys. My work has an INCREDIBLE retirement plan, full matching. This girl and I talk about money a lot, and she thinks she's very frugal- I thought she was too until she told me that she doesn't use our 401b because she's "saving for a house". WTF?!

OMG same here. we get full matching up to 8% of our salary, vested immediately. a coworker who started around the same I did (we were both fresh out of grad school so around the same age, she's a few years older) also doesn't contribute because she's saving for a house. I thought of this again the other day when we were talking about our recent bonuses (not specific amounts so as not to be tacky :) just that we were excited to have gotten them) and I said after the bonus I was down to only 3 student loans, one of which is almost gone ($700). she said, "I'm so jealous! it will be a LONG time til I'm at that point."

why are you jealous? we probably make almost the exact same amount of money. that would be like me saying I'm jealous you are saving up to buy a house (and she wants a big one too, yikes). sure, I would like to buy a house, but I am making a choice that I think is better. I could make a different choice if I wanted to, so I'm not "jealous".

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1838 on: February 21, 2014, 11:14:05 AM »
Oh my god, this is insane you guys. My work has an INCREDIBLE retirement plan, full matching. This girl and I talk about money a lot, and she thinks she's very frugal- I thought she was too until she told me that she doesn't use our 401b because she's "saving for a house". WTF?!


I had to quote this, just to figure out the facepalm smiley. Alas, it's not built in. And then I realized, I don't think any smileys are built in on SMF :)

galliver

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1839 on: February 21, 2014, 11:28:20 AM »
I had 4 friends whose parents sent them to Fancypants Private HS. (Tuition is currently $38,900, but this was around 10 years ago). I went to (carefully selected) public schools. 3 friends actually did quite well, but no better than my classmates. At the moment, one is finishing up her clinical year of Psych doctorate, two graduated from Vassar and are working in industry, and one...well...she's doing fine, too. However, she spent a year at a big state school as far from her parents as she could get, partied/failed out, went to CC for 2-3 years while working odd jobs, and has now settled down with her third job in marketing and a fiance in software. My mind spins at the money spent on education to no clear advantage...

The house we just bought, the old owners have 4 kids (about 7 to 15).  ALL FOUR have gone to private school from day 1.  And not because the schools are bad - we now live in such a nice school district that people keep asking us when we're going to have kids (because that's apparently the only reason to move there).  DH thinks they are wealthy enough just have money to burn.  I think burning money like this is not necessarily indicative of wealth (and contributes to the opposite!).

Some of the posting here just sounds like gossip. How does galliver know how any of those kids would have turned out absent the Fancypants school? The judgment of personal decisions that aren't obviously purely economic ones strikes me as nasty and uninformed.

I know because I am comparing them to dozens of kids from similar backgrounds, living in the same area, same school district. 3 of the 4 were family friends, one I went to middle school with. They were no different, academically and socially, than dozens of my other family friends or classmates or me. Would they say that FPHS was a positive experience for them? Sure. Would they have exactly the same life outcomes if they had gone to public school? Maybe, maybe not. But they wouldn't be in a drastically different place in life right now.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1840 on: February 21, 2014, 11:48:46 AM »
I had to quote this, just to figure out the facepalm smiley. Alas, it's not built in. And then I realized, I don't think any smileys are built in on SMF :)

: )  Yeah.  No smilies so I had to improvise a bit.  Here's another one I like.


Russ

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1841 on: February 21, 2014, 12:01:44 PM »
I had 4 friends whose parents sent them to Fancypants Private HS. (Tuition is currently $38,900, but this was around 10 years ago). I went to (carefully selected) public schools. 3 friends actually did quite well, but no better than my classmates. At the moment, one is finishing up her clinical year of Psych doctorate, two graduated from Vassar and are working in industry, and one...well...she's doing fine, too. However, she spent a year at a big state school as far from her parents as she could get, partied/failed out, went to CC for 2-3 years while working odd jobs, and has now settled down with her third job in marketing and a fiance in software. My mind spins at the money spent on education to no clear advantage...

The house we just bought, the old owners have 4 kids (about 7 to 15).  ALL FOUR have gone to private school from day 1.  And not because the schools are bad - we now live in such a nice school district that people keep asking us when we're going to have kids (because that's apparently the only reason to move there).  DH thinks they are wealthy enough just have money to burn.  I think burning money like this is not necessarily indicative of wealth (and contributes to the opposite!).

Some of the posting here just sounds like gossip. How does galliver know how any of those kids would have turned out absent the Fancypants school? The judgment of personal decisions that aren't obviously purely economic ones strikes me as nasty and uninformed.

Welcome to the Antimustachian Wall of Shame and Comedy. That's like the whole subforum.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1842 on: February 21, 2014, 12:27:21 PM »
I had 4 friends whose parents sent them to Fancypants Private HS. (Tuition is currently $38,900, but this was around 10 years ago). I went to (carefully selected) public schools. 3 friends actually did quite well, but no better than my classmates. At the moment, one is finishing up her clinical year of Psych doctorate, two graduated from Vassar and are working in industry, and one...well...she's doing fine, too. However, she spent a year at a big state school as far from her parents as she could get, partied/failed out, went to CC for 2-3 years while working odd jobs, and has now settled down with her third job in marketing and a fiance in software. My mind spins at the money spent on education to no clear advantage...

The house we just bought, the old owners have 4 kids (about 7 to 15).  ALL FOUR have gone to private school from day 1.  And not because the schools are bad - we now live in such a nice school district that people keep asking us when we're going to have kids (because that's apparently the only reason to move there).  DH thinks they are wealthy enough just have money to burn.  I think burning money like this is not necessarily indicative of wealth (and contributes to the opposite!).

Some of the posting here just sounds like gossip. How does galliver know how any of those kids would have turned out absent the Fancypants school? The judgment of personal decisions that aren't obviously purely economic ones strikes me as nasty and uninformed.

Welcome to the Antimustachian Wall of Shame and Comedy. That's like the whole subforum.

Lets get back on topic, guys.  Today my office manager asked my boss which kind of pens he prefers -- twisty bottoms or clicky tops.  Long story short, we're getting clicky tops.

Russ

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1843 on: February 21, 2014, 12:37:03 PM »
Lets get back on topic, guys.  Today my office manager asked my boss which kind of pens he prefers -- twisty bottoms or clicky tops.  Long story short, we're getting clicky tops.

caps 4 lyfe

Fireman

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1844 on: February 21, 2014, 12:40:14 PM »
Lets get back on topic, guys.  Today my office manager asked my boss which kind of pens he prefers -- twisty bottoms or clicky tops.  Long story short, we're getting clicky tops.

Ohhhh, I loooove clicky pens!

Albert

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1845 on: February 21, 2014, 02:31:37 PM »
Millionaire is someone who earns a million dollars a year or more. I think it's a standard definition.

the fixer

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1846 on: February 21, 2014, 02:40:34 PM »
Millionaire is someone who earns a million dollars a year or more. I think it's a standard definition.
Nope. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millionaire

This is something that annoys me too in the media. I think it's because our entire tax system is based on people's income, so politicians like to take shortcuts. It's now changing the meaning of the word to something I think it's quite anti-Mustachian: defining status by income instead of by wealth.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1847 on: February 21, 2014, 02:41:11 PM »
Millionaire is someone who earns a million dollars a year or more. I think it's a standard definition.

According to Wikipedia:

A millionaire (originally and sometimes still millionnaire[1]) is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency.

Albert

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1848 on: February 21, 2014, 02:50:00 PM »
Ok, fine but that doesn't necessarily mean particularly rich. It could be a house worth a million and not much else on top of it.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #1849 on: February 21, 2014, 03:12:41 PM »

... Today my office manager asked my boss which kind of pens he prefers -- twisty bottoms or clicky tops.  Long story short, we're getting clicky tops.

This is even funnier if your boss said "twisty bottoms".