Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)

[Bob W]

Our adult children think we are so poor they give their hand me down clothes to my wife and our 8 year old son.   My wife now has a closet packed with hundreds of clothes she never wears. 

[Ozapftis]

Every year, my parents give me a little bit of money for my birthday. Last time, however, they required me to show them a receipt as proof that I had actually bought something before handing me any money, because otherwise I'd have just 'stashed it like every year.

[Dollar Slice]

Every year, my parents give me a little bit of money for my birthday. Last time, however, they required me to show them a receipt as proof that I had actually bought something before handing me any money, because otherwise I'd have just 'stashed it like every year.

Hilarious! I wonder what would qualify as buying something. ;-)  Stock certificates? Bonds? Commodities? "No, seriously, I've always dreamed of sleeping with a gold bar under my pillow!"

Reminds me of my grandma when I was little. I opened a savings account when I was six, and every year my dad's mother would send me a card with a check in it for whatever gift occasions would come up. Every time I would deposit it in the bank and write her a thank-you note: Dear Grandma. Thank you very much for the check. I put it in my bank account. One time when I was about 12 she had a little sit-down with me and tried to explain about "mad money" and how I was supposed to have fun with it.

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

Every year, my parents give me a little bit of money for my birthday. Last time, however, they required me to show them a receipt as proof that I had actually bought something before handing me any money, because otherwise I'd have just 'stashed it like every year.

This is funny! I usually stash presents but I have this very wealthy and very spendy aunt and something about her makes me inclined to blow her presents to me on restaurant food or frippery. Whereas when my grandfather has given me money, I have paid off debt (when I had it), funded my Roth, etc. From my mom, it goes either way. Like I am channeling the personality of the giver.

[Kingsmen]

Whenever I see an suv or other gas guzzler pass by, I picture dollar bills pouring out their exhaust.  Or calculating how much money a person just lost beating me off the line at a red light, only to pull up next to them at the next light. 

[plainjane]

I was looking at my master Excel spreadsheet which I use to keep track of life expenses.  It's been bothering me that there was a recent 10% increase in our trended 6 month spend without any cause we could point to.

I spent a few minutes to dig deeper.  Turns out that when I moved my rolling average a while back, I inadvertently extended the cell calculations by half a month, so I was looking at an extrapolated 13 months.

[I'm a red panda]

Reminds me of my grandma when I was little. I opened a savings account when I was six, and every year my dad's mother would send me a card with a check in it for whatever gift occasions would come up. Every time I would deposit it in the bank and write her a thank-you note: Dear Grandma. Thank you very much for the check. I put it in my bank account. One time when I was about 12 she had a little sit-down with me and tried to explain about "mad money" and how I was supposed to have fun with it.

That was what almost every thank you note I wrote as a child was, and what the ones I get from my nephew's look like now.  We were allowed to take 25% of our Christmas presents to have for spending money, the rest went in the bank.  When I put my first downpayment on a house, I was really appreciative of my parent's insistence on that.

[Fuzzy Buttons]

Reminds me of my grandma when I was little. I opened a savings account when I was six, and every year my dad's mother would send me a card with a check in it for whatever gift occasions would come up. Every time I would deposit it in the bank and write her a thank-you note: Dear Grandma. Thank you very much for the check. I put it in my bank account. One time when I was about 12 she had a little sit-down with me and tried to explain about "mad money" and how I was supposed to have fun with it.

My 11 year old niece is very frugal and saves any money she gets.  My sister actually uses her as an emergency ATM when she's short of cash.  She'll ask if she can borrow $20, and my niece will go right back to her room and get the money for her.  But she wants $21 back in a week.  She writes the amounts on a chalkboard in the kitchen so my sister doesn't forget.

[nobodyspecial]

Can you get "Dora the Loan shark" costumes ?

[Dollar Slice]

My 11 year old niece is very frugal and saves any money she gets.  My sister actually uses her as an emergency ATM when she's short of cash.  She'll ask if she can borrow $20, and my niece will go right back to her room and get the money for her.  But she wants $21 back in a week.  She writes the amounts on a chalkboard in the kitchen so my sister doesn't forget.

Hah. What's the APR on that?? I wasn't quite that bad, I never charged anyone interest until I joined Lending Club ;-)

My mom likes to tell the story about when I was little and went out picking berries with a friend (there were huckleberry bushes growing wild in the woods and we had fun hunting for the best patches). I came back and she asked what I thought we should do with them, and I said maybe I could sell them, for, like, a dollar? And she said, well, that's not a bad idea. And then with further discussion she realized I meant a dollar per berry and not a dollar for the half-pint or so that we'd picked.

[nobodyspecial]

And then with further discussion she realized I meant a dollar per berry and not a dollar for the half-pint or so that we'd picked.

And you went on to create  Whole-Foods ?

[zephyr911]

Whenever I see an suv or other gas guzzler pass by, I picture dollar bills pouring out their exhaust.  Or calculating how much money a person just lost beating me off the line at a red light, only to pull up next to them at the next light.

Me too... I get a vivid image of hundreds of bills going up in smoke.

Then I put my (solar-charged) Volt in sport mode and smoke their ass... >.<

[Ozapftis]

Over the past several years, our financial surplus has been so big and our net worth has grown so quickly that we stopped sharing information about our finances with our family members at some point. We just felt increasingly uneasy to talk about it.

This was over two years ago. Since then, we've grown another 40%+.

But because we stopped talking about it completely, everybody in the family is now worrying. Literally, everyone:
-Some worry that we save too much, miss out on life and will regret it later.
-Others worry that our investments might have seriously gone wrong and that we have financial problems of some sort, and that we are just too embarrassed to talk about it.

The only consensus between the two camps seems to be that when we tell people everything is just fine, nobody believes us.

[2ndTimer]

We just discovered the hideous embarrassment of having the bank manage bow and scrape and rush to hold the door for us because we passed a (six figure) bit our savings through the bank.  It was awful.  I didn't know where to look.

[lemanfan]

My 11 year old niece is very frugal and saves any money she gets.  My sister actually uses her as an emergency ATM when she's short of cash.  She'll ask if she can borrow $20, and my niece will go right back to her room and get the money for her.  But she wants $21 back in a week.  She writes the amounts on a chalkboard in the kitchen so my sister doesn't forget.

Go niece!

:)

[2ndTimer]

My 11 year old niece is very frugal and saves any money she gets.  My sister actually uses her as an emergency ATM when she's short of cash.  She'll ask if she can borrow $20, and my niece will go right back to her room and get the money for her.  But she wants $21 back in a week.  She writes the amounts on a chalkboard in the kitchen so my sister doesn't forget.

Go niece!

:)

This is not a problem it.  It is a solution to the question "How do I educate my children about money?",  I have high hopes for the niece.

[zephyr911]

Over the past several years, our financial surplus has been so big and our net worth has grown so quickly that we stopped sharing information about our finances with our family members at some point. We just felt increasingly uneasy to talk about it.

This was over two years ago. Since then, we've grown another 40%+.

But because we stopped talking about it completely, everybody in the family is now worrying. Literally, everyone:
-Some worry that we save too much, miss out on life and will regret it later.
-Others worry that our investments might have seriously gone wrong and that we have financial problems of some sort, and that we are just too embarrassed to talk about it.

The only consensus between the two camps seems to be that when we tell people everything is just fine, nobody believes us.

That is truly comical. Why are you uneasy? Would they try to get in on it?
My family tends to be fairly modest so I wouldn't brag about numbers, but I wouldn't be afraid to answer questions factually. They know I only plan on working a few more years, and that our main goal is FI so we can live closer to them without employment being a factor. If we end up millionaires I won't have a problem telling them (of course, they probably won't even ask). But I also know they'd literally go hungry before calling for help (at which point I'd gladly give it). I realize many families are nothing like that.

[Ozapftis]

Over the past several years, our financial surplus has been so big and our net worth has grown so quickly that we stopped sharing information about our finances with our family members at some point. We just felt increasingly uneasy to talk about it.

This was over two years ago. Since then, we've grown another 40%+.

But because we stopped talking about it completely, everybody in the family is now worrying. Literally, everyone:
-Some worry that we save too much, miss out on life and will regret it later.
-Others worry that our investments might have seriously gone wrong and that we have financial problems of some sort, and that we are just too embarrassed to talk about it.

The only consensus between the two camps seems to be that when we tell people everything is just fine, nobody believes us.

That is truly comical. Why are you uneasy? Would they try to get in on it?

Not at all. But the larger the 'stash got, the more it felt like we were showing off or bragging about it rather than just sharing information. Also, we've been wondering whether our success might make someone feel bad about himself rather than happy for us.

[Dollar Slice]

Not at all. But the larger the 'stash got, the more it felt like we were showing off or bragging about it rather than just sharing information. Also, we've been wondering whether our success might make someone feel bad about himself rather than happy for us.

Yeah, most people don't like to talk about money if you're frugal and doing nicely. It's fine if you're broke, and it's fine if you're spending, but talking about how much you earn (through a job or investments) or how much you don't spend rubs people the wrong way for some reason.

I couldn't help telling my parents when I crossed into six figure net worth, and while they were nice about it, I've gotten a couple "you should live your life while you're young enough to enjoy it" lectures since then...

[jordanread]

Also, we've been wondering whether our success might make someone feel bad about himself rather than happy for us.

[...]
I've gotten a couple "you should live your life while you're young enough to enjoy it" lectures since then...

I'd be curious as to your (plural) viewpoint regarding your actions as they relate to others' behavior, and how you view that. I'm not big on people being happy for me, but I also know that I'm not quite normal. :D

[Dicey]

We just discovered the hideous embarrassment of having the bank manage bow and scrape and rush to hold the door for us because we passed a (six figure) bit our savings through the bank.  It was awful.  I didn't know where to look.

This. We finally had to demand that they stop calling us with investment schemes or pitching anything when we're in the bank. Yes, we know how much is in our savings, (To the penny. Sort of.) and yes, we do have plans for it. Now go away, please. We did not get what we have by paying retail for investment opportunities and we're not going to start now.  And NO, we don't want to become your Wealth Management Clients, or whatever they call it. That money will ebb and flow, we're not going to maintain ridiculous balances just so you can give us imaginary "perks".

(For the record, we wanted to flip a house using cash. We did. We had fun. We made money. We're casually looking for another one, so yeah, our money is just sitting there for now. It's all good.)

[Dollar Slice]

[...]
I've gotten a couple "you should live your life while you're young enough to enjoy it" lectures since then...

I'd be curious as to your (plural) viewpoint regarding your actions as they relate to others' behavior, and how you view that.

I'm a little unclear on your question since it's phrased so broadly. Which actions and what behavior are you asking about?

[jordanread]

[...]
I've gotten a couple "you should live your life while you're young enough to enjoy it" lectures since then...

I'd be curious as to your (plural) viewpoint regarding your actions as they relate to others' behavior, and how you view that.

I'm a little unclear on your question since it's phrased so broadly. Which actions and what behavior are you asking about?

That's why I phrased it that way. :P

But the initial thought, and the initial question I meant, was how do you all deal with people you care about not appreciating what you are doing in regards to FIRE? That's all.

[Dollar Slice]

But the initial thought, and the initial question I meant, was how do you all deal with people you care about not appreciating what you are doing in regards to FIRE? That's all.

I don't really tell anyone, honestly. I mentioned to my mom one time that I wanted to retire early and she thought this was code for "needs a new job" since why would I want to retire if I liked my job? So I never brought it up again. I'm friends with people of wildly varying income/wealth levels (from mid-six-figures to minimum wage, probably) so I generally find it easier to just act like I have a fairly tight budget, but am not having any money trouble. If the subject of retirement/investing comes up I say that I "pay myself first" by putting money into savings before I get to spend anything, and they sort of understand that, and it works well with my "I'm on a fairly tight budget" schtick.

I have been asked a few times if I'm a recovering alcoholic since I often decide not to drink alcohol when I'm out with friends... ;-)

[Ozapftis]

But the initial thought, and the initial question I meant, was how do you all deal with people you care about not appreciating what you are doing in regards to FIRE? That's all.

I don't really tell anyone, honestly. [...]

Same here. Whenever topics come up that are remotely related to FIRE (such as reducing work-hours) I try to explain them in a way that is plausible, fits their view of the world, and is also partially true. Kind of like "I had to reduce hours because of health issues", or "I worked from home", etc., when really the existing health issue is not that crucial, and the time I worked from home was just half a day.
EDIT: Typo.

[SwordGuy]

But the initial thought, and the initial question I meant, was how do you all deal with people you care about not appreciating what you are doing in regards to FIRE? That's all.

I told my mom my plans a few years ago and she acted like I was going off the deep end. 

She just wasn't ready for the whole picture all at once so it freaked her out a bit.

Now she's much more on board with the whole plan because she's seen us work it hard and steady since then, and that we're making progress.

[K-ice]

I have been asked a few times if I'm a recovering alcoholic since I often decide not to drink alcohol when I'm out with friends... ;-)

I get asked similar questions too. Or I've been asked if I am Mormon. If people are really persistent wondering why I don't drink, I think one of the influences is actually a true sad story. A good friend's alcoholic mom commited suicide when we were teenagers. That's a good reason to not drink, or at least not drink a lot.

[Paul der Krake]

We just discovered the hideous embarrassment of having the bank manage bow and scrape and rush to hold the door for us because we passed a (six figure) bit our savings through the bank.  It was awful.  I didn't know where to look.

This. We finally had to demand that they stop calling us with investment schemes or pitching anything when we're in the bank. Yes, we know how much is in our savings, (To the penny. Sort of.) and yes, we do have plans for it. Now go away, please. We did not get what we have by paying retail for investment opportunities and we're not going to start now.  And NO, we don't want to become your Wealth Management Clients, or whatever they call it. That money will ebb and flow, we're not going to maintain ridiculous balances just so you can give us imaginary "perks".

(For the record, we wanted to flip a house using cash. We did. We had fun. We made money. We're casually looking for another one, so yeah, our money is just sitting there for now. It's all good.)

This reminded me of possibly the most mustachian problem I have ever read on this board. It's from 2013, so posting it here again for the new forum members who may have missed this gold nugget.

[SwordGuy]

I have been asked a few times if I'm a recovering alcoholic since I often decide not to drink alcohol when I'm out with friends... ;-)

I get asked similar questions too. Or I've been asked if I am Mormon. If people are really persistent wondering why I don't drink, I think one of the influences is actually a true sad story. A good friend's alcoholic mom commuted suicide when we were teenagers. That's a good reason to not drink, or at least not drink a lot.

I'll assume you meant "committed"... :)

I tell folks I just like the taste of Dr. Pepper better.   They already think I'm eccentric anyway so they accept it and drop the topic.

[Jakejake]

We just discovered the hideous embarrassment of having the bank manage bow and scrape and rush to hold the door for us because we passed a (six figure) bit our savings through the bank.  It was awful.  I didn't know where to look.

Ha, that reminded me of going to the bank the day a manager was acting as a teller. I went up there, the guy punched in my account, looked at the balance, and all of a sudden I couldn't get him off the hard sell of what other services they could offer me. Among other things, they had some credit card offer where I got something back for every thousand I spend in groceries. I was trying to politely decline, I explained that I only spend about $60 on groceries a month, but he wouldn't let up. I finally had to make a big production of putting my bike helmet and gloves down on the counter, looking at him like I was going to burst into tears and saying "I just want to cash my check, will you let me do that or not?"  I was cashing a rebate check for about three dollars.

[Dollar Slice]

I get asked similar questions too. Or I've been asked if I am Mormon. If people are really persistent wondering why I don't drink, I think one of the influences is actually a true sad story. A good friend's alcoholic mom commuted suicide when we were teenagers. That's a good reason to not drink, or at least not drink a lot.

Even aside from money, I don't generally want to drink that much - I'd much rather have one or two special drinks a month, or go on a bender once or twice a year, than go out twice a week. That said, I actually went out to a bar for drinks tonight for the first time in ages, but it was only because a bartender friend texted me to remind me that he owed me some free drinks.

[LennStar]

I have been asked a few times if I'm a recovering alcoholic since I often decide not to drink alcohol when I'm out with friends... ;-)

I get asked similar questions too. Or I've been asked if I am Mormon. If people are really persistent wondering why I don't drink, I think one of the influences is actually a true sad story. A good friend's alcoholic mom commited suicide when we were teenagers. That's a good reason to not drink, or at least not drink a lot.

I dont drink alcohol because I just dont see the reason for paying to kill my brain cells. Also it does not taste good anyway.
But its hard to explain it so I just state a truth "doctor does not allow me to drink alcohol"
I really had to laugh as the doctor strongly forbid me to do something I dont do anyway :D

[I'm a red panda]

I don't think most alcohol tastes very good (I don't want all the calories from the frou frou drinks I had in college).
People tell me I just need to develop a taste for it.

Why do I need to develop a taste for something really expensive? That's like developing a taste for fancy shoes or purses. It just isn't needed.

So I refrain.  I've never had a problem with not drinking, most people appreciate having a built in driver. I do find that once I tell people I'm not a recovering alcoholic, and just don't like to drink, they are more comfortable drinking around me.

Alcoholism does run in my family though. So I'm good with just abstaining.

[Kitsunegari]

+ 1
I don't like alcohol in general, and I despise beer.
 People often told me it's a taste you develop, and it sounds so fucking stupid! WHY would I keep doing something harmful that I don't like with the only goal of start liking it? It sounds seriously dumb.

[dragoncar]

+ 1
I don't like alcohol in general, and I despise beer.
 People often told me it's a taste you develop, and it sounds so fucking stupid! WHY would I keep doing something harmful that I don't like with the only goal of start liking it? It sounds seriously dumb.

I only drink alcohol to increase my HDL.

I don't like classical music, and people tell me I need to develop a taste for it.  WHY would I damage my eardrums in this way just so I can start liking it?

[BlueHouse]

Not exactly a "people" problem, but certainly a Mustachian one.

I tried putting all my Gross paycheck information into Quicken instead of Net paycheck information.  My taxes were so high related to my other spending categories that only tax categories and housing showed up on the default pie charts.  Everything else was so small in comparison that it just got grouped as "other".

You can't exclude categories from your reports in Quicken? I've never used Quicken so I don't know.

You can exclude from reports, but the default screen is a quick look at spending and it cannot be modified.  It stares you in the face every time you open Excel. 
This happened to me as well a few years ago.  I went back to my accountant and said he'd have to do something about how much I was paying in taxes.  Then I bought a fancy pants house and accompanying furniture.  and lots of other stuff I don't really need.  I don't have the problem any more.

[Quinn]

We just discovered the hideous embarrassment of having the bank manage bow and scrape and rush to hold the door for us because we passed a (six figure) bit our savings through the bank.  It was awful.  I didn't know where to look.

This. We finally had to demand that they stop calling us with investment schemes or pitching anything when we're in the bank. Yes, we know how much is in our savings, (To the penny. Sort of.) and yes, we do have plans for it. Now go away, please. We did not get what we have by paying retail for investment opportunities and we're not going to start now.  And NO, we don't want to become your Wealth Management Clients, or whatever they call it. That money will ebb and flow, we're not going to maintain ridiculous balances just so you can give us imaginary "perks".

(For the record, we wanted to flip a house using cash. We did. We had fun. We made money. We're casually looking for another one, so yeah, our money is just sitting there for now. It's all good.)

This reminded me of possibly the most mustachian problem I have ever read on this board. It's from 2013, so posting it here again for the new forum members who may have missed this gold nugget.

Oh yes, I remember that. One of the best stories ever.

[dragoncar]

We just discovered the hideous embarrassment of having the bank manage bow and scrape and rush to hold the door for us because we passed a (six figure) bit our savings through the bank.  It was awful.  I didn't know where to look.

This. We finally had to demand that they stop calling us with investment schemes or pitching anything when we're in the bank. Yes, we know how much is in our savings, (To the penny. Sort of.) and yes, we do have plans for it. Now go away, please. We did not get what we have by paying retail for investment opportunities and we're not going to start now.  And NO, we don't want to become your Wealth Management Clients, or whatever they call it. That money will ebb and flow, we're not going to maintain ridiculous balances just so you can give us imaginary "perks".

(For the record, we wanted to flip a house using cash. We did. We had fun. We made money. We're casually looking for another one, so yeah, our money is just sitting there for now. It's all good.)

This reminded me of possibly the most mustachian problem I have ever read on this board. It's from 2013, so posting it here again for the new forum members who may have missed this gold nugget.

Oh yes, I remember that. One of the best stories ever.

How much do you need for them to bow and scrape?  I think I'm lucky since I'm in a high-income area.  Get treated respectfully but not obscenely.

My wife went to open an account with a $50k minimum to waive the $30/mo fee.  They were really pissy that she didn't want to give them the $50k interest free, until they learned she is a doctor.  Now they don't stop calling her to see how she's doing (she still doesn't keep much cash in that account... we have it for other reasons).

[fitfrugalfab]

Not at all. But the larger the 'stash got, the more it felt like we were showing off or bragging about it rather than just sharing information. Also, we've been wondering whether our success might make someone feel bad about himself rather than happy for us.

Yeah, most people don't like to talk about money if you're frugal and doing nicely. It's fine if you're broke, and it's fine if you're spending, but talking about how much you earn (through a job or investments) or how much you don't spend rubs people the wrong way for some reason.

I couldn't help telling my parents when I crossed into six figure net worth, and while they were nice about it, I've gotten a couple "you should live your life while you're young enough to enjoy it" lectures since then...

I've received the whole "you young live your life..." lecture as well. My DH and I are in our twenties but we have much bigger plans and contrary to what others may think, we do enjoy the way we live our lives.

[Spiffsome]

My grandparents were very, very frugal and it paid off. Now that I've declared my intent to retire early, everything I do seems to be viewed the same way. No, I'm not shorting you on the gravy powder to save money, I just suck at estimating quantities. No, I'm not brewing or making cheese to save money, I just think I can do a better job and want to learn a new skill. No, we didn't pay off the house early to save money, I just hate the bank!

It's getting to the point where I'm buying Christmas presents and worrying about whether they look expensive enough to convince my family that I'm not deliberately shorting them. 

[Dicey]

+ 1
I don't like alcohol in general, and I despise beer.
 People often told me it's a taste you develop, and it sounds so fucking stupid! WHY would I keep doing something harmful that I don't like with the only goal of start liking it? It sounds seriously dumb.

Ha! This post makes me laugh. I had absolutely no taste for beer until after I turned 40. Suddenly I kinda liked it, in moderation, of course. Then menopause hit. The least amount of alcohol screws with my ability to stay asleep, so sleep wins. So long, beer. It was nice to know ya, even if it was only a brief fling.

[nazar]

I finally had to make a big production of putting my bike helmet and gloves down on the counter, looking at him like I was going to burst into tears and saying "I just want to cash my check, will you let me do that or not?"  I was cashing a rebate check for about three dollars.

Find a bank that has check deposit in their smartphone app.  Problem  solved.  Less than a minute to snap photos of the front and back of a check vs. a time consuming trip to bank.

[clarkfan1979]

When people complain about how life is rough and they need to get a raise its weird because I have nothing to contribute. Because I'm a professor, I get lumped in the "poor teacher" category with some people. It's weird when I have to play along with it. If I try to correct them with my financial situation, I can get blamed for being a greedy rich person.

[clarkfan1979]

One of my graduate school friends was trying to get me to sign up for one of the income based re-payment plans for student loans. I make too much money for this to be worth it, but I don't know how to say that politely. I'm just going to pay it off in 5 years instead of 20-25 years. I'm sure the income based plan works great for them, but not for me.

[Ozapftis]

My grandparents were very, very frugal and it paid off. Now that I've declared my intent to retire early, everything I do seems to be viewed the same way. No, I'm not shorting you on the gravy powder to save money, I just suck at estimating quantities. No, I'm not brewing or making cheese to save money, I just think I can do a better job and want to learn a new skill. No, we didn't pay off the house early to save money, I just hate the bank!

It's getting to the point where I'm buying Christmas presents and worrying about whether they look expensive enough to convince my family that I'm not deliberately shorting them.

Haha, I can so relate to that. Just the other day when my wife did the laundry, my parents-in-law dropped by unexpectedly. So, when my MIL helped DW hang up some of my t-shirts on the clothesline she noticed that a few shirts had faded imprints. MIL: "So this is how you become a millionaire?". NO, they just happen to be my favorite t-shirts!

[midweststache]

I finally had to make a big production of putting my bike helmet and gloves down on the counter, looking at him like I was going to burst into tears and saying "I just want to cash my check, will you let me do that or not?"  I was cashing a rebate check for about three dollars.

Find a bank that has check deposit in their smartphone app.  Problem  solved.  Less than a minute to snap photos of the front and back of a check vs. a time consuming trip to bank.

This would definitely work this this particular context, but for many of the other examples on the forum it would not. Our check deposit app (with CapitalOne 360) has a $5,000/day limit and a $10,000/month limit, so if you have a single check for more than either of those amounts you have to go through a much more convoluted process, and since our bank has no brick-and-mortar fronts, they actually prefer you to keep a second, brick-and-mortar bank for, among other reasons, this express purpose.

... all of which I guess still qualify as Mustachian people problems, yes? :)

[I'm a red panda]

I am so freaking tired of people on the baby forums telling me to sign up for medicaid! 

It doesn't matter that there are higher income limits for pregnant women.  My salary alone is more than double them, much less my household.

I've never once complained about pregnancy costs- just when people ask what the pregnancy+birth will cost you I say that it is going to come to about $6k, which is true.

The assumption that $6k is any sort of hardship is not true. 

[barbaz]

+ 1
I don't like alcohol in general, and I despise beer.
 People often told me it's a taste you develop, and it sounds so fucking stupid! WHY would I keep doing something harmful that I don't like with the only goal of start liking it? It sounds seriously dumb.

While I enjoy many kinds of alcohol, I dislike beer too. Which is kinda bad because here in Germany you get weird looks when everyone orders beer and you don't.

But then I found the perfect solution to this "problem": (dark) yeast wheat (wikipedia).
First, it creates the impression that you know what you want when you order a specific kind of beer. At the same time, it relieves you from these endless pointless debates whether Becks is better than Heinecken and whatnot.
Second, it is always served in 0.5L glasses. So while everyone sips on their tiny bottle, you get a man's glass. Of course it takes longer to complete so people understand that you're not ordering new beers round after round and don't notice that you've only had one beer the whole evening.
Third, it is cloudy and thus (especially the dark beer) looks super manly and hardcore.
And finally, now sit down for this plot twist, despite its appearance yeast beer is really mild and barely has that beer-taste that I (and maybe you too) so despise.

I just love it.

[RWD]

I finally had to make a big production of putting my bike helmet and gloves down on the counter, looking at him like I was going to burst into tears and saying "I just want to cash my check, will you let me do that or not?"  I was cashing a rebate check for about three dollars.

Find a bank that has check deposit in their smartphone app.  Problem  solved.  Less than a minute to snap photos of the front and back of a check vs. a time consuming trip to bank.

This would definitely work this this particular context, but for many of the other examples on the forum it would not. Our check deposit app (with CapitalOne 360) has a $5,000/day limit and a $10,000/month limit, so if you have a single check for more than either of those amounts you have to go through a much more convoluted process, and since our bank has no brick-and-mortar fronts, they actually prefer you to keep a second, brick-and-mortar bank for, among other reasons, this express purpose.

... all of which I guess still qualify as Mustachian people problems, yes? :)

Ally's eCheck Deposit has a limit of $50k/day ($250k/month), which should be sufficient for most people. Though I just got a check from selling my house that is made out to both me and my wife and my Ally account is not joint. So we tried to use Wells Fargo's equivalent... $2500/day limit! And of course the check happens to be ~$2570...

So this is my Mustachian problem this week. The town we just moved to does not have a single branch of a bank for which we have an account, so we either need to deposit this electronically or open a new bank account. I have one more account I think I can try to do a mobile deposit with and I've started the paperwork to make Ally a joint account. Of course, having to wait to deposit this check is only annoying and doesn't affect our short-term finances whatsoever.

[dragoncar]

I finally had to make a big production of putting my bike helmet and gloves down on the counter, looking at him like I was going to burst into tears and saying "I just want to cash my check, will you let me do that or not?"  I was cashing a rebate check for about three dollars.

Find a bank that has check deposit in their smartphone app.  Problem  solved.  Less than a minute to snap photos of the front and back of a check vs. a time consuming trip to bank.

This would definitely work this this particular context, but for many of the other examples on the forum it would not. Our check deposit app (with CapitalOne 360) has a $5,000/day limit and a $10,000/month limit, so if you have a single check for more than either of those amounts you have to go through a much more convoluted process, and since our bank has no brick-and-mortar fronts, they actually prefer you to keep a second, brick-and-mortar bank for, among other reasons, this express purpose.

... all of which I guess still qualify as Mustachian people problems, yes? :)

Ally's eCheck Deposit has a limit of $50k/day ($250k/month), which should be sufficient for most people. Though I just got a check from selling my house that is made out to both me and my wife and my Ally account is not joint. So we tried to use Wells Fargo's equivalent... $2500/day limit! And of course the check happens to be ~$2570...

So this is my Mustachian problem this week. The town we just moved to does not have a single branch of a bank for which we have an account, so we either need to deposit this electronically or open a new bank account. I have one more account I think I can try to do a mobile deposit with and I've started the paperwork to make Ally a joint account. Of course, having to wait to deposit this check is only annoying and doesn't affect our short-term finances whatsoever.

I'm pretty sure Ally will deposit a joint check in a single account as long as you have both signatures.  I'd either chat to verify or just try it.  Otherwise, you really don't need to "start the paperwork to make Ally a joint account" you can just open a new joint account online in like 2 minutes.   It's really fast and free.

Fun fact: when I wired money from my Ally account for my down payment, I had to fax them a signed authorization form.  Because this was an important document, I signed it with my super-legible signature that I use for the DMV, back of credit card, etc.  They later called me and said I had to resend it because my signature didn't match all the sloppy signatures I've used on my recent checks.