Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)

[Pooperman]

I live in a rent-stabilized (middle class) apartment that raises rents in line with the official October inflation number every year, same as Social Security benefits. For our area, the rents are super good since this has been happening since the 1970s (rent inflation >> general inflation). We pay $964 (up from $951 2 years ago) as compared to places that rent for $1500-$2000 the next building over in the same town with the same bad schools. There's a person here who is retired and makes $200k/yr give or take.

For you, the rents listed probably sound insane. It's a fact of life when you live in the most populated metro area in the US.

   What does the rent stabilization do to owners of the property?
Just from your numbers, Unstabilized the rent could be twice as
much which means the property value could be double. I'd hate
to be an owner with the government holding down the price of my rental.
What don't I understand?

Would you change your mind if the land was incredibly cheap and the loan to build the place was interest free? Pretty sure no property taxes are paid on that lot either (or very little). The only interest on the loan the city gets is from people who make too much to be considered middle class for the apartment they own. They have to pay an increased rent, the increased amount of which goes to the city. We're at an income level for a 1br where we will have to pay extra if we're still living here in another two years or so (they check your income every 3 years).

[riverffashion]

While doing a demo on a very high end house we found beer cans inside of cinder blocks.

In my old apartment I found some cans of cider in the roof space (cider in the UK is all alcoholic, btw, so not only were the workmen untidy, they were drinking on the job!).

Anyway, as I lifted them out, I was like, "These are half full! Who wastes good cider like that?!", and my husband was all, "love... what's in those cans ain't cider..."

Hahaha that's hilarious. My first thought would hav been the same as yours though.

[dragoncar]

   What does the rent stabilization do to owners of the property?

Generally screws them.
Depending on the city, either it's only a small proportion of the units that are rent controlled - so it's just another tax you factor into the cost of doing business. Or in return for one building that is rent controlled you get to put up a shopping mall or luxury condo without any planning difficulties.

In some cities it just means that as property prices rise but rents stay the same, you stop doing maintenance and run the place down until all the good tenants leave and it becomes a slum - then you demolish it (or have a convenient fire) and build a new building with rents reset to current market rate.

Either way it helps big developer corporations, who make political contributions,  over small private landlords.

Basically it screws the owner as of the date rent control is enacted.  Subsequent property owners pay a lower price with acceptance of accompanying restrictions.  It's a windfall for any property owner as of the date rent control is repealed. 

It's essentially a redistribution of wealth from individual landowners to their tenants.  I am not opposed to all redistributions of wealth, but I think there are much better ways to do it than target individual landowners (and I'm not even a landlord)

Rent control introduces too many market distortions, partially leading to the housing crisis we currently have in sf

[Larabeth]

Today I had my first problem: I've got a cash back credit card that if I spend $500 in three months, I get $150 back.  I didn't realize this initially (got it for the gas rewards), so now I have a month left to get that $150...

I don't have $500 worth of stuff I need to spend!!!

So much for savings, hahaha!

[johnny847]

Today I had my first problem: I've got a cash back credit card that if I spend $500 in three months, I get $150 back.  I didn't realize this initially (got it for the gas rewards), so now I have a month left to get that $150...

I don't have $500 worth of stuff I need to spend!!!

So much for savings, hahaha!

You could buy some gift cards to places you normally shop at anyway.

You could also buy a visa gift card (a debit card with a pin but no atm access) for ~1% fee.

Which card btw?

[Larabeth]

Today I had my first problem: I've got a cash back credit card that if I spend $500 in three months, I get $150 back.  I didn't realize this initially (got it for the gas rewards), so now I have a month left to get that $150...

I don't have $500 worth of stuff I need to spend!!!

So much for savings, hahaha!

You could buy some gift cards to places you normally shop at anyway.

You could also buy a visa gift card (a debit card with a pin but no atm access) for ~1% fee.

Which card btw?

Chase Freedom Visa
I may buy some gift cards to the grocery store we use, not a bad idea actually!!

[johnny847]

Today I had my first problem: I've got a cash back credit card that if I spend $500 in three months, I get $150 back.  I didn't realize this initially (got it for the gas rewards), so now I have a month left to get that $150...

I don't have $500 worth of stuff I need to spend!!!

So much for savings, hahaha!

You could buy some gift cards to places you normally shop at anyway.

You could also buy a visa gift card (a debit card with a pin but no atm access) for ~1% fee.

Which card btw?

Chase Freedom Visa
I may buy some gift cards to the grocery store we use, not a bad idea actually!!

I'd probably buy gas gift cards instead because the gas category is 5% right now. And come Q2, groceries will be 5%.

Now if you don't want to float that much money because the rate at which you buy gas is really slow, then sure supplement that with grocery gc's. But I'd buy gas gc's first.

[Larabeth]

Do gas GCs count toward that 5%?  I didn't realize that!!!!  That's even better.

[johnny847]

Do gas GCs count toward that 5%?  I didn't realize that!!!!  That's even better.

I am 99% confident. But even I would buy a low denomination one just to check. IIRC Chase shows you the earn rate of a transaction shortly after it posts.

[Larabeth]

Do gas GCs count toward that 5%?  I didn't realize that!!!!  That's even better.

I am 99% confident. But even I would buy a low denomination one just to check. IIRC Chase shows you the earn rate of a transaction shortly after it posts.

Good call.  Will look into this tomorrow AM!

[dragoncar]

Do gas GCs count toward that 5%?  I didn't realize that!!!!  That's even better.

I am 99% confident. But even I would buy a low denomination one just to check. IIRC Chase shows you the earn rate of a transaction shortly after it posts.

Good call.  Will look into this tomorrow AM!

I know when it was 10% for Amazon  it worked for Amazon gift cards

[pdxmonkey]

I should have bought more Amazon GCs when Chase had that going. I didn't buy any because I already had some Amazon credit left and now I am out of Amazon credit.

I maxed out on the $300 of target gift cards you could buy when Target had them 10% off. Got 12 cards with $25 each. When you use them online and pay the remainder with a Red Card you get 5% off the full amount even though you are using GC money. In store you don't get 5% off on the amount paid with GC. So far I have used one and given one away for a birthday.

I have a decent amount of money in Best Buy gift card floating as well from games I traded in for more than I paid. Free entertainment.

[mm1970]

I live in a rent-stabilized (middle class) apartment that raises rents in line with the official October inflation number every year, same as Social Security benefits. For our area, the rents are super good since this has been happening since the 1970s (rent inflation >> general inflation). We pay $964 (up from $951 2 years ago) as compared to places that rent for $1500-$2000 the next building over in the same town with the same bad schools. There's a person here who is retired and makes $200k/yr give or take.

For you, the rents listed probably sound insane. It's a fact of life when you live in the most populated metro area in the US.

   What does the rent stabilization do to owners of the property?
Just from your numbers, Unstabilized the rent could be twice as
much which means the property value could be double. I'd hate
to be an owner with the government holding down the price of my rental.
What don't I understand?

It depends on the area.

Some areas, ownership is cheap, and owners are still making money.
Some areas, owners might be getting screwed.

I live in So Cal, and rents here are ginormous right now, and renters are pissed.  You constantly here how landlords are screwing people.

Well, it depends.
Some owners have owned for 30-40 years, and Prop 13 means their taxes are $1000 a year, and they don't upkeep the places, and they charge market rate.
Some owners bought their homes in 2006, are under water, and market rate means they are breaking even, or not quite.

Most of the mobile home parks in the area are under some amount of rent control, because they are  heavily filled by the elderly, but not all of them. So imagine that a few years ago, one was bought and the owner decided to increase rents to $1000 a month.  That was pretty outrageous.  I think that park is now half "condo" (mobile home owners bought their space) and half are not.  Messy.

Rent control comes with similar issues.  Just flipped.

[dragoncar]

I'm so good at scoring free food at work that I think I'm gaining weight.

I've eaten free jack in the box burgers for three days.  Those things are like 800 calories!

[momcpa]

Question for PDXMONKEY about the Target card:

I also bought the maximum of $300 when they had the 10% off.  But I wasn't as smart as you......I bought one 'mega' $300 card.   After your comment that you could get the 5% off everything if you use your Red Card for a balance payment..........I'm wondering if when a person buys on-line, can they specify a lesser amount being paid by the gift card, (not the complete charge) in order to create a balance due ????  And then pay the balance with the Red Card and get that additional 5% off everything ??

I might have to try that.

[momcpa]

A reply to my own inquiry about the Target Gift card and Target Red Card.  I couldn't get it to work in my scenario.  I called Target.  They said it would apply the full amount of the charge if there was still that much available on the gift card.  You can't say $10 only, if you have more available.

The answer might be to use my 'mega' card to buy smaller cards and then use them.

[riverffashion]

I'm so good at scoring free food at work that I think I'm gaining weight.

I've eaten free jack in the box burgers for three days.  Those things are like 800 calories!

ugh, ya. i've gotten really good finally , at not partaking in the goodies that make there way into the break room. can be hard to resist temptation, but i'm paying for it, and still working at whittling off those extra ten pounds (not much, but on my smallish frame, it's apparent at least to me). i might add that the fiance and i recently moved back in together again, and his food choices are let's just say, different than mine, and i quickly put on a few, enjoying the simple things i hadn't previously ever kept in my house. i eat really healthy ordinarily and so it was easy to gain. i'm just glad i caught it before it got to be too much, it's not nearly so easy to loose weight as it used to be!!

[Tuskalusa]

My friends think I'm weird because I walk the mile (gasp!) from the train to my office.

[FrugalShrew]

I'm so good at scoring free food at work that I think I'm gaining weight.

I've eaten free jack in the box burgers for three days.  Those things are like 800 calories!

ugh, ya. i've gotten really good finally , at not partaking in the goodies that make there way into the break room. can be hard to resist temptation, but i'm paying for it, and still working at whittling off those extra ten pounds (not much, but on my smallish frame, it's apparent at least to me). i might add that the fiance and i recently moved back in together again, and his food choices are let's just say, different than mine, and i quickly put on a few, enjoying the simple things i hadn't previously ever kept in my house. i eat really healthy ordinarily and so it was easy to gain. i'm just glad i caught it before it got to be too much, it's not nearly so easy to loose weight as it used to be!!

Yeah, I used to eat a lot of free food from my office (because, free!), but pretty much all of it is garbage calories. Even the meals are mostly white carbs, chips, cookies, etc. I will eat a sandwich here and there, but I try to avoid all the chips and desserts. It's just not worth it.

[riverffashion]

I'm so good at scoring free food at work that I think I'm gaining weight.

I've eaten free jack in the box burgers for three days.  Those things are like 800 calories!

ugh, ya. i've gotten really good finally , at not partaking in the goodies that make there way into the break room. can be hard to resist temptation, but i'm paying for it, and still working at whittling off those extra ten pounds (not much, but on my smallish frame, it's apparent at least to me). i might add that the fiance and i recently moved back in together again, and his food choices are let's just say, different than mine, and i quickly put on a few, enjoying the simple things i hadn't previously ever kept in my house. i eat really healthy ordinarily and so it was easy to gain. i'm just glad i caught it before it got to be too much, it's not nearly so easy to loose weight as it used to be!!

Yeah, I used to eat a lot of free food from my office (because, free!), but pretty much all of it is garbage calories. Even the meals are mostly white carbs, chips, cookies, etc. I will eat a sandwich here and there, but I try to avoid all the chips and desserts. It's just not worth it.

Not worth it, yes.
Every time I am at my desired weight I tell myself to maintain it no matter what . but after a while, I don't and it creeps up a little, fortunately by not too much these days, but still...

[johnny847]

I should have bought more Amazon GCs when Chase had that going. I didn't buy any because I already had some Amazon credit left and now I am out of Amazon credit.

I maxed out on the $300 of target gift cards you could buy when Target had them 10% off. Got 12 cards with $25 each. When you use them online and pay the remainder with a Red Card you get 5% off the full amount even though you are using GC money. In store you don't get 5% off on the amount paid with GC. So far I have used one and given one away for a birthday.

I have a decent amount of money in Best Buy gift card floating as well from games I traded in for more than I paid. Free entertainment.

Question for PDXMONKEY about the Target card:

I also bought the maximum of $300 when they had the 10% off.  But I wasn't as smart as you......I bought one 'mega' $300 card.   After your comment that you could get the 5% off everything if you use your Red Card for a balance payment..........I'm wondering if when a person buys on-line, can they specify a lesser amount being paid by the gift card, (not the complete charge) in order to create a balance due ????  And then pay the balance with the Red Card and get that additional 5% off everything ??

I might have to try that.

There's an easier solution which lets you use gift card for the entire purchase and still get a 5% REDCard discount. I believe it is a bug in their system.

All you have to do is as you go to checkout online, you say charge everything to the REDCard. But on the "review & place order" page, on the right column below the complete order button, click on "Pay with a Target GiftCard". This will take you back to the payment method page. Then enter your gift card.
Even if your gift card(s) cover(s) the entire balance, the REDcard 5% discount will still remain applied to your order.

[pdxmonkey]

Good to know. I partly got smaller increments so if I don't have something specific I want to give someone or am running late I can just grab one out of the stack.

[momcpa]

Thanks for the Target Card on-line tip.  I will try that and see if I can get the 'bug' in their system to work for me.   Might be awhile before I need anything though, but when I do, I will check it out.

[momcpa]

Thanks "johnny 847".   I tried your tip regarding the payment for a Target order on-line.   I followed your steps.  (Buying t-shirts for two grandchildren.)  This is how it turned out......

I picked out the T-shirts.  Used 'pres' code for a 25% off presidents' sale happening this weekend.  Then said I would pay with my Red card, so I got an additional 5% discount AND free shipping.  Then I took advantage of the tip you provided and paid with my gift card that I got 10% off when I bought it last December.

I feel like I made out quite well on this little purchase.  I know that it works now, and will use it again in the future.  Thanks to all those on here who ask and answer questions, and share their ideas/tips with the rest of us.

[johnny847]

Thanks "johnny 847".   I tried your tip regarding the payment for a Target order on-line.   I followed your steps.  (Buying t-shirts for two grandchildren.)  This is how it turned out......

I picked out the T-shirts.  Used 'pres' code for a 25% off presidents' sale happening this weekend.  Then said I would pay with my Red card, so I got an additional 5% discount AND free shipping.  Then I took advantage of the tip you provided and paid with my gift card that I got 10% off when I bought it last December.

I feel like I made out quite well on this little purchase.  I know that it works now, and will use it again in the future.  Thanks to all those on here who ask and answer questions, and share their ideas/tips with the rest of us.

That's some nice deal stacking right there! Close to 40% off.

I totally forgot about the free shipping with the REDCard. Nor did I know that it would be applied while using this trick. Good to know.

I forgot to mention last time - you can stack another layer of discounts with shopping portals (but we're only talking 1 or 2%, sadly). You click through a shopping portal such as eBates or topcashback and you'll get another small savings. Unfortunately most portals only pay out for certain categories at Target. But Active Junky is a portal that always pays out 1% for all Target purchases, regardless of the product category.

I shop pretty regularly at Target, and it's about a 10 minute walk from where I live. So for stuff most people would just buy in store that I could buy online instead with in store pickup, I do the latter to get the shopping portal bonus.

Of course everybody has to decide for him or herself whether this extra step is worth the savings.

[theadvicist]

I know this one has come up before, but it's really annoying me today!

I buy incidentals for our small office - tea, coffee, copier paper etc. I always pay with my CC for the points, but get reimbursed in cash.

I currently have £800 in my bedside table drawer because I just cannot spend the cash quickly enough.

I don't like to use it for fuel etc, as it negates the points I got on the stuff I bought for the office. I try to use it for pubs and nights out with friends where it's easier to pay by cash. But we just don't spend that much on those things.

I'd use it to buy currency for our upcoming trip, as we get a better rate with cash. Except I already have Euros left over from another trip where, surprise surprise our spending was pretty low.

Too much cash! Mustachian problem indeed. I guess I could pay it into the bank, but you can't do that online, and I would have to go out of my way to get to a branch.

[nobodyspecial]

I guess I could pay it into the bank, but you can't do that online, and I would have to go out of my way to get to a branch.

My bank has a phone app where you can simplytake a picture of a check/cheque to pay it in.
Perhaps they could do the same for cash ?

[RWD]

I guess I could pay it into the bank, but you can't do that online, and I would have to go out of my way to get to a branch.

My bank has a phone app where you can simplytake a picture of a check/cheque to pay it in.
Perhaps they could do the same for cash ?

What...? You're joking, right?

[theadvicist]

I guess I could pay it into the bank, but you can't do that online, and I would have to go out of my way to get to a branch.

My bank has a phone app where you can simplytake a picture of a check/cheque to pay it in.
Perhaps they could do the same for cash ?

What...? You're joking, right?

Yes, I'm pretty sure that's the joke - that you could bank the cash AND keep it. Would certainly be nice!

[I'm a red panda]

Do you have someone you trust who you could give it to in exchange for a check you can mobile deposit? 

Save them a trip to the ATM? 

[plainjane]

Main bank offered to put us into a draw for 15k if we told them when our mortgage was up for renewal.  They didn't have the option of "never, we just paid it off".

So I used the date that the term was supposed to be complete, and if they phone us up asking if they can beat our existing rate, I'll tell them they have no chance.  I think that's a fair tradeoff.

[dragoncar]

I guess I could pay it into the bank, but you can't do that online, and I would have to go out of my way to get to a branch.

My bank has a phone app where you can simplytake a picture of a check/cheque to pay it in.
Perhaps they could do the same for cash ?

What...? You're joking, right?

Yes, I'm pretty sure that's the joke - that you could bank the cash AND keep it. Would certainly be nice!

Not sure I get the joke here.  I work in banking and what we do is OCR the serial number from the photo of the cash and then we blacklist those codes.  The customer can destroy the cash or keep it as a souvenir.  Spending it would be problematic, as the register scanner will flag the blacklisted cash and the black helicopters would arrive in short order.

[jordanread]

Not sure I get the joke here.  I work in banking and what we do is OCR the serial number from the photo of the cash and then we blacklist those codes.  The customer can destroy the cash or keep it as a souvenir.  Spending it would be problematic, as the register scanner will flag the blacklisted cash and the black helicopters would arrive in short order.

Where are you that there are register scanners for cash?

[aetherie]

Troll, jordanread. Don't feed it.

[jordanread]

Troll, jordanread. Don't feed it.

It's dragoncar though!! Even if (s)he is trolling, it should wind up being fun.

[dragoncar]

Not sure I get the joke here.  I work in banking and what we do is OCR the serial number from the photo of the cash and then we blacklist those codes.  The customer can destroy the cash or keep it as a souvenir.  Spending it would be problematic, as the register scanner will flag the blacklisted cash and the black helicopters would arrive in short order.

Where are you that there are register scanners for cash?

Ah, you must not be in the US.  Here, ever since the Liberty Defense Act of 2022, all cash transactions are required to be digitized to prevent money laundering in finance of terrorism.  Accordingly, all Point of sale registers must have a calibrated scanner connected to a an automated suspect neutralization device.

It's really best to just use electronic funds to begin with, as cash transactions will always be heavily scrutinized.  It's not worth submitting the blood sample just to buy a latte.

[Dollar Slice]

Here, ever since the Liberty Defense Act of 2022, all cash transactions are required to be digitized to prevent money laundering

Also, every washing machine sold after 2011 has to have cash detection sensors built-in.

[FrugalShrew]

Not sure I get the joke here.  I work in banking and what we do is OCR the serial number from the photo of the cash and then we blacklist those codes.  The customer can destroy the cash or keep it as a souvenir.  Spending it would be problematic, as the register scanner will flag the blacklisted cash and the black helicopters would arrive in short order.

Where are you that there are register scanners for cash?

Target does have register scanners to test the authenticity of $20 bills.

[nobodyspecial]

Here, ever since the Liberty Defense Act of 2022, all cash transactions are required to be digitized to prevent money laundering

Also, every washing machine sold after 2011 has to have cash detection sensors built-in.

Canada has money-laundering safe notes. I think US bills are dry clean only

[pdxmonkey]

Not sure I get the joke here.  I work in banking and what we do is OCR the serial number from the photo of the cash and then we blacklist those codes.  The customer can destroy the cash or keep it as a souvenir.  Spending it would be problematic, as the register scanner will flag the blacklisted cash and the black helicopters would arrive in short order.

Where are you that there are register scanners for cash?

Target does have register scanners to test the authenticity of $20 bills.

What about $50 bills and $100 bills. I only have $20 bills when I get change. Kidding, Kidding, I would never use cash at Target when I can get 5% off for using a Red Card. I do have the problem of the original poster of not spending cash as quickly as it comes in though. If it's in 20s it becomes a serious hassle as if I try to fit them all in my wallet it won't bend to close, hence I try to not get 20s from anyone.

[FrugalShrew]

Ha I'm sure it does test $50 and $100 bills, too -- good point! I just never carry those.

With the high percentage of my shopping dollars that Target receives, I should probably get the Red Card. I lose out on a lot of rewards because I just don't like the creep factor of companies tracking what I purchase. But it gets harder and harder to stand firm on that issue.

[johnny847]

Ha I'm sure it does test $50 and $100 bills, too -- good point! I just never carry those.

With the high percentage of my shopping dollars that Target receives, I should probably get the Red Card. I lose out on a lot of rewards because I just don't like the creep factor of companies tracking what I purchase. But it gets harder and harder to stand firm on that issue.

You can typically do better than that. You can always get gift cards at a discount. Gift Card Wiki will search across a bunch of different used gift card resellers.

Currently giftcardbin is listed as having some Target gc's at 6.6% off. And when you buy those you can use a cc, so you're adding another 1-2% or w/e from your cc rewards.

[Jeremy E.]

having to pay more for social security tax than income tax, because you have too many tax deductions

[chetmanly]

I can no longer see a giant house with a huge truck, giant boat, and ridiculous-sized camper out front without wondering how much the people who 'own' them owe.

I live in a "Luxury" apartment in Denver, (one bedroom with the spouse, we'll be looking for a new place in the next couple months). I know what everyone pays. So many people are single, living in two bedrooms, driving luxury cars. Why are you driving a luxury car and renting a two bedroom!? Christ, you could sell that POS and have a down payment on a new home, like, right across the street!

[jfisher3]

Just bought our dream homestead last Friday. We lived in a cheap little house on the edge of a bad neighborhood for 4 years, specifically picked for being cheap and easily converted into a rental, while working to get ourselves into a better situation. When I bought it, I got criticism for buying such a 'crappy little house', when I could just wait and buy a nicer one. "friends" and family did the 'my house is bigger/nicer/prettier than yours' passive-aggressive dance on facebook while I quietly sat back and made double payments on my debt.

After closing we were coerced (by those same people) into putting pictures of the new house up on facebook, and now those people are quiet, and the rest of my family all think I'm insanely rich or something because  "how else can you afford THAT?!?"

I've tried to explain how I'm not a ****ing idiot with my money, and that's how we can afford it, but that does not compute.   These are some of the same people that two years ago thought we were going bankrupt because we canceled cable tv and bought a Roku.

I'm not even a great mustachian, it's just that my wife and I both work, and we're focused on being better with our money. We rarely go out to eat, we don't pay for cable, and we don't have stupid-expensive hobbies or go to the bar every night. Oh, and now we have an income property to boot!

[johnny847]

Just bought our dream homestead last Friday. We lived in a cheap little house on the edge of a bad neighborhood for 4 years, specifically picked for being cheap and easily converted into a rental, while working to get ourselves into a better situation. When I bought it, I got criticism for buying such a 'crappy little house', when I could just wait and buy a nicer one. "friends" and family did the 'my house is bigger/nicer/prettier than yours' passive-aggressive dance on facebook while I quietly sat back and made double payments on my debt.

After closing we were coerced (by those same people) into putting pictures of the new house up on facebook, and now those people are quiet, and the rest of my family all think I'm insanely rich or something because  "how else can you afford THAT?!?"

I've tried to explain how I'm not a ****ing idiot with my money, and that's how we can afford it, but that does not compute.   These are some of the same people that two years ago thought we were going bankrupt because we canceled cable tv and bought a Roku.

I'm not even a great mustachian, it's just that my wife and I both work, and we're focused on being better with our money. We rarely go out to eat, we don't pay for cable, and we don't have stupid-expensive hobbies or go to the bar every night. Oh, and now we have an income property to boot!

Haha well for some people it's not necessarily that they don't understand, it's that they don't want to. Some people want to believe that the system is somehow rigged against them, so it's not their fault they're living paycheck to paycheck, can't afford nice things, etc.

[GreenSheep]

Just bought our dream homestead last Friday. We lived in a cheap little house on the edge of a bad neighborhood for 4 years, specifically picked for being cheap and easily converted into a rental, while working to get ourselves into a better situation. When I bought it, I got criticism for buying such a 'crappy little house', when I could just wait and buy a nicer one. "friends" and family did the 'my house is bigger/nicer/prettier than yours' passive-aggressive dance on facebook while I quietly sat back and made double payments on my debt.

After closing we were coerced (by those same people) into putting pictures of the new house up on facebook, and now those people are quiet, and the rest of my family all think I'm insanely rich or something because  "how else can you afford THAT?!?"

I've tried to explain how I'm not a ****ing idiot with my money, and that's how we can afford it, but that does not compute.   These are some of the same people that two years ago thought we were going bankrupt because we canceled cable tv and bought a Roku.

I'm not even a great mustachian, it's just that my wife and I both work, and we're focused on being better with our money. We rarely go out to eat, we don't pay for cable, and we don't have stupid-expensive hobbies or go to the bar every night. Oh, and now we have an income property to boot!

Haha well for some people it's not necessarily that they don't understand, it's that they don't want to. Some people want to believe that the system is somehow rigged against them, so it's not their fault they're living paycheck to paycheck, can't afford nice things, etc.

Congratulations, jfisher3! That's fantastic!

And johnny847... yes. Exactly. It's always someone else's fault.

[jfisher3]

Just bought our dream homestead last Friday. We lived in a cheap little house on the edge of a bad neighborhood for 4 years, specifically picked for being cheap and easily converted into a rental, while working to get ourselves into a better situation. When I bought it, I got criticism for buying such a 'crappy little house', when I could just wait and buy a nicer one. "friends" and family did the 'my house is bigger/nicer/prettier than yours' passive-aggressive dance on facebook while I quietly sat back and made double payments on my debt.

After closing we were coerced (by those same people) into putting pictures of the new house up on facebook, and now those people are quiet, and the rest of my family all think I'm insanely rich or something because  "how else can you afford THAT?!?"

I've tried to explain how I'm not a ****ing idiot with my money, and that's how we can afford it, but that does not compute.   These are some of the same people that two years ago thought we were going bankrupt because we canceled cable tv and bought a Roku.

I'm not even a great mustachian, it's just that my wife and I both work, and we're focused on being better with our money. We rarely go out to eat, we don't pay for cable, and we don't have stupid-expensive hobbies or go to the bar every night. Oh, and now we have an income property to boot!

Haha well for some people it's not necessarily that they don't understand, it's that they don't want to. Some people want to believe that the system is somehow rigged against them, so it's not their fault they're living paycheck to paycheck, can't afford nice things, etc.

Congratulations, jfisher3! That's fantastic!

And johnny847... yes. Exactly. It's always someone else's fault.

Thanks :) it's a dream come true, with plenty of work that the dream doesn't tell you about lol. It's a 144 year old farm house, but ideally set up for a small homestead. Wife loves the farm house moxie, I love the ability to grow my own food for fun and profit :P

[UnleashHell]

Problem - having got a pay raise and a larger bonus than last year I now have to work out in which pay schedule  I should reduce my 401k contributions so that I don't go over the max....


sigh....

[johnny847]

Problem - having got a pay raise and a larger bonus than last year I now have to work out in which pay schedule  I should reduce my 401k contributions so that I don't go over the max....


sigh....

So I believe most systems are set up to stop your contributions once you reach the $18k limit. However, you may still need to adjust your contributions anyway simply because some companies don't give you your full match if you max out your contributions before the year's end.