Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)

[Greenback Reproduction Specialist]

If they think you are smart with the "large" jar...make them think you are a GENIUS with the GIANT JAR.

Lol : )

[radram]

I want to buy the large tub of peanut butter to bring to work(since it is the best price per oz), but feel I would look silly.... So I cave in and settle for the reasonable 1lb jar but feel strange not saving those extra pennies. Then today I get called "smart" for bringing in a "large" 1lb jar of peanut butter to eat with my apple slices, instead of the little cups of peanut butter.....

If they think you are smart with the "large" jar...make them think you are a GENIUS with the GIANT JAR.

Why not have them think you are a savant?
https://bobsbearbait.com/shop/bear-bait/peanut-butter-55-gallon-steel-drums/

[kaypinkHH]

Wait, is using 55 gallons of peanut butter a known bear baiting method??

[radram]

Wait, is using 55 gallons of peanut butter a known bear baiting method??

I am out on this answer. It was just the first hit for a 55 gallon drum of peanut butter.

[fredbear]

Yes to foxes (urban foxes are a huge thing in London), yes to rats, and yes to them ripping open and pawing through the rubbish. It's disgusting. But people still do it. And the fly problem in summer is unbelievable.

We have to have bear-proof containers, and while they now sort of work, we all still wait to put them out until right before the trashtruck comes. 

My first bear-proof container wasn't, and I retain a fond memory of the bear sitting at the end of the driveway, legs extended and spread in front, grabbing the can,  pulling it to its chest, wrapping its hind legs around the can to stabilize it, and using its front legs to bear-hug it until the lid went "spang!" and popped into the air.  I went out righteously with a slingshot and strode up the driveway to the bear.  I told him indignantly that that was My Garbage, and directed him to leave.  But he did not leave.  He stuck his head into the metal can, clear in.  So I whanged a ball bearing into the bottom of the can, and it made a great noise, a little reminiscent of the 'cannon shots' in the 1812 overture.  Then he did leave, and left me thinking, "Fredbear, you self-righteous geezer, you are going OD in property rights.  Did  you even hear yourself?  Asserting a fee simple interest in garbage.  The bear is hyperphagic.  He needs that garbage more than you or Western Disposal need it." (This is fallacious, of course, but it convinced me not to be pompous about garbage raiding, except insofar as it is a gateway drug to dog-killing, which is very common around here, though the mountain lions are more at fault than the bears.)

[dragoncar]

Wait, is using 55 gallons of peanut butter a known bear baiting method??

I am out on this answer. It was just the first hit for a 55 gallon drum of peanut butter.

Yes to foxes (urban foxes are a huge thing in London), yes to rats, and yes to them ripping open and pawing through the rubbish. It's disgusting. But people still do it. And the fly problem in summer is unbelievable.

We have to have bear-proof containers, and while they now sort of work, we all still wait to put them out until right before the trashtruck comes. 

My first bear-proof container wasn't, and I retain a fond memory of the bear sitting at the end of the driveway, legs extended and spread in front, grabbing the can,  pulling it to its chest, wrapping its hind legs around the can to stabilize it, and using its front legs to bear-hug it until the lid went "spang!" and popped into the air.  I went out righteously with a slingshot and strode up the driveway to the bear.  I told him indignantly that that was My Garbage, and directed him to leave.  But he did not leave.  He stuck his head into the metal can, clear in.  So I whanged a ball bearing into the bottom of the can, and it made a great noise, a little reminiscent of the 'cannon shots' in the 1812 overture.  Then he did leave, and left me thinking, "Fredbear, you self-righteous geezer, you are going OD in property rights.  Did  you even hear yourself?  Asserting a fee simple interest in garbage.  The bear is hyperphagic.  He needs that garbage more than you or Western Disposal need it." (This is fallacious, of course, but it convinced me not to be pompous about garbage raiding, except insofar as it is a gateway drug to dog-killing, which is very common around here, though the mountain lions are more at fault than the bears.)

Yes!  The foam is merging.  Just use the 55-gallon drums of peanut butter to attract the bears.  The bears will scare away the foxes!

[LennStar]

Yes!  The foam is merging.  Just use the 55-gallon drums of peanut butter to attract the bears.  The bears will scare away the foxes!

And probably a whole flock of complainypants, too!

[kaypinkHH]

Moral of the story/stories...we all need 55gal drums of PB to solve all our MPPs.

[shelivesthedream]

Moral of the story/stories...we all need 55gal drums of PB to solve all our MPPs.

Now there's a challenge for someone to go back through this thread...

[Greenback Reproduction Specialist]

Walmart - 4lb jar = $4.38 ($1.09/lb)which is a really good deal as far as peanut butter goes.
Shoppok - 55 gal (400lb)= $100 ($0.25/lb)

I buy a lot of peanut butter, I love the stuff to eat at work... This could be a good hedge against inflation of peanut prices... or to protect against bad peanut harvest years, like we had a few years ago.

The best thing about peanut butter is it never goes bad, doesn't need refrigeration, and its delicious and nutritious.... Should be on every highschool graduates wish list, a life time supply. "Son your 18 now, so its time you move out and start a life of your own. Here is your drum of peanut butter and a bike trailer to move it around with you" lol

The food bank would probably love one of these : )

I'm going to shop around here locally and see if I can find a source... Hehe I cant wait to see the look on my wife's face : )

[With This Herring]

The best thing about peanut butter is it never goes bad, doesn't need refrigeration, and its delicious and nutritious....

Unfortunately, I have learned through hard experience that this first point is so very, very wrong.  Have you ever smelled rancid peanut butter? *shudders*

[Greenback Reproduction Specialist]

Unfortunately, I have learned through hard experience that this first point is so very, very wrong.  Have you ever smelled rancid peanut butter? *shudders*

Ughhh... say it isn't so!?!

Do you live in a humid climate? I gotta wonder if that made a difference.

Everyone says lard goes bad, but we have had a 2gal tub for about 7yrs and it is still just fine. I think it is because we are in a super dry climate... But I dunno.

[With This Herring]

Unfortunately, I have learned through hard experience that this first point is so very, very wrong.  Have you ever smelled rancid peanut butter? *shudders*

Ughhh... say it isn't so!?!

Do you live in a humid climate? I gotta wonder if that made a difference.

Everyone says lard goes bad, but we have had a 2gal tub for about 7yrs and it is still just fine. I think it is because we are in a super dry climate... But I dunno.

Nope, I don't think anyone would call Central New York State especially humid.  This isn't Florida or Thailand.  Temperature-wise, it looks like you guys in Idaho are warmer than us as well.

[kelvin]

Renegotiated my (Canadian) student loan!

The voice on the phone was shocked that I was doubling my monthly payment. Shocked.

[Greenback Reproduction Specialist]

Nope, I don't think anyone would call Central New York State especially humid.  This isn't Florida or Thailand.  Temperature-wise, it looks like you guys in Idaho are warmer than us as well.

Hmmm... In any case I don't like the idea of rancid peanut butter. I might have to check for like a 5gal bucket instead, just to be on the safe side.

[dragoncar]

Walmart - 4lb jar = $4.38 ($1.09/lb)which is a really good deal as far as peanut butter goes.
Shoppok - 55 gal (400lb)= $100 ($0.25/lb)

I buy a lot of peanut butter, I love the stuff to eat at work... This could be a good hedge against inflation of peanut prices... or to protect against bad peanut harvest years, like we had a few years ago.

The best thing about peanut butter is it never goes bad, doesn't need refrigeration, and its delicious and nutritious.... Should be on every highschool graduates wish list, a life time supply. "Son your 18 now, so its time you move out and start a life of your own. Here is your drum of peanut butter and a bike trailer to move it around with you" lol

The food bank would probably love one of these : )

I'm going to shop around here locally and see if I can find a source... Hehe I cant wait to see the look on my wife's face : )

These drums are certainly not safe for human consumption.  The related listings state this explicitly -- it's "reject" peanut butter, only for bears.  It's you're life, though.

How much does a 55 gal drum cost by itself anyways?

[theadvicist]

We keep our bins up our side path and don't put them out every week because they don't fill up that fast. The bin men come all the way up the path anyway to empty them and they broke our gate so I rang up to say can they please not do that any more. The conversation was somewhat confusing.
Bin receptionist: So your bins haven't been collected?
Me: No no, our bins HAVE been collected, but they don't need to unless we actually put them out.
BR: So your bins have been collected but you've put them out again?
Me: No no, I haven't put them out at all but they've been collected anyway, breaking our gate.
BR: I'm sorry about your gate, but are you asking us NOT to collect your bins?
Me: Yes, unless I actually put them out.
BR: But...what about your rubbish?
Me: On average, we generate one carrier bag of actual rubbish and two of recycling per week, as we have our own compost bin. We just don't need them to be collected every week. I'll put them out when we do.
BR: Oh. Wow.

People keep telling me to ring the council for an extra bin for all the dirty nappies we’ll have. The thought of filling two bins a week makes me feel sick. The thought of filling them with plastic and human waste that will go to a landfill and seep into our watercourses makes me want to cry. I haven’t had the nerve to tell many people we’re doing cloth. And like you, we never fill our bin anyway.

[shelivesthedream]

We keep our bins up our side path and don't put them out every week because they don't fill up that fast. The bin men come all the way up the path anyway to empty them and they broke our gate so I rang up to say can they please not do that any more. The conversation was somewhat confusing.
Bin receptionist: So your bins haven't been collected?
Me: No no, our bins HAVE been collected, but they don't need to unless we actually put them out.
BR: So your bins have been collected but you've put them out again?
Me: No no, I haven't put them out at all but they've been collected anyway, breaking our gate.
BR: I'm sorry about your gate, but are you asking us NOT to collect your bins?
Me: Yes, unless I actually put them out.
BR: But...what about your rubbish?
Me: On average, we generate one carrier bag of actual rubbish and two of recycling per week, as we have our own compost bin. We just don't need them to be collected every week. I'll put them out when we do.
BR: Oh. Wow.

People keep telling me to ring the council for an extra bin for all the dirty nappies we’ll have. The thought of filling two bins a week makes me feel sick. The thought of filling them with plastic and human waste that will go to a landfill and seep into our watercourses makes me want to cry. I haven’t had the nerve to tell many people we’re doing cloth. And like you, we never fill our bin anyway.

I've told some people we're planning to do cloth. Most have been supportive, a few have been patronising ("Oh, you'll feel differently when baby is here! You won't want to be running around doing laundry all the time!" I mean no, but I think I can manage to chuck some nappies in our washer dryer and press start), a very few have clearly thought I was unhinged.

I haven't had too much baby nonsense, but I have been told that I will need to buy a car when the baby arrives. When I questioned this (as I live in London and am not really planning to go anywhere particular with the baby), they told me that babies love being driven round and it makes them go to sleep and she used to drive round and round the block to get her baby to sleep. So I was being advised to buy a car solely in order to drive in circles.

[Dollar Slice]

And it has to be a NEW car, to make it safe for the baby to be driven in pointless circles. And probably an SUV to make it easier to put in the car seat, and it will have lots of space to haul all those disposable diapers back from the store.

[TomTX]

Walmart - 4lb jar = $4.38 ($1.09/lb)which is a really good deal as far as peanut butter goes.
Shoppok - 55 gal (400lb)= $100 ($0.25/lb)

I buy a lot of peanut butter, I love the stuff to eat at work... This could be a good hedge against inflation of peanut prices... or to protect against bad peanut harvest years, like we had a few years ago.

The best thing about peanut butter is it never goes bad, doesn't need refrigeration, and its delicious and nutritious.... Should be on every highschool graduates wish list, a life time supply. "Son your 18 now, so its time you move out and start a life of your own. Here is your drum of peanut butter and a bike trailer to move it around with you" lol

The food bank would probably love one of these : )

I'm going to shop around here locally and see if I can find a source... Hehe I cant wait to see the look on my wife's face : )

These drums are certainly not safe for human consumption.  The related listings state this explicitly -- it's "reject" peanut butter, only for bears.  It's you're life, though.

How much does a 55 gal drum cost by itself anyways?

Cost of a 55 gallon drum is hugely variable. We we get solvents at work, there is a $25 deposit on the 55 gallon drum.

Buying an otherwise identical but empty 55 gallon drum for solvent waste disposal from the same company (to deal with the stuff we can't recycle/distill onsite) costs $75.

Therefore, we just don't return a fraction of the solvent drums and pay $25 each instead of $75...

Oh, and the reject PB is probably over the limits for aflatoxins. Could be something else, but I think that's the most probable answer.

[Goldielocks]

We keep our bins up our side path and don't put them out every week because they don't fill up that fast. The bin men come all the way up the path anyway to empty them and they broke our gate so I rang up to say can they please not do that any more. The conversation was somewhat confusing.
Bin receptionist: So your bins haven't been collected?
Me: No no, our bins HAVE been collected, but they don't need to unless we actually put them out.
BR: So your bins have been collected but you've put them out again?
Me: No no, I haven't put them out at all but they've been collected anyway, breaking our gate.
BR: I'm sorry about your gate, but are you asking us NOT to collect your bins?
Me: Yes, unless I actually put them out.
BR: But...what about your rubbish?
Me: On average, we generate one carrier bag of actual rubbish and two of recycling per week, as we have our own compost bin. We just don't need them to be collected every week. I'll put them out when we do.
BR: Oh. Wow.

People keep telling me to ring the council for an extra bin for all the dirty nappies we’ll have. The thought of filling two bins a week makes me feel sick. The thought of filling them with plastic and human waste that will go to a landfill and seep into our watercourses makes me want to cry. I haven’t had the nerve to tell many people we’re doing cloth. And like you, we never fill our bin anyway.

I've told some people we're planning to do cloth. Most have been supportive, a few have been patronising ("Oh, you'll feel differently when baby is here! You won't want to be running around doing laundry all the time!" I mean no, but I think I can manage to chuck some nappies in our washer dryer and press start), a very few have clearly thought I was unhinged.

I haven't had too much baby nonsense, but I have been told that I will need to buy a car when the baby arrives. When I questioned this (as I live in London and am not really planning to go anywhere particular with the baby), they told me that babies love being driven round and it makes them go to sleep and she used to drive round and round the block to get her baby to sleep. So I was being advised to buy a car solely in order to drive in circles.

Ugh,  ridiculous.   Baby diapers - if you like cloth, then replacing 80% of diaper use with cloth is pretty easy.  The last 20% will depend on your routines and preferences.   (DH would not take baby outside of the home in cloth, for example, because you need to carry the dirty one home).

For baby soothing, this does the same thing as a car...  Baby bouncer chair with vibrations.

https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/fisher-price-babys-bouncer-geo-meadow/6000195398097?cmpid=sem_pla_google_en_none_6000195398097_100022002630383_157&cmpid=sem_pla_google_en_none_868545286_42591591006_None&gclid=Cj0KCQiA0b_QBRCeARIsAFntQ9paJ56x69sEnt3Ivi4V3UMQllznbLTaiTyzEjMHH_x-ddhxxVza4ZgaAqL1EALw_wcB

[Linea_Norway]

We keep our bins up our side path and don't put them out every week because they don't fill up that fast. The bin men come all the way up the path anyway to empty them and they broke our gate so I rang up to say can they please not do that any more. The conversation was somewhat confusing.
Bin receptionist: So your bins haven't been collected?
Me: No no, our bins HAVE been collected, but they don't need to unless we actually put them out.
BR: So your bins have been collected but you've put them out again?
Me: No no, I haven't put them out at all but they've been collected anyway, breaking our gate.
BR: I'm sorry about your gate, but are you asking us NOT to collect your bins?
Me: Yes, unless I actually put them out.
BR: But...what about your rubbish?
Me: On average, we generate one carrier bag of actual rubbish and two of recycling per week, as we have our own compost bin. We just don't need them to be collected every week. I'll put them out when we do.
BR: Oh. Wow.

People keep telling me to ring the council for an extra bin for all the dirty nappies we’ll have. The thought of filling two bins a week makes me feel sick. The thought of filling them with plastic and human waste that will go to a landfill and seep into our watercourses makes me want to cry. I haven’t had the nerve to tell many people we’re doing cloth. And like you, we never fill our bin anyway.

I've told some people we're planning to do cloth. Most have been supportive, a few have been patronising ("Oh, you'll feel differently when baby is here! You won't want to be running around doing laundry all the time!" I mean no, but I think I can manage to chuck some nappies in our washer dryer and press start), a very few have clearly thought I was unhinged.

I haven't had too much baby nonsense, but I have been told that I will need to buy a car when the baby arrives. When I questioned this (as I live in London and am not really planning to go anywhere particular with the baby), they told me that babies love being driven round and it makes them go to sleep and she used to drive round and round the block to get her baby to sleep. So I was being advised to buy a car solely in order to drive in circles.

Ugh,  ridiculous.   Baby diapers - if you like cloth, then replacing 80% of diaper use with cloth is pretty easy.  The last 20% will depend on your routines and preferences.   (DH would not take baby outside of the home in cloth, for example, because you need to carry the dirty one home).

For baby soothing, this does the same thing as a car...  Baby bouncer chair with vibrations.

https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/fisher-price-babys-bouncer-geo-meadow/6000195398097?cmpid=sem_pla_google_en_none_6000195398097_100022002630383_157&cmpid=sem_pla_google_en_none_868545286_42591591006_None&gclid=Cj0KCQiA0b_QBRCeARIsAFntQ9paJ56x69sEnt3Ivi4V3UMQllznbLTaiTyzEjMHH_x-ddhxxVza4ZgaAqL1EALw_wcB

I have also heard from parents who need to walk outside with the pram for hours to sooth the baby. To drive a car all the time to sooth is insane and poluting.

By the way, my FIL drives around with his dement wife who promptly falls asleep in the car and then doesn`t sleep at night in the nursing home. I think that is also not a good arrangement. He makes alone twice as many car miles as DH and I drive together.

[Step37]

Shopped at the produce store yesterday and their deal was 10% off for spending $40.00. I only managed to make it to $36.03, thus perfectly missing the discount. $4.00 of “free” food out the window... grrr. There were people in line behind me and I didn’t want to be the person running off to grab some random thing. 

[Dicey]

Shopped at the produce store yesterday and their deal was 10% off for spending $40.00. I only managed to make it to $36.03, thus perfectly missing the discount. $4.00 of “free” food out the window... grrr. There were people in line behind me and I didn’t want to be the person running off to grab some random thing.

Next time, just chose something(s) from your purchases and have the cashier ring up another. Then go back and get it after the transaction's finished. Easy-peasy. Surely you purchased some staple item(s) that you can use more of in the future?

ETA: Even at a produce store there are long lasting staples like onions and potatoes.

[Step37]

Shopped at the produce store yesterday and their deal was 10% off for spending $40.00. I only managed to make it to $36.03, thus perfectly missing the discount. $4.00 of “free” food out the window... grrr. There were people in line behind me and I didn’t want to be the person running off to grab some random thing.

Next time, just chose something(s) from your purchases and have the cashier ring up another. Then go back and get it after the transaction's finished. Easy-peasy. Surely you purchased some staple item(s) that you can use more of in the future?

ETA: Even at a produce store there are long lasting staples like onions and potatoes.

That generally could have worked, but I think I had only pita bread (two packs at $1.75 per package) that wasn’t priced by weight and I didn’t have the receipt in hand to look at. I was also flustered because I couldn’t recall the PIN to my husband’s credit card (we had switched for the purpose of him picking up some tickets that I’d ordered online and original card was needed, and forgot to switch back). I was so confident that I’d reached the minimum spend that I didn’t think ahead about a plan if I hadn’t;) Just a perfect storm of inefficiency!

[Dicey]

Shopped at the produce store yesterday and their deal was 10% off for spending $40.00. I only managed to make it to $36.03, thus perfectly missing the discount. $4.00 of “free” food out the window... grrr. There were people in line behind me and I didn’t want to be the person running off to grab some random thing.

Next time, just chose something(s) from your purchases and have the cashier ring up another. Then go back and get it after the transaction's finished. Easy-peasy. Surely you purchased some staple item(s) that you can use more of in the future?

ETA: Even at a produce store there are long lasting staples like onions and potatoes.

That generally could have worked, but I think I had only pita bread (two packs at $1.75 per package) that wasn’t priced by weight and I didn’t have the receipt in hand to look at. I was also flustered because I couldn’t recall the PIN to my husband’s credit card (we had switched for the purpose of him picking up some tickets that I’d ordered online and original card was needed, and forgot to switch back). I was so confident that I’d reached the minimum spend that I didn’t think ahead about a plan if I hadn’t;) Just a perfect storm of inefficiency!

No worries, it's not that important in the grand scheme of things. It's just a useful tip that might help you, or others, in the future.

[FIT_Goat]

I don't know if this really qualifies, but I thought it was a mustachian people problem.

This month is property tax bill month.  For my mom, it is also the annual property insurance bill month (by coincidence) and six-month car insurance bill month.  During the last year, my mom got tired of having mortgages and paid off both of her houses.  I think she would have been better to invest that money, but she valued reducing her fixed expenses more. It's her money.  She lives in one and "rents" the other to my sister.  I say "rents" because it's not meant to make any money.  My sister pays well below market rate, just what would be my mom's old mortgage payment.

Anyway, my mom was talking to me about this.  And she was complaining because the taxes and insurance on both houses, plus her car insurance, was several thousand dollars.  Her complaint?  "It's not like I don't have more than enough money in my savings account, but do you realize that this is like $700 a month in taxes and insurance costs?!  That is just stupid.  That's what your sister pays me each month.  Oh well, I'll just take what she gives me and throw it right back into savings for next year."

LOL, it was such a small thing for her to complain about.  Really, she could cash-flow it over a couple months, if she wanted to.  But, she just wants to keep her expenses as low as possible and she'd forgotten to include those in her normal budget.  Less than $700 a month for two houses and car insurance isn't bad at all, and she doesn't even need to pay for it because my sister gives her enough to cover it.

My mom definitely has the "lower your costs" side of mustachianism down.  She's afraid of aggressive investing, despite being only a few years away from a secure pension that more than covers her fixed costs.

[Dollar Slice]

I went to the Village Vanguard this weekend, and Mint.com decided that the one-drink minimum I paid for with my credit card was "Financial" because it has the word Vanguard in it. I put in a rule saying to file it under Alcohol & Bars. Next time I logged in, my food/alcohol budget was way over budget and I couldn't figure out why. Turns out instead of only reclassifying "Village Vanguard" as "Alcohol & Bars," it included a bunch of other transactions with "Vanguard" in the name going all the way back to 2012. Sigh. So I just had to go back through five years' worth of transactions with "Vanguard" in the name, trying to sort out which ones were drink minimums or concert tickets at a jazz club (Village Vanguard), co-pays at the doctor's office (Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates), and taxable investments (Vanguard).

And after all that, my "concert ticket" budget was way over budget, and I went through all the Vanguard stuff again figuring I had screwed something up with the reclassification, but then it turned out someone hacked my credit card and put a $250 charge on Ticketmaster yesterday. Living in the 21st century is pretty tedious sometimes :-(

[Freckles]

I need a nap just after reading all that. :(

[kaypinkHH]

We got an offer on our house we are selling in HCOL city (we will be buying a house in Lower COL city). If all goes through with the offer we are looking at a ~180k profit of our house for 3 years of sitting on it. With this news I proclaimed to Mr.HH that I will buy a new chair for our new house, since at the old house I agonized for 3 years over buying/not buying an arm chair for ~$300.

Mr.HH said fine, we can buy a chair if we want, but then realized we have  gift cards from a home decor store from our wedding two years ago, various holidays etc. that we probably have enough to buy a $300 chair.

I CANT EVEN SPEND MY MONEY.

[Sibley]

We got an offer on our house we are selling in HCOL city (we will be buying a house in Lower COL city). If all goes through with the offer we are looking at a ~180k profit of our house for 3 years of sitting on it. With this news I proclaimed to Mr.HH that I will buy a new chair for our new house, since at the old house I agonized for 3 years over buying/not buying an arm chair for ~$300.

Mr.HH said fine, we can buy a chair if we want, but then realized we have  gift cards from a home decor store from our wedding two years ago, various holidays etc. that we probably have enough to buy a $300 chair.

I CANT EVEN SPEND MY MONEY.

You have permission to buy new curtains, etc for the new house.

[kaypinkHH]

**Runs away to look at kijiji and stockpiles black friday coupons**

[Imma]

We got an offer on our house we are selling in HCOL city (we will be buying a house in Lower COL city). If all goes through with the offer we are looking at a ~180k profit of our house for 3 years of sitting on it. With this news I proclaimed to Mr.HH that I will buy a new chair for our new house, since at the old house I agonized for 3 years over buying/not buying an arm chair for ~$300.

Mr.HH said fine, we can buy a chair if we want, but then realized we have  gift cards from a home decor store from our wedding two years ago, various holidays etc. that we probably have enough to buy a $300 chair.

I CANT EVEN SPEND MY MONEY.

You have permission to buy new curtains, etc for the new house.

Buying brand new curtains is MMM-approved?? In that case I might need to go shopping some time ... We have gifted curtains from my MIL in the kitchen and in the living room we temporarily hung tablecloths on the curtain rods. We have lived here for 2,5 years now and they're still there. All different tablecloths as well....  I always thought this kind of decadent luxury purchase was only for after FI.

[Sibley]

We got an offer on our house we are selling in HCOL city (we will be buying a house in Lower COL city). If all goes through with the offer we are looking at a ~180k profit of our house for 3 years of sitting on it. With this news I proclaimed to Mr.HH that I will buy a new chair for our new house, since at the old house I agonized for 3 years over buying/not buying an arm chair for ~$300.

Mr.HH said fine, we can buy a chair if we want, but then realized we have  gift cards from a home decor store from our wedding two years ago, various holidays etc. that we probably have enough to buy a $300 chair.

I CANT EVEN SPEND MY MONEY.

You have permission to buy new curtains, etc for the new house.

Buying brand new curtains is MMM-approved?? In that case I might need to go shopping some time ... We have gifted curtains from my MIL in the kitchen and in the living room we temporarily hung tablecloths on the curtain rods. We have lived here for 2,5 years now and they're still there. All different tablecloths as well....  I always thought this kind of decadent luxury purchase was only for after FI.

In moderation, when you don't have debt. If you can find them used/reuse/make yourself, even better. But if you're making a 180k profit on a house sale, I think $200 for new curtains is ok. ;)

[gaja]

We normally skip the curtains, and only have cheap blinds on the windows where we need to hide from spying eyes. This house, however, has so bad windows, that heavy drapes were a cheaper option for insulation until we could get the renovations done.

Tldr: curtains can be a cheap substitute for insulation, and save heating/cooling costs.

[kaypinkHH]

The forums tell me I'm allowed to buy my chair and curtains...what a glorious time to be alive :D

[Sibley]

The forums tell me I'm allowed to buy my chair and curtains...what a glorious time to be alive :D

Hold on, you said you weren't going to get the chair? Pick one! Don't go too crazy. ;)

[gerardc]

Even a 400 sq ft studio apartment is too big to fill for me, I don't know what furniture to buy so it doesn't look empty.

My savings rate is so high that even after maxing out my 401k and Roth IRA each year, most of my stash (70%) ends up in a taxable account.

[marielle]

Not exactly fun, but I have to replace my tires after only 4.5 years because of dry rot. They had plenty of thread left because of little driving. I guess I should drive more to get my money's worth right? Ha.

[dreams_and_discoveries]

Not exactly fun, but I have to replace my tires after only 4.5 years because of dry rot. They had plenty of thread left because of little driving. I guess I should drive more to get my money's worth right? Ha.

Ha ha - my car tyres tend to age out rather than wear out as well!

[Imma]

Not exactly fun, but I have to replace my tires after only 4.5 years because of dry rot. They had plenty of thread left because of little driving. I guess I should drive more to get my money's worth right? Ha.

Ha ha - my car tyres tend to age out rather than wear out as well!

Unlike my bike tires ... My local bike shop is stunned I need new ones all the time. On average, I replace one tire every six months. As I ride around in the city (lots of broken glass on the streets) as well as on unpaved backroads, they get a lot of wear and tear. I get leaks in the inner tubes all the time too. This is the only part of cycling that I really hate.

[never give up]

I only found MMM a few months ago but am starting to experience Mustachian people problems. For example I used to look at Santa and think what a guy. But now I think how on earth are you not FIRE’d yet? He’s been doing that gig for years.

[gaja]

My kids (9&11) don't get allowances. Instead, we pay them when they do housework. They then use those money to buy candy and other stuff they want. We pay the kids by transferring money to their accounts, and they use debit cards for their purchases. When they are gifted cash (by grandparents, or at birthdays), they hand me the cash, and I transfer the same amount of money to their account. Usually they earn and are gifted more money then they spend, so they also have savings accounts that are under their control (and mutual funds that are not).

My MPP: We use our bank's budgeting software, so all transactions between accounts and payments out are categorized, including the kids' debit card purchases. As it is now, the kids' "salaries" get counted twice: first when we transfer them from our accounts to their, and secondly when they spend their money. I can't decide which categorization makes more sense. If they didn't "earn" the money, we would have bought them the candy and stuff anyway. So I do want to see how much money we spend on those things in total as a family. But I also feel it is most correct to count "their" money separately. The cash also messes up my budget, since it just ends up sitting in a box in my office, or gets spent on stupid stuff the neighbor's kids sell. Like overpriced toilet paper. And then it looks like our grocery bill is much smaller that month, even though it isn't.

We are only talking about $20-100/month, but it really annoys me!

[RWD]

[...] We use our bank's budgeting software [...]

You should use some real accounting software with double-entry booking and you inherently won't count something twice. You can properly track your cash and other assets too. I personally use GnuCash.

[With This Herring]

[...] We use our bank's budgeting software [...]

You should use some real accounting software with double-entry booking and you inherently won't count something twice. You can properly track your cash and other assets too. I personally use GnuCash.

Yes!  Then you will have an asset account called "cash in a box in my office," which will mean your grocery category will show your real spending.  :)

[Step37]

[...] We use our bank's budgeting software [...]

You should use some real accounting software with double-entry booking and you inherently won't count something twice. You can properly track your cash and other assets too. I personally use GnuCash.

Yes!  Then you will have an asset account called "cash in a box in my office," which will mean your grocery category will show your real spending.  :)

Yes, you definitely need to do this! I have asset accounts for gift cards and cash in addition to the bank accounts. I don’t use bookkeeping software, but I have set it up in the same way (the app is called Accounts2 if interested - the info from it can be exported to Excel if desired). I can’t stand how my bank tracks things and strongly prefer the separate system.

It’s entirely possible that I am WAY over the top with my tracking, but I want good info, dammit! ;)

[Imma]

My MPP is that I feel an inadequate Mustachian for not using any kind of app, software or excel sheet to track my spending. I'm actually a bookkeeper, logging spending is what I do for a living. I just can't make myself do it at home too.

I'm still pretty confident I can tell you the exact amount of money I spend in nearly every category though. I try to spend as little as possible so I don't have to keep track of a large amount of purchases.

[Playing with Fire UK]

Unlike my bike tires ... My local bike shop is stunned I need new ones all the time. On average, I replace one tire every six months. As I ride around in the city (lots of broken glass on the streets) as well as on unpaved backroads, they get a lot of wear and tear. I get leaks in the inner tubes all the time too. This is the only part of cycling that I really hate.

Have you looked into that puncture sealing goo, or reinforced inners? Game changer for me.

[Linea_Norway]

My MPP is that I feel an inadequate Mustachian for not using any kind of app, software or excel sheet to track my spending. I'm actually a bookkeeper, logging spending is what I do for a living. I just can't make myself do it at home too.

I'm still pretty confident I can tell you the exact amount of money I spend in nearly every category though. I try to spend as little as possible so I don't have to keep track of a large amount of purchases.

My bank does it for me. At least, it is organizing the transactions as long as they are obviously. The rest is categorized as "general spending". Those are the ones I need to organize manually and as soon as I caught up, it was OK. Maybe you can find another bank that has a free built-in tool for showing your spending? You could start from 2018 and don't organize anything from earlier years...

[Zaga]

I had a similar issue last week.  I use the online bill pay to pay for a house cleaner for my mom's house once a month (beats me doing it!) and one of the checks was never cashed so it came back to me.  Now I have an extra $80 in income in November, and an extra $80 in spending in December in my budget program because of course I sent the cleaner a replacement check for the one that was cancelled.