Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)

[Bateaux]

I was going to book a cruise the other day to Alaska.   The online form was so frustrating I said screw it.  I jumped over to Vanguard's website and opened a new mutual fund instead.  It took me 8 minutes from log on to purchase.   I'm cruising on Vanguard's ship. [ /size]

[Goldielocks]

I was going to book a cruise the other day to Alaska.   The online form was so frustrating I said screw it.  I jumped over to Vanguard's website and opened a new mutual fund instead.  It took me 8 minutes from log on to purchase.   I'm cruising on Vanguard's ship. [ /size]

+1

I am laughing while reading this....  MMM problem -- when buying stuff is so much more frustrating than buying investments...  yep! yep!

[mm1970]

Sort of a Mustachian problem:

I was going to work this morning, musing about our finances, and had the thought: "Hm, it's really funny how quickly one can accumulate another $100,000."

...

And quickly realized I can never, ever say that out loud to anyone but my husband!  :-)

ha ha yes!!

[johnny847]

I received a $100 Visa gift card for Christmas, and I haven't found anywhere to use it, since my groceries are going on my 5% cash back card, and I don't buy much else.

I just checked whether I can pay my credit card bill with it, so I'll do that, but I had really been trying to figure out where to spend that thing.

How are you paying your credit card bill with a Visa gift card? Amex Serve?

[solon]

I received a $100 Visa gift card for Christmas, and I haven't found anywhere to use it, since my groceries are going on my 5% cash back card, and I don't buy much else.

I just checked whether I can pay my credit card bill with it, so I'll do that, but I had really been trying to figure out where to spend that thing.

Just use it for groceries. You give up the $5, but you gain $100.

[Hedge_87]

"I live so close to work I have to take a "detour" to get a decent bike ride on my way to work."

I thought of this one this morning as I was riding to work enjoying a beautiful sunrise and the 32 degree morning air filling my lungs.

[Knapptyme]

My wife and I are used to sharing food dishes to conserve on wasteful and unnecessary cleaning. When doing this at my parents house, my mom told me that I didn't have to behave like that in her house??? This was on top of other conservation efforts to boot.

[Melanie A]

People think I'm 'obssessed' with not spending money because I want to get my finances in order and start investing more aggressively. When I retire earlier than most maybe then they'll understand.

[Pooperman]

People think I'm 'obssessed' with not spending money because I want to get my finances in order and start investing more aggressively. When I retire earlier than most maybe then they'll understand.

Nah, they'll just stare at you with envy and tell you how lucky you are. They'll tell you that you can afford to pay for all the drinks at the bar that night too.

[Lmoot]

People think I'm 'obssessed' with not spending money because I want to get my finances in order and start investing more aggressively. When I retire earlier than most maybe then they'll understand.

Nah, they'll just stare at you with envy and tell you how lucky you are. They'll tell you that you can afford to pay for all the drinks at the bar that night too.

LOL! Ah yes...the "lucky you" comments. Oh well, I guess it beats "poor you" lol. Mustachian'esque people seem to get both sides of it. 'Poor you' when you're laying low, and 'lucky you' when you're livin' high.

[Sanne]

Not being able to sympathise with people that have 'unexpected expenses'.

This seems to be a big subject to talk about but I never think it's unexpected so I never know what to say.

This is an amazing topic btw! :)

[merula]

Not being able to sympathise with people that have 'unexpected expenses'.

This seems to be a big subject to talk about but I never think it's unexpected so I never know what to say.

This is an amazing topic btw! :)

Some expenses are unexpected. Someone close dies and you want to travel to the funeral. A young child spills all the food you brought along to the park for them, so to prevent a total meltdown you suck it up and buy the crazy overpriced junk.

The problem I think you were trying to get at is that "unexpected" expenses tend to be things like Christmas, car insurance payments, property taxes, etc., which happen with clockwork regularlity. HOW CAN YOU NOT PLAN FOR THINGS THAT HAPPEN EVERY YEAR?

[LennStar]

Not being able to sympathise with people that have 'unexpected expenses'.

This seems to be a big subject to talk about but I never think it's unexpected so I never know what to say.

This is an amazing topic btw! :)

Some expenses are unexpected. Someone close dies and you want to travel to the funeral. A young child spills all the food you brought along to the park for them, so to prevent a total meltdown you suck it up and buy the crazy overpriced junk.

The problem I think you were trying to get at is that "unexpected" expenses tend to be things like Christmas, car insurance payments, property taxes, etc., which happen with clockwork regularlity. HOW CAN YOU NOT PLAN FOR THINGS THAT HAPPEN EVERY YEAR?

Well.... the DB (german railway) is always surprised that it gets cold in winter - or hot in the summer - so the rail switches get frozen and the AC in the expensive fast trains dont work (bc they are only made for up to 28°C - call that logic for an air condition)

[Cinder]

I love the first line of the last cell.

Not being able to sympathise with people that have 'unexpected expenses'.

This seems to be a big subject to talk about but I never think it's unexpected so I never know what to say.

This is an amazing topic btw! :)

Some expenses are unexpected. Someone close dies and you want to travel to the funeral. A young child spills all the food you brought along to the park for them, so to prevent a total meltdown you suck it up and buy the crazy overpriced junk.

The problem I think you were trying to get at is that "unexpected" expenses tend to be things like Christmas, car insurance payments, property taxes, etc., which happen with clockwork regularlity. HOW CAN YOU NOT PLAN FOR THINGS THAT HAPPEN EVERY YEAR?

Well.... the DB (german railway) is always surprised that it gets cold in winter - or hot in the summer - so the rail switches get frozen and the AC in the expensive fast trains dont work (bc they are only made for up to 28°C - call that logic for an air condition)

[Angie55]

Anyone else constantly annoyed that Microsoft automatically changes HSA to HAS every single time?! Even if I repeatedly delete then type it again.

It seems to be the only word that autocorrects by itself. Why doesn't it just give me a squiggly red line?

ARGH

[merula]

Anyone else constantly annoyed that Microsoft automatically changes HSA to HAS every single time?! Even if I repeatedly delete then type it again.

It seems to be the only word that autocorrects by itself. Why doesn't it just give me a squiggly red line?

ARGH

File > Options > Autocorrect Options > find HSA-HAS > Delete.

[dragoncar]

Anyone else constantly annoyed that Microsoft automatically changes HSA to HAS every single time?! Even if I repeatedly delete then type it again.

It seems to be the only word that autocorrects by itself. Why doesn't it just give me a squiggly red line?

ARGH

So annoying, especially since it's capitalized.  I think you can turn it off or delete that particular autocorrect.  There's a list of em in the options.  I use autocorrect to turn short character sequences into long frequently typed phrases and sentences

[Daisy]

Anyone else constantly annoyed that Microsoft automatically changes HSA to HAS every single time?! Even if I repeatedly delete then type it again.

It seems to be the only word that autocorrects by itself. Why doesn't it just give me a squiggly red line?

ARGH

Ha ha! Yes! I usually have to add a space between letters "H S A" in my financial spreadsheets.

I don't understand it, because in other cases you can choose to stick with the "misspelling". But it never works for HSA!

I guess I see a way to get around suggested by others after your comment...but it has annoyed me.

[shelivesthedream]

After commuting to another city for three months at the end of last year, I was super excited that job finished and I could look for one closer to home so I could cycle. I even signed up to bicycle maintenance classes! But now I start my new job on Tuesday and it's so close to where we live that getting my bike out seems like a hassle and I might as well just walk.

[Grid]

After commuting to another city for three months at the end of last year, I was super excited that job finished and I could look for one closer to home so I could cycle. I even signed up to bicycle maintenance classes! But now I start my new job on Tuesday and it's so close to where we live that getting my bike out seems like a hassle and I might as well just walk.

That's a wonderful "problem" to have though!  Congrats on the tiny commute.

[StartingEarly]

I will have to adjust my 401k contributions again this year.  Once I did for the 27 pay period year that hr tried telling me they never heard of and we ended up with on this year (I thought it was 2014 because I got the date of the last check wrong) Again for having to readjust since they set ours back to 6% when the new company took over.

[gaja]

Not being able to sympathise with people that have 'unexpected expenses'.

This seems to be a big subject to talk about but I never think it's unexpected so I never know what to say.

This is an amazing topic btw! :)

Some expenses are unexpected. Someone close dies and you want to travel to the funeral. A young child spills all the food you brought along to the park for them, so to prevent a total meltdown you suck it up and buy the crazy overpriced junk.

The problem I think you were trying to get at is that "unexpected" expenses tend to be things like Christmas, car insurance payments, property taxes, etc., which happen with clockwork regularlity. HOW CAN YOU NOT PLAN FOR THINGS THAT HAPPEN EVERY YEAR?

Well.... the DB (german railway) is always surprised that it gets cold in winter - or hot in the summer - so the rail switches get frozen and the AC in the expensive fast trains dont work (bc they are only made for up to 28°C - call that logic for an air condition)

A decade ago I visited Sweden in the fall. The metro in Stockholm was having big problems, because they didn't prepare for leaves falling of the trees.

[firelight]

I have $6 amazon promo credit to spend on Amazon instant video and kindle store. I want to get something in kindle store. However, I don't know what to get since my local library has an awesome kindle collection and I can get print books there when I can't find kindle versions.

[Sanne]

Not being able to sympathise with people that have 'unexpected expenses'.

This seems to be a big subject to talk about but I never think it's unexpected so I never know what to say.

This is an amazing topic btw! :)

Some expenses are unexpected. Someone close dies and you want to travel to the funeral. A young child spills all the food you brought along to the park for them, so to prevent a total meltdown you suck it up and buy the crazy overpriced junk.

The problem I think you were trying to get at is that "unexpected" expenses tend to be things like Christmas, car insurance payments, property taxes, etc., which happen with clockwork regularlity. HOW CAN YOU NOT PLAN FOR THINGS THAT HAPPEN EVERY YEAR?

Yup, I should've specified. That's what I mean!!! :)

On top of that I also meant the expenses like car repairs though. If you have a car, you should know that something has to be repaired at some time. You don't know when, how much it will cost etc. but you know the car won't stay repair free the whole time. And people around me seem to think they do. Maybe they are unexpected if you don't have the money for the repairs but if you just bought a lot of junk, I can't sympathize.

[Bracken_Joy]

It's not very funny, but...

My husband gets paid quarterly but our rent is billed (as in a literal paper bill that I have to pay by cheque) monthly. I asked if we could pay quarterly in advance to save on the stupid amount of paperwork and our landlord looked at me like I was insane - the subtext was "Who can afford to pay three months of rent IN ADVANCE?" Apparently their accounting systems are not set up to handle that kind of dangerous financial planning.

Yep! Fiance gets paid when he completes a contract cycle, usually every 2-4 months (makes budgets fun). We've had this problem with rent, renters insurance, and internet so far. Finally got it so we can pay the renters insurance yearly and the internet quarterly. No luck on rent yet.

[frugalnacho]

It's not very funny, but...

My husband gets paid quarterly but our rent is billed (as in a literal paper bill that I have to pay by cheque) monthly. I asked if we could pay quarterly in advance to save on the stupid amount of paperwork and our landlord looked at me like I was insane - the subtext was "Who can afford to pay three months of rent IN ADVANCE?" Apparently their accounting systems are not set up to handle that kind of dangerous financial planning.

Yep! Fiance gets paid when he completes a contract cycle, usually every 2-4 months (makes budgets fun). We've had this problem with rent, renters insurance, and internet so far. Finally got it so we can pay the renters insurance yearly and the internet quarterly. No luck on rent yet.

You obviously have the money to pay it, so why not just put it in your account and then pay the bills when they are due? 

[Two9A]

I'm currently on the phone with my bank, trying to discern the following:

* I have two mortgages with this bank, on two properties;
* I have weekly overpayments setup;
* The destination account numbers for the overpayments bear no relation to the mortgage account numbers;
* I'd like to know which destination relates to which mortgage.

Simple enough, one'd assume. Having explained this three times to the call handler, he has now gone to find his manager, in order to "seek clarity" as to what my problem is.

I could be here for some time...

[Bracken_Joy]

It's not very funny, but...

My husband gets paid quarterly but our rent is billed (as in a literal paper bill that I have to pay by cheque) monthly. I asked if we could pay quarterly in advance to save on the stupid amount of paperwork and our landlord looked at me like I was insane - the subtext was "Who can afford to pay three months of rent IN ADVANCE?" Apparently their accounting systems are not set up to handle that kind of dangerous financial planning.

Yep! Fiance gets paid when he completes a contract cycle, usually every 2-4 months (makes budgets fun). We've had this problem with rent, renters insurance, and internet so far. Finally got it so we can pay the renters insurance yearly and the internet quarterly. No luck on rent yet.

You obviously have the money to pay it, so why not just put it in your account and then pay the bills when they are due?

I think that's what we do? I might be misunderstanding what you're saying. We never have trouble paying things, if that's the question. It just stinks to have input and output on such different cycles. Makes reviewing finances difficult since we both work and are finishing second degrees.

[sheepstache]

I get annoyed when I check my checking account balance and find it's too high. That means I'm not moving money to investment accounts as fast as I could.


When I buy groceries in bulk I have to hide most of them because my family will stop liking a food once we have a lot of it.

[2ndTimer]

My friends all feel sorry for me when they ask what I am doing with my tax refund and I say we aren't getting one.  Guess they like giving an interest free loan.

[choppingwood]

Not being able to compare clothes with colleagues (all women office) because though your clothes are nicer, they came off of thrift store racks. If and when I join the comparison conversation, I need to do prior homework about where that dress gets sold in retail and at what price. Since thats too much of a bother, I just don't join most conversations.

When my thrift store clothes are admired (and they often are), I say, "Thanks, I really like it too. Goodwill, 2 bucks." They are usually enthusiastic.

But, like you, I've nothing to say when they spend a long time talking about Coach handbags and what they have spent on them. I spend the time converting what they've spent into days of travel, which is where I would be spendy.

[1967mama]

A flight attendant was joking with my husband asking him, "What is that strange looking rectangular object in your hands, sir?" It was the book he was currently reading. They both had a good laugh and commiserated over the fact that no one reads books anymore. My husband said, "Want me to really blow your mind???  Its from the LIBRARY!"  So awesome!

[frugalnacho]

I want to remortgage my house to take advantage of the super low interest rates, but my balance is so small no place will even consider it, and for the ones that will consider it the closing fees dwarf any potential savings so I am stuck with my 5.5% mortgage until it's paid off.  (loan balance is $42k)

I also want to remortgage my wife's house but it has the same problem (5.25% on $48 loan).

[Pooperman]

I want to remortgage my house to take advantage of the super low interest rates, but my balance is so small no place will even consider it, and for the ones that will consider it the closing fees dwarf any potential savings so I am stuck with my 5.5% mortgage until it's paid off.  (loan balance is $42k)

I also want to remortgage my wife's house but it has the same problem (5.25% on $48 loan).

Remortgage as a combined loan?

[Skyhigh]

My dream was always to immerse myself into a profession that I was proud of and enjoyed as my fathers before had done. A career that showered me with financial and status rewards to the degree that I would be able to recklessly blow a fortune in a thoughtless self indulgent manner. My reality has been far from that.

[2ndTimer]

Down comforters show up regularly at the Goodwill bin store where they sell for $1.49/lb. which means they cost about $4.00.  I find that very hard to resist even though we have one on the bed already and another just for camping.  People look at you funny when you accost them on the street and insist on giving them a down comforter.

[SteveR]

You remembered to put the beans on to soak. You didn't realise they'd swell in volume as you soaked them and that single cup of beans would turn into four cups of soaked beans. You then try to cook the huge mass of soaked beans anyway and the pan boils over, flooding weird green gungy water all over the cooker.

[KD]

Paid cash for new house that has a well, septic and no trash service fees as we take ours to a country dumpster on the way into town to get groceries and stop at the library...had to spend 10 minutes realigning budget categories & amounts in YNAB that I don't have to budget for any more. 

oh d' struggle.

P.S.  Oh, and our RE taxes went down by half as did our vehicles insurances* now that we don't live in a metro area any longer.  New house has larger square footage & an extra room** than our last house we paid cash for.  Sigh.  Mustachianism - it's worse than living in a first world country!

*Think they'll soon give me an antique tag for my truck too.  Goodie, I can enter it into the local 2 block long parade to carry the beauty queen/mayor/rodeo announcer/grand marshall/sheriff/meat market owner of our 2 horse town.  Really moving up in the social circles as well.

**Is it sad/bad/indicitave of my mustachianism that I already have plans laid out in my head into how I could turn it into a triplex if need be and take on renters???????????

[RunHappy]

I get frustrated because there isn't anything I can do with my money.

For example, I have no CC debt.  All bills are paid on the first paycheck.  I allocate part of that paycheck to savings and investments then I budget the rest to carry me over through the remainder of the month.  The second paycheck goes directly to savings and investments with it barely spending a day in my checking.  So on days that are not pay days or bill days (every 1st)  I have nothing to do except look at my interest and investment accounts.

[jordanread]

I get frustrated because there isn't anything I can do with my money.

For example, I have no CC debt.  All bills are paid on the first paycheck.  I allocate part of that paycheck to savings and investments then I budget the rest to carry me over through the remainder of the month.  The second paycheck goes directly to savings and investments with it barely spending a day in my checking.  So on days that are not pay days or bill days (every 1st)  I have nothing to do except look at my interest and investment accounts.

I initially had the opposite problem. I kept a fair amount of money in my bank account as a buffer, and couldn't do anything besides watch it grow. I couldn't find anything I wanted to spend it on. Those numbers on a screen were worth more to me than any stuff I could buy. Having a similar issue right now regarding planning a vacation. A vacation would be nice, but all those digits!!!

[Secretly Saving]

I'm a teacher.  I deposit all my salary into my 403b and 457. It's all invested.  The office staff always hunts me down to give me my paycheck envelope.  They can't understand why I'm not desperate to have it.  I try to casually act like I'm excited that it's payday since everyone else is anxious to have the money.  No one around here would understand that there isn't any money in my paycheck and they REALLY wouldn't understand that I'm happy about that!

[LennStar]

you can have a check with 0.00$ on it?

That system gets more rediculous every tiem I hear about it LOL

[NoraLenderbee]

you can have a check with 0.00$ on it?

That system gets more rediculous every tiem I hear about it LOL

I have my paycheck directly deposited into my bank account, but I still get a pay stub that shows the deductions and net salary. (We get it online.) It's not actually a check.

[lunahsol]

I bought a little notebook to track every penny . . . . but haven't even been able to use it in five days because I have not bought anything since buying the notebook!

[1967mama]

I bought a little notebook to track every penny . . . . but haven't even been able to use it in five days because I have not bought anything since buying the notebook!

That's awesome, lunahsol -- made me smile!

[RunHappy]

I get frustrated because there isn't anything I can do with my money.

For example, I have no CC debt.  All bills are paid on the first paycheck.  I allocate part of that paycheck to savings and investments then I budget the rest to carry me over through the remainder of the month.  The second paycheck goes directly to savings and investments with it barely spending a day in my checking.  So on days that are not pay days or bill days (every 1st)  I have nothing to do except look at my interest and investment accounts.

I initially had the opposite problem. I kept a fair amount of money in my bank account as a buffer, and couldn't do anything besides watch it grow. I couldn't find anything I wanted to spend it on. Those numbers on a screen were worth more to me than any stuff I could buy. Having a similar issue right now regarding planning a vacation. A vacation would be nice, but all those digits!!!

Yeah I'm like you, typically I have nothing I want to buy.  Today, though, I did buy some candies and cake making stuff for Valentines Day/SO's birthday weekend.  I almost spent $10!

[gimp]

I get frustrated because there isn't anything I can do with my money.

For example, I have no CC debt.  All bills are paid on the first paycheck.  I allocate part of that paycheck to savings and investments then I budget the rest to carry me over through the remainder of the month.  The second paycheck goes directly to savings and investments with it barely spending a day in my checking.  So on days that are not pay days or bill days (every 1st)  I have nothing to do except look at my interest and investment accounts.

I want to pay my bills on the 1st but my cycles are all weird. Electric bills me around a week in, school loans bill me a week and change, phone two weeks, internet one-two weeks, other utilities one week and change... life is hard.

[Daisy]

Paid cash for new house that has a well, septic and no trash service fees as we take ours to a country dumpster on the way into town to get groceries and stop at the library...had to spend 10 minutes realigning budget categories & amounts in YNAB that I don't have to budget for any more. 

oh d' struggle.

P.S.  Oh, and our RE taxes went down by half as did our vehicles insurances* now that we don't live in a metro area any longer.  New house has larger square footage & an extra room** than our last house we paid cash for.  Sigh.  Mustachianism - it's worse than living in a first world country!

*Think they'll soon give me an antique tag for my truck too.  Goodie, I can enter it into the local 2 block long parade to carry the beauty queen/mayor/rodeo announcer/grand marshall/sheriff/meat market owner of our 2 horse town.  Really moving up in the social circles as well.

**Is it sad/bad/indicitave of my mustachianism that I already have plans laid out in my head into how I could turn it into a triplex if need be and take on renters???????????

Yep, when I sold my house and moved to a new place, I also had the opportunity to remove quite a few line items in my expense spreadsheet. It really simplified it! Gone are the water bills, insurance, trash pickup (these are all in condo fee now), alarm system, yard guy, home phone, cable TV, pest control...so simple now.

I also had vehicle insurance go down even though I just moved a mile away, though technically a different town. The insurance company says that my new area code is known as a walkable area and they have had less claims from this zone than my old zone. Bonus!

[DollarBill]

I bought new non-stick pans a couple of months ago but I still use my old pans because I don't want to mess up the new ones.

[johnny847]

I bought new non-stick pans a couple of months ago but I still use my old pans because I don't want to mess up the new ones.

Was there anything wrong with the old pans?