Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)

[GreenSheep]

Whoa I'm feeling the big spenders the last few pages. Never been in anywhere near that cost a room, nor spent that much money on measles, and I task my lab support out for lunch every year.

 My MPP, I let the house be cold in the fall and winter.  That means when ingredients need to be at room temperature I have to warm them up.   My butter never softens and my honey has gone solid.

Funny, I just commented to my husband this evening that it's kind of nice that the honey I put on my bread stays put and doesn't run off onto the plate.

Getting bread dough warm enough to rise, however, is my MPP lately. (Thank you, whoever it was who suggested putting the dough in a toaster oven or microwave (turned off) with a bowl of warm water! That has been working. Just takes some monitoring and occasional refilling, but no 12-18 hour constant use of electricity or propane. Yay!)

[Hadilly]

Sun Hat: thank you! I fear the backlash of the silent treatment has begun. No response to suggesting we FaceTime together this weekend.

MPP: we bought three cheap turkeys this weekend and I cooked one as a test run for thanksgiving. I ended up buying a baking steel so I could do the Serious Eats method. Kind of pricey but we will use for pizzas, etc. in the future. If anyone tries dry brining, I would recommend omitting the baking powder and just using salt. It was supposed to produce extra crispy skin, but bleagh, the proportions were terrible and I tossed all the skin. There is your dry brine PSA, and now back to MPPs.

Congratulations Misstachian!

[Playing with Fire UK]

Sun Hat: thank you! I fear the backlash of the silent treatment has begun. No response to suggesting we FaceTime together this weekend.

I hope this works out well for you.

My family have just this year agreed to stop giving presents to adults. I've been encouraging it for a while, but wasn't the instigator this time. The success in getting traction was my skint sibling focusing on what people actually want (spending time with the people we love) rather than what we do (unwrapping presents that we don't particularly need or want).

Has MIL actually expressed fury, or has everyone else expressed it on MIL's behalf? Can you find an alternative that has something that the pricey place doesn't (even if it is easier parking, or closer to MIL, or an earlier sitting)?

In my story, the siblings that were protesting the lack of presents loudest were claiming that our parents would feel put out if they couldn't buy presents. But no, it turns out they were delighted by the idea.

[Linea_Norway]

I am currently staying in a hotel for work and found out this morning that breakfast is not included. As I arrived at 10 pm last night and my conferance started early I didn't have the time to search for a cheap breakfast solution. So I paid for the 24 euro rip-off hotel breakfast. This costs more than the amount I receive from my work for buying food.

I have asked the personell for the closest food shop and he explained a big shopping mall and 15-20 minutes walking from here. I hope the restaurant that I reserved for tonight is in the vicinity of the shop so that I have the time to buy my own breakfast for the next 2 days.

[Loren Ver]

Whoa I'm feeling the big spenders the last few pages. Never been in anywhere near that cost a room, nor spent that much money on measles, and I task my lab support out for lunch every year.

Don't confuse a work perk with spending big.

As for the rest of that sentence... DYAC?

GAHH!  At least it wasn't actual measles, that would be bad.  Thanks for the question :).

[Imma]

Every time I tell people I traveled for a year after graduating uni, they ask me 'How did you ever afford that?' or 'Well, then you must be broke now'. And all I can think of is that I don't understand how you can't have the money for a few months worth travel and that I actually have plenty of money left.

(Talking Europe here, studying is relatively cheap + stayed with my parents for 2 out of 5 years)

Well, I have wanted to ask that to people, but I never actually did (fellow European). I get how you can afford to go backpacking in a cheap place, but many people seem to go to very expensive places like Australia and New Zealand, buy a car there, drive around. They plan to go fruit picking for a few weeks, but even if they do that, I'm pretty sure the plane tickets alone cost like €2500 at least, not to mention the hostels, gas, insurance, food, money for entrance fees etc. All in all must run well into the thousands of euros. I certainly didn't have that kind of money lying around to randomnly spend on something when I was fresh out of university.

But I'm really glad you went and enjoyed yourself :) As a more frugal option I did a summer school abroad in a country where the government sponsors students so everything was cheap. I really loved going there.

[Fomerly known as something]

Every time I tell people I traveled for a year after graduating uni, they ask me 'How did you ever afford that?' or 'Well, then you must be broke now'. And all I can think of is that I don't understand how you can't have the money for a few months worth travel and that I actually have plenty of money left.

(Talking Europe here, studying is relatively cheap + stayed with my parents for 2 out of 5 years)

Well, I have wanted to ask that to people, but I never actually did (fellow European). I get how you can afford to go backpacking in a cheap place, but many people seem to go to very expensive places like Australia and New Zealand, buy a car there, drive around. They plan to go fruit picking for a few weeks, but even if they do that, I'm pretty sure the plane tickets alone cost like €2500 at least, not to mention the hostels, gas, insurance, food, money for entrance fees etc. All in all must run well into the thousands of euros. I certainly didn't have that kind of money lying around to randomnly spend on something when I was fresh out of university.

But I'm really glad you went and enjoyed yourself :) As a more frugal option I did a summer school abroad in a country where the government sponsors students so everything was cheap. I really loved going there.

Now I can't talk about the cost of flights as I came from the US but you just gave my budget from last year without trying to scrimp or work in New Zealand.  (Now I rented vs bought a car).  I could have easily spent 50% what I did in NZ last march so flights included with renting a car would have been less than $4,000 before working.

[Imma]

Every time I tell people I traveled for a year after graduating uni, they ask me 'How did you ever afford that?' or 'Well, then you must be broke now'. And all I can think of is that I don't understand how you can't have the money for a few months worth travel and that I actually have plenty of money left.

(Talking Europe here, studying is relatively cheap + stayed with my parents for 2 out of 5 years)

Well, I have wanted to ask that to people, but I never actually did (fellow European). I get how you can afford to go backpacking in a cheap place, but many people seem to go to very expensive places like Australia and New Zealand, buy a car there, drive around. They plan to go fruit picking for a few weeks, but even if they do that, I'm pretty sure the plane tickets alone cost like €2500 at least, not to mention the hostels, gas, insurance, food, money for entrance fees etc. All in all must run well into the thousands of euros. I certainly didn't have that kind of money lying around to randomnly spend on something when I was fresh out of university.

But I'm really glad you went and enjoyed yourself :) As a more frugal option I did a summer school abroad in a country where the government sponsors students so everything was cheap. I really loved going there.

Now I can't talk about the cost of flights as I came from the US but you just gave my budget from last year without trying to scrimp or work in New Zealand.  (Now I rented vs bought a car).  I could have easily spent 50% what I did in NZ last march so flights included with renting a car would have been less than $4,000 before working.

That's pretty affordable for a long trip to NZ! I'm not completely sure about the cost of flights either - I pay coworkers' economy flights as I work in finance so I have a vague idea about what that would cost, but I don't actually book them so I have no idea if this is average.

I think all in all I spent €2500 including housing and tution on six weeks in Scandinavia, back in 2011. I do think it's good to travel during or right after college if you can afford it. I believe it's valuable life experience to go somewhere on your own where you don't speak the language. You can of course do it at any point in life, but at this age you don't have a lot of responsibilities, steady jobs, mortgages, kids, marriage, those kind of things.

[Just Joe]

In here that's a mark of being 'lower class': having a washing machine in the kitchen.

As someone who moved from the UK to the US and discovered that 'Muricans have a whole ROOM dedicated to their laundry, I still giggle inside when the aforementioned 'Muricans are shocked that us Brits keep ours in the kitchen.

That depends. We have more of a wide hallway for our laundry machines. A laundry room without hallway running through it would truly be luxurious.

[never give up]

It was a particularly cold morning earlier this week. I cycle to work and arrived just as someone else arrived in their 4x4 they have probably driven less than 5 miles. I had forgotten this since last winter but it’s the look I receive as if I’m the one that’s completely mad!

[ketchup]

In here that's a mark of being 'lower class': having a washing machine in the kitchen.

As someone who moved from the UK to the US and discovered that 'Muricans have a whole ROOM dedicated to their laundry, I still giggle inside when the aforementioned 'Muricans are shocked that us Brits keep ours in the kitchen.

That depends. We have more of a wide hallway for our laundry machines. A laundry room without hallway running through it would truly be luxurious.

Yeah, my American "laundry room" is basically a small hallway where my bathroom, kitchen, furnace, and door to the garage all huddle together, with laundry machines on the side.

[BlueHouse]

Every time I tell people I traveled for a year after graduating uni, they ask me 'How did you ever afford that?' or 'Well, then you must be broke now'. And all I can think of is that I don't understand how you can't have the money for a few months worth travel and that I actually have plenty of money left.

(Talking Europe here, studying is relatively cheap + stayed with my parents for 2 out of 5 years)

I hope you will consider yourself extremely fortunate rather than not understanding other people not having money.  Very lucky that you could live with parents and also graduate without debt.  Not everyone is so blessed. 

[Imma]

Every time I tell people I traveled for a year after graduating uni, they ask me 'How did you ever afford that?' or 'Well, then you must be broke now'. And all I can think of is that I don't understand how you can't have the money for a few months worth travel and that I actually have plenty of money left.

(Talking Europe here, studying is relatively cheap + stayed with my parents for 2 out of 5 years)

I hope you will consider yourself extremely fortunate rather than not understanding other people not having money.  Very lucky that you could live with parents and also graduate without debt.  Not everyone is so blessed.

Ofcourse I realize I've been fortunate. Especially in the US/UK this would be a lot harder. And obviously there's plenty of imaginable health/family/name any potential problem situation that would make it impossible to work, stay with parents or that increased costs due to a study delay.
Maybe I've been a bit too harsh in my words here. I heard this question mostly in my hometown from people that stayed with their parents their whole studies and sometimes even worked higher paying weekend jobs than me. They've just been spendypants ;)

17k is very good for a student! Well done. Of course, part of it is good luck (we're all lucky to have been born in first world countries, and especially if you're born in a country where higher education is very cheap) but another big part of it is hard work. For the context: in our country tuition is about €2000/year and back then you could get €400/€600 month from the government + free public traffic as a student. Most students have enough time to work 10 hours or more every week. Under those circumstances, I think it's possible for a lot of people to save up money as a student. Because our country is so small, distance is generally not an issue if you want to continue living with your parents. For the younger generation saving up will be a lot more difficult though: sadly our government has decided to stop sponsoring students. You can still borrow money, but you don't get any free money for maintenance anymore. We also don't really have the grants and bursary system the US has, so unless your parents are rich, the current generation of students are going to graduate with massive debts.

Of course, that doesn't mean everyone can save up so much money, but for many people it was definitely possible and they didn't because of their own spending patterns / lifestyle choices. I have always been frugal, but my life between the ages of 16 and 24 was quite rocky for various reasons which made that a very expensive period of my life. I didn't have 17k in my pocket, but I managed to save up just enough to buy a house when I was 24, so you don't hear me complaining about never going to NZ :) I think I had about 10k at that point and we were literally broke after buying the house. Still the best decision I ever made, financially as well as personally.

[mustachepungoeshere]

In here that's a mark of being 'lower class': having a washing machine in the kitchen.

As someone who moved from the UK to the US and discovered that 'Muricans have a whole ROOM dedicated to their laundry, I still giggle inside when the aforementioned 'Muricans are shocked that us Brits keep ours in the kitchen.

That depends. We have more of a wide hallway for our laundry machines. A laundry room without hallway running through it would truly be luxurious.

I still think it's funny that we have different definitions of laundry.

In Australia, laundry is the room and washing is a noun. E.g. I'm going to put on a load of washing.

[Dicey]

I chose a cheap candy at Costco that trick or treaters love and I dislike, saving money and calori consumption. Hi-chews for the win!

Lol, me, too! I can't believe how much the kids loved them!

[Fresh Bread]

In here that's a mark of being 'lower class': having a washing machine in the kitchen.

As someone who moved from the UK to the US and discovered that 'Muricans have a whole ROOM dedicated to their laundry, I still giggle inside when the aforementioned 'Muricans are shocked that us Brits keep ours in the kitchen.

That depends. We have more of a wide hallway for our laundry machines. A laundry room without hallway running through it would truly be luxurious.

I still think it's funny that we have different definitions of laundry.

In Australia, laundry is the room and washing is a noun. E.g. I'm going to put on a load of washing.

MPP - been sitting here reading forums, forgot the washing. Our laundry's out the back with our outside toilet. That might also be a v Australian thing!

[Linea_Norway]

Mustachian problem. Today I had to pay for my hotel. I do not remember the pin code for my CC that gives 1% payback on everything. It is somewhere on a file in my password manager, but that is too much fuss to retrieve when you need to pay pronto. So I grabbed my debet visa card. Stupid, because now I am paying immediately instead of being able to wait until my boss pays me back.

[EarlyRetirementGuy]

Every time I tell people I traveled for a year after graduating uni, they ask me 'How did you ever afford that?' or 'Well, then you must be broke now'. And all I can think of is that I don't understand how you can't have the money for a few months worth travel and that I actually have plenty of money left.

(Talking Europe here, studying is relatively cheap + stayed with my parents for 2 out of 5 years)

Well, I have wanted to ask that to people, but I never actually did (fellow European). I get how you can afford to go backpacking in a cheap place, but many people seem to go to very expensive places like Australia and New Zealand, buy a car there, drive around. They plan to go fruit picking for a few weeks, but even if they do that, I'm pretty sure the plane tickets alone cost like €2500 at least, not to mention the hostels, gas, insurance, food, money for entrance fees etc. All in all must run well into the thousands of euros. I certainly didn't have that kind of money lying around to randomnly spend on something when I was fresh out of university.

But I'm really glad you went and enjoyed yourself :) As a more frugal option I did a summer school abroad in a country where the government sponsors students so everything was cheap. I really loved going there.

Hi! So I actually did pretty much what you described. Here's how I did it:

Before university from the age of 16-18 I worked evenings/weekends so that by the time I went off to uni I had about £5000 saved up. By the end of uni thanks to the student loans I still had about £1000 left over. Plane tickets really aren't that expensive! I bought a working holiday visa & one-way ticket to Australia for £500. Arrived in Sydney, booked 2 weeks accommodation at a hostel and then met a couple of French backpackers who had bought a cheap van. Ended up traveling around with them for a month, living out of the van/tents and really only paying for cheap food we cooked ourselves and petrol. I then Few up to the top Northeast corner and worked by way down the coast, stopping off to work at a few farms along the way. Eventually ended up in Sydney sharing an apartment in the city center and doing odd jobs before eventually coming back 10 months later.

So with a combination of living cheaply and working a few weeks here and there on the farms I traveled around Australia for 10 months on 'only £1000'. Great experience and could have happily stayed longer but wanted to get back for the start of the UK summer and a job here I wanted to do over it.

[ixtap]

There was a meme about taking over the world with 10k of the last thing you bought. I went grocery shopping a week ago. That seemed more like the way to save the world, so I didn't participate.

[Rural]

There was a meme about taking over the world with 10k of the last thing you bought. I went grocery shopping a week ago. That seemed more like the way to save the world, so I didn't participate.

Hmm. What can you do with 10K brake calipers?

[nyxst]

I feel deeply conflicted about wrapping paper. Why buy a product without any purpose, just to throw it away after 5 minutes of use?

We actually have wrapping paper that is embedded with wildflower seeds, so after you use it, you lay it on the ground and water it and a pretty little garden should grow. Unfortunately, I think is really cool, and never want to wrap a gift with it and give to a family I feel won't appreciate the idea and use it.... So I use it only rarely!  Those I deem undeserving of my precious flower paper get a gift bag instead. At least gift bags are reusable.

[shelivesthedream]

In here that's a mark of being 'lower class': having a washing machine in the kitchen.

As someone who moved from the UK to the US and discovered that 'Muricans have a whole ROOM dedicated to their laundry, I still giggle inside when the aforementioned 'Muricans are shocked that us Brits keep ours in the kitchen.

That depends. We have more of a wide hallway for our laundry machines. A laundry room without hallway running through it would truly be luxurious.

I still think it's funny that we have different definitions of laundry.

In Australia, laundry is the room and washing is a noun. E.g. I'm going to put on a load of washing.

MPP - been sitting here reading forums, forgot the washing. Our laundry's out the back with our outside toilet. That might also be a v Australian thing!

I have that in Britain! Just outside our back door is a brick lean-to outhouse where we keep our dishwasher, washing machine and freezer. It's really flipping cold to put dinner plates in the dishwasher in winter, but it's the only place we could fit them and at least it's nice and quiet in the house.

[Kitsunegari]

In here that's a mark of being 'lower class': having a washing machine in the kitchen.

As someone who moved from the UK to the US and discovered that 'Muricans have a whole ROOM dedicated to their laundry, I still giggle inside when the aforementioned 'Muricans are shocked that us Brits keep ours in the kitchen.

That depends. We have more of a wide hallway for our laundry machines. A laundry room without hallway running through it would truly be luxurious.

I still think it's funny that we have different definitions of laundry.

In Australia, laundry is the room and washing is a noun. E.g. I'm going to put on a load of washing.

MPP - been sitting here reading forums, forgot the washing. Our laundry's out the back with our outside toilet. That might also be a v Australian thing!

I have that in Britain! Just outside our back door is a brick lean-to outhouse where we keep our dishwasher, washing machine and freezer. It's really flipping cold to put dinner plates in the dishwasher in winter, but it's the only place we could fit them and at least it's nice and quiet in the house.

Some time ago I was checking out houses I can't afford & would never buy, and at some point one gorgeous house had a subpar kitchen... with washer&drier! I found it very odd, especially in such a beautiful and expensive house. Then it hit me... it's to allow the servants to do both at the same time and limit the spaces wasted for such trivial and vulgar activities as cooking and laundry. Nice kitchens and laundry rooms are sooo middle class! (clutches imaginary pearls)
 

[Goldielocks]

I noticed something similar in California when looking for homes.  You could tell who had domestic help by the condition of the laundry room.  Most self respecting people making a family income of $80k/yr or more would not be caught dead with the aged appliances I saw....  I think a new washer was the first appliance most people I knew ever purchased -- because baby was on the way.

[dragoncar]

I noticed something similar in California when looking for homes.  You could tell who had domestic help by the condition of the laundry room.  Most self respecting people making a family income of $80k/yr or more would not be caught dead with the aged appliances I saw....  I think a new washer was the first appliance most people I knew ever purchased -- because baby was on the way.

A lot of older people feel more comfortable with the old style appliances, and have a "if it's not broke, don't fix it" approach even if they have a bunch of money.  My parents do their own cooking and laundry, but have appliances that were original to the building in the early 80s.  Yes, they have a >30 year old fridge/stove that still runs, and apparently the HOA is responsible for replacing it if it breaks but it never has.  If they remodel, responsibility passes to them.

[Goldielocks]

Yeah,   that wasn't it.   My mom's 25 year old washer looked fantastic next to some of the ones that I saw, ... sitting in a $1.5 million dollar home and it was often the ONLY item that was older than 4 years.

People that don't replace washing machines because they are in good working condition often have other elements of quality but older items around, also in great maintained condition....  stay in one home for a long time, etc.

[dragoncar]

Yeah,   that wasn't it.   My mom's 25 year old washer looked fantastic next to some of the ones that I saw, ... sitting in a $1.5 million dollar home and it was often the ONLY item that was older than 4 years.

People that don't replace washing machines because they are in good working condition often have other elements of quality but older items around, also in great maintained condition....  stay in one home for a long time, etc.

So you're saying the rich people (or their household managers) buy shitty broke down appliances on craigsist?

[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.

[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.

:-)

Can you do what we do in our street? Share a bin with the neighbours and pay less in fees? We have 8 or so houses sharing a couple of large containers. I think our fee is 70% or so of the normal fees.

[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.

:-)

Can you do what we do in our street? Share a bin with the neighbours and pay less in fees? We have 8 or so houses sharing a couple of large containers. I think our fee is 70% or so of the normal fees.

1. We don't pay fees for rubbish collection - it's one of the services the council provides in exchange for council tax. So it's not FREE free, but we're not directly charged for it.
2. LOL at the idea that any of our neighbors would downgrade the size of their rubbish bins! They are all always overflowing! My old neighbourhood, sure, but no way in this one!

[TomTX]

2. LOL at the idea that any of our neighbors would downgrade the size of their rubbish bins! They are all always overflowing! My old neighbourhood, sure, but no way in this one!

Perhaps one of your neighbors would be willing to pay you to use the extra space in your bin.

But, since it's "free" - perhaps not.

[Dicey]

Some time ago I was checking out houses I can't afford & would never buy, and at some point one gorgeous house had a subpar kitchen... with washer&drier! I found it very odd, especially in such a beautiful and expensive house. Then it hit me... it's to allow the servants to do both at the same time and limit the spaces wasted for such trivial and vulgar activities as cooking and laundry. Nice kitchens and laundry rooms are sooo middle class! (clutches imaginary pearls)

I used to own a moderate townhouse, built in the early '70's. Originally, all the units had the W/D in the kitchen. Many people, including a previous owner of my unit, moved them to the garage when they remodeled the kitchen. My neighbor had redone her kitchen, but left the W/D inside. Neither of us used house cleaners.

My current clown house has a lovely laundry room, complete with granite counters and custom cabinets. It also has old-style looking W/D, which are actually high efficiency units. They cost less than 1k for the set. And yes, we pay people to clean our house.

The clown house and the housecleaners are a direct result of my MIL developing ALZ and our making the decision that having her live with us was the best option. And I love pearls, but mine were passed on from my mother not long before she died.

Pictures don't always tell the whole story.

[Kitsunegari]

Some time ago I was checking out houses I can't afford & would never buy, and at some point one gorgeous house had a subpar kitchen... with washer&drier! I found it very odd, especially in such a beautiful and expensive house. Then it hit me... it's to allow the servants to do both at the same time and limit the spaces wasted for such trivial and vulgar activities as cooking and laundry. Nice kitchens and laundry rooms are sooo middle class! (clutches imaginary pearls)

I used to own a moderate townhouse, built in the early '70's. Originally, all the units had the W/D in the kitchen. Many people, including a previous owner of my unit, moved them to the garage when they remodeled the kitchen. My neighbor had redone her kitchen, but left the W/D inside. Neither of us used house cleaners.

My current clown house has a lovely laundry room, complete with granite counters and custom cabinets. It also has old-style looking W/D, which are actually high efficiency units. They cost less than 1k for the set. And yes, we pay people to clean our house.

The clown house and the housecleaners are a direct result of my MIL developing ALZ and our making the decision that having her live with us was the best option. And I love pearls, but mine were passed on from my mother not long before she died.

Pictures don't always tell the whole story.

I feel the keyword here is 'moderate'. The house I was talking about was a palace with 2 swimming pools, marble floors and a wine cellar the size of a condo, all in dark wood, then an old fornica kitchen with not even a dishwasher in sight. I'll take a stab in the dark and believe they had staff.

[87tweetybirds]

After more than 3 years of our city saying they were upgrading the garbage system to automatic trucks (the kind with the arm to lift the garbage into the truck, instead of the workers riding on the back dumping the garbage containers in by hand) they finally did. This means that the city supplied all of the people in my neighborhood with a garbage bin per household. The bin came with a note saying that all the garbage had to fit in the bin, and any garbage outside of the bin would not be collected. Our neighbors the first few weeks were flabbergasted, "How am I supposed to fit all my garbage in one bin!?" I thought, "How do you make so much garbage that you can't fit it al in one bin?". We have 3-4 people regularly living in our household, one in disposable diapers, and they have the same but none in disposable diapers. Even when we had 5 people living in our house we still didn't make that much garbage. I guess they eat a lot of pre-packaged foods or a lot of bulky takeout? So most of them bought a second bin, and fill both to the point that the lids won't close. Even in the fall when we fill up the container with leaves and then top with our household garbage (we haven't established a compost with the capacity for the amount of leaves our trees produce), we still don't need 2 bins.

[shelivesthedream]

2. LOL at the idea that any of our neighbors would downgrade the size of their rubbish bins! They are all always overflowing! My old neighbourhood, sure, but no way in this one!

Perhaps one of your neighbors would be willing to pay you to use the extra space in your bin.

But, since it's "free" - perhaps not.

They are perfectly happy to leave extra bags mouldering in their front gardens. Despite its scarcity, bin space is not a valued commodity here. Yes, I am cross about it.

[Goldielocks]

Some time ago I was checking out houses I can't afford & would never buy, and at some point one gorgeous house had a subpar kitchen... with washer&drier! I found it very odd, especially in such a beautiful and expensive house. Then it hit me... it's to allow the servants to do both at the same time and limit the spaces wasted for such trivial and vulgar activities as cooking and laundry. Nice kitchens and laundry rooms are sooo middle class! (clutches imaginary pearls)

I used to own a moderate townhouse, built in the early '70's. Originally, all the units had the W/D in the kitchen. Many people, including a previous owner of my unit, moved them to the garage when they remodeled the kitchen. My neighbor had redone her kitchen, but left the W/D inside. Neither of us used house cleaners.

My current clown house has a lovely laundry room, complete with granite counters and custom cabinets. It also has old-style looking W/D, which are actually high efficiency units. They cost less than 1k for the set. And yes, we pay people to clean our house.

The clown house and the housecleaners are a direct result of my MIL developing ALZ and our making the decision that having her live with us was the best option. And I love pearls, but mine were passed on from my mother not long before she died.

Pictures don't always tell the whole story.

I feel the keyword here is 'moderate'. The house I was talking about was a palace with 2 swimming pools, marble floors and a wine cellar the size of a condo, all in dark wood, then an old fornica kitchen with not even a dishwasher in sight. I'll take a stab in the dark and believe they had staff.

I would take that bet... and double down with a guess -- that the kitchen was a bit removed / had doors, so that no one needed to see the kitchen (which clashed with the rest of the house, anyway).

[Linea_Norway]

2. LOL at the idea that any of our neighbors would downgrade the size of their rubbish bins! They are all always overflowing! My old neighbourhood, sure, but no way in this one!

Perhaps one of your neighbors would be willing to pay you to use the extra space in your bin.

But, since it's "free" - perhaps not.

They are perfectly happy to leave extra bags mouldering in their front gardens. Despite its scarcity, bin space is not a valued commodity here. Yes, I am cross about it.

Don't you have foxes or badgers where you live?  No, probably not, I think you live in London. But there might be rats. I my street plastic bags get opened by the local wildlife animals.

[Apples]

Yeah,   that wasn't it.   My mom's 25 year old washer looked fantastic next to some of the ones that I saw, ... sitting in a $1.5 million dollar home and it was often the ONLY item that was older than 4 years.

People that don't replace washing machines because they are in good working condition often have other elements of quality but older items around, also in great maintained condition....  stay in one home for a long time, etc.

So you're saying the rich people (or their household managers) buy shitty broke down appliances on craigsist?

I read it as those who have domestic help don't have to do their own laundry, and therefore don't mind having old run down washers and dryers.  However, these same people would use their own fridge/oven/stove/dishwasher and therefore those would be much newer.

[shelivesthedream]

2. LOL at the idea that any of our neighbors would downgrade the size of their rubbish bins! They are all always overflowing! My old neighbourhood, sure, but no way in this one!

Perhaps one of your neighbors would be willing to pay you to use the extra space in your bin.

But, since it's "free" - perhaps not.

They are perfectly happy to leave extra bags mouldering in their front gardens. Despite its scarcity, bin space is not a valued commodity here. Yes, I am cross about it.

Don't you have foxes or badgers where you live?  No, probably not, I think you live in London. But there might be rats. I my street plastic bags get opened by the local wildlife animals.

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.

[Greenback Reproduction Specialist]

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.....

[Bracken_Joy]

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.....

Next time the 1lb jar is empty, wash it then fill it from the giant tub. Ta da ;) Best of both worlds!

[Greenback Reproduction Specialist]

Next time the 1lb jar is empty, wash it then fill it from the giant tub. Ta da ;) Best of both worlds!

Ahhh! Genius : )

[kaypinkHH]

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.

[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!