Author Topic: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)  (Read 5093581 times)

Freedomin5

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4900 on: March 26, 2018, 06:23:24 AM »
My MPP is that my dad's been hospitalized for the past week.  And I've been eating in the cafeteria, driving around a lot, and not been price conscious.  I know in my head that it's OK, that's what an emergency fund is for, and this is one.  But my inner mustachian is freaking out -
"we're out of gas, again?"
"that salad is less than a dollar to make"
"$20 for sweatpants?!?"


Yeah @Dictionary Time -- we get the day off from mustachianism when things like that happen.  No guilt allowed.  Hope your dad is doing ok.

I would say it IS Mustachian to spend your money on things that are important to you, like taking care of your family.

BTDretire

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4901 on: March 28, 2018, 05:36:52 AM »
I always wait until late March to do my taxes, because I get amended 1099s.
 I used to do them at the beginning of February, but then one year I go an
ammended return in March from Scotrade and causing me to do an amended
return.
  I got all the tax prep done and dropped it off at my accountant a week ago
for them to get started. My appointment is at 8am today.
MMPP, I got an amended 1099 in yesterdays mail!
 Ya, it's better than getting it in today's mail.
But it will still take some time to adjust the numbers they already entered.
« Last Edit: March 28, 2018, 02:02:36 PM by BTDretire »

jlcnuke

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4902 on: March 28, 2018, 05:55:36 AM »
I had to phone my credit card company to get a new card after my wallet got stolen, and after that conversation, the customer service guy offered to double my credit limit. He said I wouldn't need to fill in any paperwork. I don't really need a higher card limit, but it can be convenient when travelling abroad. Limit is €1000 now, credit limits aren't as high in here as they seem to be in the US.

Now I get a letter in the mail saying they actually do need paperwork to extend my limit. I'm sure the credit card company will get a positive credit check on me, and we have two steady incomes and a low mortgage, but still I'm kind of hesitating. Together we have an income that's slightly below the national average, but our mortgage is only about 12% of that. The only registered debts that will turn up in our credit check are the mortgage and our phone contracts (and we've never been behind on any of them). We are late 20s/early 30s. I'm afraid the credit card company will think this is so odd for a young couple they will refuse to give us any credit card at all. We can't afford not to have a card, my partner needs it for work. But maybe I'm paranoid?
They've already given you the credit card, why would they take it away when you aren't defaulting or something?

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Freedomin5

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4903 on: March 28, 2018, 07:13:31 AM »
I was reading a book about “Christmas stories of hope and joy”. The first story was about a woman who wanted a horse her entire life. She knows that money is tight and her husband keeps telling her they can’t afford a horse. She also talks about how it’s the upkeep of the horse for the next 20-30 years of the horse’s life that’s the most expensive. So what happens? Her husband buys her the horse for Christmas because he “wants to be the one who makes her dreams come true”. All I could think of was “You can’t AFFORD a horse!” Instead of feeling warm fuzzies, I felt annoyed by their lack of foresight.

MMM has ruined stories of Christmas hope and joy for me.

Rosy

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4904 on: March 28, 2018, 09:03:34 AM »
^^^ well, sometimes MMM has a way of changing one's perspective - isn't that why it works so well?:)
It is disconcerting at times and I have to wonder - do my own core values trump the math inherent in most such examples. Occasionally, they do - it is called freedom of choice instead of blindly following - which could be MMM or the consuma suckers - or the over-sentimental, ignorant of math crowd.

Morning Glory

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4905 on: March 28, 2018, 09:09:02 AM »
I can't file my taxes yet because I paid my 2018 property taxes early and I still don't know if I can deduct them. I really want my refund so I can finish my Roth IRA contribution for the year.

afuera

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4906 on: March 28, 2018, 09:17:11 AM »
I always wait until late March to do my taxes, because I get amended 1099s.
 I used to do them at the beginning of February, but then one year I go an
ammended return in March from Scotrade and causing me to do an amended
return.
  I got all the tax prep done and dropped it off at my accountant a week ago
for them to get started. My appointment is at 8am today.
MMPP, I got an amended 1099 in yesterdays mail!
 Ya, it better than getting it in today's mail.
But it will still take some time to adjust the numbers they already entered.

I finished our taxes last Friday and was super proud of myself because there was some complicated stuff in there involving casualty loss due to a hurricane/flood.  We received a corrected 1098 yesterday.  Ugh.

Imma

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4907 on: March 28, 2018, 10:32:33 AM »
I had to phone my credit card company to get a new card after my wallet got stolen, and after that conversation, the customer service guy offered to double my credit limit. He said I wouldn't need to fill in any paperwork. I don't really need a higher card limit, but it can be convenient when travelling abroad. Limit is €1000 now, credit limits aren't as high in here as they seem to be in the US.

Now I get a letter in the mail saying they actually do need paperwork to extend my limit. I'm sure the credit card company will get a positive credit check on me, and we have two steady incomes and a low mortgage, but still I'm kind of hesitating. Together we have an income that's slightly below the national average, but our mortgage is only about 12% of that. The only registered debts that will turn up in our credit check are the mortgage and our phone contracts (and we've never been behind on any of them). We are late 20s/early 30s. I'm afraid the credit card company will think this is so odd for a young couple they will refuse to give us any credit card at all. We can't afford not to have a card, my partner needs it for work. But maybe I'm paranoid?
They've already given you the credit card, why would they take it away when you aren't defaulting or something?

Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

Well, they can take away cards without giving any kind of explanation and there are two reasons why I think they might possibly do it:

- Our income is fairly low. My income is just over the minimum you need to apply for a card, my partner's income is lower (but the card is in my name, so that shouldn't be a problem). I've had this card for 10 years, back then there were very little rules regarding minimum income. I can imagine they don't want to give me a higher limit, which wouldn't be a problem, but it would be a problem if they would lower the current limit. I have never carried a balance on this card over the last 10 years, while having a much lower income than I have now, but of course, they don't know how low my income used to be. 

- We have a fairly low income, but also a really low mortgage and no other debts. Credit approvers work from their gut feeling, they have to make decisions in a split second. They will deny credit when they get a 'shady' feeling. In our experience, being a young couple on a low income from a low-income neighborhood, doing quite well financially, is something people feel is shady. We had difficulty arranging a mortgage 3 years ago. We had to apply to a second lender and send them almost 60 different documents before we were approved for a 75k mortgage. We really had to prove all the savings we had were acquired legally. They didn't believe that our income level we were able to save this amount in a legal way without receiving an inheritance or getting parental help. This is how banks treat you when you're a model customer....  :) 

There are only a few credit card companies in my country, so it's not like I can easily apply for other cards. This is by far the cheapest company.

Hirondelle

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4908 on: March 28, 2018, 01:32:07 PM »
I think you should be fine Imma, though they might not up your limit. If you've been paying back nicely all the time and have a steady income you should be able to have a card with a €1000 limit. As a student without income (except stufi) I could already get the €500 limit (this was only 3-4 years ago).

Speaking of which, my CC limit is actually still €500. I wanted to increase it to €1000, but the website of the CC company only allowed me to increase with €1250 to  €1750 (whats that for a random amount?!?!) and income wise I didn't qualify for that. I don't get why the lowest possible increase they offer on the website is already so high..

Imma

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4909 on: March 28, 2018, 01:59:44 PM »
I couldn't get a €2000 limit online either, the next option is €2500, but I talked to customer services on the phone and I could just say any number I wanted. They wouldn't tell me set income criteria for a higher limit, but they did say most people qualify for a €2000 limit. Maybe I'm just a bit paranoid because we had such a bad experience with the mortgage. And even that worked out alright in the end.

It's a joke how easy it is to access cheap loans as an 18 year old student. Banks want students as customers, because they know they're probably never going to change their bank account again. I applied for this credit card the summer before I went to university, when I changed my bank account to a student account. I instantly got a €1000 limit on my credit card and a €1000 line of credit on my bank account too. I was making €3,50 an hour delivering mail and I hadn't even received stufi for the first time yet. You could get a €1000/month student loan as well and I remember the bank telling me how easy it would be to get a personal loan to buy a laptop. I was a sensible girl even at the age of 18 and I never got in debt, but it would have been so easy. The only thing I regret now is that I was so debt averse I never took out any student loans to save them up (interest % on student loans are lower than savings accounts in here). I am definitely going to apply for student loans for my master's.

dragoncar

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4910 on: March 29, 2018, 05:14:29 PM »
I can't file my taxes yet because I paid my 2018 property taxes early and I still don't know if I can deduct them. I really want my refund so I can finish my Roth IRA contribution for the year.

What are you waiting for?  I paid my 2018 taxes early, but I consider them accrued because I had already received a bill.  I’m not a tax professional, so I can’t give advice, but that’s what I did and I’m not alone

Hirondelle

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4911 on: March 29, 2018, 11:31:14 PM »
I couldn't get a €2000 limit online either, the next option is €2500, but I talked to customer services on the phone and I could just say any number I wanted. They wouldn't tell me set income criteria for a higher limit, but they did say most people qualify for a €2000 limit. Maybe I'm just a bit paranoid because we had such a bad experience with the mortgage. And even that worked out alright in the end.

It's a joke how easy it is to access cheap loans as an 18 year old student. Banks want students as customers, because they know they're probably never going to change their bank account again. I applied for this credit card the summer before I went to university, when I changed my bank account to a student account. I instantly got a €1000 limit on my credit card and a €1000 line of credit on my bank account too. I was making €3,50 an hour delivering mail and I hadn't even received stufi for the first time yet. You could get a €1000/month student loan as well and I remember the bank telling me how easy it would be to get a personal loan to buy a laptop. I was a sensible girl even at the age of 18 and I never got in debt, but it would have been so easy. The only thing I regret now is that I was so debt averse I never took out any student loans to save them up (interest % on student loans are lower than savings accounts in here). I am definitely going to apply for student loans for my master's.

Same here! Especially with the still good savings acounts rate during the first years of studying :(. My brother is in his masters now and finally started taking out some loans which he's investing. He's only just started and plans to finish this summer so he'll probably only manage to get 5k or so for the last few months. If I think about it it's crazy how quickly it adds up though. He can go 5k in debt for just the last 6 months of his studies.

shelivesthedream

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4912 on: March 30, 2018, 01:46:06 AM »
I couldn't get a €2000 limit online either, the next option is €2500, but I talked to customer services on the phone and I could just say any number I wanted. They wouldn't tell me set income criteria for a higher limit, but they did say most people qualify for a €2000 limit. Maybe I'm just a bit paranoid because we had such a bad experience with the mortgage. And even that worked out alright in the end.

It's a joke how easy it is to access cheap loans as an 18 year old student. Banks want students as customers, because they know they're probably never going to change their bank account again. I applied for this credit card the summer before I went to university, when I changed my bank account to a student account. I instantly got a €1000 limit on my credit card and a €1000 line of credit on my bank account too. I was making €3,50 an hour delivering mail and I hadn't even received stufi for the first time yet. You could get a €1000/month student loan as well and I remember the bank telling me how easy it would be to get a personal loan to buy a laptop. I was a sensible girl even at the age of 18 and I never got in debt, but it would have been so easy. The only thing I regret now is that I was so debt averse I never took out any student loans to save them up (interest % on student loans are lower than savings accounts in here). I am definitely going to apply for student loans for my master's.

Same here! Especially with the still good savings acounts rate during the first years of studying :(. My brother is in his masters now and finally started taking out some loans which he's investing. He's only just started and plans to finish this summer so he'll probably only manage to get 5k or so for the last few months. If I think about it it's crazy how quickly it adds up though. He can go 5k in debt for just the last 6 months of his studies.

Me three! (UK) I could have got £10k and probably never have had to pay it all back. However, it does give me the ethical squirms so I'm sort of glad I didn't - but on paper, the numbers are ridiculous.

Imma

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4913 on: March 30, 2018, 06:35:13 AM »
I couldn't get a €2000 limit online either, the next option is €2500, but I talked to customer services on the phone and I could just say any number I wanted. They wouldn't tell me set income criteria for a higher limit, but they did say most people qualify for a €2000 limit. Maybe I'm just a bit paranoid because we had such a bad experience with the mortgage. And even that worked out alright in the end.

It's a joke how easy it is to access cheap loans as an 18 year old student. Banks want students as customers, because they know they're probably never going to change their bank account again. I applied for this credit card the summer before I went to university, when I changed my bank account to a student account. I instantly got a €1000 limit on my credit card and a €1000 line of credit on my bank account too. I was making €3,50 an hour delivering mail and I hadn't even received stufi for the first time yet. You could get a €1000/month student loan as well and I remember the bank telling me how easy it would be to get a personal loan to buy a laptop. I was a sensible girl even at the age of 18 and I never got in debt, but it would have been so easy. The only thing I regret now is that I was so debt averse I never took out any student loans to save them up (interest % on student loans are lower than savings accounts in here). I am definitely going to apply for student loans for my master's.

Same here! Especially with the still good savings acounts rate during the first years of studying :(. My brother is in his masters now and finally started taking out some loans which he's investing. He's only just started and plans to finish this summer so he'll probably only manage to get 5k or so for the last few months. If I think about it it's crazy how quickly it adds up though. He can go 5k in debt for just the last 6 months of his studies.

Me three! (UK) I could have got £10k and probably never have had to pay it all back. However, it does give me the ethical squirms so I'm sort of glad I didn't - but on paper, the numbers are ridiculous.

The minimum montly payment is income-based in here and for my student loan I would have to pay back 12% of my income over €16500. You pay back over 15 years so unless your debt is really high or your income really low, you'll probably pay it back eventually. The cost is just spread out over a lot of years. I don't think my loan will be higher than €4000- €5000. I don't think there's anything morally wrong with taking advantage of existing rules, as long as your intentions are honest. And my intention is to pay it all back on the terms set by the government.

I'm kind of glad I didn't get a loan for my bachelor's as well, I would have been so anxious having such a massive debt at such a young age, even when I had all my loan money in a savings account.

shelivesthedream

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4914 on: March 30, 2018, 09:18:34 AM »
Ah, see, it's a bit different in the UK so my intentions could easily not have been honest. It's easy to end up in a situation where you get some or indeed most of your loan written off completely. I might only ever pay back a few hundred if my income remains low. Even my husband, who is always above the threshold, might end up paying back only half or so. So I could have got £10k, stuck it in VGLS100, and kept it (and the growth) forever just by never earning much more than £15k/yr (which, given my chosen career as a feckless artist, would not be hard).

Zoot

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4915 on: March 30, 2018, 11:15:24 AM »
MPP #1:  Got a raise at work and now have to check my 401(k) percentage contributions to be sure I won't be over-contributing based on the higher salary.  (I so, so wish we could contribute a flat dollar amount per month, which would make this so much easier every year at salary adjustment time!)

MPP #2:  I discovered an error in my tax planning spreadsheet which has been leading me to have too much deducted from my paycheck for state taxes (which will be going up due to the SALT restrictions and $24K threshold for the 1040 Schedule A standard deduction--don't get me started). 

The good news is that all of this results in more take-home pay, which can go straight into the basement finishing fund.  :)

shelivesthedream

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4916 on: March 30, 2018, 11:57:55 AM »
You find yourself striving to be debt-free in computer games too. (Rollercoaster Tycoon...)

bluebelle

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4917 on: March 30, 2018, 12:08:56 PM »
we almost always cook enough for 2 or 3 meals, and love varity, so sometimes it feels like a game of tetris to fit things in the fridge.  (don't worry, no food goes to waste, some to waist (see what I did there)).  We plan for leftovers on the busy nights.

that's the biggest MPP I've got this week.

Sibley

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4918 on: March 30, 2018, 04:43:03 PM »
Electrical rewire project has left the entire house coated with plaster dust. I'm too cheap to hire someone to clean, so now I get to wash ceilings, walls, floors, light fixtures, and everything in between.

Imma

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4919 on: March 31, 2018, 03:37:52 AM »
we almost always cook enough for 2 or 3 meals, and love varity, so sometimes it feels like a game of tetris to fit things in the fridge.  (don't worry, no food goes to waste, some to waist (see what I did there)).  We plan for leftovers on the busy nights.

that's the biggest MPP I've got this week.

Yes! And no matter how many containers you have for food, you're always running low on empty ones...

BTDretire

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4920 on: March 31, 2018, 10:09:27 AM »
Ah, see, it's a bit different in the UK so my intentions could easily not have been honest. It's easy to end up in a situation where you get some or indeed most of your loan written off completely. I might only ever pay back a few hundred if my income remains low. Even my husband, who is always above the threshold, might end up paying back only half or so. So I could have got £10k, stuck it in VGLS100, and kept it (and the growth) forever just by never earning much more than £15k/yr (which, given my chosen career as a feckless artist, would not be hard).
Back in the 80s when I was at a college, the people with money to pay for their kids college, were getting the low interest subsidized loans at 5% or 6% and buying CDs at 12% with the loan money.
 Never seemed quite right to me.

markbike528CBX

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4921 on: March 31, 2018, 10:25:39 AM »
MPP: spellcheck inserts FIREing when I meant firing -involuntary job termination.

nouveauRiche

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4922 on: March 31, 2018, 04:31:22 PM »
My MPP:  We just got a windfall from selling an investment property.  I want to do something to "celebrate" but don't want to spend even a small fraction of the money doing it.  I did open a bottle of Two Buck Chuck, though.

Also, we can't really tell anyone IRL about it.  That's a pretty common MPP here.

TomTX

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4923 on: April 01, 2018, 09:07:27 AM »
My MPP:  We just got a windfall from selling an investment property.  I want to do something to "celebrate" but don't want to spend even a small fraction of the money doing it.  I did open a bottle of Two Buck Chuck, though.

Also, we can't really tell anyone IRL about it.  That's a pretty common MPP here.

Yeah, it's hard not telling people about your successes.

Two Buck Chuck went up to over $3 here several years ago.

Substituted the Pacific Peak from Total Wine @ $2. And it's a shorter drive.

Price for PP has gone up to $2.74 now (and they started hiding it in the store) but it still is the best value wine I can find. I just stop at customer service and ask them to pull a case for me (10% discount, natch) periodically.

nouveauRiche

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4924 on: April 01, 2018, 10:16:33 AM »
I know.  "Three Buck Chuck" is more accurate here, too.  I just like the original name.

Will check out PP when I get a chance.  Hilarious that they're hiding it!

TomTX

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4925 on: April 01, 2018, 12:30:56 PM »
I know.  "Three Buck Chuck" is more accurate here, too.  I just like the original name.

Will check out PP when I get a chance.  Hilarious that they're hiding it!

Yeah, it's in cases up on top of an 8 foot display unit. Have to get an employee with the rolling ladder...

We only get the Merlot, btw.

LateStarter

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4926 on: April 01, 2018, 12:39:56 PM »
I have a similar issue with the energy companies. Apparently my "standard usage" is way higher than what I actually use, resulting in me getting back multple hundreds of euros once a year. Every year I try to get them to lower the prepayment and every year they urge me to go for a higher one so that I'm "safe". Apparently it doesn't matter I have been "safe" for year after year.

Yep - mine is inching down every time they do a six month review but they're not keen to take it down more than a couple of quid each time. I've just switched companies, though, so may have to start all over again...
Go to OVO. Set your monthly payment as high as possible. Enjoy 5% risk-free interest on the accumulating account credit.

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OtherJen

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4927 on: April 01, 2018, 01:12:35 PM »
we almost always cook enough for 2 or 3 meals, and love varity, so sometimes it feels like a game of tetris to fit things in the fridge.  (don't worry, no food goes to waste, some to waist (see what I did there)).  We plan for leftovers on the busy nights.

that's the biggest MPP I've got this week.

Yes! And no matter how many containers you have for food, you're always running low on empty ones...

This. All of this. Not to mention freezer Tetris, like when you buy two huge pork shoulder roasts because there’s a ridiculous sale, but you’d already bought a couple of whole chickens and a bunch of stew beef on sale earlier that week, a multi-pack of bacon at Costco, and the frozen veggies you like for soup were $1/bag so you stocked up...

living small

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4928 on: April 01, 2018, 03:47:07 PM »
I was at a professional conference in the vendor area to see what was new. There are multiple companies that offer student loan consolidation.  They try to "sales pitch" you as you walk by and at least three different student loan consolidation company employees looked like their heads would explode when I said I didn't have any student loans.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4929 on: April 02, 2018, 09:54:10 AM »
We are currently driving home on a 5 hour trip. Some of the petrol stations have an add for icecreams for half price. But the 2 stations we tried were sold out for that brand of ice cream. Although the sun is shining bright, I'll be damned to pay full price for an icecream.

LennStar

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4930 on: April 02, 2018, 10:24:44 AM »
We are currently driving home on a 5 hour trip. Some of the petrol stations have an add for icecreams for half price. But the 2 stations we tried were sold out for that brand of ice cream. Although the sun is shining bright, I'll be damned to pay full price for an icecream.

Here in my socialist country it may well be illegal to have an ad for something they don't have. Because the leftists extremist think - what an unimaginable thing!! - that companies may try to "upsell" you in exactly that way and the "sold out" is actually no accident.


FreshPrincess

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4931 on: April 02, 2018, 02:05:42 PM »
I just had to go in and adjust my 401k contributions way down because my January and February bonuses were so big I was going to max out too early and my employer matches per pay period.

honeybbq

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4932 on: April 02, 2018, 02:23:03 PM »
My MPP is that my dad's been hospitalized for the past week.  And I've been eating in the cafeteria, driving around a lot, and not been price conscious.  I know in my head that it's OK, that's what an emergency fund is for, and this is one.  But my inner mustachian is freaking out -
"we're out of gas, again?"
"that salad is less than a dollar to make"
"$20 for sweatpants?!?"

I'm doing the best I can, I don't have the mindshare or time to do better, so I just wish I could turn the cheap voice off for a week or two.  Worst case I spend $500-$1k stupidly, no big deal in the grand scheme.

It's the stuff we do everyday, not the stuff that's happening this week.

We had a health crisis in our household last year... I spent a lot of money on things I normally wouldn't -- a Vitamix (see vitamix thread lol), Instant Cart Costco delivery ($$  + markup on the goods), pizza delivery, you name it.  I was just trying to keep my head above water and luckily I had the finances to do so.

I hope your Dad gets well soon!

jinga nation

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4933 on: April 02, 2018, 04:50:40 PM »
Ah, see, it's a bit different in the UK so my intentions could easily not have been honest. It's easy to end up in a situation where you get some or indeed most of your loan written off completely. I might only ever pay back a few hundred if my income remains low. Even my husband, who is always above the threshold, might end up paying back only half or so. So I could have got £10k, stuck it in VGLS100, and kept it (and the growth) forever just by never earning much more than £15k/yr (which, given my chosen career as a feckless artist, would not be hard).
Back in the 80s when I was at a college, the people with money to pay for their kids college, were getting the low interest subsidized loans at 5% or 6% and buying CDs at 12% with the loan money.
 Never seemed quite right to me.
In the early 2000s I took out subsidized loans, no interest until 6 months after graduation, which I deferred for an additional 2 years by working on Master's degree (on scholarships, grants, natch!). The loans went into CD ladders at some 5 or 6%. My dad freaked out one day when he saw my binder with CD certificates with over $50k. The loans were only $10k. The rest was from credit cards app-o-rama where you could write yourself a balance transfer check at 0%, zero fees, for 12 months. At one point I had almost a $100k sitting in the bank earning 6%. Luckily I was risk averse and didn't put it in the stock market or funds; I would have shit bricks if I lost even a penny in the dot crash.
Arbitrage, once I partook in the scheme, seemed quite right to me, participating in the 'Murican credit game.
« Last Edit: April 02, 2018, 07:53:33 PM by jinga nation »

Step37

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4934 on: April 02, 2018, 07:18:45 PM »
I just had to go in and adjust my 401k contributions way down because my January and February bonuses were so big I was going to max out too early and my employer matches per pay period.

LOL! poor you;)

Congrats on the bonuses.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4935 on: April 03, 2018, 01:20:14 AM »
We are currently driving home on a 5 hour trip. Some of the petrol stations have an add for icecreams for half price. But the 2 stations we tried were sold out for that brand of ice cream. Although the sun is shining bright, I'll be damned to pay full price for an icecream.

Here in my socialist country it may well be illegal to have an ad for something they don't have. Because the leftists extremist think - what an unimaginable thing!! - that companies may try to "upsell" you in exactly that way and the "sold out" is actually no accident.

I agree. They should have removed the add. We also have laws against false marketing.

FreshPrincess

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4936 on: April 03, 2018, 04:44:52 AM »
I just had to go in and adjust my 401k contributions way down because my January and February bonuses were so big I was going to max out too early and my employer matches per pay period.

LOL! poor you;)

Congrats on the bonuses.

I know... cry me a river, right?  And thank you :) This is also a total #firstworldproblem and I got some lucky sales.  Just hope I adjusted it correctly...

marielle

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4937 on: April 03, 2018, 10:49:00 AM »
A coworker came to me today to ask about the new HSA plan.

Which is fine.

The MPP is that our HR person sent her to me because apparently I would be able to explain it better/know more about it!?

Dollar Slice

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4938 on: April 03, 2018, 10:55:36 AM »
The MPP is that our HR person sent her to me because apparently I would be able to explain it better/know more about it!?

LOL. I have the same problem. There's an HR department, but people come to me with all their questions about benefits, payroll, etc.

frugalnacho

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4939 on: April 03, 2018, 11:10:17 AM »
We too have a human retard department.  I think anyone that is too incompetent to do a real job gets "promoted" to HR.

[MOD NOTE:  come on now, let's have a little class, please]
« Last Edit: April 03, 2018, 11:20:01 AM by FrugalToque »

jinga nation

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4940 on: April 03, 2018, 12:05:19 PM »
We too have a human retard department.  I think anyone that is too incompetent to do a real job gets "promoted" to HR.

[MOD NOTE:  come on now, let's have a little class, please]

The problem, everywhere I've worked, is that HR is almost always all-female, and is either young recent graduates or grandmas.

The young ones, probably in their first full-time corporate job, are too nice to everyone, saying yes all the time, and don't go back, research the question to understand the issue, and provide answers, completing the loop. The wishy-washy answering is annoying to accountants and engineers, who prefer short, concise answers, in the form of YES/NO because (short explanation).

The older ones, nearing retirement or in early-onset dotage, don't give a fuck about anyone younger than them, are surly in the "Get Off My Lawn" manner, and haven't kept up with rules and regulation changes. Many of them just sit on FB/Craigslist/Whatchamacallit most of the day, only answer to their boss or levels above.

Anyone competent in HR, who has develops a skill on the job, such as setting up some HR application or database, or understands some arcane rules, ends up leaving to be a consultant.

End-result: The perception persists that HR is full of young dumb bimbos and surly old grannies. It isn't fair to generalize, and isn't fair to the good ones, but it truly is the case that one HR rep's fuckup gives 'em all a bad name.

And if you're a male, you're stigmatized with the notion of "he was so dumb in college or a jock who couldn't hack business/accounting/engineering/etc school."

jlcnuke

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4941 on: April 03, 2018, 12:51:47 PM »
I'm on the road for work and the client decided they don't need me to work 7/10's on nights... so I'm stuck with just working 5/10's on days. Missed out on 20 hours of OT for a couple weeks that I might have been able to snag :(

(When I'm home I like to work 40's, but on the road, I'd rather work more than less)

frugalnacho

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4942 on: April 03, 2018, 12:52:04 PM »
We too have a human retard department.  I think anyone that is too incompetent to do a real job gets "promoted" to HR.

[MOD NOTE:  come on now, let's have a little class, please]


I can't speak for every company, but I stand by my statement about my current employer. 

Ynari

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4943 on: April 03, 2018, 01:24:26 PM »
We too have a human retard department.  I think anyone that is too incompetent to do a real job gets "promoted" to HR.

[MOD NOTE:  come on now, let's have a little class, please]


I can't speak for every company, but I stand by my statement about my current employer.

For context, this is less about your unqualified coworkers and more about how the r-word is offensive, even when used in a context not referencing someone with an intellectual disability. "Spread the word to end the word" is a campaign against the use of this dehumanizing and derogatory word. https://www.r-word.org/  A lot of people aren't aware of the baggage surrounding it, so feel free to browse around that site if you're curious about why there's a campaign around it.

dragoncar

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4944 on: April 03, 2018, 10:18:53 PM »
We too have a human retard department.  I think anyone that is too incompetent to do a real job gets "promoted" to HR.

[MOD NOTE:  come on now, let's have a little class, please]


I can't speak for every company, but I stand by my statement about my current employer.
For context, this is less about your unqualified coworkers and more about how the r-word is offensive, even when used in a context not referencing someone with an intellectual disability. "Spread the word to end the word" is a campaign against the use of this dehumanizing and derogatory word. https://www.r-word.org/  A lot of people aren't aware of the baggage surrounding it, so feel free to browse around that site if you're curious about why there's a campaign around it.

Don't worry scro'! There are plenty of ' tards out there living really kick ass lives. My first wife was 'tarded. She's a pilot now.


[MOD NOTE: This isn't just about the use of the word "retarded", which you probably shouldn't use in relation to your spouse (???).  This is also about referring to an entire profession as "retarded".  I didn't let it slide when someone started a fight by referring to all people with a certain major as "burdens on society" and I don't see why it should stand here.]

« Last Edit: April 04, 2018, 06:58:04 AM by FrugalToque »

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4945 on: April 04, 2018, 05:20:25 AM »
Getting back to the actual topic, stocks are on sale, but I don't have any more money to put in as my taxes were higher than anticipated :(.

Also,  my company is going through giant changes.  We are now starting to make plans for the future.  Along with this the people development is changing.  I need to make slides about my development over the next 5 years... I plan on being retired before then....  I can't put that on my slide, it would be, uh, gauche ;).

LV

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4946 on: April 04, 2018, 07:16:41 AM »
My MPP is that my dad's been hospitalized for the past week.  And I've been eating in the cafeteria, driving around a lot, and not been price conscious.  I know in my head that it's OK, that's what an emergency fund is for, and this is one.  But my inner mustachian is freaking out -
"we're out of gas, again?"
"that salad is less than a dollar to make"
"$20 for sweatpants?!?"


Yeah @Dictionary Time -- we get the day off from mustachianism when things like that happen.  No guilt allowed.  Hope your dad is doing ok.
If it helps, remind yourself that a less mustachian person would be blowing through a lot more money. You are making the best choices from the options that are available to you. You deserve an extra measure of grace right now and, 《HUGS》

CptCool

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4947 on: April 04, 2018, 09:01:23 AM »
Don't worry scro'! There are plenty of ' tards out there living really kick ass lives. My first wife was 'tarded. She's a pilot now.


[MOD NOTE: This isn't just about the use of the word "retarded", which you probably shouldn't use in relation to your spouse (???).  This is also about referring to an entire profession as "retarded".  I didn't let it slide when someone started a fight by referring to all people with a certain major as "burdens on society" and I don't see why it should stand here.]


Go away! Batin'!

Dollar Slice

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4948 on: April 04, 2018, 05:18:36 PM »
Our company (well, one unit of the company) got acquired on short notice and my co-workers and I got laid off abruptly and then rehired by the new owner 10 days later... so I saw one co-worker for the first time since the lay-offs today. I know him fairly well (well enough to know he never looks at anything corporate-jargony-looking) so I mentioned to him that if he wanted to roll over the 401(k), the paperwork was in the packet they sent us in the mail. He said "We had a 401(k)?" Well... I tried...

Meanwhile, I've already got my rollover check and my Mustachian impulses are butting heads - do I send it to Vanguard as cheaply as possible, or do I pay for a Fedex or Priority Mail or something to minimize time out of the market?

Sibley

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Re: Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)
« Reply #4949 on: April 04, 2018, 06:20:21 PM »
Our company (well, one unit of the company) got acquired on short notice and my co-workers and I got laid off abruptly and then rehired by the new owner 10 days later... so I saw one co-worker for the first time since the lay-offs today. I know him fairly well (well enough to know he never looks at anything corporate-jargony-looking) so I mentioned to him that if he wanted to roll over the 401(k), the paperwork was in the packet they sent us in the mail. He said "We had a 401(k)?" Well... I tried...

Meanwhile, I've already got my rollover check and my Mustachian impulses are butting heads - do I send it to Vanguard as cheaply as possible, or do I pay for a Fedex or Priority Mail or something to minimize time out of the market?

Don't do it as cheaply as possible. At a minimum, tracking number. Don't want to lose that check in the mail!