Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)

[dragoncar]

My dad is a dinosaur. 

[Sugaree]

Yea I get that, but I would prefer she just do something nice.  If you really insist on spending money just buy a nice piece of meat (like a rib roast) and cook us dinner.  We would really enjoy that and would also get to spend some time together enjoying a nice meal that we don't normally get to eat.  Win-win.  What I don't need is special wine glasses when I don't drink wine.  Or charms to put on said wine glasses.  Or some piece of cheap jewelry that I will never wear because I hate jewelry.  I know she enjoys giving me something, but the vast majority of things I get from her are complete junk that I don't need. I would prefer she spends it taking us out, or cooking us dinner, or just taking care of themselves financially so that I don't have to.

I think the reason she is giving you this stuff is because she doesn't know what else to give. Give her a list and you'll probably find the quality of her gifts improving.

Just seeing frugalnacho's post... I can think of other reasons why people give gifts that other people don't like.  I have a relative who gives gifts that she bought for herself but then decided she didn't like; or because she enjoys the experience of shopping in certain stores; or enjoys the experience of getting a bargain.  It's frustrating when the gift is more about the giver than the giftee.

Oh ugh this. I had an ex boyfriend who used to be like that. He'd give  me his favorite cookies (that he knew I didn't like much) as a present or would take me out for brunch to a restaurant he was excited about even though they served food that I didn't care about.

Did you date my ex-husband?

[Imma]

Yea I get that, but I would prefer she just do something nice.  If you really insist on spending money just buy a nice piece of meat (like a rib roast) and cook us dinner.  We would really enjoy that and would also get to spend some time together enjoying a nice meal that we don't normally get to eat.  Win-win.  What I don't need is special wine glasses when I don't drink wine.  Or charms to put on said wine glasses.  Or some piece of cheap jewelry that I will never wear because I hate jewelry.  I know she enjoys giving me something, but the vast majority of things I get from her are complete junk that I don't need. I would prefer she spends it taking us out, or cooking us dinner, or just taking care of themselves financially so that I don't have to.

I think the reason she is giving you this stuff is because she doesn't know what else to give. Give her a list and you'll probably find the quality of her gifts improving.

Just seeing frugalnacho's post... I can think of other reasons why people give gifts that other people don't like.  I have a relative who gives gifts that she bought for herself but then decided she didn't like; or because she enjoys the experience of shopping in certain stores; or enjoys the experience of getting a bargain.  It's frustrating when the gift is more about the giver than the giftee.

Oh ugh this. I had an ex boyfriend who used to be like that. He'd give  me his favorite cookies (that he knew I didn't like much) as a present or would take me out for brunch to a restaurant he was excited about even though they served food that I didn't care about.

Did you date my ex-husband?

Or my dad... Who once gave my mum a toastie maker for her birthday while she was the only member of the family who doesn't like toasties. He didn't even get why she was annoyed - the old one broke down so the family needed a new one right? She should have given him a new iron for his birthday...

[Sugaree]

3.  When it is Christmas and your kids can't think of anything to add to their Christmas lists, but you really want to give them a present, so you have to be creative and give them an experience.  Very stressful.

4.  When everyone at work goes to Disney every year and feels bad for you because you didn't go and then talks about all of their debt payments.  Meanwhile you cash flowed a wonderful vacation that cost significantly less and your kids can't stop talking about how much they enjoyed it.

Spouse and I both have time off between Christmas and New Year's every year. Combined with our son's school break, this equates to a great time to take an off season vacation to see family. We plan to see 4 national parks & his cousins between Dec 26 & January 4th. This is my bucket list vacation, not Disney.

Many people have been asking 4 year old son what he wants for Christmas. His answer: a Christmas tree & Christmas cookies, and seeing his cousins. They keep asking him, "no but what things do you want?" After a long pause, he responds with "I want to buy more books at the library." Such simple wishes.

We are traveling at xmas this year.  Not doing Disney (now or ever if I can help it), but NYC is probably a close second when it comes to xmas touristy shit.  It just kind of works out that we can take our big trips about every 18 months so xmas break is a nice time to do it. 

[Freedomin5]

My most recent MPP:

We work overseas and DH’s salary is paid in the local currency. Every once in a while we transfer the funds (whatever we don’t spend) via a money exchange service back to our home country. We try not to transfer too often because one of my family members needs to travel to the exchange office in my home country to collect the funds, which is a hassle.

My MPP is that we save so much that the transfers are quite frequent, and now my sister is annoyed with me because she has to drive to the exchange office so often. Mustachianism is ruining my relationship with my siblings.

ETA: It’s ok though. I’ve promised to buy her a condo once she graduates.

[Sibley]

My most recent MPP:

We work overseas and DH’s salary is paid in the local currency. Every once in a while we transfer the funds (whatever we don’t spend) via a money exchange service back to our home country. We try not to transfer too often because one of my family members needs to travel to the exchange office in my home country to collect the funds, which is a hassle.

My MPP is that we save so much that the transfers are quite frequent, and now my sister is annoyed with me because she has to drive to the exchange office so often. Mustachianism is ruining my relationship with my siblings.

ETA: It’s ok though. I’ve promised to buy her a condo once she graduates.

Just transfer larger amounts less frequently. Or figure out a different method of transferring that doesn't require someone to go to the exhange office.

[Freedomin5]

My most recent MPP:

We work overseas and DH’s salary is paid in the local currency. Every once in a while we transfer the funds (whatever we don’t spend) via a money exchange service back to our home country. We try not to transfer too often because one of my family members needs to travel to the exchange office in my home country to collect the funds, which is a hassle.

My MPP is that we save so much that the transfers are quite frequent, and now my sister is annoyed with me because she has to drive to the exchange office so often. Mustachianism is ruining my relationship with my siblings.

ETA: It’s ok though. I’ve promised to buy her a condo once she graduates.

Just transfer larger amounts less frequently. Or figure out a different method of transferring that doesn't require someone to go to the exhange office.

I don’t like keeping large amounts of cash in a country that reserves the right to confiscate my accounts at any time. And the method that doesn’t require the exchange office involves a three-hour visit to the local bank with eight million pieces of documentation that may or may not be accepted depending on the bank officer that day and interviews in a language that I don’t speak well. And because many branches don’t do these types of transfers, there’s no guarantee that the funds will actually arrive in my home country account. Trust me, having my sister drive 20 minutes once a month is the path of least resistance.

[Sibley]

My most recent MPP:

We work overseas and DH’s salary is paid in the local currency. Every once in a while we transfer the funds (whatever we don’t spend) via a money exchange service back to our home country. We try not to transfer too often because one of my family members needs to travel to the exchange office in my home country to collect the funds, which is a hassle.

My MPP is that we save so much that the transfers are quite frequent, and now my sister is annoyed with me because she has to drive to the exchange office so often. Mustachianism is ruining my relationship with my siblings.

ETA: It’s ok though. I’ve promised to buy her a condo once she graduates.

Just transfer larger amounts less frequently. Or figure out a different method of transferring that doesn't require someone to go to the exhange office.

I don’t like keeping large amounts of cash in a country that reserves the right to confiscate my accounts at any time. And the method that doesn’t require the exchange office involves a three-hour visit to the local bank with eight million pieces of documentation that may or may not be accepted depending on the bank officer that day and interviews in a language that I don’t speak well. And because many branches don’t do these types of transfers, there’s no guarantee that the funds will actually arrive in my home country account. Trust me, having my sister drive 20 minutes once a month is the path of least resistance.

Ok, that's fair. Then perhaps you need to start paying your sister. She is potentially saving you a lot of money after all.

[EscapedApe]

Gift Giving discussion - What many people replying to frugalnacho in this thread are forgetting, or may be lucky enough to have never experienced, is: some people out there weaponize gift giving. 

item you don't need? - coded message - you are expected to change your diet, outfit, life style to better conform to the gift giver's expectations of how you will perform your life for them.

item you don't want? - sabotage - stop doing the thing that makes you happy/healthy and do this thing we think you should do instead

item after you've clearly stated no more items please? - power play - the giver decides their feelings are more important than the recipients feelings

expensive item? - entrapment - you must now thank the giver and feel beholden/smaller/weaker because they did so much for you even though you didn't want them to

If you've never encountered weaponized gift giving in the wild, good for you, but please don't forget some of us deal with people who turn holiday gift giving into a dread filled morass of unwanted obligations. Suggesting alternate gifts to these givers just feeds into their twisted enjoyment of giving unwanted items.

Good observation.

If you find yourself entangled with a person who uses gifts as weapons, your best bet is to close your embassy and suspend all negotiations until a cessation of hostilities can be agreed upon.

[DadJokes]

MPP: My spreadsheet has too many tabs.

Budget Data Entry
Budget/Bank Reconciliation
Taxes
Net Worth
Contributions v Gains
Vehicle Mileage
Credit Rewards
HSA
DS's College
Income Statement
Charts

[RWD]

MPP: My spreadsheet has too many tabs.

Budget Data Entry
Budget/Bank Reconciliation
Taxes
Net Worth
Contributions v Gains
Vehicle Mileage
Credit Rewards
HSA
DS's College
Income Statement
Charts

I end up making a new spreadsheet for everything instead of a new tab... Probably not the best organization system.

[BicycleB]

My most recent MPP:

We work overseas and DH’s salary is paid in the local currency. Every once in a while we transfer the funds (whatever we don’t spend) via a money exchange service back to our home country. We try not to transfer too often because one of my family members needs to travel to the exchange office in my home country to collect the funds, which is a hassle.

My MPP is that we save so much that the transfers are quite frequent, and now my sister is annoyed with me because she has to drive to the exchange office so often. Mustachianism is ruining my relationship with my siblings.

ETA: It’s ok though. I’ve promised to buy her a condo once she graduates.

That sounds like a very respectable solution!

[Sugaree]

MPP: My spreadsheet has too many tabs.

Budget Data Entry
Budget/Bank Reconciliation
Taxes
Net Worth
Contributions v Gains
Vehicle Mileage
Credit Rewards
HSA
DS's College
Income Statement
Charts

My MPP is that I just realized I had a problem.  My spreadsheet has 40 sheets...

[dragoncar]

MPP: My spreadsheet has too many tabs.

Budget Data Entry
Budget/Bank Reconciliation
Taxes
Net Worth
Contributions v Gains
Vehicle Mileage
Credit Rewards
HSA
DS's College
Income Statement
Charts

I end up making a new spreadsheet for everything instead of a new tab... Probably not the best organization system.
[/quote
I make a new spreadsheet for each row

[ysette9]

Yeah? Well my spreadsheet is bigger than your spreadsheet!

;-)

[Fomerly known as something]

I've been trying to re balance my taxable accounts since this summer when I decided to beef up my emergency cash by about $10,000 leaving them seriously out of alignment.  But none of my lots has a loss in them making any move between account a taxable event.  With the market on a tear right now any new money I put in isn't making a dent in the imbalance. 

[NorCal]

MPP: My spreadsheet has too many tabs.

Budget Data Entry
Budget/Bank Reconciliation
Taxes
Net Worth
Contributions v Gains
Vehicle Mileage
Credit Rewards
HSA
DS's College
Income Statement
Charts

My MPP is that I just realized I had a problem.  My spreadsheet has 40 sheets...

As the official Corporate Finance dweller, I declare your spreadsheet doesn't have a problem until it takes a full coffee break to recalculate.

[Cool Friend]

So AT&T decided to upgrade my data plan and charge me $5/month extra for it, without my permission. It was a good deal if you're a person who uses a lot of data, but I don't, so I don't need it.  So I called them up to get them to remove it, and while I had them on the phone, we talked about upgrading my phone which is old and not working great.  They gave me a good offer for an iPhone XR for $5/month for 30 months ($150 total, a pretty good deal), but I don't like to make impulse purchases so I gave myself 24 hours to think about it.  They told me the offer had no expiration date.  Literally 24 hours later and not only is the offer not available, they're acting like it never existed.  I went on the website and saw the deal there, it absolutely existed.

Fucking telecom companies, man.

[LennStar]

MPP: My spreadsheet has too many tabs.

Budget Data Entry
Budget/Bank Reconciliation
Taxes
Net Worth
Contributions v Gains
Vehicle Mileage
Credit Rewards
HSA
DS's College
Income Statement
Charts

My MPP is that I just realized I had a problem.  My spreadsheet has 40 sheets...

As the official Corporate Finance dweller, I declare your spreadsheet doesn't have a problem until it takes a full coffee break to recalculate.

What are you doing with it? Simulating Minecraft that runs a redstone Excel?

[Just Joe]

You gotta give up the beige box computer man... You need a newer Mint Linux machine... ;)

[Alternatepriorities]

So AT&T decided to upgrade my data plan and charge me $5/month extra for it, without my permission. It was a good deal if you're a person who uses a lot of data, but I don't, so I don't need it.  So I called them up to get them to remove it, and while I had them on the phone, we talked about upgrading my phone which is old and not working great.  They gave me a good offer for an iPhone XR for $5/month for 30 months ($150 total, a pretty good deal), but I don't like to make impulse purchases so I gave myself 24 hours to think about it.  They told me the offer had no expiration date.  Literally 24 hours later and not only is the offer not available, they're acting like it never existed.  I went on the website and saw the deal there, it absolutely existed.

Fucking telecom companies, man.

They did that on my family plan as well and insisted I could not change it back because the plan we were on no longer exists. None of the plans they currently offer are better deals than the adjusted price. To make it more annoying it is virtually impossible to find someone at customer service who understands the implications of having all our phones paid off so none of them can accurately predict our bill on a new plan...

[DadJokes]

MPP: My spreadsheet has too many tabs.

Budget Data Entry
Budget/Bank Reconciliation
Taxes
Net Worth
Contributions v Gains
Vehicle Mileage
Credit Rewards
HSA
DS's College
Income Statement
Charts

My MPP is that I just realized I had a problem.  My spreadsheet has 40 sheets...

As the official Corporate Finance dweller, I declare your spreadsheet doesn't have a problem until it takes a full coffee break to recalculate.

I've certainly run a few Solver functions that took 10+ minutes to run for my work. I can't imagine my finances ever needing to be that complicated. But give me enough time tinkering with them, and I'm sure that I'll find a way eventually.

[APowers]

I burned the edges of the crust on my pumpkin pie this morning! Oh noes! I guess we'll just have to bake another pie*....

*Meanwhile, back at the lab, we'll just break the overly toasted edge off and enjoy the pie anyway.

[marty998]

My dad is a dinosaur.

I thought the Donkey f***** the Dragon at the end of Shrek but whatevs.

[Sugaree]

MPP: My spreadsheet has too many tabs.

Budget Data Entry
Budget/Bank Reconciliation
Taxes
Net Worth
Contributions v Gains
Vehicle Mileage
Credit Rewards
HSA
DS's College
Income Statement
Charts

My MPP is that I just realized I had a problem.  My spreadsheet has 40 sheets...

As the official Corporate Finance dweller, I declare your spreadsheet doesn't have a problem until it takes a full coffee break to recalculate.

What are you doing with it? Simulating Minecraft that runs a redstone Excel?

I'm a programmer.  I once had to make Excel create a swimlane calendar based on a list of events that refreshed out of Sharepoint every week.  It took 600-800 events and created textboxes for them and then ran logic to place them in the right cell and not on top of each other.  Early iterations of it took an hour and a half to run.


My personal finances workbook takes a yearly budget and generates a projected checking register out of it.  It takes about 10 minutes to run.  Some of the reports take about that ling.  I need to look into optimizating those.

[Roadrunner53]

I have an oddball sized family room downstairs. Right now it is kind of junked up and I am sick of it and want to get rid of just about everything and refurnish it. The problem is that the room is retangular shaped. It is almost like two rooms with no wall in the middle. One side is small and has a fireplace, the other side is bigger and about 4 feet wider. I have tried to arrange furniture around the fireplace but it is a small area and also there was a big screen tv. If I arrange the furniture on the larger side, what do I do with the fireplace side. It is really too hot to sit in front of the fireplace. There is really only one full wall on the small side and the larger side. There are windows half way up and a shelf under the windows. This room makes me nuts! At one point in time we had a pool table on the larger side. It never got used so we got rid of it. I kind of want to make it a simple sitting room with two really comfortable recliners, maybe a love seat a small table or two and a large screen tv. Maybe a table with a coffeemaker and supplies I really need some kind of a computer program to figure out how to arrange the furniture. I also have considered a pull out bed in a sofa. Is there some kind of a computer program anyone knows of?

[SwordGuy]

I really need some kind of a computer program to figure out how to arrange the furniture.

All you need is some graph paper, pencils, a ruler, some 3x5 card stock and scissors.   Low tech and cheap for the win.

[Zoot]

I really need some kind of a computer program to figure out how to arrange the furniture. I also have considered a pull out bed in a sofa. Is there some kind of a computer program anyone knows of?

I used http://www.planyourroom.com/ when I was trying to figure out how to re-arrange my living room.  A bit clunky, but it did the trick, and it's free!

[Zaga]

DH missed 2 weeks of work because of a minor surgery, and it messed up the 401-K calculations for the year :-(  I ended up putting some $ in a Roth to meet the plan.  Not the best for our tax bracket lol!

[PhilB]

I really need some kind of a computer program to figure out how to arrange the furniture.

All you need is some graph paper, pencils, a ruler, some 3x5 card stock and scissors.   Low tech and cheap for the win.

Been there, done that.  Nowadays I tend to just use an Excel sheet with the cells made square and insert shapes of appropriate size that can then be dragged, rotated etc.

[dragoncar]

I really need some kind of a computer program to figure out how to arrange the furniture.

All you need is some graph paper, pencils, a ruler, some 3x5 card stock and scissors.   Low tech and cheap for the win.

Been there, done that.  Nowadays I tend to just use an Excel sheet with the cells made square and insert shapes of appropriate size that can then be dragged, rotated etc.

I’ve done that for tile layout but for rooms I’m more likely to do simple lockup’s in google sketch up.  That way I it’s 3D and I can pan around to see how things look from different angles

[Just Joe]

https://www.qcad.org/en/

https://librecad.org

I've used both with good results for various projects.

There are free 3D CAD software projects. FreeCAD3D is one I use. ONSHAPE CAD is another.

[Taran Wanderer]

DW just messed up my retirement calculations by telling me her work pension could be $3,000 per month if she works until the early retirement age, in her case 58. That’s a ways away so maybe she won’t work that long, but that’s a whole additional income stream that I didn’t even have on my radar. Based on the 4% rule, that would equate to another $900,000 in NW at that time. Now I need to go recalculate our future NW and income projections.

[SwordGuy]

DW just messed up my retirement calculations by telling me her work pension could be $3,000 per month if she works until the early retirement age, in her case 58. That’s a ways away so maybe she won’t work that long, but that’s a whole additional income stream that I didn’t even have on my radar. Based on the 4% rule, that would equate to another $900,000 in NW at that time. Now I need to go recalculate our future NW and income projections.

I would never count a pension until it's locked in.   And even then, maybe not.

[Fomerly known as something]

DW just messed up my retirement calculations by telling me her work pension could be $3,000 per month if she works until the early retirement age, in her case 58. That’s a ways away so maybe she won’t work that long, but that’s a whole additional income stream that I didn’t even have on my radar. Based on the 4% rule, that would equate to another $900,000 in NW at that time. Now I need to go recalculate our future NW and income projections.

I would never count a pension until it's locked in.   And even then, maybe not.

I have a pension, I do count it even though it is not locked in.  Mainly because it will be a good size and is part of my plan.  While it is a large factor in my current calculations I also realize it in theory could "disappear."  So my plan also includes being able to cover life without it, a not so luxurious life but still better than a just the basics one.   

[PhilB]

DW just messed up my retirement calculations by telling me her work pension could be $3,000 per month if she works until the early retirement age, in her case 58. That’s a ways away so maybe she won’t work that long, but that’s a whole additional income stream that I didn’t even have on my radar. Based on the 4% rule, that would equate to another $900,000 in NW at that time. Now I need to go recalculate our future NW and income projections.

That is a serious amount of loose change to find down the back of the sofa!

[Kris]

DW just messed up my retirement calculations by telling me her work pension could be $3,000 per month if she works until the early retirement age, in her case 58. That’s a ways away so maybe she won’t work that long, but that’s a whole additional income stream that I didn’t even have on my radar. Based on the 4% rule, that would equate to another $900,000 in NW at that time. Now I need to go recalculate our future NW and income projections.

That is a serious amount of loose change to find down the back of the sofa!

Right? I am vacillating between admiration and jealousy!

[DadJokes]

DW just messed up my retirement calculations by telling me her work pension could be $3,000 per month if she works until the early retirement age, in her case 58. That’s a ways away so maybe she won’t work that long, but that’s a whole additional income stream that I didn’t even have on my radar. Based on the 4% rule, that would equate to another $900,000 in NW at that time. Now I need to go recalculate our future NW and income projections.

I would never count a pension until it's locked in.   And even then, maybe not.

When you say locked in, are you talking about it being vested?

My wife just recently became vested in her pension, and I've gone back and forth on including it in calculations. Our state's pension is 97% funded, so there's no worry about troubles down the road. However, if we both were to quit working when we hit FI, the combined value in both of our pensions would be ~$300k by the time we are eligible to withdraw from them at 60. And that's in nominal dollars, so...$150k in 2019 dollars or so?

It's not going to make or break our retirement, but I'm still going to include it in calculations to be thorough.

[SwordGuy]

DW just messed up my retirement calculations by telling me her work pension could be $3,000 per month if she works until the early retirement age, in her case 58. That’s a ways away so maybe she won’t work that long, but that’s a whole additional income stream that I didn’t even have on my radar. Based on the 4% rule, that would equate to another $900,000 in NW at that time. Now I need to go recalculate our future NW and income projections.

I would never count a pension until it's locked in.   And even then, maybe not.

When you say locked in, are you talking about it being vested?

My wife just recently became vested in her pension, and I've gone back and forth on including it in calculations. Our state's pension is 97% funded, so there's no worry about troubles down the road. However, if we both were to quit working when we hit FI, the combined value in both of our pensions would be ~$300k by the time we are eligible to withdraw from them at 60. And that's in nominal dollars, so...$150k in 2019 dollars or so?

It's not going to make or break our retirement, but I'm still going to include it in calculations to be thorough.

Yes, I meant vested.  And the secondary comment was about underfunding, so it looks like you're covered on both bases.  Congrats!

[Taran Wanderer]

DW just messed up my retirement calculations by telling me her work pension could be $3,000 per month if she works until the early retirement age, in her case 58. That’s a ways away so maybe she won’t work that long, but that’s a whole additional income stream that I didn’t even have on my radar. Based on the 4% rule, that would equate to another $900,000 in NW at that time. Now I need to go recalculate our future NW and income projections.

I would never count a pension until it's locked in.   And even then, maybe not.

She is vested now and would get around $1,400 per month at some point in the future (age 60 or so) if she stopped working now.  Of course, that assumes the State is solvent and can pay the full benefit at that time.  If she works until 58, then she would get the full benefit of about $3,000 per month, but this could be more if her salary increases.

Whether it's either of these, or less or more, it's all basically gravy on top of a pile of mashed potatoes that we have in other places, but hey, I like gravy!

[zygote]

Our apartment is very sunny and on the top floor, both features we greatly appreciate. The downside is that it can get pretty hot, especially in the summer. We pay a lot in electricity during the summer months to run window units just enough to keep it a barely-tolerable 80 degrees inside.

Now that it's winter, we would be totally ready to save on the heat and let it be cold. Except the heat is included in our rent, and even with all our radiators off, the two steam pipes we don't control leave our apartment almost as hot as the summer. So not only is our apartment uncomfortably warm, we wouldn't save anything if it weren't. :P

[trashtalk]

Our pledge to the school "jogathon" was so large that the organizers called us repeatedly to confirm that we understood the basic principles of multiplication (# of laps x $ per lap = $$$).

[SwordGuy]

Our pledge to the school "jogathon" was so large that the organizers called us repeatedly to confirm that we understood the basic principles of multiplication (# of laps x $ per lap = $$$).

Good for you!

[Mighty Eyebrows]

https://www.qcad.org/en/

https://librecad.org

I've used both with good results for various projects.

There are free 3D CAD software projects. FreeCAD3D is one I use. ONSHAPE CAD is another.

While both of those are excellent programs, they are quite technical to learn. If someone is just doing some room layout or basic home planning, something like SweetHome3D might be quicker to learn:

http://www.sweethome3d.com/

(also free/open source)

[SquashingDebt]

This year, my company did a charity fundraiser where different departments put together gift baskets centered around a theme and people could buy tickets to be entered into a drawing to win them, either for themselves or for a coworker.

The lovely part:  Our janitor, who I've gotten to know quite well because I'm often the last person in the building in the evening, while she's cleaning, entered me to win one of the baskets and that ticket was drawn!

The MPP:  I won a basket full of very nice goodies that I absolutely don't need and don't particularly want.  I managed to give away some of them at the party (tricky to do while still seeming grateful to win - I emphasized wanting to share with others) and will use some of it for a Secret Santa and Yankee Swap I have coming up.  I think I'll end up keeping the bottle of wine, a few candies and cookies, and some lotion.  I also got a free pineapple that was a centerpiece (luau theme), which is what I'm most excited about, haha.

[Dicey]

Our apartment is very sunny and on the top floor, both features we greatly appreciate. The downside is that it can get pretty hot, especially in the summer. We pay a lot in electricity during the summer months to run window units just enough to keep it a barely-tolerable 80 degrees inside.

Now that it's winter, we would be totally ready to save on the heat and let it be cold. Except the heat is included in our rent, and even with all our radiators off, the two steam pipes we don't control leave our apartment almost as hot as the summer. So not only is our apartment uncomfortably warm, we wouldn't save anything if it weren't. :P

At least in winter, opening a window will improve the situation. It's wasteful, but at least it's an option to keep you from roasting. Silver lining.

[zygote]

Our apartment is very sunny and on the top floor, both features we greatly appreciate. The downside is that it can get pretty hot, especially in the summer. We pay a lot in electricity during the summer months to run window units just enough to keep it a barely-tolerable 80 degrees inside.

Now that it's winter, we would be totally ready to save on the heat and let it be cold. Except the heat is included in our rent, and even with all our radiators off, the two steam pipes we don't control leave our apartment almost as hot as the summer. So not only is our apartment uncomfortably warm, we wouldn't save anything if it weren't. :P

At least in winter, opening a window will improve the situation. It's wasteful, but at least it's an option to keep you from roasting. Silver lining.

Yes, we do leave the windows open in the kitchen and bathroom (where the steam pipes are located) and it helps some. Good thing it's our landlord's money being wasted, not ours....

[Just Joe]

Our apartment is very sunny and on the top floor, both features we greatly appreciate. The downside is that it can get pretty hot, especially in the summer. We pay a lot in electricity during the summer months to run window units just enough to keep it a barely-tolerable 80 degrees inside.

Now that it's winter, we would be totally ready to save on the heat and let it be cold. Except the heat is included in our rent, and even with all our radiators off, the two steam pipes we don't control leave our apartment almost as hot as the summer. So not only is our apartment uncomfortably warm, we wouldn't save anything if it weren't. :P

Do what we did in the college dorms - leave the windows open all winter long...

[Just Joe]

https://www.qcad.org/en/

https://librecad.org

I've used both with good results for various projects.

There are free 3D CAD software projects. FreeCAD3D is one I use. ONSHAPE CAD is another.

While both of those are excellent programs, they are quite technical to learn. If someone is just doing some room layout or basic home planning, something like SweetHome3D might be quicker to learn:

http://www.sweethome3d.com/

(also free/open source)

OH - I had forgotten about that one. Good catch. There is some amazing free and open-source software out there now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kik4iZp5mjE

[MilesTeg]

When you realize that the daily volatility of your investments average as large or larger than your (2 week) paycheck.

If only that fluctuation was always UP!

Sadly, some times it makes it look like your paycheck just disappears into the ether.