Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)

[dragoncar]

An MPP for me and my husband: in our cash budget spreadsheet, we don't have a category for clothes. I had to buy some today and wondered where to put it.

Lol.  What did you decide?  I had a similar (but different) MPP.  My husband and I traded for a golf cart (all the rage in my neighborhood). It needed new batteries.  What category is that?!?!?  Vehicle? Home improvement? Entertainment?

I have ~50 expense categories. But sometimes stuff still needs to go under Miscellaneous. I would probably put golf cart battery replacement under Auto Maintenance (sub category of Auto), assuming it is being used for general transportation. If being used as an actual golf cart for golfing then I would put it under Hobbies.

Uhh.. you guys don’t have a separate battery budget?

[Morning Glory]

An MPP for me and my husband: in our cash budget spreadsheet, we don't have a category for clothes. I had to buy some today and wondered where to put it.

Lol.  What did you decide?  I had a similar (but different) MPP.  My husband and I traded for a golf cart (all the rage in my neighborhood). It needed new batteries.  What category is that?!?!?  Vehicle? Home improvement? Entertainment?

I have ~50 expense categories. But sometimes stuff still needs to go under Miscellaneous. I would probably put golf cart battery replacement under Auto Maintenance (sub category of Auto), assuming it is being used for general transportation. If being used as an actual golf cart for golfing then I would put it under Hobbies.

Uhh.. you guys don’t have a separate battery budget?

I'd put it as auto maintenance.  That's what we did with mower parts and stuff when we had the rural property.

My new mpp is that my numbers are really screwy this year from 2 moves and replacing a vehicle, and I don't know how to calculate a savings rate. Like, do I subtract the cash I got from selling my stuff from spending or do I count it as income?

[Plina]

the MPP is that your neighbors want to donate their used things to you because you don't have anything!!

Oh, goodness, this has happened many times to us.  We have more income than most of the people in our circles, but with the exception of our house, we live pretty frugally.  Our two cars average 20 years old and 230,000 miles, we don't have fancy clothes, etc. 

About a month ago, I mentioned to a coworker that we were looking to acquire a third car for those cases where our family is going three different directions, and my coworker gave us an old car they're not using.  Said coworker makes a lot less money than us.

I agree on the MPP of normies pitying us.  But I have to say, if a coworker offered to give me a car I'd pay them at least a few hundred bucks.  I'm fine with someone thinking I'm destitute, but letting them give me a car out of pity seems to be crossing a line IMHO (especially if they have a lower salary).  Maybe I'm reading too much into this... perhaps you'd consider repaying them (somehow)?

The car was sitting in their front yard, undriven, for several months, alongside a second car, in even worse repair, which had been sitting for a similar amount of time.  I should do something nice for them at least.

This, of course, leads to another MPP:  we consider ourselves very fortunate, especially financially, so we try to pay it forward, and participate in various charitable causes. My problem is that many of those who are the recipients of charity seem to have nicer cars, nicer clothes, nicer cell phones, etc than we do, and I don't like the idea of subsidizing someone to a higher standard of living than I live myself.  A recent cause had a list of requested items, which included....air pods and Ugg boots.  Seriously?!

What kind of charity ask for those items?. I can understand that kids want certain brands but if I find the price of AirPods to ridiculous to buy them myself I would never see them as charity. Are there not other charities with people that really need the help?

[Ladychips]

@RWD and @Adventine - I don't have a misc category! And @dragoncar I don't have a category for batteries either (shocking I know). I think I put it in whatever category had the lowest expenditures that month. It's all good!

[ysette9]

On thé conversation about checks above, my mortgage company informed me that we have an overage in our impound account. So they paid actual postage to send us a check for … $0.04.

[Dicey]

On thé conversation about checks above, my mortgage company informed me that we have an overage in our impound account. So they paid actual postage to send us a check for … $0.04.

That's hilarious! When I receive stupid tiny checks, I deliberately do not cash them. Maybe if they notice it going uncashed month after month they'll wise up.

[SwordGuy]

@RWD and @Adventine - I don't have a misc category! And @dragoncar I don't have a category for batteries either (shocking I know).

Are they rechargeable batteries?   It would be a re-volting issue not to have a category for them.

[RWD]

My new mpp is that my numbers are really screwy this year from 2 moves and replacing a vehicle, and I don't know how to calculate a savings rate. Like, do I subtract the cash I got from selling my stuff from spending or do I count it as income?

When I sell an item casually I like to count it against spending in the same category as the item. Sort of like my own system of trade-in credit. Usually used items are not sold for a profit (relative to what was originally paid). So it would be weird to say it was income just because I wasn't tracking it as part of our net worth before I sold it.

[Morning Glory]

My new mpp is that my numbers are really screwy this year from 2 moves and replacing a vehicle, and I don't know how to calculate a savings rate. Like, do I subtract the cash I got from selling my stuff from spending or do I count it as income?

When I sell an item casually I like to count it against spending in the same category as the item. Sort of like my own system of trade-in credit. Usually used items are not sold for a profit (relative to what was originally paid). So it would be weird to say it was income just because I wasn't tracking it as part of our net worth before I sold it.

We did a massive downsizing and cleaned out a bunch of stuff that came with our house while we were getting it ready to sell.  I suppose I can count it against the transaction costs from selling the house, or maybe against moving expenses? We bought a newer car for 15K and sold our three old ones in there too (got ~5k total for those), but I don't want to not count that as spending because I'll need to budget for car replacement every 5-10 years. I'll go through mint at the end of the year and figure out something.

[gaja]

@RWD and @Adventine - I don't have a misc category! And @dragoncar I don't have a category for batteries either (shocking I know). I think I put it in whatever category had the lowest expenditures that month. It's all good!

Shouldn't batteries go to the energy category?

[dragoncar]

@RWD and @Adventine - I don't have a misc category! And @dragoncar I don't have a category for batteries either (shocking I know). I think I put it in whatever category had the lowest expenditures that month. It's all good!

Shouldn't batteries go to the energy category?

I consider it a part of my industrial metals asset allocation

[cannotWAIT]

Our MPP is night after night having the following conversation: “What do you want for Christmas?” “I don’t know, what do you want?” For like a month now. Feeling satisfied with what you’ve got is a hard habit to break.

[ixtap]

Our MPP is night after night having the following conversation: “What do you want for Christmas?” “I don’t know, what do you want?” For like a month now. Feeling satisfied with what you’ve got is a hard habit to break.

DH doesn't do gifts, so I get him his favorite candy and get myself anything I decide I need/want the week or two before.

Today, we went to a park and bought SIL's pass, but used it for ourselves. Didn't notice until we left it would have gotten us into the little attraction, too. Wasted $4 for the two of us!

[ysette9]

On thé conversation about checks above, my mortgage company informed me that we have an overage in our impound account. So they paid actual postage to send us a check for … $0.04.

That's hilarious! When I receive stupid tiny checks, I deliberately do not cash them. Maybe if they notice it going uncashed month after month they'll wise up.

That is my plan

Unless I have lots of energy in which case I may call them up and ask them not to do stupid shit like that in the future

[SwordGuy]

On thé conversation about checks above, my mortgage company informed me that we have an overage in our impound account. So they paid actual postage to send us a check for … $0.04.

Or you could look at it as they are being scrupulously honest with YOUR money at some cost to themselves...

[AerynLee]

On thé conversation about checks above, my mortgage company informed me that we have an overage in our impound account. So they paid actual postage to send us a check for … $0.04.

Years ago I rolled over a tiny 401k. Then a year or so later they mailed me a $0.01 check, I supposed from some miniscule earnings that didn't post before the rollover. And when I didn't cash that one they mailed me a second one, which I still didn't cash. Never heard anything after that one.

[dragoncar]

On thé conversation about checks above, my mortgage company informed me that we have an overage in our impound account. So they paid actual postage to send us a check for … $0.04.

Or you could look at it as they are being scrupulously honest with YOUR money at some cost to themselves...

Exactly.  I was getting mad at one of my credit cards that basically stole $1 from me when I closed the account (I had a $1 balance and they did a “adjustment -$1” and closed the account).  It wasn’t worth following up but I had decided never to use them again.  But like 6 months later I got a check in the mail.  So now they are off my shit list. 

Yes I cashed it.  It takes 1 min with electronic deposit so that’s like $60/hr tax free vs letting it go

And if you never cash it, eventually it will go into your state escheat list and one day you’ll be claiming something larger and decide to grab it too (I’ve found hundreds of unclaimed funds so it’s really worth checking occasionally)

[LennStar]

On thé conversation about checks above, my mortgage company informed me that we have an overage in our impound account. So they paid actual postage to send us a check for … $0.04.

That's hilarious! When I receive stupid tiny checks, I deliberately do not cash them. Maybe if they notice it going uncashed month after month they'll wise up.

I think they are legally required to send them anyway.

It's a sort of hobby here for people who have qualms with the GEZ (the institution that collects the mandatory money for the public TV+radio service) to send one cent more, which then has to be send back.
One of the most stupidest "just to prove my point" moves I have ever seen. 

Our MPP is night after night having the following conversation: “What do you want for Christmas?” “I don’t know, what do you want?” For like a month now. Feeling satisfied with what you’ve got is a hard habit to break.

It's always some clothing. Ran out of thick socks this year? There you have. Underwear got holes in it? Here is the replacement.

[talltexan]

One of my friend's little brother is a crypto millionaire, 8 figures minimum. !@$# I did this life thing all wrong.

I cannot predict how this will turn out. Do you interact with the brother often? were there times in the 2013-2016 range that he wanted to talk about crypto, but the rest of you were not receptive?

[Steeze]

One of my friend's little brother is a crypto millionaire, 8 figures minimum. !@$# I did this life thing all wrong.

I cannot predict how this will turn out. Do you interact with the brother often? were there times in the 2013-2016 range that he wanted to talk about crypto, but the rest of you were not receptive?

No, kind of lost touch with both of them over the years to be honest.

I did have a roommate from 2012-2013 who was preaching the gospel about crypto, but it fell on deaf ears. He was buying drugs online with Bitcoin and was also a doomsday prepper type. I kind of wrote him off as crazy at the time, and thought the whole buying drugs anonymously thing was bound to implode. That kid could also be a multi millionaire for all i know, except he overdosed and died not too long ago, so who knows.

[Siebrie]

My latest MPP: my local supermarket offered €10 off a €75 spend. My fridge, freezer, and pantry are full, so I would have nowhere to put any more shopping. (No, I won't fill up the bedrooms....)

[Dave1442397]

My latest MPP: my local supermarket offered €10 off a €75 spend. My fridge, freezer, and pantry are full, so I would have nowhere to put any more shopping. (No, I won't fill up the bedrooms....)

Will they give you the discount on a store gift card?

[Dicey]

My latest MPP: my local supermarket offered €10 off a €75 spend. My fridge, freezer, and pantry are full, so I would have nowhere to put any more shopping. (No, I won't fill up the bedrooms....)

Will they give you the discount on a store gift card?

Even if they did, buying far more than you need for a small savings is still £65 that didn't need to be spent. Not every deal is a mustachian deal. This is the same reason I'll never own a Target Red Card. I don't want that plastic beacon 8n my wallet, constantly reminding me to go to Target. That will cost me way more than the 5% "savings". No thanks.

[dragoncar]

You don’t need to keep it in your wallet.  You can add it to your account and cut it up if you like.  Totally worth opening the debit card when they have one of those $50 off $50 deals.  And target is often the cheapest/most convenient option compared to Amazon, especially with their amazing drive up service.  I don’t think I’ve ever bought something I didn’t want because I had a target card, but I do check target prices when I’m shopping for something. 

[Morning Glory]

You don’t need to keep it in your wallet.  You can add it to your account and cut it up if you like.  Totally worth opening the debit card when they have one of those $50 off $50 deals.  And target is often the cheapest/most convenient option compared to Amazon, especially with their amazing drive up service.  I don’t think I’ve ever bought something I didn’t want because I had a target card, but I do check target prices when I’m shopping for something.

I have a kid in pull ups and Target store brand is better than anything else we've tried.  We stock up when they have a sale, and get the extra 5% off too. Their frozen vegetables and stuff are the same price as Walmart and Aldi, so I'll get those too if I'm there. I also use their app to get percent off discounts if there's something I need.

[AerynLee]

We did it again: we made too much money, even though I reduced my hours and took a 25% paycut. Between DH's getting far more overtime than last year and both of us getting bonuses, we're ~$15k into the 22% tax bracket. So I'm going to have to recharacterize our ROTH IRA contributions into Traditional and put most of my bonus into my 401k to keep that money from being taxed at a combined 29%. Not ideal when we're trying to build up our or ROTH contributions

[Morning Glory]

@Dicey my real mpp with the target card is that mint codes it as a purchase when I pay the bill, so it looks like I spent twice as much as I actually did

[Zikoris]

My boyfriend was picking up some hold for me at the library. The librarian scowled at him and told him I have too many holds. I didn't think 33 was too many (they cut you off at 50).

[Freedomin5]

My boyfriend was picking up some hold for me at the library. The librarian scowled at him and told him I have too many holds. I didn't think 33 was too many (they cut you off at 50).

So basically your librarian is saying you read too much. LOL!

[sui generis]

My boyfriend was picking up some hold for me at the library. The librarian scowled at him and told him I have too many holds. I didn't think 33 was too many (they cut you off at 50).

So basically your librarian is saying you read too much. LOL!

Yeah, talk about bizarre - you're one of her best customers, you'd think the librarian would be excited!  If I was scowling it would have been because the boyfriend came in instead and I would have hoped to see and talk to my best customer personally and share all kinds of recommendations.

[Zikoris]

My boyfriend was picking up some hold for me at the library. The librarian scowled at him and told him I have too many holds. I didn't think 33 was too many (they cut you off at 50).

So basically your librarian is saying you read too much. LOL!

Yeah, talk about bizarre - you're one of her best customers, you'd think the librarian would be excited!  If I was scowling it would have been because the boyfriend came in instead and I would have hoped to see and talk to my best customer personally and share all kinds of recommendations.

Yeah, it's a bit of a badge of honor being told by a librarian that you read too much, lol. I'm pretty sure I'm in like the top 1% of library users for volume, excluding parents of little kids who take out 20+ picture books a week. They see me a LOT. This year I've read about 450 books so far, overwhelmingly from the library.

[RetiredAt63]

My boyfriend was picking up some hold for me at the library. The librarian scowled at him and told him I have too many holds. I didn't think 33 was too many (they cut you off at 50).

So basically your librarian is saying you read too much. LOL!

Yeah, talk about bizarre - you're one of her best customers, you'd think the librarian would be excited!  If I was scowling it would have been because the boyfriend came in instead and I would have hoped to see and talk to my best customer personally and share all kinds of recommendations.

I pop in, grab my holds, and pop out again, so they don't really know me.  Some visits I need 2 book bags.  I am definitely enjoying my library membership . Right now I have 22 items checked out and 21 on hold.   
Yeah, it's a bit of a badge of honor being told by a librarian that you read too much, lol. I'm pretty sure I'm in like the top 1% of library users for volume, excluding parents of little kids who take out 20+ picture books a week. They see me a LOT. This year I've read about 450 books so far, overwhelmingly from the library.

[Mighty Eyebrows]

They see me a LOT. This year I've read about 450 books so far, overwhelmingly from the library.

Wow. That is awesome!

I have mainly taken to using the ebook and audiobook apps from the Victoria public library. I have not gotten through that many books, though!

We live in an age of amazing free knowledge. Previous generations would be astounded at what is available to us.

[GuitarStv]

We live in an age of amazing free knowledge. Previous generations would be astounded at what is available to us.

I think they'd be more astounded by what many choose to do with that available knowledge.

[dragoncar]

We live in an age of amazing free knowledge. Previous generations would be astounded at what is available to us.

I think they'd be more astounded by what many choose to do with that available knowledge.

The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural

[Steeze]

My boyfriend was picking up some hold for me at the library. The librarian scowled at him and told him I have too many holds. I didn't think 33 was too many (they cut you off at 50).

So basically your librarian is saying you read too much. LOL!

Yeah, talk about bizarre - you're one of her best customers, you'd think the librarian would be excited!  If I was scowling it would have been because the boyfriend came in instead and I would have hoped to see and talk to my best customer personally and share all kinds of recommendations.

Yeah, it's a bit of a badge of honor being told by a librarian that you read too much, lol. I'm pretty sure I'm in like the top 1% of library users for volume, excluding parents of little kids who take out 20+ picture books a week. They see me a LOT. This year I've read about 450 books so far, overwhelmingly from the library.

Wow!! I don’t think I’ve read 450 books, in total, in my life, including picture books.

[stoaX]

My boyfriend was picking up some hold for me at the library. The librarian scowled at him and told him I have too many holds. I didn't think 33 was too many (they cut you off at 50).

So basically your librarian is saying you read too much. LOL!

Yeah, talk about bizarre - you're one of her best customers, you'd think the librarian would be excited!  If I was scowling it would have been because the boyfriend came in instead and I would have hoped to see and talk to my best customer personally and share all kinds of recommendations.

Yeah, it's a bit of a badge of honor being told by a librarian that you read too much, lol. I'm pretty sure I'm in like the top 1% of library users for volume, excluding parents of little kids who take out 20+ picture books a week. They see me a LOT. This year I've read about 450 books so far, overwhelmingly from the library.

Wow!! I don’t think I’ve read 450 books, in total, in my life, including picture books.

Wow is right. After retiring my book reading increased substantially but nowhere near 450 per year.  More like 50 per year.

[Zikoris]

Wow is right. After retiring my book reading increased substantially but nowhere near 450 per year.  More like 50 per year.

I mean, I think 50 a year is fantastic as well. Most people probably read closer to zero books a year. A book a week would probably cover any new releases by your favourite authors, plus a good chunk of exploring new stuff.

[sui generis]

Wow is right. After retiring my book reading increased substantially but nowhere near 450 per year.  More like 50 per year.

I mean, I think 50 a year is fantastic as well. Most people probably read closer to zero books a year. A book a week would probably cover any new releases by your favourite authors, plus a good chunk of exploring new stuff.

When I finished a book on Sunday, DH told me he hoped I wouldn't run out of books to read!  Not that that looks likely, though running out of *good* books to read is a slightly larger risk.  Or, what would really be an MPP - if the libraries I use were underfunded (there is a political movement I've seen whispers of related to this!) and were unable to keep my supply coming.  The fact that I read all I want for completely free is the biggest MPS (Mustachian People Solution) in the world. One of my favorite quotes about libraries: they are "one of the last places you can go that you don't have to buy or believe in anything to come in."

[bill1827]

I was a voracious reader when I was young and didn't have anything better to do, but I would never have managed that many books.

Apparently my reading speed is about 330 words per minute; a short novel is about 50,00 words so would take about 2.5 hours to read, 9 short novels a week is about 3.25 hours a day.

I no longer read that many books, but the OH does. She gets about 6 books a fortnight from the library and claims a similar number on her kindle so that would be 300 or so a year. (She does spend a lot of time reading!)

Mind you, she's just started Anna Karenina and that's slowed her down a lot.

[swaneesr]

A coworker of my is learning Spanish. He is a native English speaker his 30’s.

To practice/learn, he read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in Spanish. Last week he started Stephen Kings tome of IT. That is over 1100 pages and slowed him down a bit.

Other coworkers of mine are reading college level organic chemistry text books. Another a three book tome on the American Civil War. As you can see we are a wild bunch on the road for megacorp!


Swanee

 PS. I would be getting more reading done but you people keep distracting me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mspym]

Our MPP is none of us want or need anything for Christmas. Even the teen boys are stumped. It used to just be *us* that were impossible to buy for but now they have joined the club. (they do get index funds for birthdays etc)

[Margie]

@mspym

I always buy my teens their favourite foods...crap we normally don't have in the house like lucky charms cereal!  Hilarious I know but Santa used to bring it and they would lose their collective minds.  Now, it is just a joke but we give money and edibles.  (not the other edibles!)

If we are going on holidays we also give money in the currency of the country we are going to.  My kids used to think Santa knew everything...like he knew we were going to Europe or US or whatever.  I always made them do the conversion so they knew how much Santa brought.  Made them think twice about spending their holiday money on the first day because once it was gone it was gone.

Christmas is more fun with little ones!!  Hope you have a great holiday!

[RetiredAt63]

A coworker of my is learning Spanish. He is a native English speaker his 30’s.

To practice/learn, he read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in Spanish. Last week he started Stephen Kings tome of IT. That is over 1100 pages and slowed him down a bit.

Other coworkers of mine are reading college level organic chemistry text books. Another a three book time on the American Civil War. As you can see we are a wild bunch on the road for megacorp!


Swanee

 PS. I would be getting more reading done but you people keep distracting me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

When I was learning Latin in High School I read Ferdinandus Taurus and Alicia in Terra Mirabile.   ;-)

[Freedomin5]

Our MPP is none of us want or need anything for Christmas. Even the teen boys are stumped. It used to just be *us* that were impossible to buy for but now they have joined the club. (they do get index funds for birthdays etc)

DD had the same MPP. She wrote a letter to Santa asking him to give her present to "the orphans in the orphan homes in the Middle East" (we support an organization that works with Syrian refugees in the Middle East and had recently received an update letter from the organization).

We figure it's better (and easier) to give it away to those who truly have a need, and it brings our family more joy than receiving a gift that we only sort of want because we couldn't think of anything else to give.

[Taran Wanderer]

Other coworkers of mine are reading college level organic chemistry text books. Another a three book time on the American Civil War. As you can see we are a wild bunch on the road for megacorp!

College level O-chem sounds a bit heavy, but picked up DW’s college Geology (science for non-science majors) textbook and started reading as a joke, only to find it really interesting. After that I picked up Oceanography and Meteorology books as well…. used, of course!

[LennStar]

I was a voracious reader when I was young and didn't have anything better to do, but I would never have managed that many books.

Apparently my reading speed is about 330 words per minute; a short novel is about 50,00 words so would take about 2.5 hours to read, 9 short novels a week is about 3.25 hours a day.

I no longer read that many books, but the OH does. She gets about 6 books a fortnight from the library and claims a similar number on her kindle so that would be 300 or so a year. (She does spend a lot of time reading!)

Mind you, she's just started Anna Karenina and that's slowed her down a lot.

Haha, yes, it depends a lot on the book. If you are retired, a Light Novel size book per day is not really a problem. (~5 hours at speaking speed, of course you could fast read). If it is something like Tad Williams Great Swords series, with 800 densely printed pages per book... Even back when I was a child in school and read it the first time that took me nearly 3 weeks for the 4 books, not doing anything else besides school and reading.

[Taran Wanderer]

My MPP:  With the backdoor Roth IRA likely going away next year, we will have to put more into taxable accounts...  Oh, the horror!

[ixtap]

My MPP:  With the backdoor Roth IRA likely going away next year, we will have to put more into taxable accounts...  Oh, the horror!

With the uncertainty around what the final rules will be, DH has accepted that he should do something about his tIRA that consists of one non deductible contribution and ten years of gains. That process was a lot more complicated than folks make it seem, all we have left is to wait for the transaction to clear and reinvest the cash once it arrives. The IRA is empty, with two weeks to spare. We have decided this has been enough messing around, not going to squeeze in a backdoor Roth.

[TomTX]

Wow!! I don’t think I’ve read 450 books, in total, in my life, including picture books.

No kids? I'm dead certain I've read far more than 450 picture books for bedtime. Well, if you count duplicate readings. I don't think we have more than 100 titles, but we did borrow a lot from the library.