Author Topic: Frugal intentions... horribly executed  (Read 92974 times)

PencilThinStash

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Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« on: August 03, 2016, 03:47:42 PM »
Not sure what brought this to mind today, but it's a funny memory and I figured I'd share it with y'all:

One summer in high school, I went out of town for a few days with my parents. Don't remember the exact reason, probably a college visit or something. Younger siblings went to stay at friends' houses in the neighborhood. BrotherStash was probably in 7th grade at the time, and it was his responsibility to come home for a little bit every day and take care of the pets.

My parents and I get home a few days later, walk into the house and notice - It's absolutely freezing inside. BrotherStash comes in a few minutes later, and we immediately ask why it's so cold.

BrotherStash: "Well, whenever we leave town in the winter, you always turn the thermostat way down so that we don't have to pay for heat... I thought that since none of us were home this weekend, I'd help save you some money on the heating bill!"

Fantastic intentions, but young and dumb and just didn't think it through.

Height of summer, easily 95 degrees outside that week. Fairly large house with a lot of windows, tons of natural light that kept things pretty toasty... and he set the thermostat in the low 60s. For 3 or 4 days.

We laughed so hard, but I don't even want to imagine what it did to their electric bill that month.

Anyone else have similar stories of good intentions gone bad?

ender

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #1 on: August 03, 2016, 04:29:05 PM »
That makes me glad I just bought a wifi programmable thermostat. Which can alert me for different thresholds. :P

scrubbyfish

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #2 on: August 03, 2016, 11:23:33 PM »
Awwwww....! A hilarious and sweet story!! :)))

Papa Mustache

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #3 on: August 04, 2016, 12:30:27 PM »
The grown son (20s) who put dishwashing liquid in his mother's dishwasher.

She went out of town, he dropped by unexpectedly, decided to load the dishwasher (apparently a rarity to help around the house). Used dishwasher liquid. Left.

Bubbles. Lots of bubbles!

Don't know that anything was damaged.

Years ago: friend's wife washer their new white car with soap impregnated steel wool....

cheapass

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #4 on: August 04, 2016, 12:34:22 PM »
Purchased a sectional couch. Told the salesman I didn't want their $99 delivery bullshit; I'd rent a trailer for $20 and transport it myself.

Well, turns out I didn't tie one of the sections down well enough and it flew out on the expressway. Had to order a new piece for several hundred dollars and wait 6 weeks for it. I got it delivered. :(

Hunny156

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #5 on: August 04, 2016, 02:57:00 PM »
It was summer, and our neighbor invited us over.  Mom & I went ahead, my (older) sister was coming right behind us.  After about an hour and no sister arriving, Mom sent me back home to see what was taking her so long.  I walked in the front door and noticed a trail of water coming down our very long hallway, nearly down the stairs.  I called out to my sister, who was in a panic.  I took my socks off to walk down the wet hallway, to find her in the bathroom, with the toilet overflowing.  She was filling up buckets and dumping them down the bathtub drain, and had been doing so for a while, trying to stem the flow.  I was probably 10, and I turned off the water to the toilet.  I didn't know if i would work, but it made sense to me to try!

We called my mom back over, and we all spent the rest of the afternoon mopping everything up, getting things off the floors in the closets that had flooded, etc.  Not one of us thought about what might have happened below us, in our tenant's apartment.  I felt horrible for her when she came home from work, surveyed the damage, and then rang our bell.  Doh!  I can only imagine what it cost my parents to fix that water damage, but I will always remember my sister furiously filling and dumping buckets of water, hoping that the flow of water would eventually stop.  Root cause analysis was never her thing...

TheGrimSqueaker

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #6 on: August 04, 2016, 03:13:01 PM »
The grown son (20s) who put dishwashing liquid in his mother's dishwasher.

She went out of town, he dropped by unexpectedly, decided to load the dishwasher (apparently a rarity to help around the house). Used dishwasher liquid. Left.

Bubbles. Lots of bubbles!

Don't know that anything was damaged.

My father achieved the same effect while we were visiting his parents one summer. I think he would have been about 46. He was trying to show off how well he could do household chores, and I think his goal was to impress his dad who had taken over a lot of the cleaning and cooking after Grandma's stroke. Suds were pretty much exploding everywhere as if the dishwasher had rabies. There was some cleanup afterwards for the floor and also the inside of the dishwasher.

Jack

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #7 on: August 04, 2016, 06:06:40 PM »
Obligatory XKCD:


Papa Mustache

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #8 on: August 05, 2016, 08:00:44 AM »
The grown son (20s) who put dishwashing liquid in his mother's dishwasher.

She went out of town, he dropped by unexpectedly, decided to load the dishwasher (apparently a rarity to help around the house). Used dishwasher liquid. Left.

Bubbles. Lots of bubbles!

Don't know that anything was damaged.

My father achieved the same effect while we were visiting his parents one summer. I think he would have been about 46. He was trying to show off how well he could do household chores, and I think his goal was to impress his dad who had taken over a lot of the cleaning and cooking after Grandma's stroke. Suds were pretty much exploding everywhere as if the dishwasher had rabies. There was some cleanup afterwards for the floor and also the inside of the dishwasher.

These are good skills to teach your kids along the way. ;) Home economics, personal finance, some basic home maintenance, and basic vehicle maintenance. I was sent into the world with only a couple of these topics well covered.  The school of hard knocks provided the rest. Expensive tuition at that school... ;) It isn't cheap to be ignorant.

misshathaway

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #9 on: August 05, 2016, 09:31:32 AM »
Went to bargain movie day when the tickets are $6. Parked in the municipal lot. You buy the ticket and put it in the windshield. 2 hours for $1 and 50 cents for each additional half hour. I arrived less than 15 mins early and I thought the movie would be less than 2 hours running. Bought a $1 ticket because I did not want to waste 50 cents.

Got to the car 10 mins after the 2 hours, cuz previews. $25 dollar parking ticket.

Mississippi Mudstache

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #10 on: August 05, 2016, 09:36:56 AM »
Obligatory XKCD:



Best comic strip since Gary Larson and Bill Watterson put down the pencil.

Miss Piggy

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #11 on: August 05, 2016, 09:48:35 AM »
The school of hard knocks provided the rest. Expensive tuition at that school... ;) It isn't cheap to be ignorant.

And the loans aren't cheap, either!

Inaya

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #12 on: August 05, 2016, 10:26:34 AM »
Pinterest has so many lovely DIY wedding ideas. Favors, flowers, cakes, and whathaveyou.

"I know! I'll DIY some stuff and save money!"
*buys lots of supplies*
"Wow, I suck at DIY."
"Like I really suck at DIY."
"Screw this I'll buy it off Etsy."

So instead of buying it in the first place. I spent money on supplies, wasted time in my attempt to DIY, then ended up buying it anyway.

Turns out I'm more the Assemble-It-Yourself type than actual DIY.

clarkfan1979

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #13 on: August 07, 2016, 09:47:01 PM »
One of my friends bragged about not taking out any student loans to finish undergrad. I asked him how he made it work. He told me that he maxed out a couple credit cards.

johnny847

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #14 on: August 07, 2016, 10:40:05 PM »
One of my friends bragged about not taking out any student loans to finish undergrad. I asked him how he made it work. He told me that he maxed out a couple credit cards.

I mean this could still be smart if they were on 0% APR cards and he either paid them off by the end of the promo rate or he did a balance transfer to another 0% card.
But this is highly unlikely.

kite

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #15 on: August 08, 2016, 01:14:08 AM »
One of my friends bragged about not taking out any student loans to finish undergrad. I asked him how he made it work. He told me that he maxed out a couple credit cards.

I mean this could still be smart if they were on 0% APR cards and he either paid them off by the end of the promo rate or he did a balance transfer to another 0% card.
But this is highly unlikely.
Fully dischargeable in bankruptcy.. 

ender

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #16 on: August 08, 2016, 07:22:38 AM »
One of my friends bragged about not taking out any student loans to finish undergrad. I asked him how he made it work. He told me that he maxed out a couple credit cards.

I mean this could still be smart if they were on 0% APR cards and he either paid them off by the end of the promo rate or he did a balance transfer to another 0% card.
But this is highly unlikely.
Fully dischargeable in bankruptcy..

Step 1: attend expensive college on credit cards
Step 2: graduate
Step 3: start working fulltime
Step 4: file bankruptcy

No Name Guy

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #17 on: August 08, 2016, 07:26:29 AM »
Step 5:  Have cc company object and force you into Chapter 13, a structured repayment plan, in lieu of the implied Chapter 7 liquidation.  Pay a sh@@ ton of attorney fees and court costs as well as the debt while your life is run for you.

Dezrah

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #18 on: August 08, 2016, 08:03:16 AM »
When I was a pre-teen, we had a toilet where about 25% of the time the flap in the tank would get stuck in the up position and would just cycle water until you opened the tank and tapped it down.  Wasn't a big deal.

But then we left for summer vacation for nearly two weeks.  We get back and I go to the bathroom where the tank is cycling water.  I knew I was the last one to leave the house after a last minute restroom stop.  I just quietly closed the flap and didn't say anything.

A few weeks later I heard my mom on the phone with the water company arguing that we had a very consistent water history so there was clearly a mistake in our bill and it should be corrected.  I don't know whether she convinced them or not since I just passed through nonchalantly whistling.

I only just recently confessed to her now that the 20 year statute of limitations has passed.

johnny847

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #19 on: August 08, 2016, 08:18:40 AM »
One of my friends bragged about not taking out any student loans to finish undergrad. I asked him how he made it work. He told me that he maxed out a couple credit cards.

I mean this could still be smart if they were on 0% APR cards and he either paid them off by the end of the promo rate or he did a balance transfer to another 0% card.
But this is highly unlikely.
Fully dischargeable in bankruptcy..

Step 1: attend expensive college on credit cards
Step 2: graduate
Step 3: start working fulltime
Step 4: file bankruptcy

True, student loans are not dischargeable in bankruptcy. Dunno if it's worth ruining your credit for the next ten years in lieu of paying your credit cards that funded tuition though...

Miss Piggy

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #20 on: August 08, 2016, 08:27:03 AM »
When I was a pre-teen, we had a toilet where about 25% of the time the flap in the tank would get stuck in the up position and would just cycle water until you opened the tank and tapped it down.  Wasn't a big deal.

But then we left for summer vacation for nearly two weeks.  We get back and I go to the bathroom where the tank is cycling water.  I knew I was the last one to leave the house after a last minute restroom stop.  I just quietly closed the flap and didn't say anything.

A few weeks later I heard my mom on the phone with the water company arguing that we had a very consistent water history so there was clearly a mistake in our bill and it should be corrected.  I don't know whether she convinced them or not since I just passed through nonchalantly whistling.

I only just recently confessed to her now that the 20 year statute of limitations has passed.

That's a great story.

How did the confession go?

Papa Mustache

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #21 on: August 08, 2016, 08:32:58 AM »
She grounded him... At age thirty something... ;)

Dezrah

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #22 on: August 08, 2016, 09:43:45 AM »
When I was a pre-teen, we had a toilet where about 25% of the time the flap in the tank would get stuck in the up position and would just cycle water until you opened the tank and tapped it down.  Wasn't a big deal.

But then we left for summer vacation for nearly two weeks.  We get back and I go to the bathroom where the tank is cycling water.  I knew I was the last one to leave the house after a last minute restroom stop.  I just quietly closed the flap and didn't say anything.

A few weeks later I heard my mom on the phone with the water company arguing that we had a very consistent water history so there was clearly a mistake in our bill and it should be corrected.  I don't know whether she convinced them or not since I just passed through nonchalantly whistling.

I only just recently confessed to her now that the 20 year statute of limitations has passed.

That's a great story.

How did the confession go?

She didn't even remember the incident.

I’m the oldest of four.  This was part of a conversation where we a few of us were copping to a whole mess of things we did as kids that our parents didn’t know.

My brother and his friends didn’t bother to inform their naïve Mormon friend that hard lemonade wasn’t just a delicious fruit drink until he was already tipsy.  My sister called me out for using the “free rides” game where I would lift them on my legs (but only if they could get there fast enough) as a way to tease all of them (she was right, kids are awful).  We knew our youngest brother was being exposed to rude language all the time when he played online games, so we told him omfg = “out of my flower garden”, wtf = “water the flowers”, lmao = “laughing my arm off” so he wouldn’t just get banned from playing.

I think after hearing all of it she was happy just to return to a state of blissful ignorance.

Papa Mustache

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #23 on: August 08, 2016, 12:28:47 PM »
I read something once that suggested that these confessionals had the potential to cause just as much stress many years later as the original episode would have - had the parent known their child liked to run/jump over alleys from roof to roof or fight tigers or jump the Grand Canyon on their mopeds.

I'd like to think DW and I are more clever than our children but who knows?

frugalnacho

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #24 on: August 09, 2016, 09:49:25 PM »
I read something once that suggested that these confessionals had the potential to cause just as much stress many years later as the original episode would have - had the parent known their child liked to run/jump over alleys from roof to roof or fight tigers or jump the Grand Canyon on their mopeds.

I'd like to think DW and I are more clever than our children but who knows?

Sounds like they got you right where they want you.

Papa Mustache

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #25 on: August 10, 2016, 08:40:20 AM »
The hard part is catching them in a lie and trying not to laugh at them coaching each other with whispers back and forth so their stories match. Rarely happens but it is worth a good belly laugh later.

BTDretire

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #26 on: August 10, 2016, 03:33:25 PM »
It was summer, and our neighbor invited us over.  Mom & I went ahead, my (older) sister was coming right behind us.  After about an hour and no sister arriving, Mom sent me back home to see what was taking her so long.  I walked in the front door and noticed a trail of water coming down our very long hallway, nearly down the stairs.  I called out to my sister, who was in a panic.  I took my socks off to walk down the wet hallway, to find her in the bathroom, with the toilet overflowing.  She was filling up buckets and dumping them down the bathtub drain, and had been doing so for a while, trying to stem the flow.  I was probably 10, and I turned off the water to the toilet.  I didn't know if i would work, but it made sense to me to try!


 Reminds me of when I was in 5th grade art class, someone broke the drinking fountain of the sink.
Water was flowing out. I quickly opened the cabinet and turned the shut off knob, the wrong way, now water
is hitting the ceiling and everyone is running, including me.
Teacher got the janitor to turn it off.
 I don't recall any ramifications for the person that broke it or me!

TexasRunner

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #27 on: August 18, 2016, 12:36:13 PM »
Opened a savings account to hold moderate balances (2000$ish) while being fluidly able to transfer between the account and checking account.  Made under 10$ in interest, and over 20$ in misc. transfer fees. 

Lesson learned.  Free checking account holds all my fluid money now...

Anon in Alaska

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #28 on: August 18, 2016, 03:39:53 PM »
1991 - changed the oil on my car myself, to save $20. Stripped bolts on oil pan, they came loose, all the oil came out, and I destroyed the car's engine driving with no oil. New engine and associated repairs -$2,300!

Jack

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #29 on: August 18, 2016, 04:59:31 PM »
1991 - changed the oil on my car myself, to save $20. Stripped bolts on oil pan, they came loose, all the oil came out, and I destroyed the car's engine driving with no oil. New engine and associated repairs -$2,300!

$2300 in 1991 dollars -- ouch!

I hope the lesson learned was "don't strip the bolts" and not "don't change your own oil."

SunshineAZ

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #30 on: August 18, 2016, 11:09:30 PM »
I have a really good one happening right now.  We are in the process of updating our counter tops and back splash.  They installed the new countertops on a Friday, but the plumber wasn't available to reconnect the plumbing until Monday.   

DH decides to try to hook it up himself, because we had already been without water in the kitchen for a week, and to save the plumbing costs.  (He is fairly handy so not a terrible idea.)  However, it turns out they cut the holes for the faucet and soap dispenser too close to the wall and the wood piece at the back of the cabinet will have to be chiseled out for them to fit.  In the process of trying to force things to fit, he somehow catches the edge of the cabinet between two ribs, twists wrong and injures them.  After 3 days of pain, he finally has me take him to the emergency room ($150.00), where they take x-rays and say they are just bruised and prescribe pain meds and rest for a few days.

The next day he coughs while walking down the hall, hears and feels a loud pop in his back and goes to the floor screaming in pain, so back to the emergency room (another $150.00) where they take more x-rays and say, oh yeah, your ribs are broken, take more pain pills and rest.  He is taking the pain pills for several days and starts complaining that his stomach is not feeling well (it is making lots of noise and hurting a lot) so I suggest that he go see his regular doctor since they told him he should do a follow up at the emergency room. 

Fortunately, his regular doctor was able to see him the next day.  He goes to the appointment, the doctor probes around and tells him to immediately go get a CT scan at the hospital.  He goes for the CT scan, which takes forever because the machine breaks, they finally fix it, finish the scan and he is told they will call him later with the results.  Since now it is late afternoon, he stops to pick up some dinner and is headed home when the hospital calls and tells him to come back immediately for surgery to remove his appendix.  Since he is almost home, he calls me to tell me to be ready to drive him back to the hospital. 

We go back to the hospital where they put him on IV antibiotics and schedule him for surgery the next day.  So yesterday he had his appendix removed, which fortunately, they were able to do laparoscopically.  So now I have a grumpy DH who just had surgery, has 2 broken ribs, and on top of everything else,  is having a somewhat rare side effect from the anesthesia where all of his muscles are extremely sore and cramping....aaaaaaand we still had to pay the plumber! 

drops mic....

scrubbyfish

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #31 on: August 19, 2016, 12:00:35 AM »
Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzz, SunshineAZ! What an awful situation! Your poor, poor H! Ack.

Sure hope he recovers shortly and feels back to normal ASAP. Man, oh, man...

SunshineAZ

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #32 on: August 19, 2016, 12:17:37 AM »
Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzz, SunshineAZ! What an awful situation! Your poor, poor H! Ack.

Sure hope he recovers shortly and feels back to normal ASAP. Man, oh, man...

Uhhh yeah, he is not a happy camper.  I feel bad because he is in a lot of pain, fortunately I am working mostly from home right now, so I am here to help him up and get things for him.  The bad thing is we have a diving vacation scheduled for the end of September, so he really needs to rest up and heal so he will be able to dive. 

On the plus side, I do get to say "I told you so" because I told him to just leave it for the plumber when he discovered the stuff wouldn't fit.  :P 

mbk

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #33 on: September 05, 2016, 11:05:54 AM »
One of my friends bragged about not taking out any student loans to finish undergrad. I asked him how he made it work. He told me that he maxed out a couple credit cards.

I mean this could still be smart if they were on 0% APR cards and he either paid them off by the end of the promo rate or he did a balance transfer to another 0% card.
But this is highly unlikely.

I did that. One card had 3% APR for the lifetime of balance. I stupidly paid it off within 2 years of graduation.

ChipmunkSavings

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #34 on: October 05, 2016, 06:23:55 AM »
Just did one of these. I've just come back from a 2-week trip. Wanting to conserve energy while we were gone, I decided to unplug all unnecessary appliances and lights.

Now my basement smells like death, and I could not figure out why. We had shut the water as well, so figured perhaps there was stagnant water. After searching pretty much every cause (short of calling a plumber), we finally realized that the basement freezer was unplugged... Apparently, it was plugged into a radio (go figure...) and I unplugged the radio, not knowing the freezer was plugged into it.

We wasted about 200$ Worth of food, 3 huge garbage bags that stink to high heavens (and will have to wait 1.5 weeks before being picked up) and our house smells terrible. Cleanup was also not fun, to say the least. The mixture of melted meats, fruits and vegetables that have been rotting for 2 weeks in a closed container...Gross.

Needless to say, next time I'm not unplugging anything near that *$%) freezer....

Papa Mustache

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #35 on: October 05, 2016, 09:23:08 AM »
You don't have access to a dump or transfer station? I couldn't get that garbage out of my house fast enough even if I had to drive across the county to landfill.

ChipmunkSavings

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #36 on: October 05, 2016, 10:46:43 AM »
We have outside garbage bins, which are emptied by the city every two weeks. The garbage bags are in those bins, which we also hid Inside our shed (to avoid pissing off the Neighbors with the smell). The smell Inside the house is residual, considering that the freezer is now open to air it out.

We left the Windows open all night and woke up to rooms at around 15-17 C temperature. Cleared 80% of the smell, and it should fade away today. We're just hoping that the next few days will be cold enough to avoid worsening the smell.

TheEngineer

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #37 on: October 05, 2016, 11:47:11 AM »
Use baking soda to remove the stench from the freezer. If its just residual smell, place a bowl with half a cup of dry baking soda in the freezer overnight, and close the lid. If its bad, wipe down the freezer with cloth using baking soda dissolved in warm water. Do the bowl thing overnight when its dry.
Hope this helps…

Miss Piggy

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #38 on: October 05, 2016, 12:35:08 PM »
Um....I really hope those meat trash bags are tightly closed.

Several years ago, by BIL helped clean up after a barbecue. He put uneaten meat in our trash can, pretty much out in the open in our garage. (Who does this???) Within days, the stench was horrible, and I opened the trash can to see a nasty-ass collection of flies and maggots. Just about made me vomit.

More recently (like, I'm still in pain over losing half a cow...I'm so sorry, Bessie), an electrician unplugged our freezer, and we didn't notice for at least a week (oddly, there wasn't much of a smell at all). Given that earlier experience, we plugged the freezer back in and put the bagged meat back into it so it could re-freeze until trash day.  Then we deep-cleaned our deep-freeze. Ugh.

forumname123

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #39 on: October 05, 2016, 12:39:13 PM »

He put uneaten meat in our trash can, pretty much out in the open in our garage. (Who does this???)

I don't get it - what should he have done instead?

Miss Piggy

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #40 on: October 05, 2016, 12:46:10 PM »

He put uneaten meat in our trash can, pretty much out in the open in our garage. (Who does this???)

I don't get it - what should he have done instead?

At the very least, put it in a plastic bag. Ideally in something that closes (like a Ziploc).

robtown

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #41 on: October 05, 2016, 01:00:14 PM »
Several years ago my daughter attended a big state school.    I set her up with a high end HP Officejet all-in-one printer with a bulk ink system.
She knocked over the ink supply onto the carpet.   The school charged us $2,000 to replace the carpet in a 10 x 15  (approx) room that used carpet squares!  I suspect they bought a few extra.   It was this, or my daughter not getting credit for the semester.

Papa Mustache

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #42 on: October 05, 2016, 01:21:47 PM »
I might have been motivated to buy my own carpet squares and replace them in secret! Would have required a bit of sleuthing I think. Maybe a trip to facilities and asking to see the brand name on the carpet square box. Oh we would love to put that color/pattern in our basement!

robtown

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #43 on: October 05, 2016, 01:33:55 PM »
I might have been motivated to buy my own carpet squares and replace them in secret! Would have required a bit of sleuthing I think. Maybe a trip to facilities and asking to see the brand name on the carpet square box. Oh we would love to put that color/pattern in our basement!

I'm not sure why I did not fight it but a lot of shit was going on at the time.    In addition, my wife had been in communication with the school,  and her karma is to have a ton of pain dropped on her for any request.   That is absolutely any request,  valid, constitutional, time-of-day, anything.   

I, on the other hand,  can ask and receive refunds from Costco three years after buying an appliance,    get slightly overdue payment penalties reversed,   etc.     Not to worry,   I have my own version of kryptonite that balances out that super power.    Oh,  any negotiation started by my wife negates my powers.

Papa Mustache

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #44 on: October 05, 2016, 01:35:51 PM »
I have never seen it defined so well - but yeah, it seems to work out that way for some folks.

scrubbyfish

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #45 on: October 05, 2016, 10:13:21 PM »
Oh no, ChipmunkSavings!!! Ugh...    Feeling for you :(

robtown, the ink story was so painful, too!! At least that one's all over...

Cathy

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #46 on: October 05, 2016, 11:59:32 PM »
Step 1: attend expensive college on credit cards
Step 2: graduate
Step 3: start working fulltime
Step 4: file bankruptcy

True, student loans are not dischargeable in bankruptcy. ...

As I've noted in various past posts, this is not true. The correct statement is that "student loan debt [is] presumptively nondischargeable" in bankruptcy. United Student Aid Funds v. Espinosa, 559 US 260, 277 n 13 (2010) (emphasis mine).

The presumption of nondischargeability applies, as relevant here, to "any ... educational loan that is a qualified education loan, as defined in section 221(d)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, incurred by a debtor who is an individual". 11 USC § 523(a)(8)(B).

The term "qualified education loan" means, in relevant part, "any indebtedness incurred by the taxpayer solely to pay qualified higher education expenses ... which are incurred on behalf of the taxpayer ... which are paid or incurred within a reasonable period of time before or after the indebtedness is incurred, and ... which are attributable to education furnished during a period during which the recipient was an eligible student", subject to certain exceptions. 26 USC § 221(d)(1)(C).

Credit card debt incurred to attend school would appear to potentially fall within this definition, if all of the technical conditions are satisfied.

Also, incurring debt without any intention of repaying the money (or otherwise meeting the terms of the loan contract) may constitute fraud, theft by false pretenses, or similar offenses under various laws. For example, in California, a person is "punishable in the same manner and to the same extent as for larceny" if he or she "knowingly and designedly, by any false or fraudulent representation or pretense, defrauds any other person of money". CA Penal Code § 532(a). The term "false ... pretense" includes a false promise made "with fraudulent intent not to perform such promise[]". People v. Ashley, 42 Cal 2d 246 (1954).
« Last Edit: October 06, 2016, 12:09:03 AM by Cathy »

zephyr911

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #47 on: October 06, 2016, 08:48:58 AM »
I've had so many of these in the last few years that DW introduced me to one of her favorite Spanish phrases, "lo barato sale caro" (that which is cheap comes out expensive) to try to convince me to stop trying to save money through creative solutions. My firm conviction that the average result is cheaper, despite occasional disasters, keeps me trying, but she sometimes takes matters into her own hands (with her own money) when fear gets the best of her. Win some, lose some.

Example: downsized 2yrs ago, installed spare programmable thermostat in place of previous dumb unit. Worked fine all winter, then AC wouldn't come on because I had a wire or two in the wrong position. Cost about $350 for a pro to fix it (ripoff, but oh well).

Example: hired shady solo operator to do some work for both myself and my rental partnership. The company actually got a real bargain on some quality work. I got some good help for cheap too, but he managed to get me about $1000 ahead on payments vs. work actually performed, with almost $1000 worth of my tools in his hands, then vanished.

nora

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #48 on: October 06, 2016, 09:57:35 AM »
To save delivery fee for a dishwasher, I managed to get it put it in the back seat of the car (by shop staff) and drive it home. I then had to convince my partner to help me get it inside which involved walking around the side of the house to a big door at the front. On the way, the bottom of the box slipped out of my hands and the box landed on a rock in the garden. We picked it up and struggled with it inside. It had a big dent in the front panel but luckily it still worked!

MgoSam

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Re: Frugal intentions... horribly executed
« Reply #49 on: October 06, 2016, 10:13:56 AM »
To save delivery fee for a dishwasher, I managed to get it put it in the back seat of the car (by shop staff) and drive it home. I then had to convince my partner to help me get it inside which involved walking around the side of the house to a big door at the front. On the way, the bottom of the box slipped out of my hands and the box landed on a rock in the garden. We picked it up and struggled with it inside. It had a big dent in the front panel but luckily it still worked!

The horror! You must get a brand new one, how can you stand to have a dishwasher with a dent in it?

/s