Author Topic: Overheard at Work  (Read 13252619 times)

Gin1984

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15950 on: December 08, 2016, 01:54:42 PM »
he's building one kid adult child a $5K desktop computer
What in the what?  I'm going pretty balls-to-the-walls with putting together a new desktop PC (that she actually needs for her work) for my GF after Kaby Lake and Z270 drop in January, and it'll wind up being like $2500 at the absolutely most...

It's a gaming computer so it needs to be super-duper.  He did the same thing 2-3 years ago - time for an upgrade!

Isn't the benefit of building a desktop computer that you can easily upgrade the parts in it, rather than needing to start from scratch?

Yes, BUT...

When you start to get into the 3-4 year age range with any high end computer, the parts supply can get a bit funky. I have a 2011 socket type motherboard with an i7 in it, the motherboard can take an "extreme" processor (6 cores instead of 4, larger caches), but those chips are still 700-1000$ even after all this time. Once you get into the super high end, you'll pay, oooh you'll pay.

If you want the newest hardware to work flawlessly at the highest possible speeds out of some of the newer graphics cards and memory, you generally end up having to upgrade the motherboard, which means upgrades to the CPU, RAM, and most likely the hard drive.

I'm looking at getting a 144hz Gsync monitor at some point, but to utilize the low response time I'll need to upgrade the GPU, so the whole thing will cost 2X what I want for just the monitor upgrade. I've delayed that purchase, perhaps indefinitely. I can totally see how its possible to go over-board spending 2k on monitor + graphics card, another 1k on a CPU, 1k on motherboard/case/memory/HD, and 1k for some company to put it together and ship it to you.
Which is why my husband buys old games on steam (he had very little time to play during grad school).  The games and the gaming requirements are much cheaper 4 years old than new.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15951 on: December 08, 2016, 02:04:46 PM »
Which is why my husband buys old games on steam (he had very little time to play during grad school).  The games and the gaming requirements are much cheaper 4 years old than new.

This is the way to do it.  I do the same thing with gaming consoles, staying one generation back.  Today's hot new game will be the same game 4 years from now, but 20% the cost.  Only reason to pay today is impatience.  Online multi-player stuff does make this a bit harder though.

MgoSam

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15952 on: December 08, 2016, 02:39:53 PM »
Which is why my husband buys old games on steam (he had very little time to play during grad school).  The games and the gaming requirements are much cheaper 4 years old than new.

This is the way to do it.  I do the same thing with gaming consoles, staying one generation back.  Today's hot new game will be the same game 4 years from now, but 20% the cost.  Only reason to pay today is impatience.  Online multi-player stuff does make this a bit harder though.

I love Stream and GOG, through them I've been able to play the new(ish) editions of Monkey Island and Tex Murphy, which were two computer game franchises I loved as a kid. I'm looking to get Grim Fandango next.

Gin1984

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15953 on: December 08, 2016, 02:40:34 PM »
Which is why my husband buys old games on steam (he had very little time to play during grad school).  The games and the gaming requirements are much cheaper 4 years old than new.

This is the way to do it.  I do the same thing with gaming consoles, staying one generation back.  Today's hot new game will be the same game 4 years from now, but 20% the cost.  Only reason to pay today is impatience.  Online multi-player stuff does make this a bit harder though.
He got over his WOW addict in college and the first year of grad school.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15954 on: December 08, 2016, 03:06:41 PM »
I have never understood the draw of spending so much $$ on gaming computers. My lil bro got a very generous gift of $10k from a family member once and spent ~ a quarter of it on a new (gaming) computer...while in school and in debt...and lest you think he saved the rest - think again! :(

Which is why my husband buys old games on steam (he had very little time to play during grad school).  The games and the gaming requirements are much cheaper 4 years old than new.

This is the way to do it.  I do the same thing with gaming consoles, staying one generation back.  Today's hot new game will be the same game 4 years from now, but 20% the cost.  Only reason to pay today is impatience.  Online multi-player stuff does make this a bit harder though.

For frugal online multi-player stuff, I've heard good things about Warframe. Yet to try it out personally, though.

I love Stream and GOG, through them I've been able to play the new(ish) editions of Monkey Island and Tex Murphy, which were two computer game franchises I loved as a kid. I'm looking to get Grim Fandango next.
<3 Monkey Island so much, and recently(ish) got Grim Fandango <3

The obvious next step is to get Tex Murphy, apparently!

SisterX

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15955 on: December 08, 2016, 03:15:42 PM »
...and people don't always stop when and where they should!

Ain't that the truth.

MgoSam

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15956 on: December 08, 2016, 03:30:54 PM »

I love Stream and GOG, through them I've been able to play the new(ish) editions of Monkey Island and Tex Murphy, which were two computer game franchises I loved as a kid. I'm looking to get Grim Fandango next.
<3 Monkey Island so much, and recently(ish) got Grim Fandango <3

The obvious next step is to get Tex Murphy, apparently!

YOU FIGHT LIKE A DAIRY FARMER!

Couldn't resist :-). I highly recommend Tex Murphy, it's an adventure game like Monkey Island but it's live-action instead of animated. I recommend starting with Under a Killing Moon.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15957 on: December 08, 2016, 04:26:08 PM »
I just dropped thirty large on my  husband for new bike lights that go on your spokes.  We bike in the dark 2x a week.  (That's obv 30 bucks)

When I was a child we had lights powered by our spokes on all bicycles.
I once read that a police officer tried to give a fine to a cyclist for not having his light on. The cyclist was standing still at a red traffic light. The cyclist had to explain the "old fashioned" lighting system. The police officer was obviously very young.

I think what you mean is using a dynamo to power normal back and front lights, whereas I think mm1970 meant something like this: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/7w8vI_Z3QDE/maxresdefault.jpg I had dynamo lights on my old bike and I ended up buying a second battery-powered set because having the lights go out at traffic lights felt very unsafe. Just because I'm stationary doesn't mean I'm magically more visible to cars, and people don't always stop when and where they should!

I just hope that all of you bikers are supplementing the bike lights with reflective vests.  The bike lights are nice, but there are too many bikers in this area whose tiny bike reflectors or lights look like the same reflectors we have on mailboxes.  They also decide to wear all dark clothing.  It's scary to come up to a "mailbox" and, after passing, realize "That was a person!!!"

Hoglet121

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15958 on: December 08, 2016, 07:06:33 PM »
Everyone in my work place has always appeared relatively mustachian, in that we all bring lunch from home, several people use public transport (I'm the only one that bikes to work) until a new guy started recently. He goes out for lunch everyday, usually to some real grotty places, buys coffees, muffins.... We were discussing the lunches we'd brought in and I said I'd got leftover curry (yum). New guy pipes up, "Why would you bring in curry when you can buy one around here?"

gimp

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15959 on: December 08, 2016, 07:54:53 PM »
Yes, BUT...

When you start to get into the 3-4 year age range with any high end computer, the parts supply can get a bit funky. I have a 2011 socket type motherboard with an i7 in it, the motherboard can take an "extreme" processor (6 cores instead of 4, larger caches), but those chips are still 700-1000$ even after all this time. Once you get into the super high end, you'll pay, oooh you'll pay.

If you want the newest hardware to work flawlessly at the highest possible speeds out of some of the newer graphics cards and memory, you generally end up having to upgrade the motherboard, which means upgrades to the CPU, RAM, and most likely the hard drive.

I'm looking at getting a 144hz Gsync monitor at some point, but to utilize the low response time I'll need to upgrade the GPU, so the whole thing will cost 2X what I want for just the monitor upgrade. I've delayed that purchase, perhaps indefinitely. I can totally see how its possible to go over-board spending 2k on monitor + graphics card, another 1k on a CPU, 1k on motherboard/case/memory/HD, and 1k for some company to put it together and ship it to you.

While you are generally correct, the only parts I'd expect to potentially fail, or start to fail, after 3-4 years, are the power supply and the cooling.

Power supply - buy better power supplies... capacitors do age out, but 3-4 years is short. Definitely not unheard of, especially on budget supplies. Actually, relevant to cooling - power supplies should have their own fan, and if it starts to fail, the rest of the supply may die quickly.

In any ever, a decent PSU is somewhere between $100 to $300 depending on your needs. ~$300 buys a 1000+ watt 90% efficient monster with top notch ratings and an expected lifetime of over five years.

Water cooling systems should probably be replaced once in a while just in case, or at least inspected. Spinning fans often have bearings that shit the bed - after just two and a half years, one of my 140mm fans started to grind, and I couldn't find a proper replacement, so I went for a $40 upgrade for two new fans (and kept the old working one as a spare.)

Nothing else should fail on that timeline...

Unless you really enjoy overclocking processors, in which case, computers are just a hobby you sink money into regularly, and processors become consumables. If that's so, then, meh.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15960 on: December 09, 2016, 03:38:28 AM »
Everyone in my work place has always appeared relatively mustachian, in that we all bring lunch from home, several people use public transport (I'm the only one that bikes to work) until a new guy started recently. He goes out for lunch everyday, usually to some real grotty places, buys coffees, muffins.... We were discussing the lunches we'd brought in and I said I'd got leftover curry (yum). New guy pipes up, "Why would you bring in curry when you can buy one around here?"

We don't you for fun calculate how much this bought curry would cost and multiple it with your number of working days a year. Then you say: to save ... dollars a year and because I know it tastes good.

I wonder whether the new guy will change his behaviour over time, with all his colleagues giving a good example. Or whether your colleagues rather will follow him in buying food.
« Last Edit: December 09, 2016, 03:40:08 AM by Linda_Norway »

The Guru

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15961 on: December 09, 2016, 05:25:04 AM »
Everyone in my work place has always appeared relatively mustachian, in that we all bring lunch from home, several people use public transport (I'm the only one that bikes to work) until a new guy started recently. He goes out for lunch everyday, usually to some real grotty places, buys coffees, muffins.... We were discussing the lunches we'd brought in and I said I'd got leftover curry (yum). New guy pipes up, "Why would you bring in curry when you can buy one around here?"

I'm envisioning everyone else staring at him like he's got two heads, all background noise ceasing except the sound of crickets chirping....;-)

theadvicist

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15962 on: December 09, 2016, 08:17:33 AM »
Yeah, because the corollary is "Why would you buy curry when you have some at home?"!

MgoSam

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15963 on: December 09, 2016, 08:21:32 AM »
Everyone in my work place has always appeared relatively mustachian, in that we all bring lunch from home, several people use public transport (I'm the only one that bikes to work) until a new guy started recently. He goes out for lunch everyday, usually to some real grotty places, buys coffees, muffins.... We were discussing the lunches we'd brought in and I said I'd got leftover curry (yum). New guy pipes up, "Why would you bring in curry when you can buy one around here?"

We don't you for fun calculate how much this bought curry would cost and multiple it with your number of working days a year. Then you say: to save ... dollars a year and because I know it tastes good.

I wonder whether the new guy will change his behaviour over time, with all his colleagues giving a good example. Or whether your colleagues rather will follow him in buying food.

It wasn't until I opened Excel and started calculating how much money I would have if I invested regularly that I came on board MMM. It was great seeing how little differences can make a big difference and how even a tiny amount early in my career can help. I only wish I had opened my ROTH IRA sooner.

I would recommend talking to the new employee, might be able to open his eyes. I know when I first started working I would eat out daily, partially because having my own money was such a new feeling for me and as I was working full-time and living with my parents, my overall expenses were insanely low. Once I became a MMM I started bringing my lunches from home and saving my money.

UnleashHell

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15964 on: December 09, 2016, 09:46:16 AM »
i just got a new desktop - for the kid hitting high school. $500 for a machine that will do for 4 years is fine by me.

the one it replaced was 7 years old so i have a benchmark!

Thinking about replacing my laptop but its only 5 years old...

mtn

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15965 on: December 09, 2016, 10:07:06 AM »
i just got a new desktop - for the kid hitting high school. $500 for a machine that will do for 4 years is fine by me.

the one it replaced was 7 years old so i have a benchmark!

Thinking about replacing my laptop but its only 5 years old...

If your laptops harddrive isn't solid state, it is probably past its life expectancy.

I like replacing my computers every 3-4 years with whatever the latest deal is. Since I got a smartphone though, I've found that to be less and less of a necessity.

bebegirl

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15966 on: December 09, 2016, 11:24:10 AM »
Returning back from work yesterday I used rapid ride bus instead of my regular express bus. The forecast for Seattle was snow. The bus was PACKED with people. It was a pleasure to see that so many people are using public transport. Recently people in Seattle voted to extend Light Rail and ready to pay for it.

Just an observation on how pleasant that so many clown cars are left at home!

mm1970

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15967 on: December 09, 2016, 11:33:31 AM »
I just dropped thirty large on my  husband for new bike lights that go on your spokes.  We bike in the dark 2x a week.  (That's obv 30 bucks)

When I was a child we had lights powered by our spokes on all bicycles.
I once read that a police officer tried to give a fine to a cyclist for not having his light on. The cyclist was standing still at a red traffic light. The cyclist had to explain the "old fashioned" lighting system. The police officer was obviously very young.

I think what you mean is using a dynamo to power normal back and front lights, whereas I think mm1970 meant something like this: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/7w8vI_Z3QDE/maxresdefault.jpg I had dynamo lights on my old bike and I ended up buying a second battery-powered set because having the lights go out at traffic lights felt very unsafe. Just because I'm stationary doesn't mean I'm magically more visible to cars, and people don't always stop when and where they should!

I just hope that all of you bikers are supplementing the bike lights with reflective vests.  The bike lights are nice, but there are too many bikers in this area whose tiny bike reflectors or lights look like the same reflectors we have on mailboxes.  They also decide to wear all dark clothing.  It's scary to come up to a "mailbox" and, after passing, realize "That was a person!!!"
Fluorescent yellow vest with the reflective stripes.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15968 on: December 09, 2016, 11:50:11 AM »
I open and close my windows so often (ok once per day) that I start to worry about wear and tear.  How much will opening and closing my windows every day decrease the life of my windows vs. always closed?  10 years vs 20?

I just nearly spat water out my nose sitting at my desk while trying not to laugh at this. This is a very Mustachian thing to have to worry about. The struggle is real. Although, I rent, so I don't have to worry about replacing the windows. However, with this new perspective, I'm now going to open and close my windows as often as I want to really get my money's worth out of this rental.

(Side note: my rent unfortunately includes all utilities... so maybe I'm the sucker?)

Papa Mustache

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15969 on: December 09, 2016, 12:38:26 PM »
There are some great mainstream brand preconfigured computers from last year to choose from online. Got to keep the computer factory running...

We bought our first good desktop this year. 50% of the original price. Previously we had been running things I cobbled together from used parts or off-lease former corporate computers that sell for cheap. I still have one of those for our TV computer.

I can get 7-8 years easily out of a desktop. It might not be up to playing the latest games at that point but it'll likely still be a great office machine. If Windows gets so bloated that it won't run, switch it to Linux.

All of our computers run Mint Linux KDE or Cinnamon primarily with Windows 7 available (dual boot) for games.

ysette9

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15970 on: December 09, 2016, 01:55:35 PM »
Unrelated to finances, but I am having fun listening to the people on the other side of the cube wall talk about this unknown symbol on some electrical drawing. The guy is saying that he doesn't recognize it, though it looks a bit like a capacitor but with a smiley face and a frown-y face on it. I'm not EE myself so I have no clue, but it is funny to listen to.

BTDretire

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15971 on: December 09, 2016, 02:01:33 PM »

I open and close my windows so often (ok once per day) that I start to worry about wear and tear.  How much will opening and closing my windows every day decrease the life of my windows vs. always closed?  10 years vs 20?

 You think your thinking frugal?
 The other night at dinner I got my wife her usual water in a 8 oz cup.
She said, "start getting me 1/2 cup of water, I don't drink as much in winter"
and then added, "that's OK. I can use what's leftover later, when I make my tea for tomorrow"
 That's thinking frugal!  :-)

gimp

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15972 on: December 09, 2016, 02:06:56 PM »
(Side note: my rent unfortunately includes all utilities... so maybe I'm the sucker?)

https://what-if.xkcd.com/91/

or more directly

http://smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2045#comic


ketchup

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15973 on: December 09, 2016, 02:18:29 PM »

Metta

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15974 on: December 09, 2016, 08:37:26 PM »
I am working pretty intensively trying to get everything done but I heard someone talking about me so I tuned in.

Person A: "She's retiring?"
Person B: "Yeah"
Person A: "How?"
Person B:"She says anyone can do it just by saving half their income."
Person A: "As if!"
Person B (somewhat sadly): "Yeah"
Person A: "How did she do it?"
Person B: "Don't know."

Malum Prohibitum

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15975 on: December 10, 2016, 07:44:23 AM »
I am working pretty intensively trying to get everything done but I heard someone talking about me so I tuned in.

Person A: "She's retiring?"
Person B: "Yeah"
Person A: "How?"
Person B:"She says anyone can do it just by saving half their income."
Person A: "As if!"
Person B (somewhat sadly): "Yeah"
Person A: "How did she do it?"
Person B: "Don't know."

LOL!  I was not expecting a punchline.  I was literally laughing out loud.  Is that really verbatim?

mm1970

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15976 on: December 10, 2016, 08:45:46 AM »
I am working pretty intensively trying to get everything done but I heard someone talking about me so I tuned in.

Person A: "She's retiring?"
Person B: "Yeah"
Person A: "How?"
Person B:"She says anyone can do it just by saving half their income."
Person A: "As if!"
Person B (somewhat sadly): "Yeah"
Person A: "How did she do it?"
Person B: "Don't know."
This is gold.

Metta

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15977 on: December 10, 2016, 11:57:06 AM »
I am working pretty intensively trying to get everything done but I heard someone talking about me so I tuned in.

Person A: "She's retiring?"
Person B: "Yeah"
Person A: "How?"
Person B:"She says anyone can do it just by saving half their income."
Person A: "As if!"
Person B (somewhat sadly): "Yeah"
Person A: "How did she do it?"
Person B: "Don't know."

LOL!  I was not expecting a punchline.  I was literally laughing out loud.  Is that really verbatim?

Pretty much. Just changed my name in the first question to "She". Other than that, it's verbatim. I consider it a mark of how much more mature I am this week than I was last week since I didn't get up, interrupt their conversation about me, and explain how to do it.

Daleth

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15978 on: December 10, 2016, 01:25:32 PM »
Omg that's funny. Wow.

Metric Mouse

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15979 on: December 10, 2016, 01:32:45 PM »
(Side note: my rent unfortunately includes all utilities... so maybe I'm the sucker?)

https://what-if.xkcd.com/91/

or more directly

http://smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2045#comic



I know a person who wired their whole apartment into the 220 electric  baseboard heaters- the heat was paid for, so they had a $1 electric bill while they lived there .

druth

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15980 on: December 10, 2016, 05:50:45 PM »
i just got a new desktop - for the kid hitting high school. $500 for a machine that will do for 4 years is fine by me.

the one it replaced was 7 years old so i have a benchmark!

Thinking about replacing my laptop but its only 5 years old...

If your laptops harddrive isn't solid state, it is probably past its life expectancy.

I like replacing my computers every 3-4 years with whatever the latest deal is. Since I got a smartphone though, I've found that to be less and less of a necessity.

"life expectancy" seems like a really un-mustachian way to treat things. Mine is a 9 year old mac laptop.  It was my high school graduation gift.  Does that mean I win?

I agree though that smartphones/tablets/etc. fill in some of the gaps.  I do have a tablet as well that works for games, which my computer probably can't do.  Probably would have upgraded a while ago if I didn't.


markbike528CBX

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15981 on: December 10, 2016, 07:07:19 PM »
If your laptops harddrive isn't solid state, it is probably past its life expectancy.
"life expectancy" seems like a really un-mustachian way to treat things. Mine is a 9 year old mac laptop.  It was my high school graduation gift.  Does that mean I win?

I think this is about MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) metric.

My desktop mac G5 is 12 years old, but the duty cycle is quite low, as I'm gone a lot, probably less than 2000 hours total runtime, AND it isn't jostled like a laptop.  I bought a new 1TB drive as a backup anyway.

Squirrel away

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15982 on: December 11, 2016, 02:12:29 AM »
I am working pretty intensively trying to get everything done but I heard someone talking about me so I tuned in.

Person A: "She's retiring?"
Person B: "Yeah"
Person A: "How?"
Person B:"She says anyone can do it just by saving half their income."
Person A: "As if!"
Person B (somewhat sadly): "Yeah"
Person A: "How did she do it?"
Person B: "Don't know."

Seriously though, how did you do it? Lol.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15983 on: December 11, 2016, 08:53:11 AM »
I open and close my windows so often (ok once per day) that I start to worry about wear and tear.  How much will opening and closing my windows every day decrease the life of my windows vs. always closed?  10 years vs 20?

I just nearly spat water out my nose sitting at my desk while trying not to laugh at this. This is a very Mustachian thing to have to worry about. The struggle is real. Although, I rent, so I don't have to worry about replacing the windows. However, with this new perspective, I'm now going to open and close my windows as often as I want to really get my money's worth out of this rental.

(Side note: my rent unfortunately includes all utilities... so maybe I'm the sucker?)
Most of us here, though not all, do care about things like resource impact regardless of cost. Guessing from your name, you find intrinsic value in efficiency even when you're not paying... and if so, you're in good company.

Hoglet121

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15984 on: December 11, 2016, 01:12:56 PM »
Everyone in my work place has always appeared relatively mustachian, in that we all bring lunch from home, several people use public transport (I'm the only one that bikes to work) until a new guy started recently. He goes out for lunch everyday, usually to some real grotty places, buys coffees, muffins.... We were discussing the lunches we'd brought in and I said I'd got leftover curry (yum). New guy pipes up, "Why would you bring in curry when you can buy one around here?"

We don't you for fun calculate how much this bought curry would cost and multiple it with your number of working days a year. Then you say: to save ... dollars a year and because I know it tastes good.

I wonder whether the new guy will change his behaviour over time, with all his colleagues giving a good example. Or whether your colleagues rather will follow him in buying food.

It wasn't until I opened Excel and started calculating how much money I would have if I invested regularly that I came on board MMM. It was great seeing how little differences can make a big difference and how even a tiny amount early in my career can help. I only wish I had opened my ROTH IRA sooner.

I would recommend talking to the new employee, might be able to open his eyes. I know when I first started working I would eat out daily, partially because having my own money was such a new feeling for me and as I was working full-time and living with my parents, my overall expenses were insanely low. Once I became a MMM I started bringing my lunches from home and saving my money.

He came in this morning with homemade soup - early days but promising!

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15985 on: December 11, 2016, 02:14:06 PM »
I got 3 invitations for work Xmas parties, all >$100 a head, the most expensive one $160 a head.  Included are staff who make under 40K a year. Holy guacamole!
Guess who's being a party pooper? Man, I'm saving like nearly $500 by not going.

WTF it's the social norm for workers to pay to attend a Christmas party?
Yes.

LeRainDrop

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15986 on: December 11, 2016, 03:05:29 PM »
I got 3 invitations for work Xmas parties, all >$100 a head, the most expensive one $160 a head.  Included are staff who make under 40K a year. Holy guacamole!
Guess who's being a party pooper? Man, I'm saving like nearly $500 by not going.

WTF it's the social norm for workers to pay to attend a Christmas party?
Yes.

No.  See post #3.

arebelspy

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15987 on: December 11, 2016, 03:16:32 PM »
I got 3 invitations for work Xmas parties, all >$100 a head, the most expensive one $160 a head.  Included are staff who make under 40K a year. Holy guacamole!
Guess who's being a party pooper? Man, I'm saving like nearly $500 by not going.

WTF it's the social norm for workers to pay to attend a Christmas party?
Yes.

No.  See post #3.

That seems to indicate that yes, it happens, though it's "inhospitable."

It was always the norm for us.

Feel like it's becoming more and more common, as companies push more costs onto workers.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

LeRainDrop

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15988 on: December 11, 2016, 03:26:10 PM »
I got 3 invitations for work Xmas parties, all >$100 a head, the most expensive one $160 a head.  Included are staff who make under 40K a year. Holy guacamole!
Guess who's being a party pooper? Man, I'm saving like nearly $500 by not going.

WTF it's the social norm for workers to pay to attend a Christmas party?
Yes.

No.  See post #3.

That seems to indicate that yes, it happens, though it's "inhospitable."

It was always the norm for us.

Feel like it's becoming more and more common, as companies push more costs onto workers.

She says, "It’s not unheard of," which makes me think it's not uncommon, but also not the norm.  In any event, I don't think I would be willing to pay to $100 to attend the company party.  Thankfully, my firm always paid for everything for all employees and their guests.  Although the 2008 party was incredibly scaled back from the usual shindig and it was employees only, but all that was quite understandable in light of the fact that they had just gone through their first round of layoffs.  I think lots of us who survived the layoffs would have felt terrible about a nice celebration knowing that our friends had just been let go (and more layoffs were upcoming in the next year).
« Last Edit: December 11, 2016, 03:27:50 PM by LeRainDrop »

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15989 on: December 11, 2016, 03:41:40 PM »
I got 3 invitations for work Xmas parties, all >$100 a head, the most expensive one $160 a head.  Included are staff who make under 40K a year. Holy guacamole!
Guess who's being a party pooper? Man, I'm saving like nearly $500 by not going.

WTF it's the social norm for workers to pay to attend a Christmas party?
Yes.

No.  See post #3.

That seems to indicate that yes, it happens, though it's "inhospitable."

It was always the norm for us.

Feel like it's becoming more and more common, as companies push more costs onto workers.

It's particularly prevalent in government, because such parties are easy targets for people outraged over government spending.  E.g.:

"look at these assholes spending my tax money to have a party!"

Although of course nobody will blink an eye if $100 of post-tax salary is used to pay for the party, which is also ultimately taxpayer money.

arebelspy

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15990 on: December 11, 2016, 04:04:30 PM »
That makes sense.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15991 on: December 11, 2016, 04:29:33 PM »
I got 3 invitations for work Xmas parties, all >$100 a head, the most expensive one $160 a head.  Included are staff who make under 40K a year. Holy guacamole!
Guess who's being a party pooper? Man, I'm saving like nearly $500 by not going.

WTF it's the social norm for workers to pay to attend a Christmas party?

It is at my new office.

There is the company Christmas party, which is a very elaborate affair. Technically free to attend, but most of the girls go all out with hair, shoes, nails, new outfit, and limo to the party. A couple of girls told me the Christmas party sets them back more than $500, but it's worth it to them to be seen there.

We have then have a team lunch, $60 each for three courses, which we are expected to cover. I'll skip the big night out but I will attend the lunch, good for networking.

TomTX

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15992 on: December 11, 2016, 07:13:35 PM »
Not really an overheard at work story, but I was recently looking into getting a new TV during the sales around Black Friday. I was looking into getting a super-duper huge-ass 48 inch TV. Don't care if it's smart, don't care if it's 4k because I won't sit 3 feet from it, and definitely don't want 3D. The absolute most I was going to pay was $300. I happened to be talking to my boss about it at work and he's like, "why don't you just go all-out and get a 65 inch one?"

I just kind of gawked at him for a minute before I realized my mouth was hanging open. I didn't say it, but my thought was, 48 inches is already insanely huge. The man who dies with the biggest and best toys... still dies. I'd rather enjoy life while I have it.

I know it's terribly anti-mustachian of me to be buying a brand-spanking-new TV, but this will probably be our family TV for at least a decade. It's replacing an old TV that I've replaced several parts inside already, which will move to our bedroom until it finally dies again. I would have bought a used one, but interestingly I found that most ads on Craigslist were asking more than retail. Interesting phenomenon with TV prices always dropping so rapidly....

got a 65in tv LED Samsung 1080p shipped to my house and setup for 80 dollars. reviews have it as the best 1080p TV ever made.  its not about what you spend your money on as much as how you can stretch that dollar for something you're looking for.

IIRC from another thread, weren't you the guy using credit card rewards toward the TV and not counting those in the cost?

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15993 on: December 11, 2016, 08:51:38 PM »
I just watched someone in my building (not from my immediate team, thank goodness) prepare their lunch.

She had a tub of pre-packaged soup, poured half the soup into a ceramic bowl, then poured the other half down the sink.

Me: Is there something wrong with your soup?
Her: No, but I can't eat it all.
Me: ... why don't you leave half in the fridge and eat it tomorrow?
Her: *blank look* Can I do that?

LeRainDrop

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15994 on: December 11, 2016, 09:04:02 PM »
I just watched someone in my building (not from my immediate team, thank goodness) prepare their lunch.

She had a tub of pre-packaged soup, poured half the soup into a ceramic bowl, then poured the other half down the sink.

Me: Is there something wrong with your soup?
Her: No, but I can't eat it all.
Me: ... why don't you leave half in the fridge and eat it tomorrow?
Her: *blank look* Can I do that?

How did you stop yourself from laughing out loud???

marty998

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15995 on: December 12, 2016, 12:30:22 AM »
I just watched someone in my building (not from my immediate team, thank goodness) prepare their lunch.

She had a tub of pre-packaged soup, poured half the soup into a ceramic bowl, then poured the other half down the sink.

Me: Is there something wrong with your soup?
Her: No, but I can't eat it all.
Me: ... why don't you leave half in the fridge and eat it tomorrow?
Her: *blank look* Can I do that?

How did you stop yourself from laughing out loud???

Oh my god...the mere mention of soup brings me to uncontrollable fits of laughter every single time:

"NO SOUP FOR YOU. FOR 1 YEAR!"

LennStar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15996 on: December 12, 2016, 03:07:56 AM »
I just watched someone in my building (not from my immediate team, thank goodness) prepare their lunch.

She had a tub of pre-packaged soup, poured half the soup into a ceramic bowl, then poured the other half down the sink.

Me: Is there something wrong with your soup?
Her: No, but I can't eat it all.
Me: ... why don't you leave half in the fridge and eat it tomorrow?
Her: *blank look* Can I do that?
You can probably eat it tomorrow NEXT YEAR because of all the preservaties added. And I am not talking about gum based products here.

Metric Mouse

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15997 on: December 12, 2016, 03:15:41 AM »
It's particularly prevalent in government, because such parties are easy targets for people outraged over government spending.  E.g.:

"look at these assholes spending my tax money to have a party!"

Although of course nobody will blink an eye if $100 of post-tax salary is used to pay for the party, which is also ultimately taxpayer money.

Interesting thought.

jinga nation

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15998 on: December 12, 2016, 06:16:24 AM »
Unrelated to finances, but I am having fun listening to the people on the other side of the cube wall talk about this unknown symbol on some electrical drawing. The guy is saying that he doesn't recognize it, though it looks a bit like a capacitor but with a smiley face and a frown-y face on it. I'm not EE myself so I have no clue, but it is funny to listen to.
Depends if the drawing is to IEC, NEMA, or some other standard. Could be Circuit Breakers, Pressure Switches, Limit Switches, or something else. The first thing would be to check the CAD drawing for standard used, then use Google.

former player

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15999 on: December 12, 2016, 06:21:31 AM »
I just watched someone in my building (not from my immediate team, thank goodness) prepare their lunch.

She had a tub of pre-packaged soup, poured half the soup into a ceramic bowl, then poured the other half down the sink.

Me: Is there something wrong with your soup?
Her: No, but I can't eat it all.
Me: ... why don't you leave half in the fridge and eat it tomorrow?
Her: *blank look* Can I do that?
You can probably eat it tomorrow NEXT YEAR because of all the preservaties added. And I am not talking about gum based products here.
A funeral director friend told me once that bodies last a lot longer before decaying than they used to, because of preservatives in the food we eat.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!