Overheard at Work

[Pooplips]

“We actually couldn’t afford the car payments with all of the options that we wanted in the vehicle so we are leasing it to keep the costs down - we will probably end up doing the lease to purchase option when the lease is up”

My friends said exactly this to me this weekend. Its crazy to me that no one stops to think; maybe we shouldn't buy this car?

[Kitsune]

“We actually couldn’t afford the car payments with all of the options that we wanted in the vehicle so we are leasing it to keep the costs down - we will probably end up doing the lease to purchase option when the lease is up”

My friends said exactly this to me this weekend. Its crazy to me that no one stops to think; maybe we shouldn't buy this car?

My colleague (the one with the household staff who can't pay her tax bill...) is looking for a new car, because she can't afford the 2k her mechanic says her car needs to keep running for another two years.

Some people...

[JLee]

Went to a retirement party last week.  The retiree has a second home in central Oregon.  He was telling me about his garage...
6 vehicle bays, second story is a 1200 s.f. man cave.  He's in the process of adding an elevator.  And this is the garage!!!

That sounds glorious.....except I don't really care about the man cave or the elevator.

[gimp]

Went to a retirement party last week.  The retiree has a second home in central Oregon.  He was telling me about his garage...
6 vehicle bays, second story is a 1200 s.f. man cave.  He's in the process of adding an elevator.  And this is the garage!!!

Elevator or lift? A lift makes tons of sense, an elevator is odd.

If I had the money, the one thing I would really splurge on when building/buying a house is a garage / workshop. 6 vehicle bays is a bit more than I'd want, but I could probably do 2 lift bays and two parking bays (and the parking bays can have car lifts to double the space very inexpensively.) Huh, I guess that's 6 spots...

I don't particularly need a man cave, that's what the garage is for...

[Inaya]

I recently completed a degree and got licensed. There are many paths to this degree, typically taking two years. I got hired last week and in our new-hire orientation we got to talking about school. I paid $12K total for mine, including texts, pre-rec classes, no student loans. Other people mention $40K debts to get their degrees. Huh? We got hired by the same company, to do the same job, for the same salary.
I can see it costing more for some people, I tested out of some classes, and had already done many pre-recs. So I can see maybe $20K to get this degree. But, $40K?

Keep in mind that if they elected to live on campus, that can be paid for with student loans too and often costs as much as, or more than, tuition.

This. In my final semester of college the actual tuition was $2700 (including $500 of nontuition "fees"). Room and board was $3050: $1650 for room and then $1400 the heinous mandatory nonrefundable 150-meal plan (the food was so awful that most people couldn't eat all their meals--even when they teamed with somebody off-campus to help eat them). Then you add in textbooks that could run you over $1000 per semester if you weren't lucky enough to find them used on Amazon.

Mind, this was a very inexpensive public school in an economically depressed area with in-state tuition, so it's not the best example. But it does  illustrate how most of the price of a college education does not actually come from tuition.

[nobodyspecial]

Which presumably is part of the reason for the increase in fees.
If you are going to be spending $10k/year on rent+transit, $5k/year on food and a few $k on books why not charge you  $20k in fees rather than $12k ? Especially when you don't have to pay it back for years !

It's diffently the reason for ridiculous text book prices.
I went to uni in the UK when there were no fees  (yeah socialism) and textbooks were paperback and 1/10 the price of US textbooks which were only ever hardback. When I moved to the US they explained that, if you were paying $30k in fees, why would you care about a $100 textbook?

[randymarsh]

and textbooks were paperback

I knew a non-US education was inferior!

[Squirrel away]

Went to a retirement party last week.  The retiree has a second home in central Oregon.  He was telling me about his garage...
6 vehicle bays, second story is a 1200 s.f. man cave.  He's in the process of adding an elevator.  And this is the garage!!!

The man cave alone is ETA should have said twice the size of our house, lol!

[AussieCat]

In my business I deal with pregnant women - some of the ridiculous amounts of money that are spent on prams (frequently $1,500 +), cots, change tables, cord blood banking, pregnancy photo shoots, birth photo shoots, 1 month photo shoots (etc), swingy things to pacify their screaming progeny, baby baths, monitors that let you hear, see and monitor breathing... it makes my head spin. Usually coming from women with massive rocks on their fingers, fake tans-tits-eyelashes-hair extensions, who berate their partner for not doing enough to help them, then three sentences later screech at them for not earning enough to buy them the latest SUV to park in the driveway of their ridiculous McMansion. One woman recently told me (proudly) that all the bits and pieces had cost them over $10,000 (excluding medical expenses) - and then went on to boast that it included nail clippers and a nappy pail, but NOT the photo shoots. STFU!

If my brain has fritzed so much that I make the mistake of mentioning our refurbished cot, borrowed pram, bathing the kids in the kitchen sink, changing their nappy on a towel on the floor/bed/couch lack of professional photo shoots etc I get that slack jawed gape in response, followed by pity.... f-u-c-k!!

[jda1984]

Which presumably is part of the reason for the increase in fees.
If you are going to be spending $10k/year on rent+transit, $5k/year on food and a few $k on books why not charge you  $20k in fees rather than $12k ? Especially when you don't have to pay it back for years !

It's diffently the reason for ridiculous text book prices.
I went to uni in the UK when there were no fees  (yeah socialism) and textbooks were paperback and 1/10 the price of US textbooks which were only ever hardback. When I moved to the US they explained that, if you were paying $30k in fees, why would you care about a $100 textbook?

I was routinely able to find "international editions" of textbooks that were either paperback or oddly bound (one had metal corners and a leather-like cover).  These weren't 1/10th the cost, but more like 1/4 or so.  Still saved some decent cash doing that, though I'm not sure it's 100% legit from the publisher's view...

[MgoSam]

Which presumably is part of the reason for the increase in fees.
If you are going to be spending $10k/year on rent+transit, $5k/year on food and a few $k on books why not charge you  $20k in fees rather than $12k ? Especially when you don't have to pay it back for years !

It's diffently the reason for ridiculous text book prices.
I went to uni in the UK when there were no fees  (yeah socialism) and textbooks were paperback and 1/10 the price of US textbooks which were only ever hardback. When I moved to the US they explained that, if you were paying $30k in fees, why would you care about a $100 textbook?

I was routinely able to find "international editions" of textbooks that were either paperback or oddly bound (one had metal corners and a leather-like cover).  These weren't 1/10th the cost, but more like 1/4 or so.  Still saved some decent cash doing that, though I'm not sure it's 100% legit from the publisher's view...

There was a website I used, it's no longer up, where you could type in the ISBN or title or author and it would comb the internet for the cheapest prices. I manged to find a few international editions and other editions for cheap on there. What made it extra nice is that I was able to sell them after the semester for either my cost, or sometimes more than that (it was still cheaper for them than buying it used at the school bookstore).

[aetherie]

Which presumably is part of the reason for the increase in fees.
If you are going to be spending $10k/year on rent+transit, $5k/year on food and a few $k on books why not charge you  $20k in fees rather than $12k ? Especially when you don't have to pay it back for years !

It's diffently the reason for ridiculous text book prices.
I went to uni in the UK when there were no fees  (yeah socialism) and textbooks were paperback and 1/10 the price of US textbooks which were only ever hardback. When I moved to the US they explained that, if you were paying $30k in fees, why would you care about a $100 textbook?

I was routinely able to find "international editions" of textbooks that were either paperback or oddly bound (one had metal corners and a leather-like cover).  These weren't 1/10th the cost, but more like 1/4 or so.  Still saved some decent cash doing that, though I'm not sure it's 100% legit from the publisher's view...

There was a website I used, it's no longer up, where you could type in the ISBN or title or author and it would comb the internet for the cheapest prices. I manged to find a few international editions and other editions for cheap on there. What made it extra nice is that I was able to sell them after the semester for either my cost, or sometimes more than that (it was still cheaper for them than buying it used at the school bookstore).

I don't know which website you were using, but I used bigwords.com (which is still up) for the same thing.

[druth]

Which presumably is part of the reason for the increase in fees.
If you are going to be spending $10k/year on rent+transit, $5k/year on food and a few $k on books why not charge you  $20k in fees rather than $12k ? Especially when you don't have to pay it back for years !

It's diffently the reason for ridiculous text book prices.
I went to uni in the UK when there were no fees  (yeah socialism) and textbooks were paperback and 1/10 the price of US textbooks which were only ever hardback. When I moved to the US they explained that, if you were paying $30k in fees, why would you care about a $100 textbook?

I was routinely able to find "international editions" of textbooks that were either paperback or oddly bound (one had metal corners and a leather-like cover).  These weren't 1/10th the cost, but more like 1/4 or so.  Still saved some decent cash doing that, though I'm not sure it's 100% legit from the publisher's view...

There was a website I used, it's no longer up, where you could type in the ISBN or title or author and it would comb the internet for the cheapest prices. I manged to find a few international editions and other editions for cheap on there. What made it extra nice is that I was able to sell them after the semester for either my cost, or sometimes more than that (it was still cheaper for them than buying it used at the school bookstore).

bookfinder.com is what I used and it's still up.

[MgoSam]

Which presumably is part of the reason for the increase in fees.
If you are going to be spending $10k/year on rent+transit, $5k/year on food and a few $k on books why not charge you  $20k in fees rather than $12k ? Especially when you don't have to pay it back for years !

It's diffently the reason for ridiculous text book prices.
I went to uni in the UK when there were no fees  (yeah socialism) and textbooks were paperback and 1/10 the price of US textbooks which were only ever hardback. When I moved to the US they explained that, if you were paying $30k in fees, why would you care about a $100 textbook?

I was routinely able to find "international editions" of textbooks that were either paperback or oddly bound (one had metal corners and a leather-like cover).  These weren't 1/10th the cost, but more like 1/4 or so.  Still saved some decent cash doing that, though I'm not sure it's 100% legit from the publisher's view...

There was a website I used, it's no longer up, where you could type in the ISBN or title or author and it would comb the internet for the cheapest prices. I manged to find a few international editions and other editions for cheap on there. What made it extra nice is that I was able to sell them after the semester for either my cost, or sometimes more than that (it was still cheaper for them than buying it used at the school bookstore).

bookfinder.com is what I used and it's still up.

+1

I checked, the website changed names, the one I used is currently called dealoz.com

[New Mom and Dad]

Today a co-worker proudly told me that he just bought a 2016 Ford focus. He said that he was offered 16% interest as he and his fiance have no credit. He said he turned this down because they were only offering him $500 for his Jeep. Instead he took their offer of 27% interest if they gave him $1800 for his Jeep. 27% interest. No that's not a typo.

He said they told him he can "probably" refinance to 2% in a few months. He said he got a steal and that the car pays for itself because of the good mpg.

Gaahhhh it was so hard not to punch him.

[JordanOfGilead]

Today a co-worker proudly told me that he just bought a 2016 Ford focus. He said that he was offered 16% interest as he and his fiance have no credit. He said he turned this down because they were only offering him $500 for his Jeep. Instead he took their offer of 27% interest if they gave him $1800 for his Jeep. 27% interest. No that's not a typo.

He said they told him he can "probably" refinance to 2% in a few months. He said he got a steal and that the car pays for itself because of the good mpg.

Gaahhhh it was so hard not to punch him.

What was the length of the financing, indefinitely??? He's going to end up paying almost 1.5x the msrp of the car in interest alone!!!

[zolotiyeruki]

Today a co-worker proudly told me that he just bought a 2016 Ford focus. He said that he was offered 16% interest as he and his fiance have no credit. He said he turned this down because they were only offering him $500 for his Jeep. Instead he took their offer of 27% interest if they gave him $1800 for his Jeep. 27% interest. No that's not a typo.

I never realized until recently what kinds of interest rates you have to deal with when you have bad credit.  I have a relative that works at a pawn shop.  Their interest rate is about 11%...per month!

[zephyr911]

Not strictly anti-MMM in the financial sense, but if you want to know what lifetime servitude to the federal system does to people, here's an example.

Two GS-13s are currently having an argument over a cubicle. Three of us had to move out of a particular area so it could be rebuilt, including one of the 13s in question, and during our temporary displacement, the other (who's been here longer) returned from a year-long deployment. Deployment guy is on his fair share of personal shit lists for various reasons, and decided to add to that this morning by pulling seniority and taking the window cube previously occupied (and assumed to be more or less reserved for) the other guy. As this produces a ripple effect that includes "my" workspace, I got to hear about it from him. As we walked into the area in question he openly launched into a tirade against the offender... I just walked away.

I had to go back over just now and partake in a group discussion of how my team (3 total) would rearrange ourselves within that same small (6-cube) area, while deployment guy sat nervously and fidgeted (clearly upset by his castigation but unrelenting all the same) and the whole time, all I can think is, how does any of this matter enough for people to get so wound up over it? It seems to me that the path I have traveled makes me immune to two different unhealthy trains of thought exhibited by these CWs. Deployment guy is clearly a lifer, hanging onto the system for the sake of the paycheck and the security, and has never really bonded with co-workers or shown great interest in having relationships here. He volunteered for a year overseas not long after arriving, probably for the extra pay. Judging from his output, he doesn't find great meaning in his work, and it seems like he's resorted to squeezing whatever kind of validation he can from little things like seniority and a window seat. It sounds really sad. Conversely, on the other side, I think if the offended party (who is senior to me, better paid, and a fellow DINK with oodles of FIRE potential) were in the financial driver's seat, he could look at things like I do - who cares about the seat? I'm here because I want to be, and if I hated it, I could walk. Instead, staring down another 20 years of this shit, being marginalized in the tiniest way is probably magnified in importance. It's a reminder of the pecking order, and of his subordination to the whims of a perceived inferior individual due to the vagaries of the system.

[Kitsune]

Not un-mustachian in the traditional sense, but gawd, I gotta rant.

Director-level person: "My employees aren't doing *thing* unless I'm on their case all the time, so I can't take a day off because I have to supervise, why aren't they doing this, etc, etc, *whine*" (Note: her employees are ALL highly-paid and highly-trained professionals; we're not running a call center)

Me: "So, you tell them it's part of their job, and that their performance in the next 3 weeks is what guarantees that they will keep HAVING jobs, and then you follow through on that. Haven't you done that??"

Director: "No, they're not gonna like that."

YOU'RE THEIR SUPERVISOR. IT IS YOUR JOB TO SET STANDARDS, ENFORCE THEM, AND ENSURE TEAM SUCCESS. THAT IS LITERALLY YOUR JOB. WHY ARE YOU NOT DOING IT.

[zolotiyeruki]

If my brain has fritzed so much that I make the mistake of mentioning our refurbished cot, borrowed pram, bathing the kids in the kitchen sink, changing their nappy on a towel on the floor/bed/couch lack of professional photo shoots etc I get that slack jawed gape in response, followed by pity.... f-u-c-k!!

We're at the point now where we don't even bother putting anything under the kid.  Plop 'em down on the floor and change it there.  Hard surfaces are preferred, but we can do it on carpet without making a mess, with a bit more care...

[jinga nation]

Not un-mustachian in the traditional sense, but gawd, I gotta rant.

Director-level person: "My employees aren't doing *thing* unless I'm on their case all the time, so I can't take a day off because I have to supervise, why aren't they doing this, etc, etc, *whine*" (Note: her employees are ALL highly-paid and highly-trained professionals; we're not running a call center)

Me: "So, you tell them it's part of their job, and that their performance in the next 3 weeks is what guarantees that they will keep HAVING jobs, and then you follow through on that. Haven't you done that??"

Director: "No, they're not gonna like that."

YOU'RE THEIR SUPERVISOR. IT IS YOUR JOB TO SET STANDARDS, ENFORCE THEM, AND ENSURE TEAM SUCCESS. THAT IS LITERALLY YOUR JOB. WHY ARE YOU NOT DOING IT.

I think people like the idea of becoming management, but once they're in that position, they don't have the mindset of the job. Your job is not to make friends or maintain those perceived friend relationships. A manager is just another tentacle of the corporation. Some of these supervisors are scared that if they tell the employees to do something they don't like, they won't remain friends. For some people, their only 'friends' are co-workers.

[Kitsune]

Not un-mustachian in the traditional sense, but gawd, I gotta rant.

Director-level person: "My employees aren't doing *thing* unless I'm on their case all the time, so I can't take a day off because I have to supervise, why aren't they doing this, etc, etc, *whine*" (Note: her employees are ALL highly-paid and highly-trained professionals; we're not running a call center)

Me: "So, you tell them it's part of their job, and that their performance in the next 3 weeks is what guarantees that they will keep HAVING jobs, and then you follow through on that. Haven't you done that??"

Director: "No, they're not gonna like that."

YOU'RE THEIR SUPERVISOR. IT IS YOUR JOB TO SET STANDARDS, ENFORCE THEM, AND ENSURE TEAM SUCCESS. THAT IS LITERALLY YOUR JOB. WHY ARE YOU NOT DOING IT.

I think people like the idea of becoming management, but once they're in that position, they don't have the mindset of the job. Your job is not to make friends or maintain those perceived friend relationships. A manager is just another tentacle of the corporation. Some of these supervisors are scared that if they tell the employees to do something they don't like, they won't remain friends. For some people, their only 'friends' are co-workers.

Those are all people who seriously need to get a life, in that case.

Seriously: if you cannot tell someone 'your job is to do X' and expect that they will come in and do X, then they cannot be a supervisor, WT-everloving-F.

I am beyond out of patience with this woman. (Oh: and she's in her 50s and has been a manager for over 20 years. It isn't inexperience.)

[Chris22]

Not un-mustachian in the traditional sense, but gawd, I gotta rant.

Director-level person: "My employees aren't doing *thing* unless I'm on their case all the time, so I can't take a day off because I have to supervise, why aren't they doing this, etc, etc, *whine*" (Note: her employees are ALL highly-paid and highly-trained professionals; we're not running a call center)

Me: "So, you tell them it's part of their job, and that their performance in the next 3 weeks is what guarantees that they will keep HAVING jobs, and then you follow through on that. Haven't you done that??"

Director: "No, they're not gonna like that."

YOU'RE THEIR SUPERVISOR. IT IS YOUR JOB TO SET STANDARDS, ENFORCE THEM, AND ENSURE TEAM SUCCESS. THAT IS LITERALLY YOUR JOB. WHY ARE YOU NOT DOING IT.

The cynic in me says that if a group of people systematically don't do an activity at work, it means that they don't find value in said activity.  Which means it either isn't valuable, or the value hasn't been properly explained to them. 

[PMG]

Not un-mustachian in the traditional sense, but gawd, I gotta rant.

Director-level person: "My employees aren't doing *thing* unless I'm on their case all the time, so I can't take a day off because I have to supervise, why aren't they doing this, etc, etc, *whine*" (Note: her employees are ALL highly-paid and highly-trained professionals; we're not running a call center)

Me: "So, you tell them it's part of their job, and that their performance in the next 3 weeks is what guarantees that they will keep HAVING jobs, and then you follow through on that. Haven't you done that??"

Director: "No, they're not gonna like that."

YOU'RE THEIR SUPERVISOR. IT IS YOUR JOB TO SET STANDARDS, ENFORCE THEM, AND ENSURE TEAM SUCCESS. THAT IS LITERALLY YOUR JOB. WHY ARE YOU NOT DOING IT.

The cynic in me says that if a group of people systematically don't do an activity at work, it means that they don't find value in said activity.  Which means it either isn't valuable, or the value hasn't been properly explained to them.

In some cases people will only understand the value of an activity when it is described as "must be performed in order to keep your job."

[maco]

I am buying a radar detector. That qualifies for this thread, right? Speeding costs more than driving more sedately, and I'm spending money to be able to drive faster.

Just don't use it in Virginia, radar detectors are illegal here.

I think I saw that DC also bans them.

I recently completed a degree and got licensed. There are many paths to this degree, typically taking two years. I got hired last week and in our new-hire orientation we got to talking about school. I paid $12K total for mine, including texts, pre-rec classes, no student loans. Other people mention $40K debts to get their degrees. Huh? We got hired by the same company, to do the same job, for the same salary.
I can see it costing more for some people, I tested out of some classes, and had already done many pre-recs. So I can see maybe $20K to get this degree. But, $40K?

Keep in mind that if they elected to live on campus, that can be paid for with student loans too and often costs as much as, or more than, tuition.

And costs more than living off campus, even if that's not with your parents. In Washington, DC, every university is required to house students for two years. It was $1000/mo to share a 500sqft dorm room with 3 other girls. Junior year, another girl and I shared 500sqft studio apartment one block off campus for $1200 total, ie $400/mo less than we had been paying to get twice as much space per person.

[Warlord1986]

Today a co-worker proudly told me that he just bought a 2016 Ford focus. He said that he was offered 16% interest as he and his fiance have no credit. He said he turned this down because they were only offering him $500 for his Jeep. Instead he took their offer of 27% interest if they gave him $1800 for his Jeep. 27% interest. No that's not a typo.

He said they told him he can "probably" refinance to 2% in a few months. He said he got a steal and that the car pays for itself because of the good mpg.

Gaahhhh it was so hard not to punch him.

This forum makes me feel so much better about all of my life choices.

[Chris22]

Not un-mustachian in the traditional sense, but gawd, I gotta rant.

Director-level person: "My employees aren't doing *thing* unless I'm on their case all the time, so I can't take a day off because I have to supervise, why aren't they doing this, etc, etc, *whine*" (Note: her employees are ALL highly-paid and highly-trained professionals; we're not running a call center)

Me: "So, you tell them it's part of their job, and that their performance in the next 3 weeks is what guarantees that they will keep HAVING jobs, and then you follow through on that. Haven't you done that??"

Director: "No, they're not gonna like that."

YOU'RE THEIR SUPERVISOR. IT IS YOUR JOB TO SET STANDARDS, ENFORCE THEM, AND ENSURE TEAM SUCCESS. THAT IS LITERALLY YOUR JOB. WHY ARE YOU NOT DOING IT.

The cynic in me says that if a group of people systematically don't do an activity at work, it means that they don't find value in said activity.  Which means it either isn't valuable, or the value hasn't been properly explained to them.

In some cases people will only understand the value of an activity when it is described as "must be performed in order to keep your job."

True, but it depends on the quality of the workers involved.  I'd give the benefit of the doubt to professional workers and just explain why it's important.  Assuming it, in fact, is.  I blow off work all the time that isn't. 

[dragoncar]

Today a co-worker proudly told me that he just bought a 2016 Ford focus. He said that he was offered 16% interest as he and his fiance have no credit. He said he turned this down because they were only offering him $500 for his Jeep. Instead he took their offer of 27% interest if they gave him $1800 for his Jeep. 27% interest. No that's not a typo.

He said they told him he can "probably" refinance to 2% in a few months. He said he got a steal and that the car pays for itself because of the good mpg.

Gaahhhh it was so hard not to punch him.

OTOH, this is brilliant if you plan to prepay the loan and get over book for your old car

[slugline]

Today a co-worker proudly told me that he just bought a 2016 Ford focus. He said that he was offered 16% interest as he and his fiance have no credit. He said he turned this down because they were only offering him $500 for his Jeep. Instead he took their offer of 27% interest if they gave him $1800 for his Jeep. 27% interest. No that's not a typo.

He said they told him he can "probably" refinance to 2% in a few months. He said he got a steal and that the car pays for itself because of the good mpg.

Gaahhhh it was so hard not to punch him.

OTOH, this is brilliant if you plan to prepay the loan and get over book for your old car

. . . unless you forgot to check whether your loan has a pre-payment penalty built into the fine print. (You might be Mustachian if you didn't know that pre-payment penalties on auto loans even existed.)

[randymarsh]

Today a co-worker proudly told me that he just bought a 2016 Ford focus. He said that he was offered 16% interest as he and his fiance have no credit. He said he turned this down because they were only offering him $500 for his Jeep. Instead he took their offer of 27% interest if they gave him $1800 for his Jeep. 27% interest. No that's not a typo.

He said they told him he can "probably" refinance to 2% in a few months. He said he got a steal and that the car pays for itself because of the good mpg.

Gaahhhh it was so hard not to punch him.

OTOH, this is brilliant if you plan to prepay the loan and get over book for your old car

. . . unless you forgot to check whether your loan has a pre-payment penalty built into the fine print. (You might be Mustachian if you didn't know that pre-payment penalties on auto loans even existed.)

My auto loan has/had one (it only applied for first 2 years I think). It was like $200. Annoying but you'd still come ahead if you employed Dragoncar's strategy.

[BFGirl]

In my business I deal with pregnant women - some of the ridiculous amounts of money that are spent on prams (frequently $1,500 +), cots, change tables, cord blood banking, pregnancy photo shoots, birth photo shoots, 1 month photo shoots (etc), swingy things to pacify their screaming progeny, baby baths, monitors that let you hear, see and monitor breathing... it makes my head spin. Usually coming from women with massive rocks on their fingers, fake tans-tits-eyelashes-hair extensions, who berate their partner for not doing enough to help them, then three sentences later screech at them for not earning enough to buy them the latest SUV to park in the driveway of their ridiculous McMansion. One woman recently told me (proudly) that all the bits and pieces had cost them over $10,000 (excluding medical expenses) - and then went on to boast that it included nail clippers and a nappy pail, but NOT the photo shoots. STFU!

If my brain has fritzed so much that I make the mistake of mentioning our refurbished cot, borrowed pram, bathing the kids in the kitchen sink, changing their nappy on a towel on the floor/bed/couch lack of professional photo shoots etc I get that slack jawed gape in response, followed by pity.... f-u-c-k!!

Someone in my neighborhood is trying to resell a Prada diaper bag they specially ordered from Milan for $1350.

[AussieCat]

If my brain has fritzed so much that I make the mistake of mentioning our refurbished cot, borrowed pram, bathing the kids in the kitchen sink, changing their nappy on a towel on the floor/bed/couch lack of professional photo shoots etc I get that slack jawed gape in response, followed by pity.... f-u-c-k!!

We're at the point now where we don't even bother putting anything under the kid.  Plop 'em down on the floor and change it there.  Hard surfaces are preferred, but we can do it on carpet without making a mess, with a bit more care...

Hehe - yep, that was us within a short space of time too :D

Someone in my neighborhood is trying to resell a Prada diaper bag they specially ordered from Milan for $1350.

Wha...???? I have no words!

[AussieCat]

He volunteered for a year overseas not long after arriving, probably for the extra pay. Judging from his output, he doesn't find great meaning in his work, and it seems like he's resorted to squeezing whatever kind of validation he can from little things like seniority and a window seat. It sounds really sad. Conversely, on the other side, I think if the offended party (who is senior to me, better paid, and a fellow DINK with oodles of FIRE potential) were in the financial driver's seat, he could look at things like I do - who cares about the seat? I'm here because I want to be, and if I hated it, I could walk. Instead, staring down another 20 years of this shit, being marginalized in the tiniest way is probably magnified in importance. It's a reminder of the pecking order, and of his subordination to the whims of a perceived inferior individual due to the vagaries of the system.

Isn't that incredibly sad? My husband works in an area that should bring people an enormous sense of pride and satisfaction - as it does him. It's stressful, can be emotional - but saves lives. Instead of supporting one another, most of his colleagues spend their time in a heightened state of agitation/resentment and trying to one-up each other, with even the management taking a part in degrading, insulting and limiting people's potential - my husband will forward me some of the bulk passive aggressive (or straight out aggressive!) emails that go out, it blows your mind.

My husband got asked a few months ago how he stayed so chill in their horrendous environment - they have consultants in to 'fix the culture' - he told them it's because he just doesn't give a shit about the petty minutiae, and focuses on what he loves, the work. Even so, their constant niggling shit is starting to wear him down... when he's had enough he'll resign or SWAMI.

[JustTrying]

In my business I deal with pregnant women - some of the ridiculous amounts of money that are spent on prams (frequently $1,500 +), cots, change tables, cord blood banking, pregnancy photo shoots, birth photo shoots, 1 month photo shoots (etc), swingy things to pacify their screaming progeny, baby baths, monitors that let you hear, see and monitor breathing... it makes my head spin. Usually coming from women with massive rocks on their fingers, fake tans-tits-eyelashes-hair extensions, who berate their partner for not doing enough to help them, then three sentences later screech at them for not earning enough to buy them the latest SUV to park in the driveway of their ridiculous McMansion. One woman recently told me (proudly) that all the bits and pieces had cost them over $10,000 (excluding medical expenses) - and then went on to boast that it included nail clippers and a nappy pail, but NOT the photo shoots. STFU!

If my brain has fritzed so much that I make the mistake of mentioning our refurbished cot, borrowed pram, bathing the kids in the kitchen sink, changing their nappy on a towel on the floor/bed/couch lack of professional photo shoots etc I get that slack jawed gape in response, followed by pity.... f-u-c-k!!

My husband and I always talk about how we need to invent something that parents think they MUST HAVE for their little ones, and then strike it rich. So far we have not proved to be great inventors though...

[AussieCat]

In my business I deal with pregnant women - some of the ridiculous amounts of money that are spent on prams (frequently $1,500 +), cots, change tables, cord blood banking, pregnancy photo shoots, birth photo shoots, 1 month photo shoots (etc), swingy things to pacify their screaming progeny, baby baths, monitors that let you hear, see and monitor breathing... it makes my head spin. Usually coming from women with massive rocks on their fingers, fake tans-tits-eyelashes-hair extensions, who berate their partner for not doing enough to help them, then three sentences later screech at them for not earning enough to buy them the latest SUV to park in the driveway of their ridiculous McMansion. One woman recently told me (proudly) that all the bits and pieces had cost them over $10,000 (excluding medical expenses) - and then went on to boast that it included nail clippers and a nappy pail, but NOT the photo shoots. STFU!

If my brain has fritzed so much that I make the mistake of mentioning our refurbished cot, borrowed pram, bathing the kids in the kitchen sink, changing their nappy on a towel on the floor/bed/couch lack of professional photo shoots etc I get that slack jawed gape in response, followed by pity.... f-u-c-k!!

My husband and I always talk about how we need to invent something that parents think they MUST HAVE for their little ones, and then strike it rich. So far we have not proved to be great inventors though...

Hehehe - keep those thinking caps on! :D

[Playing with Fire UK]

My husband and I always talk about how we need to invent something that parents think they MUST HAVE for their little ones, and then strike it rich. So far we have not proved to be great inventors though...

Censor the part of your brain that says "no-one would buy this shit", add a cute picture of a teddy, offer in a range of colours. For bonus points add wifi connectivity (this does not need to serve a purpose). Oh, and make it limited edition so that it is 'exclusive'.

You might try:
White noise ear defenders: "it's like a dry womb"
Anti-scratch mittens with attached handbag or briefcase: "I'm learning to be a consumer of labels, just like my parents"
A range of feeding bibs with 'Mummy/Daddy/Grandma/Granddad/Auntie/Uncle is my favourite': "let's get one of each"

[JordanOfGilead]

I am buying a radar detector. That qualifies for this thread, right? Speeding costs more than driving more sedately, and I'm spending money to be able to drive faster.

Just don't use it in Virginia, radar detectors are illegal here.

I think I saw that DC also bans them.

I recently completed a degree and got licensed. There are many paths to this degree, typically taking two years. I got hired last week and in our new-hire orientation we got to talking about school. I paid $12K total for mine, including texts, pre-rec classes, no student loans. Other people mention $40K debts to get their degrees. Huh? We got hired by the same company, to do the same job, for the same salary.
I can see it costing more for some people, I tested out of some classes, and had already done many pre-recs. So I can see maybe $20K to get this degree. But, $40K?

Keep in mind that if they elected to live on campus, that can be paid for with student loans too and often costs as much as, or more than, tuition.

And costs more than living off campus, even if that's not with your parents. In Washington, DC, every university is required to house students for two years. It was $1000/mo to share a 500sqft dorm room with 3 other girls. Junior year, another girl and I shared 500sqft studio apartment one block off campus for $1200 total, ie $400/mo less than we had been paying to get twice as much space per person.

Also, I'm guessing that most people that live off-campus don't consider the cost of food and housing off-campus as part of college expenses when looking back on it. It's just normal living expenses. The students that elect to live on campus, however, have the living expenses rolled into their student loans, so it becomes part of the cost of going to college for them.

[onlykelsey]

I am buying a radar detector. That qualifies for this thread, right? Speeding costs more than driving more sedately, and I'm spending money to be able to drive faster.

Just don't use it in Virginia, radar detectors are illegal here.

I think I saw that DC also bans them.

I recently completed a degree and got licensed. There are many paths to this degree, typically taking two years. I got hired last week and in our new-hire orientation we got to talking about school. I paid $12K total for mine, including texts, pre-rec classes, no student loans. Other people mention $40K debts to get their degrees. Huh? We got hired by the same company, to do the same job, for the same salary.
I can see it costing more for some people, I tested out of some classes, and had already done many pre-recs. So I can see maybe $20K to get this degree. But, $40K?

Keep in mind that if they elected to live on campus, that can be paid for with student loans too and often costs as much as, or more than, tuition.

And costs more than living off campus, even if that's not with your parents. In Washington, DC, every university is required to house students for two years. It was $1000/mo to share a 500sqft dorm room with 3 other girls. Junior year, another girl and I shared 500sqft studio apartment one block off campus for $1200 total, ie $400/mo less than we had been paying to get twice as much space per person.

Also, I'm guessing that most people that live off-campus don't consider the cost of food and housing off-campus as part of college expenses when looking back on it. It's just normal living expenses. The students that elect to live on campus, however, have the living expenses rolled into their student loans, so it becomes part of the cost of going to college for them.

+1 I've never thought of that, although that's exactly accurate for my situation.  In undergrad it was all one bucket of college costs, and in grad school I paid tuition and books (but never thought about my rent or bus pass as part of the costs).

[ShoulderThingThatGoesUp]

In my business I deal with pregnant women - some of the ridiculous amounts of money that are spent on prams (frequently $1,500 +), cots, change tables, cord blood banking, pregnancy photo shoots, birth photo shoots, 1 month photo shoots (etc), swingy things to pacify their screaming progeny, baby baths, monitors that let you hear, see and monitor breathing... it makes my head spin.

Like...a person with a camera in the delivery room? Yuck. Have these people seen birth?

[Inaya]

My husband and I always talk about how we need to invent something that parents think they MUST HAVE for their little ones, and then strike it rich. So far we have not proved to be great inventors though...

Censor the part of your brain that says "no-one would buy this shit", add a cute picture of a teddy, offer in a range of colours. For bonus points add wifi connectivity (this does not need to serve a purpose). Oh, and make it limited edition so that it is 'exclusive'.

This reminds me how in 1999, everything started being advertised as Y2K compliant, even when it made no sense. This toaster is Y2K compliant! This analog watch is Y2K compliant! This umbrella is Y2k compliant!

[Proud Foot]

My husband and I always talk about how we need to invent something that parents think they MUST HAVE for their little ones, and then strike it rich. So far we have not proved to be great inventors though...

Censor the part of your brain that says "no-one would buy this shit", add a cute picture of a teddy, offer in a range of colours. For bonus points add wifi connectivity (this does not need to serve a purpose). Oh, and make it limited edition so that it is 'exclusive'.

This reminds me how in 1999, everything started being advertised as Y2K compliant, even when it made no sense. This toaster is Y2K compliant! This analog watch is Y2K compliant! This umbrella is Y2k compliant!

I feel this way about some of the food labeling.  I saw something at the grocery store the other day that had a gluten free label on it.  I cannot remember what it was but it was something that would never include any ingredient containing gluten.

[maco]

My husband and I always talk about how we need to invent something that parents think they MUST HAVE for their little ones, and then strike it rich. So far we have not proved to be great inventors though...

Censor the part of your brain that says "no-one would buy this shit", add a cute picture of a teddy, offer in a range of colours. For bonus points add wifi connectivity (this does not need to serve a purpose). Oh, and make it limited edition so that it is 'exclusive'.

This reminds me how in 1999, everything started being advertised as Y2K compliant, even when it made no sense. This toaster is Y2K compliant! This analog watch is Y2K compliant! This umbrella is Y2k compliant!

I feel this way about some of the food labeling.  I saw something at the grocery store the other day that had a gluten free label on it.  I cannot remember what it was but it was something that would never include any ingredient containing gluten.

Salt?

[Inaya]

My husband and I always talk about how we need to invent something that parents think they MUST HAVE for their little ones, and then strike it rich. So far we have not proved to be great inventors though...

Censor the part of your brain that says "no-one would buy this shit", add a cute picture of a teddy, offer in a range of colours. For bonus points add wifi connectivity (this does not need to serve a purpose). Oh, and make it limited edition so that it is 'exclusive'.

This reminds me how in 1999, everything started being advertised as Y2K compliant, even when it made no sense. This toaster is Y2K compliant! This analog watch is Y2K compliant! This umbrella is Y2k compliant!

I feel this way about some of the food labeling.  I saw something at the grocery store the other day that had a gluten free label on it.  I cannot remember what it was but it was something that would never include any ingredient containing gluten.

Off the top of my head I can recall seeing gluten free labels on rice, mushrooms, and coffee.


Conversely, I've also been in a restaurant where they insisted that their bread was made from gluten-free wheat flour. So... yeah.

[onlykelsey]

My husband and I always talk about how we need to invent something that parents think they MUST HAVE for their little ones, and then strike it rich. So far we have not proved to be great inventors though...

Censor the part of your brain that says "no-one would buy this shit", add a cute picture of a teddy, offer in a range of colours. For bonus points add wifi connectivity (this does not need to serve a purpose). Oh, and make it limited edition so that it is 'exclusive'.

This reminds me how in 1999, everything started being advertised as Y2K compliant, even when it made no sense. This toaster is Y2K compliant! This analog watch is Y2K compliant! This umbrella is Y2k compliant!

I feel this way about some of the food labeling.  I saw something at the grocery store the other day that had a gluten free label on it.  I cannot remember what it was but it was something that would never include any ingredient containing gluten.

https://xkcd.com/641/

[MrsDinero]

The first time I saw this, I just thought "wow"

[I'm a red panda]

My husband and I always talk about how we need to invent something that parents think they MUST HAVE for their little ones, and then strike it rich. So far we have not proved to be great inventors though...

Censor the part of your brain that says "no-one would buy this shit", add a cute picture of a teddy, offer in a range of colours. For bonus points add wifi connectivity (this does not need to serve a purpose). Oh, and make it limited edition so that it is 'exclusive'.

This reminds me how in 1999, everything started being advertised as Y2K compliant, even when it made no sense. This toaster is Y2K compliant! This analog watch is Y2K compliant! This umbrella is Y2k compliant!

I feel this way about some of the food labeling.  I saw something at the grocery store the other day that had a gluten free label on it.  I cannot remember what it was but it was something that would never include any ingredient containing gluten.

Off the top of my head I can recall seeing gluten free labels on rice, mushrooms, and coffee.

There is a lot of cross contamination in food processing though. For those with an actual autoimmune disease (as opposed to just not wanting to eat gluten)- it makes a difference.

That said, I have seen carrots labeled cholesterol free.

[onlykelsey]

My husband and I always talk about how we need to invent something that parents think they MUST HAVE for their little ones, and then strike it rich. So far we have not proved to be great inventors though...

Censor the part of your brain that says "no-one would buy this shit", add a cute picture of a teddy, offer in a range of colours. For bonus points add wifi connectivity (this does not need to serve a purpose). Oh, and make it limited edition so that it is 'exclusive'.

This reminds me how in 1999, everything started being advertised as Y2K compliant, even when it made no sense. This toaster is Y2K compliant! This analog watch is Y2K compliant! This umbrella is Y2k compliant!

I feel this way about some of the food labeling.  I saw something at the grocery store the other day that had a gluten free label on it.  I cannot remember what it was but it was something that would never include any ingredient containing gluten.

Off the top of my head I can recall seeing gluten free labels on rice, mushrooms, and coffee.

There is a lot of cross contamination in food processing though. For those with an actual autoimmune disease (as opposed to just not wanting to eat gluten)- it makes a difference.

That said, I have seen carrots labeled cholesterol free.

I feel so bad for folks with actual Celiac disease.  I have a friend who was critically ill as a child in Turkey before they figured out what was going on, and now all the gluten-free labels are wrong, and people think he's an obnoxious hipster when he asks questions.

[mtn]

My husband and I always talk about how we need to invent something that parents think they MUST HAVE for their little ones, and then strike it rich. So far we have not proved to be great inventors though...

Censor the part of your brain that says "no-one would buy this shit", add a cute picture of a teddy, offer in a range of colours. For bonus points add wifi connectivity (this does not need to serve a purpose). Oh, and make it limited edition so that it is 'exclusive'.

This reminds me how in 1999, everything started being advertised as Y2K compliant, even when it made no sense. This toaster is Y2K compliant! This analog watch is Y2K compliant! This umbrella is Y2k compliant!

I feel this way about some of the food labeling.  I saw something at the grocery store the other day that had a gluten free label on it.  I cannot remember what it was but it was something that would never include any ingredient containing gluten.

Off the top of my head I can recall seeing gluten free labels on rice, mushrooms, and coffee.

There is a lot of cross contamination in food processing though. For those with an actual autoimmune disease (as opposed to just not wanting to eat gluten)- it makes a difference.

That said, I have seen carrots labeled cholesterol free.

I feel so bad for folks with actual Celiac disease.  I have a friend who was critically ill as a child in Turkey before they figured out what was going on, and now all the gluten-free labels are wrong, and people think he's an obnoxious hipster when he asks questions.

The issue that my mom is seeing and hearing (she is a school nurse) is that things are labeled "Gluten Free" but they may have come into contact at some point. This is much less an issue with packaged goods, but restaurants are labeling things as gluten free that are not 100% gluten free.

Gluten intolerant pisses me off so much though. And my wife (a Dietitian).

[Chris22]

...a brand new Tacoma extended cab.  Quite possibly the most expensive and useless truck on the market.

In what world is that true?  Ignoring the fact that this guy probably can't/shouldn't afford one, a Tacoma is A) not very expensive (ever priced out an American 3/4 ton or 1 ton truck???) and B) far from useless.  The things are bullet proof, last forever, have stellar resale value, etc etc etc.  It's basically the most "mustachian" truck one can buy, if there is such a thing. 

[Playing with Fire UK]

That said, I have seen carrots labeled cholesterol free.

I have seen a colleague buy a second packet of over priced marshmallows after someone pointed out the 'fat-free' label, and then eat them all while saying that she will skip the gym because she ate a healthy snack.