Overheard at Work

[Jimbo]

Uh... what? How else than by credit card are you supposed to pay for a 1400$ car repair? (I am not saying there are no way to lower the 1400$ bills, there are, but let's say it is 1400$ for argument's sake).

A bucket of nickel?

No seriously. I would pay that by credit card 100% certain.

I cannot even fathom a better way to pay for it.

[afictor]

Uh... what? How else than by credit card are you supposed to pay for a 1400$ car repair? (I am not saying there are no way to lower the 1400$ bills, there are, but let's say it is 1400$ for argument's sake).

A bucket of nickel?

No seriously. I would pay that by credit card 100% certain.

I cannot even fathom a better way to pay for it.

In my opinion, an emergency fund is set up exactly for unexpected expenses like this.

[Jimbo]

In that case, an emergency fund would be set up to pay the 1400$ credit card bill coming one interest-free month after the fact and giving all sorts of free money back.

But then again, I would pay it with cash flow instead of an EF. EFs are overrated, IMO.

[oldtoyota]

I checked out your blog and am really enjoying it. Will make sure to take a look often! Oh, I have the Parkview mug-haha, maybe I'll sell it!

Thanks!  Yeah, it's surprising how much stuff we all have around our house that we don't use for years but aren't willing to part with until we realize that someone else will pay for it!

Oh. I LOVE those mugs! Ours broke over the many years we had them. One that we still have stores pens. It's strangely nice to see the mugs again.


Okay..back on topic...

This was overheard at a conference.

Woman 1: So, I said to my 17 yo daughter, "Don't buy a car now. Save your money and use ours."
Woman 2: (Nods her head)
I am thinking, "YES YES YES!"

Woman 1: ...and then when you go off to State College, you can open your own line of credit and buy a car and we won't need to co-sign...

I am thinking, "NO NO NO."

I was in a town with NO public transportation. I could not live in a city that made me drive everywhere.

[dragoncar]

In that case, an emergency fund would be set up to pay the 1400$ credit card bill coming one interest-free month after the fact and giving all sorts of free money back.

But then again, I would pay it with cash flow instead of an EF. EFs are overrated, IMO.

I'd put it on the card too.  But if my card didn't work, I'd pay with a check.

[Jamesqf]

In that case, an emergency fund would be set up to pay the 1400$ credit card bill coming one interest-free month after the fact and giving all sorts of free money back.

But then again, I would pay it with cash flow instead of an EF. EFs are overrated, IMO.

Yes.  Say I have more than $1400 in the bank, and need to spend $1400 on a bill - car repairs or whatever.  I can

  A) Use my time & gas/ to run to the bank and get 14 $100 bills.

  B) Write a check for $1400.

  C) Use the credit card and get $14 back, plus (currently) 0% interest to the end of 2014.

So which of those is most beneficial to me?

[Elaine]

what in the world!!!!!!!!! that is a crazy ass water bill!! how do you even use that much water

Don't be so judgmental, obviously she's providing a habitat for indigenous mermaids in her basement.

[Elaine]

But seriously, this was said about a VP (who I suspect is a mustachian) at my work:

Lady 1: "I can't believe he brings his lunch to work, what's the deal with that???" (said incredulously)
Lady 2: "I know he's a VP, he can totally afford to eat out, I mean, I eat out all the time and I make like half what he does."

*FACEPALM*

The strangest thing was that they both seemed actually DISTURBED by his behavior, like they couldn't fathom it.

[MilwaukeeStubble]

Not "overheard" per se, but I'm currently in an office that provides free, chef-prepared (better than any restaurant I can afford) lunches.  Most people eat whatever the meal of the day happens to be but I know several who go out to eat 2-3x a week.

Aside: Apparently (I'm not an employee) they also 100% match any contribution you make to your 401k with no limit other than the legal max.  I've heard grumbling that"I don't use it anyway, why can't they just give me the cash"

I really, really want to be hired by this company some day.

[mrpress]

Co-worker and her husband live in a small town 20 miles away from the city they work in and drive into town separately every day, one in a Lexus SUV and another in a big-ass pickup truck, both financed. They take multiple vacations a year and last time they went, the husband messed up the irrigation system programming so they dumped a whole lotta water on the lawn while they were gone. $500 water bill that month. She said their electric bill is always over $200 while ours will maybe hit $100 in the dead of summer. This is with two adults and one kid in a (quite large) house with no one home all day. Heating bill is also ridiculous. Shopping is the wife's entertainment (they drive into town usually more than once every weekend to go shopping.) Yeesh. Their finances are separate with one paying some bills and another paying others. They claim it works for them but to me it would be easy for things to fall through the cracks that way.

[Kira]

Not "overheard" per se, but I'm currently in an office that provides free, chef-prepared (better than any restaurant I can afford) lunches.  Most people eat whatever the meal of the day happens to be but I know several who go out to eat 2-3x a week.

Aside: Apparently (I'm not an employee) they also 100% match any contribution you make to your 401k with no limit other than the legal max.  I've heard grumbling that"I don't use it anyway, why can't they just give me the cash"

I really, really want to be hired by this company some day.

HOLY CRAP I want to work at your workplace.

On a separate note, I bet they can afford to 100% match because maybe a handful of people actually max it out. Though I would bet with a company that's got this much cash sloshing around, they probably pay pretty well, and people still will say they don't have enough money.

[dragoncar]

Not "overheard" per se, but I'm currently in an office that provides free, chef-prepared (better than any restaurant I can afford) lunches.  Most people eat whatever the meal of the day happens to be but I know several who go out to eat 2-3x a week.

Aside: Apparently (I'm not an employee) they also 100% match any contribution you make to your 401k with no limit other than the legal max.  I've heard grumbling that"I don't use it anyway, why can't they just give me the cash"

I really, really want to be hired by this company some day.

HOLY CRAP I want to work at your workplace.

On a separate note, I bet they can afford to 100% match because maybe a handful of people actually max it out. Though I would bet with a company that's got this much cash sloshing around, they probably pay pretty well, and people still will say they don't have enough money.

If this is a tech firm, I bet the majority of technical employees max it out.  From my experience at tech firms.

[workathomedad]

Today someone said

"Ugh I just got the iPhone 5 a couple months ago, but I need the iPhone 5S. Oh well."

Both of their kids have their very own Retina iPads and iPhones, plus brand new cars!!

[MilwaukeeStubble]

Not "overheard" per se, but I'm currently in an office that provides free, chef-prepared (better than any restaurant I can afford) lunches.  Most people eat whatever the meal of the day happens to be but I know several who go out to eat 2-3x a week.

Aside: Apparently (I'm not an employee) they also 100% match any contribution you make to your 401k with no limit other than the legal max.  I've heard grumbling that"I don't use it anyway, why can't they just give me the cash"

I really, really want to be hired by this company some day.

HOLY CRAP I want to work at your workplace.

On a separate note, I bet they can afford to 100% match because maybe a handful of people actually max it out. Though I would bet with a company that's got this much cash sloshing around, they probably pay pretty well, and people still will say they don't have enough money.

If this is a tech firm, I bet the majority of technical employees max it out.  From my experience at tech firms.

I know right? Shit if I made 20k a year there I'd contribute 17.5 and figure out how to live off the rest (food budget = 0 for one) :).

Alas, I am but a contractor, which is nice since I only work 40 hrs a week (or they pay me for staying) but all I get to enjoy is the free food.  It's still a great place to work though.

[imbros]

Not "overheard" per se, but I'm currently in an office that provides free, chef-prepared (better than any restaurant I can afford) lunches.  Most people eat whatever the meal of the day happens to be but I know several who go out to eat 2-3x a week.

I think I know the place. Top tip for employers: If you want to make a name for yourself in your state, provide your employees with free, good food. :)

[nawhite]

A coworker of mine came back to the US after spending a few years in Australia (Alice Springs). He's now been here for about 6 months. We got to talking about going on a multi week motorcycle trip and how awesome that would be.

Him: Australians always go on month long vacations and have it paid for by their employers. Now that I'm back I'll never get to do a big trip like that.
Me: Oh because you won't have the vacation? Well our employer is really generous with unpaid time off for trips. I took off a week unpaid this summer because my wife is a teacher. I could have taken more easily.
Him: No its the fact I could never pay for it.
Me: But if you could save 25% of your paycheck you could take a huge vacation? (I was being generous with the 25%, I know he makes around 100k/year and is single)
Him: I could do that in Australia, but here they just bleed you dry. I'm lucky if I can save 1% now.
Me in my head: (HOW MUCH WERE YOU MAKING IN AUSTRALIA?!?!)

Can someone who lives there explain to me what the cost of living is like in Australia? My understanding was that most things were much more expensive there.

[Elaine]

Oh man, this one today was a doozy (hearing a lot lately for some reason)

I was standing at the microwave removing my beautiful bowl of pasta and veggies when...

Office Guy: Mmm, food...
Me: hehe, yep!
O.G.: I'm so hungry
Me: Well you should eat then!
O.G.: I can't until tomorrow
Me: Why? (I literally thought he was joking)
O.G.: We don't get paid until tomorrow.
Me: You should learn to cook! It's cheap!
O.G. I can't afford to cook anything or buy anything to eat. I mean, I literally have no money. (said in annoyed manner)


WHAT THE HELL?! I work in an office, everyone makes at least 40k in my area. I eat for $2.49 a day. And he acted like I was being a total asshole, or like he was fishing for me to share my food with him or something. And here's the kicker: he smokes cigarettes. In my city cigs are like $14 a pack. The old me would have been all, oh you can have some. But I absolutely do not feel bad for him, you can't try and help people like that. 

*vent over*

[mgreczyn]

I try to be sympathetic, but then she:

1.  Books a weeklong vacation to Hawaii
2. Books plane tickets to visit family back east for Thanksgiving weekend
3. Books plane tickets to go to a wedding in November
4. Has a fancy-ass gym membership
5. Regularly gets manicures, professional hair coloring, etc.
6. Buys coffee en route to work several times a week
7. Buys lunch every day
8. Seems to go wine tasting or to lunch with friends every weekend
9. Rents a 3 bedroom townhouse and is talking about upgrading to a 4th bedroom (they are thinking of having a 2nd kid, apparently they must have separate bedrooms for each kid AND a dedicated guest bedroom).
10. Two iphones

I don't think I'd put visiting family or going to a wedding on the same list as many of these things. Hawaii can go, though.

Also, wine tasting can be free or cheap, depending on where you go. Napa/Sonoma are expensive, but California is like all wine country. I could believe it that she's going to the spendier places, though, based on some of the above items.

Wine tasting is always free, unless you're doing it wrong.  Hint: if you're paying for it, you're doing it wrong.  Then it's called wine BUYING and the bottle box is included.

[Mrs3F]

Oh man, this one today was a doozy (hearing a lot lately for some reason)

I was standing at the microwave removing my beautiful bowl of pasta and veggies when...

Office Guy: Mmm, food...
Me: hehe, yep!
O.G.: I'm so hungry
Me: Well you should eat then!
O.G.: I can't until tomorrow
Me: Why? (I literally thought he was joking)
O.G.: We don't get paid until tomorrow.
Me: You should learn to cook! It's cheap!
O.G. I can't afford to cook anything or buy anything to eat. I mean, I literally have no money. (said in annoyed manner)


WHAT THE HELL?! I work in an office, everyone makes at least 40k in my area. I eat for $2.49 a day. And he acted like I was being a total asshole, or like he was fishing for me to share my food with him or something. And here's the kicker: he smokes cigarettes. In my city cigs are like $14 a pack. The old me would have been all, oh you can have some. But I absolutely do not feel bad for him, you can't try and help people like that. 

*vent over*

That's not a cash-flow problem; that's a priorities problem.

[dragoncar]

Oh man, this one today was a doozy (hearing a lot lately for some reason)

I was standing at the microwave removing my beautiful bowl of pasta and veggies when...

Office Guy: Mmm, food...
Me: hehe, yep!
O.G.: I'm so hungry
Me: Well you should eat then!
O.G.: I can't until tomorrow
Me: Why? (I literally thought he was joking)
O.G.: We don't get paid until tomorrow.
Me: You should learn to cook! It's cheap!
O.G. I can't afford to cook anything or buy anything to eat. I mean, I literally have no money. (said in annoyed manner)


WHAT THE HELL?! I work in an office, everyone makes at least 40k in my area. I eat for $2.49 a day. And he acted like I was being a total asshole, or like he was fishing for me to share my food with him or something. And here's the kicker: he smokes cigarettes. In my city cigs are like $14 a pack. The old me would have been all, oh you can have some. But I absolutely do not feel bad for him, you can't try and help people like that. 

*vent over*

MMM food... Can I have some?

[galliver]

I try to be sympathetic, but then she:

1.  Books a weeklong vacation to Hawaii
2. Books plane tickets to visit family back east for Thanksgiving weekend
3. Books plane tickets to go to a wedding in November
4. Has a fancy-ass gym membership
5. Regularly gets manicures, professional hair coloring, etc.
6. Buys coffee en route to work several times a week
7. Buys lunch every day
8. Seems to go wine tasting or to lunch with friends every weekend
9. Rents a 3 bedroom townhouse and is talking about upgrading to a 4th bedroom (they are thinking of having a 2nd kid, apparently they must have separate bedrooms for each kid AND a dedicated guest bedroom).
10. Two iphones

I don't think I'd put visiting family or going to a wedding on the same list as many of these things. Hawaii can go, though.

Also, wine tasting can be free or cheap, depending on where you go. Napa/Sonoma are expensive, but California is like all wine country. I could believe it that she's going to the spendier places, though, based on some of the above items.

Wine tasting is always free, unless you're doing it wrong.  Hint: if you're paying for it, you're doing it wrong.  Then it's called wine BUYING and the bottle box is included.

If you ONLY drink wine from a box, you're doing it wrong. :P J/k drink whatever you want. But regarding tasting, you can miss out on some great places that charge a $5 tasting fee if you limit yourself to free wineries exclusively. Just saying.

[chardog]

If you ONLY drink wine from a box, you're doing it wrong. :P

Scientists say wine-in-a-box tastes better
http://blog.chron.com/sciguy/2009/06/scientists-say-wine-in-a-box-tastes-better/

[ThatGirl]

My classmate was telling me about her boyfriend & his truck. He lives in one city, but commutes across a tollbridge to work in another city. To avoid this toll & hour long commute, he drives his truck to work on Monday & uses his company's commuter bus the rest of the week. On Friday, he drives his truck home. During the week, he bikes around our city. When I asked why he didn't just get rid of the truck, she said "Oh no, he'll never do that. It's his baby. He got it for himself as a treat for getting this great job."

This made me laugh because I am trying to figure out a way to go completely car-less. I drool over the amount of money I will save when I don't pay for gas, insurance, & repairs.

[mariarose]

From the young man who is taking my spot in the company hierarchy, and whom I am training, when he got his first paycheck...."Wow, I have $60.00 left to spend!  I don't know what to get, but I have to get something!"  I told him to check out the Mr Money Mustache blog!

[mgreczyn]

I try to be sympathetic, but then she:

1.  Books a weeklong vacation to Hawaii
2. Books plane tickets to visit family back east for Thanksgiving weekend
3. Books plane tickets to go to a wedding in November
4. Has a fancy-ass gym membership
5. Regularly gets manicures, professional hair coloring, etc.
6. Buys coffee en route to work several times a week
7. Buys lunch every day
8. Seems to go wine tasting or to lunch with friends every weekend
9. Rents a 3 bedroom townhouse and is talking about upgrading to a 4th bedroom (they are thinking of having a 2nd kid, apparently they must have separate bedrooms for each kid AND a dedicated guest bedroom).
10. Two iphones

I don't think I'd put visiting family or going to a wedding on the same list as many of these things. Hawaii can go, though.

Also, wine tasting can be free or cheap, depending on where you go. Napa/Sonoma are expensive, but California is like all wine country. I could believe it that she's going to the spendier places, though, based on some of the above items.

Wine tasting is always free, unless you're doing it wrong.  Hint: if you're paying for it, you're doing it wrong.  Then it's called wine BUYING and the bottle box is included.

If you ONLY drink wine from a box, you're doing it wrong. :P J/k drink whatever you want. But regarding tasting, you can miss out on some great places that charge a $5 tasting fee if you limit yourself to free wineries exclusively. Just saying.

Indeed.  I do drink from the occasional bottle, and I enjoy it almost every time. We've done wine tasting in California, Colorado and Texas, both free and paid tastings, and IF paying $5 were a way to consistently guarantee a better experience I might be less averse to it. However, there was many a free tasting that made me want to go get my $5 back from the last place, which basically makes me discount any "tasting" that's not free as woefully overpriced. Being civilized, instead of attempting to return the product I simply bought a bottle from their competition as consumer revenge. Rather than charging a "tasting fee" maybe they should just say "hey, we have really little glasses of wine for sale". IMHO if the wine industry collectively wants to not lose money on their tasting rooms, they should either find a way to make it an experience worth paying for or make wine that blows peoples' socks off so even a tightwad like me buys a bottle.

On the other hand, I have no problem paying regular price for beer in a brewery's taproom, so maybe that says all you need to know about my palate!  For some reason, a brewery charging $5 for a pint says to me "we know you'll buy another" while a winery charging $5 for a tasting says to me "we think this may be our only chance to get money out of this guy".  Go figure.

[galliver]

I try to be sympathetic, but then she:

1.  Books a weeklong vacation to Hawaii
2. Books plane tickets to visit family back east for Thanksgiving weekend
3. Books plane tickets to go to a wedding in November
4. Has a fancy-ass gym membership
5. Regularly gets manicures, professional hair coloring, etc.
6. Buys coffee en route to work several times a week
7. Buys lunch every day
8. Seems to go wine tasting or to lunch with friends every weekend
9. Rents a 3 bedroom townhouse and is talking about upgrading to a 4th bedroom (they are thinking of having a 2nd kid, apparently they must have separate bedrooms for each kid AND a dedicated guest bedroom).
10. Two iphones

I don't think I'd put visiting family or going to a wedding on the same list as many of these things. Hawaii can go, though.

Also, wine tasting can be free or cheap, depending on where you go. Napa/Sonoma are expensive, but California is like all wine country. I could believe it that she's going to the spendier places, though, based on some of the above items.

Wine tasting is always free, unless you're doing it wrong.  Hint: if you're paying for it, you're doing it wrong.  Then it's called wine BUYING and the bottle box is included.

If you ONLY drink wine from a box, you're doing it wrong. :P J/k drink whatever you want. But regarding tasting, you can miss out on some great places that charge a $5 tasting fee if you limit yourself to free wineries exclusively. Just saying.

Indeed.  I do drink from the occasional bottle, and I enjoy it almost every time. We've done wine tasting in California, Colorado and Texas, both free and paid tastings, and IF paying $5 were a way to consistently guarantee a better experience I might be less averse to it. However, there was many a free tasting that made me want to go get my $5 back from the last place, which basically makes me discount any "tasting" that's not free as woefully overpriced. Being civilized, instead of attempting to return the product I simply bought a bottle from their competition as consumer revenge. Rather than charging a "tasting fee" maybe they should just say "hey, we have really little glasses of wine for sale". IMHO if the wine industry collectively wants to not lose money on their tasting rooms, they should either find a way to make it an experience worth paying for or make wine that blows peoples' socks off so even a tightwad like me buys a bottle.

On the other hand, I have no problem paying regular price for beer in a brewery's taproom, so maybe that says all you need to know about my palate!  For some reason, a brewery charging $5 for a pint says to me "we know you'll buy another" while a winery charging $5 for a tasting says to me "we think this may be our only chance to get money out of this guy".  Go figure.

Ew, beer! (which probably tells you about my palate ;) ) I have no sources for this fanciful pseudo-historical narrative, but I believe what happened was wineries started offering (free) tastings to entice people to buy their wine, because no one wants to buy a $20 bottle and be disappointed. Then word got out that tasting a bunch of wines was a fun experience (and free!) and people who had no intention of buying bottles started going out and doing it. Wineries started losing money, and someone had the bright idea of charging a nominal fee to offset the cost of those freeloaders and/or discourage them. Then the nominal fee went up...and up... not sure if it ever turns a profit for certain places, but I'm sure someone has had that idea by now, too (charge enough to not just cover losses, but actually make money).

I suspect there is zero or a slightly (but not strongly) negative correlation between price and wine quality. i.e. you can have great wine for free, great wine for $15 or you can have sucky or overhyped wine at either place.

[Jamesqf]

My classmate was telling me about her boyfriend & his truck. He lives in one city, but commutes across a tollbridge to work in another city. To avoid this toll & hour long commute, he drives his truck to work on Monday & uses his company's commuter bus the rest of the week. On Friday, he drives his truck home. During the week, he bikes around our city. When I asked why he didn't just get rid of the truck, she said "Oh no, he'll never do that. It's his baby. He got it for himself as a great for getting this great job."

I can sort of understand that.  The point is that life is what happens on weekends (for which his truck may be useful).  The work week is just how you pay for it.

Indeed, I used to do something quite similar.  Had a consulting job which had me driving ~250 miles into Silicon Valley on alternate weeks.  So I'd get there Sunday evening, park the car, bike to work &c all week, then drive home Friday night.  But all that was just work: my real life had nothing to do with the city.

[GuitarStv]

I paid 5$ to go to a wine tasting at a food and drink show here in Toronto . . . they had a bucket at each table that you were supposed to spit the wine out into.  Of the 40+ people at the tasting, not one person used the bucket.  :P  Can't imagine paying for a tasting, then spitting out the drink you paid for . . .

[dragoncar]

I paid 5$ to go to a wine tasting at a food and drink show here in Toronto . . . they had a bucket at each table that you were supposed to spit the wine out into.  Of the 40+ people at the tasting, not one person used the bucket.  :P  Can't imagine paying for a tasting, then spitting out the drink you paid for . . .

Round these parts, if you do a true tasting, where you spit, a winery is unlikely to charge you a fee.  They see you are a serious taster.  But if what you are really doing is wine "drinking" then I don't see a problem with the fee.  Most will also apply the fee to a bottle you buy.

Do you guys object to $10 beer samplers?  Same concept really.  If you want a single glass of wine, they usually sell those too.

[brewer12345]

I paid 5$ to go to a wine tasting at a food and drink show here in Toronto . . . they had a bucket at each table that you were supposed to spit the wine out into.  Of the 40+ people at the tasting, not one person used the bucket.  :P  Can't imagine paying for a tasting, then spitting out the drink you paid for . . .

Depends on how many wines you plan to taste that day.  2 or 3?  Swallow.  15+?  Spit.

[mgreczyn]

I paid 5$ to go to a wine tasting at a food and drink show here in Toronto . . . they had a bucket at each table that you were supposed to spit the wine out into.  Of the 40+ people at the tasting, not one person used the bucket.  :P  Can't imagine paying for a tasting, then spitting out the drink you paid for . . .

Round these parts, if you do a true tasting, where you spit, a winery is unlikely to charge you a fee.  They see you are a serious taster.  But if what you are really doing is wine "drinking" then I don't see a problem with the fee.  Most will also apply the fee to a bottle you buy.

Do you guys object to $10 beer samplers?  Same concept really.  If you want a single glass of wine, they usually sell those too.

Ah ha, another reason I prefer my local breweries to any far-flung winery!  This reason happens to be cultural. You see, at a true beer tasting you drink the whole damn thing and then ask for another one if you liked it.  If not, you try a different style. Don't even think about spitting it out. I've found the same applies to whiskey.  And tequila.

[galliver]

I paid 5$ to go to a wine tasting at a food and drink show here in Toronto . . . they had a bucket at each table that you were supposed to spit the wine out into.  Of the 40+ people at the tasting, not one person used the bucket.  :P  Can't imagine paying for a tasting, then spitting out the drink you paid for . . .

Round these parts, if you do a true tasting, where you spit, a winery is unlikely to charge you a fee.  They see you are a serious taster.  But if what you are really doing is wine "drinking" then I don't see a problem with the fee.  Most will also apply the fee to a bottle you buy.

Do you guys object to $10 beer samplers?  Same concept really.  If you want a single glass of wine, they usually sell those too.

Ah ha, another reason I prefer my local breweries to any far-flung winery!  This reason happens to be cultural. You see, at a true beer tasting you drink the whole damn thing and then ask for another one if you liked it.  If not, you try a different style. Don't even think about spitting it out. I've found the same applies to whiskey.  And tequila.

That's dumb. I mean, I don't spit out the wine, but I dump out the rest of the glass if it's really not my thing. Why would I want to finish a glass of something awful?

[notquitefrugal]

If you ONLY drink wine from a box, you're doing it wrong. :P J/k drink whatever you want. But regarding tasting, you can miss out on some great places that charge a $5 tasting fee if you limit yourself to free wineries exclusively. Just saying.

I often end up buying a bottle or three if I go for a wine tasting, which is why I don't do it that often! 99% of the wine I drink comes from a box.

[brewer12345]

I paid 5$ to go to a wine tasting at a food and drink show here in Toronto . . . they had a bucket at each table that you were supposed to spit the wine out into.  Of the 40+ people at the tasting, not one person used the bucket.  :P  Can't imagine paying for a tasting, then spitting out the drink you paid for . . .

Round these parts, if you do a true tasting, where you spit, a winery is unlikely to charge you a fee.  They see you are a serious taster.  But if what you are really doing is wine "drinking" then I don't see a problem with the fee.  Most will also apply the fee to a bottle you buy.

Do you guys object to $10 beer samplers?  Same concept really.  If you want a single glass of wine, they usually sell those too.

Ah ha, another reason I prefer my local breweries to any far-flung winery!  This reason happens to be cultural. You see, at a true beer tasting you drink the whole damn thing and then ask for another one if you liked it.  If not, you try a different style. Don't even think about spitting it out. I've found the same applies to whiskey.  And tequila.

I'm a BJCP National beer judge.  If I am judging (15 to 30+ beers in a day), I take no more than a couple tiny sips of the vast majority of samples.  Most get dumped after a couple tiny sips on my part.

[dragoncar]

I paid 5$ to go to a wine tasting at a food and drink show here in Toronto . . . they had a bucket at each table that you were supposed to spit the wine out into.  Of the 40+ people at the tasting, not one person used the bucket.  :P  Can't imagine paying for a tasting, then spitting out the drink you paid for . . .

Round these parts, if you do a true tasting, where you spit, a winery is unlikely to charge you a fee.  They see you are a serious taster.  But if what you are really doing is wine "drinking" then I don't see a problem with the fee.  Most will also apply the fee to a bottle you buy.

Do you guys object to $10 beer samplers?  Same concept really.  If you want a single glass of wine, they usually sell those too.

Ah ha, another reason I prefer my local breweries to any far-flung winery!  This reason happens to be cultural. You see, at a true beer tasting you drink the whole damn thing and then ask for another one if you liked it.  If not, you try a different style. Don't even think about spitting it out. I've found the same applies to whiskey.  And tequila.

I'm a BJCP National beer judge.  If I am judging (15 to 30+ beers in a day), I take no more than a couple tiny sips of the vast majority of samples.  Most get dumped after a couple tiny sips on my part.

I find that every wine and beer tastes brilliant after the fourth or fifth "tasting"

[mgreczyn]

I paid 5$ to go to a wine tasting at a food and drink show here in Toronto . . . they had a bucket at each table that you were supposed to spit the wine out into.  Of the 40+ people at the tasting, not one person used the bucket.  :P  Can't imagine paying for a tasting, then spitting out the drink you paid for . . .

Round these parts, if you do a true tasting, where you spit, a winery is unlikely to charge you a fee.  They see you are a serious taster.  But if what you are really doing is wine "drinking" then I don't see a problem with the fee.  Most will also apply the fee to a bottle you buy.

Do you guys object to $10 beer samplers?  Same concept really.  If you want a single glass of wine, they usually sell those too.

Ah ha, another reason I prefer my local breweries to any far-flung winery!  This reason happens to be cultural. You see, at a true beer tasting you drink the whole damn thing and then ask for another one if you liked it.  If not, you try a different style. Don't even think about spitting it out. I've found the same applies to whiskey.  And tequila.

I'm a BJCP National beer judge.  If I am judging (15 to 30+ beers in a day), I take no more than a couple tiny sips of the vast majority of samples.  Most get dumped after a couple tiny sips on my part.

Of course you do.  But when you're NOT judging, do you ever take a taste of a pint of something new, swish it around in your mouth and then spit it out?  The day I see roving packs of BMWs, Range Rovers and Lexii travelling from brewery to brewery with people in them who are not National Beer Judges but spit perfectly good beer out in a misguided effort to seem like National Beer Judges is the day I switch fully and permanently to hard liquor and homebrews.  Yes, I am lampooning wine culture.  No, I am not taking it back.

[dragoncar]

I paid 5$ to go to a wine tasting at a food and drink show here in Toronto . . . they had a bucket at each table that you were supposed to spit the wine out into.  Of the 40+ people at the tasting, not one person used the bucket.  :P  Can't imagine paying for a tasting, then spitting out the drink you paid for . . .

Round these parts, if you do a true tasting, where you spit, a winery is unlikely to charge you a fee.  They see you are a serious taster.  But if what you are really doing is wine "drinking" then I don't see a problem with the fee.  Most will also apply the fee to a bottle you buy.

Do you guys object to $10 beer samplers?  Same concept really.  If you want a single glass of wine, they usually sell those too.

Ah ha, another reason I prefer my local breweries to any far-flung winery!  This reason happens to be cultural. You see, at a true beer tasting you drink the whole damn thing and then ask for another one if you liked it.  If not, you try a different style. Don't even think about spitting it out. I've found the same applies to whiskey.  And tequila.

I'm a BJCP National beer judge.  If I am judging (15 to 30+ beers in a day), I take no more than a couple tiny sips of the vast majority of samples.  Most get dumped after a couple tiny sips on my part.

Of course you do.  But when you're NOT judging, do you ever take a taste of a pint of something new, swish it around in your mouth and then spit it out?  The day I see roving packs of BMWs, Range Rovers and Lexii travelling from brewery to brewery with people in them who are not National Beer Judges but spit perfectly good beer out in a misguided effort to seem like National Beer Judges is the day I switch fully and permanently to hard liquor and homebrews.  Yes, I am lampooning wine culture.  No, I am not taking it back.

I've never seen this with wine.  The roving packs drink the entire tasting, and the pour is a lot bigger when you pay.

The connoisseurs get a very small pour and probably have a reservation in the back room anyways, so you won't see them.  Then they buy a few cases and actually drink the wine.

[brewer12345]

I paid 5$ to go to a wine tasting at a food and drink show here in Toronto . . . they had a bucket at each table that you were supposed to spit the wine out into.  Of the 40+ people at the tasting, not one person used the bucket.  :P  Can't imagine paying for a tasting, then spitting out the drink you paid for . . .

Round these parts, if you do a true tasting, where you spit, a winery is unlikely to charge you a fee.  They see you are a serious taster.  But if what you are really doing is wine "drinking" then I don't see a problem with the fee.  Most will also apply the fee to a bottle you buy.

Do you guys object to $10 beer samplers?  Same concept really.  If you want a single glass of wine, they usually sell those too.

Ah ha, another reason I prefer my local breweries to any far-flung winery!  This reason happens to be cultural. You see, at a true beer tasting you drink the whole damn thing and then ask for another one if you liked it.  If not, you try a different style. Don't even think about spitting it out. I've found the same applies to whiskey.  And tequila.

I'm a BJCP National beer judge.  If I am judging (15 to 30+ beers in a day), I take no more than a couple tiny sips of the vast majority of samples.  Most get dumped after a couple tiny sips on my part.

Of course you do.  But when you're NOT judging, do you ever take a taste of a pint of something new, swish it around in your mouth and then spit it out?  The day I see roving packs of BMWs, Range Rovers and Lexii travelling from brewery to brewery with people in them who are not National Beer Judges but spit perfectly good beer out in a misguided effort to seem like National Beer Judges is the day I switch fully and permanently to hard liquor and homebrews.  Yes, I am lampooning wine culture.  No, I am not taking it back.

If I am at a brewery I am unfamiliar with, I usually ask the server for a sample of a beer I am considering.  They almost always happily bring out about an ounce of whatever I am interested in.  After the sample I make a decision on what to order.

[weston]

I still remember the great feeling I had a few years ago when showing up for work one day. I found an open space to  park my Sentra with 280,000 miles right between my office manager's BMW and my associate attorney's brand new Jaguar.

I own the firm and know I was making more than twice their salaries.

[dragoncar]

I still remember the great feeling I had a few years ago when showing up for work one day. I found an open space to  park my Sentra with 280,000 miles right between my office manager's BMW and my associate attorney's brand new Jaguar.

I own the firm and know I was making more than twice their salaries.

Why do office managers get paid so much?  Is there a school of office management?

[weston]

I still remember the great feeling I had a few years ago when showing up for work one day. I found an open space to  park my Sentra with 280,000 miles right between my office manager's BMW and my associate attorney's brand new Jaguar.

I own the firm and know I was making more than twice their salaries.

Why do office managers get paid so much?  Is there a school of office management?

What do you mean by "so much"? I didn't mention how much she made. Only that she had a BMW and that she earned less than half of what I was making at the time. Not quite following the question.

[Mrs WW]

I still remember the great feeling I had a few years ago when showing up for work one day. I found an open space to  park my Sentra with 280,000 miles right between my office manager's BMW and my associate attorney's brand new Jaguar.

I own the firm and know I was making more than twice their salaries.

Oh, I loved my Sentra. It just ran and ran like nobodys business! I got a good 48 miles to the gallon in it as well, and thats before i ever heard of hypermiling. Great car!

[dragoncar]

I still remember the great feeling I had a few years ago when showing up for work one day. I found an open space to  park my Sentra with 280,000 miles right between my office manager's BMW and my associate attorney's brand new Jaguar.

I own the firm and know I was making more than twice their salaries.

Why do office managers get paid so much?  Is there a school of office management?

What do you mean by "so much"? I didn't mention how much she made. Only that she had a BMW and that she earned less than half of what I was making at the time. Not quite following the question.

Enough to make payments on a BMW, presumably

[weston]

I still remember the great feeling I had a few years ago when showing up for work one day. I found an open space to  park my Sentra with 280,000 miles right between my office manager's BMW and my associate attorney's brand new Jaguar.

I own the firm and know I was making more than twice their salaries.

Why do office managers get paid so much?  Is there a school of office management?

What do you mean by "so much"? I didn't mention how much she made. Only that she had a BMW and that she earned less than half of what I was making at the time. Not quite following the question.

Enough to make payments on a BMW, presumably

Not sure how much she was paying in $ but just did a quick search for BMW 3 series and monthly payment for a loan runs a little over $400 a month. Heck. I know janitors and retail clerks paying that amount for car loans.

Not that I approve, but you really don't need to have a high income to qualify for a loan for some of the less expensive BMW models.

[dragoncar]

I still remember the great feeling I had a few years ago when showing up for work one day. I found an open space to  park my Sentra with 280,000 miles right between my office manager's BMW and my associate attorney's brand new Jaguar.

I own the firm and know I was making more than twice their salaries.

Why do office managers get paid so much?  Is there a school of office management?

What do you mean by "so much"? I didn't mention how much she made. Only that she had a BMW and that she earned less than half of what I was making at the time. Not quite following the question.

Enough to make payments on a BMW, presumably

Not sure how much she was paying in $ but just did a quick search for BMW 3 series and monthly payment for a loan runs a little over $400 a month. Heck. I know janitors and retail clerks paying that amount for car loans.

Not that I approve, but you really don't need to have a high income to qualify for a loan for some of the less expensive BMW models.

Why do janitors and retail clerks make so much?

[Albert]

Would you prefer them poor?

[weston]

I still remember the great feeling I had a few years ago when showing up for work one day. I found an open space to  park my Sentra with 280,000 miles right between my office manager's BMW and my associate attorney's brand new Jaguar.

I own the firm and know I was making more than twice their salaries.

Why do office managers get paid so much?  Is there a school of office management?

What do you mean by "so much"? I didn't mention how much she made. Only that she had a BMW and that she earned less than half of what I was making at the time. Not quite following the question.

Enough to make payments on a BMW, presumably

Not sure how much she was paying in $ but just did a quick search for BMW 3 series and monthly payment for a loan runs a little over $400 a month. Heck. I know janitors and retail clerks paying that amount for car loans.

Not that I approve, but you really don't need to have a high income to qualify for a loan for some of the less expensive BMW models.

Why do janitors and retail clerks make so much?

They don't. They spend that much.

[dragoncar]

I still remember the great feeling I had a few years ago when showing up for work one day. I found an open space to  park my Sentra with 280,000 miles right between my office manager's BMW and my associate attorney's brand new Jaguar.

I own the firm and know I was making more than twice their salaries.

Why do office managers get paid so much?  Is there a school of office management?

What do you mean by "so much"? I didn't mention how much she made. Only that she had a BMW and that she earned less than half of what I was making at the time. Not quite following the question.

Enough to make payments on a BMW, presumably

Not sure how much she was paying in $ but just did a quick search for BMW 3 series and monthly payment for a loan runs a little over $400 a month. Heck. I know janitors and retail clerks paying that amount for car loans.

Not that I approve, but you really don't need to have a high income to qualify for a loan for some of the less expensive BMW models.

Why do janitors and retail clerks make so much?

They don't. They spend that much.

Well I'd hope they make the money they spend.  Very few people can run a perpetual deficit.

Would you prefer them poor?

No, it was a joke

[vern]

My wife's Sentra just passed 236,000 miles tonight.  (Sliding into a quarter of a million!)

Great cars.

[Vitai Slade]

Okay, so I have one for you.

Today at work in the break room I heard one of my co-workers (who makes way more than I do on a daily basis) complaining that the company was taking too much out of her check for her 401k. Another co-worker stated that she could always reduce it if she needs the extra income. I asked her how much she was putting in and she said 8% (the company matches $0.25 to the $1.00 on the first 8% contributed. No match after that. Not great, but still free money.) I kinda laughed and told her I was putting in almost double that... (15%, max allowable by the plan) and explained to her that you don't even really notice it that much when it's that small. I told her that even at my 15%, I'm only missing about $100 or so per check and that $200 was going into my 401k. That the tax savings alone makes it worth it, then the match on top of that is even better. She of course stated that she has a kid and it makes a difference to her. I just kinda shook my head.

...I also conveniently left out the part about saving an extra $1,000 each month on top of my 401k savings... and claiming 0 allowances so that I get a nice windfall each year... and saving $500 each month for my vacation account (I like to take lots of vacations... live that retired life even in the midst of having to work for now). Maybe if she didn't go party every weekend at the bars and clubs.......