Overheard at Work

[Insanity]

Second wedding, to my current husband (13th anniversary in 2 days): $800. Including everything. Piece of cake, very little planning, except was actually important to us. Our 12th anniversary is in two days.

Ummm......

Ack! I wrote the 13th, then did the math and realized it was just 12. Don't tell my husband. :)

LOL.  I figured that. And that's alright, he won't know since I misquoted you above :-/

[Fonzico]

Although I'm not 100% certain on the final total amount spent on our wedding, it was definitely under $3000.

And most of that was renting a large property in the mountains for us and both of our families for a week, which was also where the wedding was, so if you only count the one day's worth of the venue costs, it was closer to $2000. The rest was just a big group vacation, and it was awesome :)

I had TWO dresses! At a cost of $25 each. I did have to spend a bit for appropriate undergarments, and my hubby got a new dress shirt/pants/vest combo, so clothing costs between us were about $300. Neither of us wore shoes :)

Officiant was $150 (can't ordain random people in Canada, you need either a religious officiant, or a marriage commissioner)

Food and alcohol: We supplied wine and beer, and our parents cooked the meal, which was steak, salmon, and chicken, corn on the cob, ceaser salad, veggie and cheese plates. We did have a cake made, I think it was around $200. <-- this was my SIL's insistence, and either she or my MIL paid for it. I didn't want cake, and didn't care if we had it. We also had a midnight snack of grilled cheese :) Total food and drink costs were around $500.

Decorations: Some paper lanterns we hung from the trees. Small yellow bird cages and candles on the tables. We did buy table clothes, which cost around $150 and were our one big decorative splurge, but have since been re-purposed for curtains.

We hired a photographer who was still building up her portfolio, and who decided to make a vacation of it, and didn't charge us mileage. She cost us $500 total.

Other ways we kept it cheap:
A friend offered to bring sound equipment, and while we had prepared a playlist, he actually surprised us by DJing the whole night, which was super cool of him.

My best friend happens to be a hair dresser, so she did my hair for free.

My in-laws already owned a party tent and several folding tables and chairs, so we didn't have to rent any other those things.

I didn't include our ring costs here, but they were approx $400 for all three of them (engagement, and two wedding bands)

And we only had thirty guests, and no wedding party. This included immediate family, most of our nieces and nephews, and about a dozen close friends.


It helped that the people we care about know us well enough to not expect a big, fancy event. It was so much fun, totally "us", and by all reports, no one minded the lack of all the expensive things that people usually spend on weddings. Most of our guests had a beer in hand, while watching us tie the knot in front a beautiful lake on a sweltering August day, and I wouldn't change a damn thing.

[caherriman]

We paid roughly $1600 for our wedding. And that includes my $1200 ring. Which I do not even wear anymore. My hands got fat haha. I told DH that I want my ring resized for our 8th anniversary coming up. That is all I want. I have friends that say if they could go back they would do this or that bigger. I would just get a cheaper ring.

I heard this from a wife of one of DH CW:

CWW: My DH has set a $600 grocery limit for the month.
Me: That is not too bad. I budget the same for our groceries for a family of 5 (They are a family of 4 during the week, Then a family of 6 on some weekends while his kids are there and her kids are at their dads)
CWW: That is supposed to include our gas as well. I spend $480 in gas alone!
Me: SO basically he wants you to spend $120 for food for the entire month?
CWW: Well, he just spent $60 in energy drinks.
Me: Wait, no your monthly limit is $60 for groceries??
CWW: Well, do not forget about his gas.

I just pretty much laughed at her and him. Great people but I just think out of touch with how much groceries cost...way out of touch. Granted she could not really spend less gas. She has joint custody of the kids and her Ex lives in a different city. Well douch ex had them enrolled in a school in his town and she can not un enroll them because of court orders. Even though she had them most of the school week. SO every day she would have to drive to the city and back 89 miles roundtrip 2x a day on M/T/W and 1x on Thur. And she could not just hang out in the town waiting for school to get out because she has a job in the town she lives in.

[Quark]

Was discussing retirement with 2 coworkers
CW1 (60y, male) here is my retirement countdown for my early retirement at 62. My dad retired at 50.
CW2 (30y male) i couldn't retire early, all i'd want to do is stuff that spends money! My hobbies cost so much! EX: going clay shooting costs so much for all the rental of equipment and space!
My (27yo female) reply: I'm going to retire by 40. I don't spend money on anything. Otherwise how would I retire at 40?! EX: my gpa owns a clay machine and we go on our own land. (Secretly thinking: You're doing it wrong!)

[tmac]

Second wedding, to my current husband (13th anniversary in 2 days): $800. Including everything. Piece of cake, very little planning, except was actually important to us. Our 12th anniversary is in two days.

Ummm......

Ack! I wrote the 13th, then did the math and realized it was just 12. Don't tell my husband. :)

LOL.  I figured that. And that's alright, he won't know since I misquoted you above :-/

Hah! I didn't notice that. Dodged a bullet there...

[MgoSam]

Our wedding cost under $2,500.

Dress and rings: $200 (grandmother paid)
Officiant: $50 and that included the room at the town hall
Fancy wedding dinner at restaurant with the grown-up guests: $900 (parents paid for wedding gift)
Photographer: $1000
Food for giant college party the next night: $150
State Fees: under $100

It was lovely.

Thank you! This certainly is food for thought for if and when I get married. I can imagine that if I find a women that is also like-minded in having a simple wedding it would be a good omen for my marriage.

[Squirrel away]

Our wedding cost about £100 I think? It was just the price of a registry office ceremony and a (dressy for me) dress I bought on ebay and then resold after the wedding. We just went to a bar that sold food afterwards with a few family and friends and they paid for their own food and drinks. LOL.

This wasn't even when we were frugal as we had CC debt back then, we just couldn't afford much else and I have no interest in spending a lot of money on one day.

[dweebyhawkeyes]

Aw I love these cheap-o wedding stories. As a teen, I spent half my time in volunteer work, and one of my favorite jobs was with a retired woman who owned a ton of fake flowers and columns and trellises (?) etc, and we would loan those out and cater for weddings to low-income couples. The couple would rent a library or a beach or someone's backyard, and for nothing we would pretty the whole thing up, feed everyone, and find high school photographers who wanted to build a portfolio. I'm sure there are others who would do similar. It's always amazing to me how many resources are available to those who search.

[skunkfunk]

Mine was $5k all told, including everything. That's about twice what we aimed for, as some of the costs unexpectedly exploded.

Some of the guests complained that we weren't in a fancy enough venue. We did it in my wife's home church, which is a rural church built by the members own hands many decades ago. It was free and apparently not upscale enough to please my cousins. Some also complained about "driving out into the boonies" to be served homemade wedding cake and sandwiches but no booze.

[CommonCents]

You know what?  We paid a *lot* more for our wedding than anyone posting here.  And I'm 100% ok with that, because it was something that was important to me and we were on a financially sound footing. 

I grew up a military brat.  I'm pretty proud of my dad.  He was even one of the first inducted into the Coast Guard hall of heroes.  But this meant I moved every few years, leaving behind friends each time - and back in the day when you had to write snail mail to stay in touch (horrors!).  I figured my wedding and funeral are the two times when I'd have all of the people I love in one place, and I wanted to treat them well and take care of them.  After all, I certainly wouldn't appreciate it at my funeral!

I bargain shopped, I negotiated, I made a lot myself and I did without of things that didn’t matter.  But we DID spend a lot on good food for people, an open bar, gifts to thank people, and our wedding rings (I don’t wear much jewelry and this is the only piece of jewelry we wear every single day).  And that's ok - and I daresay, even still mustachian.

Oh and we came within 0.001% of our budget.  :)

[Threshkin]

How much have people here spent on your wedding? I know very little about planning a wedding. I know that for both my brother's and sister's wedding they went way over what they initially planned to spend, and seeing how much time, effort, and stress went into the wedding I clearly remember thinking that should I get married, eloping would be far preferable.

I have been married twice.  The first time my out of pocket cost was $50.00.  $25 for the license and $25 tip to the JP.

Fast forward 29 years and I get married again.  Out of pocket cost for the wedding?  $50.00  This time it was all for the license.  We married ourselves in the court house and had the clerk take the wedding pictures.

[rocksinmyhead]

You know what?  We paid a *lot* more for our wedding than anyone posting here.  And I'm 100% ok with that, because it was something that was important to me and we were on a financially sound footing. 

I grew up a military brat.  I'm pretty proud of my dad.  He was even one of the first inducted into the Coast Guard hall of heroes.  But this meant I moved every few years, leaving behind friends each time - and back in the day when you had to write snail mail to stay in touch (horrors!).  I figured my wedding and funeral are the two times when I'd have all of the people I love in one place, and I wanted to treat them well and take care of them.  After all, I certainly wouldn't appreciate it at my funeral!

I bargain shopped, I negotiated, I made a lot myself and I did without of things that didn’t matter.  But we DID spend a lot on good food for people, an open bar, gifts to thank people, and our wedding rings (I don’t wear much jewelry and this is the only piece of jewelry we wear every single day).  And that's ok - and I daresay, even still mustachian.

Oh and we came within 0.001% of our budget.  :)

These are basically my feelings on my (future) wedding. and I think it still totally fits with the MMM theme... spending on what is important to YOU, not on what everybody else spends on. there are many wedding aspects I couldn't give two shits about (decorations, fancy venue, fancy cake, etc.) but our families are hundreds of miles apart (from us, and each other) and we have friends all over... assuming we can afford it, I am more than willing to spend on good food, good beer, and NOT cutting the guest list. oh, and maybe a photographer. yes, it's ONE day, and it's important to keep it in perspective... but like you said, it's also one day that you (hopefully) only get once!

[dandarc]

Yeah, our wedding definitely belongs here in the 'Antimustachian' thread.  I pulled up the old spreadsheet and it says 25K.  I suspect it was actually more than that - noticing that a couple things like 'Invitations' are not on there.  We did come in under budget on a few things, so maybe 25K is right.

Normally, I'd go back and add it up, but I've been working on letting go of some of the things this exercise would bring up (like my now in-laws not paying a dime for any of this, while applying constant pressure for very expensive things, and continuing to criticize our decisions even when we did exactly what they asked for).

Any way, it was a heck of a great party, but I think if we were to do it over again, particularly after finding this blog, we'd stick to our guns a little better.

[nawhite]

A co-worker bought a brand new car over the weekend. He got an FJ Cruiser, probably around $32k. He also got all of the "extended warranty" options. He will spend more in interest payments on his car than I paid for my last car.

The best part was some of the quotes:

"My wife and I alternate who gets a new car every 5 years, but I sure was liking not having a car payment. Oh well." (they separate finances I think)

"I really needed the 4 wheel drive. ... We don't really like camping or not having running water." (... so we wont really take this anywhere we would need 4 wheel drive...) "Maybe we'll get an camper trailer though, that would make sense."

CW: "We don't drive that much, but I sure am going to miss the gas mileage of what I had."
Me: "Oh, what did you have before?"
CW: "A 2004 Scion xA" (happens to be the same car as MMM)
Me: "Well, what are you doing with your old car" (maybe I want to buy it?)
CW: "Because we took such great care of it and only had 80k miles on it, the dealer gave me $3k for it as a trade in!" (this car is worth $7k easily on craigslist and probably $5000 at carmax)

[AlmostIndependent]

A co-worker bought a brand new car over the weekend. He got an FJ Cruiser, probably around $32k. He also got all of the "extended warranty" options. He will spend more in interest payments on his car than I paid for my last car.

The best part was some of the quotes:

"My wife and I alternate who gets a new car every 5 years, but I sure was liking not having a car payment. Oh well." (they separate finances I think)

"I really needed the 4 wheel drive. ... We don't really like camping or not having running water." (... so we wont really take this anywhere we would need 4 wheel drive...) "Maybe we'll get an camper trailer though, that would make sense."

CW: "We don't drive that much, but I sure am going to miss the gas mileage of what I had."
Me: "Oh, what did you have before?"
CW: "A 2004 Scion xA" (happens to be the same car as MMM)
Me: "Well, what are you doing with your old car" (maybe I want to buy it?)
CW: "Because we took such great care of it and only had 80k miles on it, the dealer gave me $3k for it as a trade in!" (this car is worth $7k easily on craigslist and probably $5000 at carmax)

I bet that car dealer is still laughing.

[jnik]

I think my wedding cost about $3000, which was about what my divorce cost (including fees, settlement, etc. Not including the fact that we lived entirely off my paycheck for the year before while her paycheck went into her account.) Not a cheap lesson, but could have been a lot more expensive.

[LucyBIT]

I happen to be planning a wedding RIGHT NOW. Convenient!

Current things I know:

Venue $210 (State park picnic area, entire day)
Food $1,419 (Pig roast for 75, includes plates, silverware, non-alcoholic drinks, etc.)
Invitations $53 (not including postage)
MC/DJ: $0 (friend volunteered)
Officiant: $0 (not required in CO)

Decorations are going to be as free as possible (and minimal, the venue is gorgeous). I'm not planning on buying a super-fancy dress. We didn't send out Save the Dates, we're not doing favors, and we both hate cake so we'll probably end up with a pie/dessert table, possibly made by family/friends. I'm working on getting a lower price for photography since we only want the ceremony and group photos. Since the venue is a state park, hard alcohol isn't allowed (it's actually 3.2 beer only lol), so that's not even an option for spending money on.

The biggest factor in our costs has been the number of guests. I mean, $1,419 ain't too shabby, as far as catering a wedding goes, but it would be much lower if we were willing to slice down the guest list, which we're not.

We're aiming for ~$3,000 total. I told one of our friends this and he laughed in my face--his wedding cost $30,000 and he's certain we won't be able to do it for under $10,000. Watch and learn, friend.

[gradstudent]

How much have people here spent on your wedding? I know very little about planning a wedding. I know that for both my brother's and sister's wedding they went way over what they initially planned to spend, and seeing how much time, effort, and stress went into the wedding I clearly remember thinking that should I get married, eloping would be far preferable.
[/quote]

Not counting rings, a little less than $1,000. Including rings, just a little under $2,500. Plain band for me, custom engagement ring (made overseas while I was on a deployment, without a diamond) and wedding band for my wife-in total, rings were around $1,500. We got married lakefront under beautiful old trees at the house of a friend of a friend (who was thrilled someone liked their house enough to get married at). Ordered bbq from a local restaurant, wife made the decorations, Dad bought the beer, BIL was one photographer and long time bf of sister was the other-each good amateur photographers with fancy cameras, our mothers and grandmother each made wedding cakes, and rode home in a limo I owned. Long story, but the limo was free and the monthly costs were covered by friends. Around 40 guests, mostly family and very close friends. Having our families there was important-everything else, we realized would be about someone else, not us. If we'd wanted a big party, we would have still had the small wedding and rented a room a few weeks later and catered bbq and beer for our friends (that would have been 3-4k) but we realized we didn't really need to do that to be happy. I know some people want and feel the need for a big party and lots of people, but we didn't (and after having been married, are no happier than if we had had a big party).

[rocksinmyhead]

Venue $210 (State park picnic area, entire day)
Food $1,419 (Pig roast for 75, includes plates, silverware, non-alcoholic drinks, etc.)

UM I THINK YOU'RE HAVING MY DREAM WEDDING

[Unique User]

To a lesser extent, I see it with funerals too.  WHO CARES what kind of box you're in?  You're DEAD!!  I've told my family to just wrap me in a sheet and throw me in the fire (after all useful organs and skin are used).  Barring that, I will accept the hambone treatment.  (shove a hambone up my a$$ and throw me out to the dogs)
[/quote]

Hambone treatment, love it!  My husband has said to cremate him with bacon in his pockets so his ashes will smell good when we throw them where ever. 

On a particularly annoying day I had a co-worker add up the things she was working to pay for which included their RV and come to the conclusion she couldn't quit.  Umm, yeah.  Should have told her I can't quit because my salary is going to my FU savings, but just did not want to go there.

[LucyBIT]

Venue $210 (State park picnic area, entire day)
Food $1,419 (Pig roast for 75, includes plates, silverware, non-alcoholic drinks, etc.)

UM I THINK YOU'RE HAVING MY DREAM WEDDING

LOL

We're having our dream wedding, too! Cost/budget is a factor, of course, but we chose the venue for its awesomeness, lack of staff, and no-bullshit vibe, and we've always loved pig roasts.

[ichangedmyname]

I happen to be planning a wedding RIGHT NOW. Convenient!

Current things I know:

Venue $210 (State park picnic area, entire day)
Food $1,419 (Pig roast for 75, includes plates, silverware, non-alcoholic drinks, etc.)
Invitations $53 (not including postage)
MC/DJ: $0 (friend volunteered)
Officiant: $0 (not required in CO)

Decorations are going to be as free as possible (and minimal, the venue is gorgeous). I'm not planning on buying a super-fancy dress. We didn't send out Save the Dates, we're not doing favors, and we both hate cake so we'll probably end up with a pie/dessert table, possibly made by family/friends. I'm working on getting a lower price for photography since we only want the ceremony and group photos. Since the venue is a state park, hard alcohol isn't allowed (it's actually 3.2 beer only lol), so that's not even an option for spending money on.

The biggest factor in our costs has been the number of guests. I mean, $1,419 ain't too shabby, as far as catering a wedding goes, but it would be much lower if we were willing to slice down the guest list, which we're not.

We're aiming for ~$3,000 total. I told one of our friends this and he laughed in my face--his wedding cost $30,000 and he's certain we won't be able to do it for under $10,000. Watch and learn, friend.

How many pigs is that?

[LucyBIT]

How many pigs is that?

Just one; they choose the pig's size/weight based on the number of people. And they also include beef brisket and chicken, for people like my sister who hate pork and/or are terrified of eating meat cut off a whole dead pig, so I'm not 100% sure how they calculate it all.

[Melody]

$200 a month for Cable TV - the top package for two televisions...$2,400 a year. WTF??????
My hobby spend is less than this each year and this buys me a sporting club dues and equipment (and lets just say roller derby equipment isn't exactly cheap!), music gear (I could probably buy the $800 fender I've got my eye on and still not hit $2400 this year) , other sports equipment (stuff like the odd bike, skateboard or surfboard and a bit of camping kit) , passes to the leisure center for swimming etc.
And I still watch TV, (on demand - so better than cable) using I View (our free to air channels all broadcast online, where I can watch on demand) and specialists online channels like Derby News Network and it's all free...
THE MIND BOGGLES!
($2400 is also probably equivalent to 1 month of mortgage payment for said co-worker... so not small change even for her).

[Paul der Krake]

$200 a month for Cable TV - the top package for two televisions...$2,400 a year. WTF??????

My head... that's 5 months of my part of the rent. For pictures on a screen, and 20-30% of them are ads. Wow.

[Insanity]

$200 a month for Cable TV - the top package for two televisions...$2,400 a year. WTF??????

My head... that's 5 months of my part of the rent. For pictures on a screen, and 20-30% of them are ads. Wow.

I'm betting part of that $200 includes internet and possibly phone.  Not saying it is much cheaper, but still :)

[DeepEllumStache]

On a call at work today with some people in the Northeast.  They were extremely happy they were now allowed to telecommute, especially the guy who was commuting 73 miles each way. 

I worked in that office for a few years and knew quite a few people who commuted in from the next state over (at least an hour away, sometimes 1.5 hours away).  They wanted a bigger house and lower property taxes. 

[randymarsh]

On a call at work today with some people in the Northeast.  They were extremely happy they were now allowed to telecommute, especially the guy who was commuting 73 miles each way. 

I worked in that office for a few years and knew quite a few people who commuted in from the next state over (at least an hour away, sometimes 1.5 hours away).  They wanted a bigger house and lower property taxes.

I've spent almost my entire internship wondering why 2 coworkers drive 75 minutes every day. They do get paid half mileage, but still. 2.5 hours of the day lost on driving. They were moved to this office over 5 years ago.

They could live where I do and only drive 25 minutes and probably have an identical or lower housing cost, plus good schools for the kiddies.

[iwasjustwondering]

We get these bonuses at work, where you can give people who did a good job on your project a certain number of points in this online catalog.  So CW and I had worked on a project for an internal client together.  I got a bunch of points, which I promptly traded in for $2500 cash.  Other options were things like laptops, watches, a $2000 Macy's gift car (yes you read that right -- you could either choose $2500 cash or a $2000 gift card, for the same # of points).  When this system was first introduced I used my first batch of points to buy things like a beautiful wooden outdoor dining set, and then I saw the taxes taken out of the next paycheck and nearly died.  So I wised up, and now only get the cash.

So I told CW that she probably had points, too, and she could check.  So she says she didn't even bother checking that system any more, because she bought some things and the taxes taken out were outrageous.  So I said, yes, but you can get cash!  So if you choose the $2500 cash award, you'll get it in your paycheck.  They'll take a few hundred dollars out for taxes, sure, but you still end up with nearly $2K extra in your paycheck.  So CW shrugs and just said, "I just don't bother with those points.  Really.  I don't care about them."

I think she must have $5K in points sitting in her account.  All she has to do is choose the cash gift option, and the money (minus taxes) will be in her next paycheck.  But she isn't going to bother doing that.  And then meanwhile she complains constantly about being broke.  It is insane.

[horsepoor]

We get these bonuses at work, where you can give people who did a good job on your project a certain number of points in this online catalog.  So CW and I had worked on a project for an internal client together.  I got a bunch of points, which I promptly traded in for $2500 cash.  Other options were things like laptops, watches, a $2000 Macy's gift car (yes you read that right -- you could either choose $2500 cash or a $2000 gift card, for the same # of points).  When this system was first introduced I used my first batch of points to buy things like a beautiful wooden outdoor dining set, and then I saw the taxes taken out of the next paycheck and nearly died.  So I wised up, and now only get the cash.

The mind boggles.

The only reason I can think that people would do this, is to have an "excuse" to go buy a bunch of expensive clothes.  "Oh, I have a gift card from work, so it was basically free."  Nevermind they could have had 25% more in cold hard cash.  Derp.

[Christof]

a $2000 Macy's gift car (yes you read that right -- you could either choose $2500 cash or a $2000 gift card, for the same # of points).

I bet Macy's has a corresponding "Get two for the price of three" offer in their stores. ;)

[dragoncar]

We get these bonuses at work, where you can give people who did a good job on your project a certain number of points in this online catalog.  So CW and I had worked on a project for an internal client together.  I got a bunch of points, which I promptly traded in for $2500 cash.  Other options were things like laptops, watches, a $2000 Macy's gift car (yes you read that right -- you could either choose $2500 cash or a $2000 gift card, for the same # of points).  When this system was first introduced I used my first batch of points to buy things like a beautiful wooden outdoor dining set, and then I saw the taxes taken out of the next paycheck and nearly died.  So I wised up, and now only get the cash.

So I told CW that she probably had points, too, and she could check.  So she says she didn't even bother checking that system any more, because she bought some things and the taxes taken out were outrageous.  So I said, yes, but you can get cash!  So if you choose the $2500 cash award, you'll get it in your paycheck.  They'll take a few hundred dollars out for taxes, sure, but you still end up with nearly $2K extra in your paycheck.  So CW shrugs and just said, "I just don't bother with those points.  Really.  I don't care about them."

I think she must have $5K in points sitting in her account.  All she has to do is choose the cash gift option, and the money (minus taxes) will be in her next paycheck.  But she isn't going to bother doing that.  And then meanwhile she complains constantly about being broke.  It is insane.

Uh, can she give you the points?  Can you offer to give her the taxes, plus $100 up front to give you the point proceeds at her next paycheck?  That might make it more apparent to her.

[Nudelkopf]

CW: "I got my delivery of $2000 worth of lace today!" (for her wedding). What the actual frick?


Different coworker: I haven't seen this guy in a few months (we work in different parts), and he told me he'd ridden his bike to work a few times :D YAY! Last time we talked, I told him to definitely try it (given that he lives like, 2km =1.2mi from work!). So happy!!

[franny61390]

I have a coworker who is a single mom and regularly complains about not having enough money. I remember once I had an emergency car repair that cost around $1200, and I was talking about how it sucks but I am grateful that I have money saved for these kind of emercencies without going into debt. She mentioned that she would have had to put it on credit, because she doesn't have the savings to cover that kind of expense.

This lady goes on a 7 day all-inclusive vacation to Disney every year (with the meal package of course), spends $800/ month on "the best' day care for her son and spent a freaking $1000 on a bed for a two year old! She also commutes 45 minutes to work each way, has a fancy SUV and is constantly going out to eat at restaurants.

[CommonCents]

This lady goes on a 7 day all-inclusive vacation to Disney every year (with the meal package of course), spends $800/ month on "the best' day care for her son and spent a freaking $1000 on a bed for a two year old! She also commutes 45 minutes to work each way, has a fancy SUV and is constantly going out to eat at restaurants.

Just going to say...under $10k for daycare here would be an absolute bargain, a complete steal.  The one in my building is about $26k I think...and that's average.

[BigRed]

Yeah, $800/month for day-care that could be sincerely referred to as "the best" would be an absolute steal.  For infants, "the best" type day-care around here runs closer to $1800/month.  For toddlers, $1500/month or more. 

We did that for our first kid, and are in a home daycare with several close friends for our second, where the price doesn't come close.  The differences are pretty significant, and sometime it's hard not to think we're depriving the younger guy of something valuable.

[fantabulous]

We get these bonuses at work, where you can give people who did a good job on your project a certain number of points in this online catalog.  So CW and I had worked on a project for an internal client together.  I got a bunch of points, which I promptly traded in for $2500 cash.  Other options were things like laptops, watches, a $2000 Macy's gift car (yes you read that right -- you could either choose $2500 cash or a $2000 gift card, for the same # of points).  When this system was first introduced I used my first batch of points to buy things like a beautiful wooden outdoor dining set, and then I saw the taxes taken out of the next paycheck and nearly died.  So I wised up, and now only get the cash.

The mind boggles.

The only reason I can think that people would do this, is to have an "excuse" to go buy a bunch of expensive clothes.  "Oh, I have a gift card from work, so it was basically free."  Nevermind they could have had 25% more in cold hard cash.  Derp.

My credit card reward points are the same way. 2500 points for $25 deposited in my savings account, or 3500 for a $25 gift certificate.

[geekette]

Interesting.  My Discover card is different - you can get $45 cash, or a $50 gift certificate.

[Gracie]

I heard a good thing at work! I was chatting with my favorite coworker and mentioned something about MMM. He goes, what's that? I said, oh just this guy who retired at age 30 by saving over 60% of his income. And he leans towards me and in a whisper says, I do that.

Late to the party...but Awesome

[GrayGhost]

This one, I overheard at school from a friend who will not be named.

He was complaining about the costs of education and the interest rates on student loans. At the same time, the man spends, by his estimate, several hundred dollars a month on drinks at bars.

I'm not saying you shouldn't go to bars ever, but if he cut it down, he'd probably owe a lot less than he currently does. Like, a LOT less.

[HappierAtHome]

CW1: "I'm buying a kluger because when the baby is born we'll need a bigger car".
CW2: "Oooh, what about a prado?"
CW1: "Nah, we won't need a prado until we have two kids".

[Melody]

$12,000 a year private school fees.... for a 6 year old?????!!! And she has two kids.... in today's dollars she will spend at least $288K educating them (in reality actually a lot more as high school fees tend to run a lot higher than lower school fees)...
In comparison a house in the "best" school zone could be purchased for $600-$800K (i.e. $100-$300K more than an average house, with the advantage that the best school zones are close to work, the beach and public transit and have low crime so it would be a better place to live anyway)... I know where I'd be putting my money and it wouldn't be the private school.

[HappierAtHome]

$12,000 a year private school fees.... for a 6 year old?????!!! And she has two kids.... in today's dollars she will spend at least $288K educating them (in reality actually a lot more as high school fees tend to run a lot higher than lower school fees)...
In comparison a house in the "best" school zone could be purchased for $600-$800K (i.e. $100-$300K more than an average house, with the advantage that the best school zones are close to work, the beach and public transit and have low crime so it would be a better place to live anyway)... I know where I'd be putting my money and it wouldn't be the private school.

Haha that's my strategy if I decide I need my kids to be in a high performing school... move to a high performing suburb, put them in the local public school and enjoy all the benefits of living in that suburb.

Speaking of private schools, they've been a topic of discussion in the workplace lately and apparently high schools in Perth cost $10-15k for a Catholic school and $20-25k for Anglican, non-religious etc. Jeepers. I wonder how many kids would rather be sent to a public school and NOT have their parents in massive amounts of debt.

[tracipam]

Today I was chatting with a (much older) coworker. 

She said, idly:  "Did you ever think about how much you would save, if, right away on your first job you actually saved money in your 401K?"

Me:  *long pause* "......Yes....."

Coworker:  "No, I mean seriously; like, not just up to the employer match, but to actually like, max it out to whatever the maximum is?" 

Me:  *longer pause* "......Yesss......"

In my head I was thinking, 'Aieeeeee!!  What, you think you have to stop saving money once you get to the maximum?  And you DON'T KNOW what the 401K limit is?' 

This woman is probably ~60, complains INCESSANTLY about working and the environment at our company,  and has no one in her life except her dog.  I've been (and still am) wondering what in the world she spends her money on that she isn't retired already...

[CarDude]

A co-worker bought a brand new car over the weekend. He got an FJ Cruiser, probably around $32k. He also got all of the "extended warranty" options. He will spend more in interest payments on his car than I paid for my last car.

The best part was some of the quotes:

"My wife and I alternate who gets a new car every 5 years, but I sure was liking not having a car payment. Oh well." (they separate finances I think)

"I really needed the 4 wheel drive. ... We don't really like camping or not having running water." (... so we wont really take this anywhere we would need 4 wheel drive...) "Maybe we'll get an camper trailer though, that would make sense."

CW: "We don't drive that much, but I sure am going to miss the gas mileage of what I had."
Me: "Oh, what did you have before?"
CW: "A 2004 Scion xA" (happens to be the same car as MMM)
Me: "Well, what are you doing with your old car" (maybe I want to buy it?)
CW: "Because we took such great care of it and only had 80k miles on it, the dealer gave me $3k for it as a trade in!" (this car is worth $7k easily on craigslist and probably $5000 at carmax)

Ouch. Then again, the fact that he was spending 32k on a new car means he probably wasn't thinking much about whether he was missing out on 4k by not pursuing that sale on his own. Still a shame, though.

[lifejoy]

Overheard outside of work:

I was at a marriage workshop thingy (it was pretty cool, and my fiancé liked it too!) with a bunch of other couples. In chatting with one of the women there, she decided to give me some advice: "Money is the root of all evil. All your fights will be about money. Cause if you think about it, when will you ever stop wanting to buy things?"

She was dead serious. I felt like a deer in the headlights, because 99% of the time I'm a minimalist and I don't care for travelling so I can really truly picture not wanting to buy things. I changed the subject somehow, but wow - I was shocked to see that people really feel that way. I wish I could rememeber her exact wording, but you get the idea.

[rightstuff]

The people on the $160 AT&T plans would consider the cheaper plans to have plenty of catches. Republic Wireless: you can't get an iPhone. Airvoice: the $10 plan will cut off service if you run down your balance. None of these MVNOs have roaming agreements with other carriers (to my knowledge). Some of these companies' websites and phone support leave much to be desired.

To us these sorts of things aren't a big deal, but other people are used to the cushiness of the Big 4 and arguing purely based on price won't get you anywhere. You first have to convince people that the things that differentiate the Big 4 from the cheap players don't have much value, then the alternatives will seem appealing.

And this is exactly why I'm so picky about which MVNOs I namecheck in the guide. Roaming agreements aren't that big a deal if you know what sort of coverage is actually available, but customer support and reasonable terms of service go a long way towards end users.

I would also say that Republic has far more catches than most people here realize as well. There is such a thing as caring too much about getting the cheapest monthly deal that you start entering into contracts that you probably shouldn't and ignore the very real added cost of being able to do business at that price in the first place.

I've had great luck with Ting. You can have almost any phone you want, roam on Verizon's network, and customer support has a no waiting and no computer systems policy (they pick up the phone).

We have also had great luck with Ting.  Our bill last month for 3 smart phones was $70!!!! (including usage by 16 year old!)

[frugledoc]

Overheard outside of work:

I was at a marriage workshop thingy (it was pretty cool, and my fiancé liked it too!) with a bunch of other couples. In chatting with one of the women there, she decided to give me some advice: "Money is the root of all evil. All your fights will be about money. Cause if you think about it, when will you ever stop wanting to buy things?"

She was dead serious. I felt like a deer in the headlights, because 99% of the time I'm a minimalist and I don't care for travelling so I can really truly picture not wanting to buy things. I changed the subject somehow, but wow - I was shocked to see that people really feel that way. I wish I could rememeber her exact wording, but you get the idea.

I feel sorry for couples who argue about money all the time.  Must be very stressful

[Zikoris]

I feel sorry for couples who argue about money all the time.  Must be very stressful

I feel sorry for couples who argue about ANYTHING all the time. To me, if you can't get along, and fight regularly, why are you together? It's a pretty big indicator of incompatibility.

[frugledoc]

I don't think fighting is the problem.  It's fighting and then holding long grudges and resentment.