Overheard at Work

[jordanread]

Apparently yesterday's snowstorm (this season's first) was too much to handle for 2 of my CWs:

CW1: Hey CW2, did you just contract someone for home snow removal?
CW2: Yep it was XYZ for $whatever
CW1: Cool, I'll call them too.  I had to shovel like 3 times yesterday
CW2: Yeah me too, I don't feel too badly today because I'm in pretty good shape, but it was TERRIBLE
CW1: No shit.  Shoveling is the WORST

Both CWs are young, in great shape, and pay for gym memberships.

My friend asked for snow removal services where he lives (NY up by Canada, so they get actual snow). I told him to put a plow on his corvette :D

I've seen this guy around my neighborhood in snowy weather.

That is my most favorite picture I've seen today. Thanks!!

[dude]

we paid zero out of pocket - but imagine the overhead with the workers at the insurance company and both billing offices, filing, denying, re-filing, denying. Plus the phone calls my husband made (at least a dozen) "did you bill insurance company A?"  "Oh, no, we didn't."  "Well, that's the primary, here's the info".  Ad nauseum.

I'm not saying it's perfect. Wait times for some procedures are ridiculous. You can wait months to see a specialist. Longer for things like knee or hip replacements. This is for non-emergency things. Emergencies will be seen right away. My husband once had unstable angina and was put in ICU right away and flown (air ambulance) to the big city and had stents put in within days.

It's not that much different here in the U.S. -- I've had to wait months for specialist appointments, and I've got damn good health insurance.

[powersuitrecall]

I've seen this guy around my neighborhood in snowy weather.

That is awesome.

[gaja]

Apparently yesterday's snowstorm (this season's first) was too much to handle for 2 of my CWs:

CW1: Hey CW2, did you just contract someone for home snow removal?
CW2: Yep it was XYZ for $whatever
CW1: Cool, I'll call them too.  I had to shovel like 3 times yesterday
CW2: Yeah me too, I don't feel too badly today because I'm in pretty good shape, but it was TERRIBLE
CW1: No shit.  Shoveling is the WORST

Both CWs are young, in great shape, and pay for gym memberships.

I went with the 'get a job for more money in Florida' approach to hating snow shoveling.

We moved 500 miles south to get away from the shovelling. We had meters of the cold wet stuff, not feet. It was horrible.

[Uturn]

Apparently yesterday's snowstorm (this season's first) was too much to handle for 2 of my CWs:

CW1: Hey CW2, did you just contract someone for home snow removal?
CW2: Yep it was XYZ for $whatever
CW1: Cool, I'll call them too.  I had to shovel like 3 times yesterday
CW2: Yeah me too, I don't feel too badly today because I'm in pretty good shape, but it was TERRIBLE
CW1: No shit.  Shoveling is the WORST

Both CWs are young, in great shape, and pay for gym memberships.

But did they pay to have the driveway shoveled so they could drive to the gym? 

[steviesterno]

we paid zero out of pocket - but imagine the overhead with the workers at the insurance company and both billing offices, filing, denying, re-filing, denying. Plus the phone calls my husband made (at least a dozen) "did you bill insurance company A?"  "Oh, no, we didn't."  "Well, that's the primary, here's the info".  Ad nauseum.

On behalf of the civilised world - can we point out that there is an efficient solution to providing health care cheaply and universally with everyone paying zero out of pocket ;-)

you do pay out of pocket, every single time you pay your taxes. Health care is never free. collect it in beginning with taxes, or afterwards with insurance or out of pocket. I'm actually not against socialized medicine, but you have to socialize the educational aspect of it, too, not just the payment portion.

one of my FIRE goals is to move to a super LCOL area and open up a free/cheap mobile medical office in an RV, travel small town to town and treat people cheaply.

If that's what you want to do, look into Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC).

I'll have to do that. One of the things that struck me recently was how slow everyone is to respond to a small/local disaster. My neighbors about an hour away were hit by 11 tornados the night after christmas, a lot of people were hurt and something like 600 homes were destroyed. Aid is coming, but it's taking a while... so I had an idea to modify the mobile clinic. Mobile clinic that tows a food truck. My wife comes from catering and wants to eventually run a food truck or similar. so we could roll up on an a problem area very quickly since it would be light and fast, serve food to the affected people and the first responders, and help treat people that need it. Could also set up the RV with solar panels as a phone charging station. Would enable us to help a lot of people quickly in a meaningful way, plus allow us to live full or part time on the road. I'd love to operate it as a non-profit and get donations and stuff to set up/cover costs, but having FIRE money would let me go at it full time.

I love the idea, but one thing to consider is the supply chain. In a major disaster, you're not going to be able to get fuel, electricity, food or water locally, so you'll need to plan for a way to bring all that in. Water and food are easier than fuel, since you could just have extra storage, but theoretically you'd need an extra-large tank for the truck plus propane for a gas stove, and possibly diesel for a generator.

one of my other reading habits and grand ideas is off the grid living, and low impact stuff. adventure RVs like the Unimog done up right are already equipped for a longer stretch of going without supply. A couple of freezers for food, storage for pre-bought bottled water, extra propane on the RV and food truck plus an extra tank for gas should be enough for a short term event. my plan is to be first on scene and set up quickly and wait for calvary, not the only people there for a month.

I also think by the time we get this thing rolling, tesla home style batteries will be available and less expensive. One of those should power the recharging/communication set up. Be your own mobile hotspot with a couple of unlimited cell phones for people to call relatives, etc. another could power the RV and food truck for everything except fuel. Solar panels on the roof and extra fold out could recharge if the weather is good, or a low current gasoline generator (only need one fuel source) would work, too.

by going super high efficiency like you see being done in microhomes, you don't need much power. a small (~300sq foot) micro apartment/RV/cabin can run on a car battery and a bbq sized tank of propane for a weekend if you run LED lighting, good insulation, etc. running on smaller tanks means you could grab one from a neighbor or gas station in a pinch and power the grill.

I like the comfort food and beer idea. not sure how to go about the legal aspect of that but I bet nobody would bother you just filling solo cups with whiskey for everyone.

oh if anyone wants to help me build micro homes to rent out, let me know... it's a side-hustle idea I've had for a while now. think AirBnB but dropped off for you when you need it.

[zephyr911]

Just for lulz, local truck pics.

[frances]

About a month after I started working at my current job a coworker and I were eating lunch together and she said, "So you eat leftovers for lunch like every day, huh?"

My SO and I meal plan and bring lunches to work every day. It was particularly funny because this coworker's lunches usually consist of a pack of crackers and a can of tuna, or something similarly prepackaged and boring, whereas I bring homemade curries and the like, yet my lunches are "gross" because they're "leftovers"....

[zephyr911]

About a month after I started working at my current job a coworker and I were eating lunch together and she said, "So you eat leftovers for lunch like every day, huh?"

My SO and I meal plan and bring lunches to work every day. It was particularly funny because this coworker's lunches usually consist of a pack of crackers and a can of tuna, or something similarly prepackaged and boring, whereas I bring homemade curries and the like, yet my lunches are "gross" because they're "leftovers"....

If you planned to bring it to work, it's not really leftovers. Call it home manufacturing if you want ;)

[Hunny156]

About a month after I started working at my current job a coworker and I were eating lunch together and she said, "So you eat leftovers for lunch like every day, huh?"

My SO and I meal plan and bring lunches to work every day. It was particularly funny because this coworker's lunches usually consist of a pack of crackers and a can of tuna, or something similarly prepackaged and boring, whereas I bring homemade curries and the like, yet my lunches are "gross" because they're "leftovers"....

I've been working from home this week, and I still made sure to make a big batch of soup and Lentil curry, just so I can easily grab a bowl a nuke it while working.  When I go to work, I tend to just eat baked potatoes, carrot sticks and some bananas, so these "leftovers" have been a big treat for me this week!

On another note, the in-laws moved to town this week.  While they are getting settled, I've gone ahead and cooked dinner several times this week, and brought it over to their new place.  Nothing incredibly special, a veggie soup, rice and beans, mashed potatoes, etc.  I'm not sure what they have been eating their entire lives, but it must be a bunch of packaged food.  They have asked me what brand of potatoes and soup I use, or where I got the food from.  These two are now living 100% of SSA, scary thought that they waste so much money on take out and nutritionally deficient crap like potato flakes....

[Pooperman]

Potato brand? Tell them you use the one with the red skin sometimes, and other times the one with the gold/brown skin. Maybe they'll understand about using the actual potato.

[RetiredAt63]

We need to fix the language, I started with your post.  Good work doing this.  Tasty, healthy, good value.

About a month after I started working at my current job a coworker and I were eating lunch together and she said, "So you eat leftovers planned-overs for lunch like every day, huh?"

My SO and I meal plan and bring lunches to work every day. It was particularly funny because this coworker's lunches usually consist of a pack of crackers and a can of tuna, or something similarly prepackaged and boring, whereas I bring homemade curries and the like, yet my lunches are "gross" because they're "leftovers"....

[smella]

one of my colleagues, who supplements her fellowship & teaching income by taking on extra student loans:  "i got some cash for christmas from my family so i'm going to have one of my tattoos lasered off."

>_<

[Hunny156]

Potato brand? Tell them you use the one with the red skin sometimes, and other times the one with the gold/brown skin. Maybe they'll understand about using the actual potato.

We took them shopping this past weekend, and actually bought a large bag of potatoes, along with a bunch of non-prepackaged food, but maybe they thought that we don't eat the same way?  Who knows, but I guess we will all figure it out, since they will need help getting settled in a new place.

[nanu]

one of my colleagues, who supplements her fellowship & teaching income by taking on extra student loans:  "i got some cash for christmas from my family so i'm going to have one of my tattoos lasered off."

>_<

Nothing like spending a bunch of money to have your flesh mutilated, only to spend more money a few years later to have it (partially) restored... (I have nothing against tattoos in general, I just think many people do them without enough prior thought and end up regretting them)

[MisterTwoForty]

Co-worker of mine just paid off her car.  She then had a furnace issue, so she mortgaged the car again to pay for the furnace and new windows.  We're in a well paid field, so not sure why she didnt have the cash (has a live in boyfriend who she shares the bills with).

[MgoSam]

one of my tattoos lasered off."

I've never understood the appeal of tattoos, but then again, I find them to be unattractive on people.

[Papa Mustache]

Graffiti for skin?

I can appreciate the artwork but I like to rotate the artwork occasionally so no tattoos for me or mine. ;) What's cool at 25 might not be cool to the same person when they are 50.

[Taran Wanderer]

Graffiti for skin?

I can appreciate the artwork but I like to rotate the artwork occasionally so no tattoos for me or mine. ;) What's cool at 25 might not be cool to the same person when they are 50.

Especially as muscles shrink and skin sags...

[Papa Mustache]

I have an old military friend nearly 70 years old. His tattoos aren't even really legible anymore.

My favorite "saying" about tattoos is: scars are like tattoos with stories...

I have several scars from attending that school of Hard Knocks that people talk about. Mostly from being a clumsy kid and a daring young adult long before You Tube videos. ;)

(Daring: Wrongly believed I was immortal and physics didn't apply to me when I was younger.)

[arebelspy]

My favorite "saying" about tattoos is: scars are like tattoos with stories...

I liked that upon first hearing it, but thinking about it... don't most tattoos have stories?  Pretty much everyone I've met has a story about their tattoos...  :)

Maybe something like "scars are tattoos ____"?  You earn?  Hmm, will have to think about how to fill in that blank.

[syednaeemul]

Just for lulz, local truck pics.

Whoa, I didn't know mammoth hunting still exists.

[Uturn]

but thinking about it... don't most tattoos have stories? 

Yes, unfortunately, mine starts with "I was young, stupid, drunk, and pissed off at my girlfriend....."

[arebelspy]

but thinking about it... don't most tattoos have stories? 

Yes, unfortunately, mine starts with "I was young, stupid, drunk, and pissed off at my girlfriend....."

Haha.

I thought it was going to be "I was young, stupid, drunk, and thought I was in love....."

So it's clearly not the ex-girlfriend's name.  I'm curious what you get when you're pissed off at your SO.  :P

[MgoSam]

but thinking about it... don't most tattoos have stories? 

Yes, unfortunately, mine starts with "I was young, stupid, drunk, and pissed off at my girlfriend....."

I know guy that posted his sobriety date. Each time he thinks about drinking he says he thinks about how painful it will be get that date removed.

[Uturn]

Arebelspy:  It's a pit bull on the back of my shoulder.  It's good work, but WTF??  I've never even wanted a pit bull.  I'm glad that it's on my back and I don't have to see it. 

[Ann]

I find the most curious argument against tattoos is that they will not look as good when you are wrinkly and saggy.  But guess what?  It's not the tattoo that makes you look old*.
They are permanent, though, so it is important to be sure it is something in line with your core self.  It helps to really know yourself.  My friend got a Carebear tattoo when she was 23.  Now, 15 years later ... she still loves it!!!  She knows herself and doesn't give a rat's patoot what other people think. She has maybe a dozen tattoos and none of them were inspired by a night of drinking.  None of my personal friends express regret of their tats.
Not that tattoos are for everyone.  I can barely buy a pair of pants without changing my mind later.

*although placement is important.  I heard of a friend of a friend got some sort of Celtic tattoo around her navel at age 19.  Then she started having kids 3 years later.  I don't know what it ended up looking like, but I could see a person regretting that location.

[arebelspy]

I find the most curious argument against tattoos is that they will not look as good when you are wrinkly and saggy.  But guess what?  It's not the tattoo that makes you look old*.

Yup.  It's people who have a problem with getting old that tend to find this problematic, in my experience.  Even if they didn't have the tattoo, they'd still have this problem.

The people I've found who don't have a problem getting old tend to LIKE the idea that the tattoo "ages" with them, as it's a part of them.

[Squirrel away]

I find the most curious argument against tattoos is that they will not look as good when you are wrinkly and saggy.  But guess what?  It's not the tattoo that makes you look old*.

Yes, I agree.:)

[crispy]

I find the most curious argument against tattoos is that they will not look as good when you are wrinkly and saggy.  But guess what?  It's not the tattoo that makes you look old*.
They are permanent, though, so it is important to be sure it is something in line with your core self.  It helps to really know yourself.  My friend got a Carebear tattoo when she was 23.  Now, 15 years later ... she still loves it!!!  She knows herself and doesn't give a rat's patoot what other people think. She has maybe a dozen tattoos and none of them were inspired by a night of drinking.  None of my personal friends express regret of their tats.
Not that tattoos are for everyone.  I can barely buy a pair of pants without changing my mind later.

*although placement is important.  I heard of a friend of a friend got some sort of Celtic tattoo around her navel at age 19.  Then she started having kids 3 years later.  I don't know what it ended up looking like, but I could see a person regretting that location.

A friend of a friend has half a dolphin on her stomach...the other half is somewhere in her c-section scar. 

[mtn]

I'm not wholeheartedly against tattoos, but I think the good ones, the ones that actually really mean something significant enough, are few and far between--the sobriety date is a good one. I heard of an relatively young man (maybe 50 or 55) who had Alzheimer's and couldn't remember his wife's name, so he tattooed it on his arm along with her face.  (EDIT: Heard that on the internet or with a bunch of drunk folks, so I question the authenticity of the story. I like it though)

In general though, I think that Jimmy Buffet said it best: A permanent reminder of a temporary feeling.

[mlejw6]

My cousin has a tattoo of cherries on her belly. I think it was closer to her hip, but, well... She got pregnant and they turned into apples.

[JordanOfGilead]

I like how everybody is questioning the judgment of a person that gets a tattoo based on its permanency and not on the financial cost. Tattoos are effing expensive. Most clean, reputable shops have a minimum of $100 no matter what it is and charge $100+/hr after that, and if you have a talented artist that's doing something with any sort of color or shading bigger than a post-it note, it's going to take over an hour. I have two small ones from my pre-mmm days and they are both extremely meaningful to me, but now that I am more aware of my financial situation, I cannot in any way justify the expense.

[Kitsune]

I like how everybody is questioning the judgment of a person that gets a tattoo based on its permanency and not on the financial cost. Tattoos are effing expensive. Most clean, reputable shops have a minimum of $100 no matter what it is and charge $100+/hr after that, and if you have a talented artist that's doing something with any sort of color or shading bigger than a post-it note, it's going to take over an hour. I have two small ones from my pre-mmm days and they are both extremely meaningful to me, but now that I am more aware of my financial situation, I cannot in any way justify the expense.

This. I was looking into getting a half-sleeve from an artist I adore. 6-month waiting list, 2.5K.

I'd have waited 6 months, no problem. But: I have financial priorities, a house, a kid, and a LOT of other uses for 2.5K. So no half-sleeve for me.

[Murse]

This story has both good and bad in it. One of my coworkers was trying to increase her 457 contributions. We work with our backs to each other and I turned around to speak with her and saw (without trying) her balance after 8 years of working here at around (shooting low) 70k per year her balance is right around 10k. My balance after contributing for 3 months is around 6k. Now I understand that not everyone's lives are like mine and this coworker is a great person and has had a tough life, but 10k after (conservatively) 560k of income?

[notactiveanymore]

This story has both good and bad in it. One of my coworkers was trying to increase her 457 contributions. We work with our backs to each other and I turned around to speak with her and saw (without trying) her balance after 8 years of working here at around (shooting low) 70k per year her balance is right around 10k. My balance after contributing for 3 months is around 6k. Now I understand that not everyone's lives are like mine and this coworker is a great person and has had a tough life, but 10k after (conservatively) 560k of income?

Maybe she was funding Roth IRAs post tax. I only have about $1000 in my 457 from a couple years ago because I want to focus my retirement contributions on tax free distribution plans. She might only contribute to the 457 the amount above the Roth cap.

[runningthroughFIRE]

I find the most curious argument against tattoos is that they will not look as good when you are wrinkly and saggy.  But guess what?  It's not the tattoo that makes you look old*.
They are permanent, though, so it is important to be sure it is something in line with your core self.  It helps to really know yourself.  My friend got a Carebear tattoo when she was 23.  Now, 15 years later ... she still loves it!!!  She knows herself and doesn't give a rat's patoot what other people think. She has maybe a dozen tattoos and none of them were inspired by a night of drinking.  None of my personal friends express regret of their tats.
Not that tattoos are for everyone.  I can barely buy a pair of pants without changing my mind later.

*although placement is important.  I heard of a friend of a friend got some sort of Celtic tattoo around her navel at age 19.  Then she started having kids 3 years later.  I don't know what it ended up looking like, but I could see a person regretting that location.

A friend of a friend has half a dolphin on her stomach...the other half is somewhere in her c-section scar.

This invoked a mental image of the dolphin looking like it's diving into/out of her stomach.  That could be pretty cool.

[steviesterno]

new one to add: CW bought a new to her 2014 F150 V8 single cab. She drives 60 miles each way every day, for I think $15 an hour or so. They wouldn't take her old car in on trade, so the dealer actually advised her to LET IT GET REPOSSESSED! it would be her 3rd repo, but shouldn't matter because she will still be paying on the truck in 7 years when her credit is "better". It's so good now her interest rate is 13% So this $22k truck is going to cost $36k by my math, plus lets say gas averages $3 a gallon x 6 gallons a day X 250 days/year x 5 years = $22,500 in GAS in a $22k truck she's paying 36k for.


wow, $59,000 for a used ford F150. it better do dirty sexual things for that price.

[ambimammular]

I like how everybody is questioning the judgment of a person that gets a tattoo based on its permanency and not on the financial cost. Tattoos are effing expensive. Most clean, reputable shops have a minimum of $100 no matter what it is and charge $100+/hr after that, and if you have a talented artist that's doing something with any sort of color or shading bigger than a post-it note, it's going to take over an hour. I have two small ones from my pre-mmm days and they are both extremely meaningful to me, but now that I am more aware of my financial situation, I cannot in any way justify the expense.

My DH's tattoo was earned as his incentive in paying off a big portion of the house. I can't remember what his artist charges per hour, but by the time he gets it this summer he will have been on her waiting list over three years, transferred to another artist and back, and flown to another country to get it.

[notquitefrugal]

They wouldn't take her old car in on trade, so the dealer actually advised her to LET IT GET REPOSSESSED! it would be her 3rd repo, but shouldn't matter because she will still be paying on the truck in 7 years when her credit is "better". It's so good now her interest rate is 13%.

"Wouldn't take" probably means there was too much negative equity to roll into the new loan. After they repo her old car, the finance company will sell it at auction. Then they will probably sue her for the difference between the loan balance, late fees, and repo costs, minus what the old car brought at auction. If her wages are garnished, it may be difficult for her to continue making payments on the new truck. Regardless, she is not likely to have a good outcome.

I did not know anyone would finance a subprime auto loan for seven years (and make no mistake, if it's at 13% interest, it's subprime).

[Murse]

This story has both good and bad in it. One of my coworkers was trying to increase her 457 contributions. We work with our backs to each other and I turned around to speak with her and saw (without trying) her balance after 8 years of working here at around (shooting low) 70k per year her balance is right around 10k. My balance after contributing for 3 months is around 6k. Now I understand that not everyone's lives are like mine and this coworker is a great person and has had a tough life, but 10k after (conservatively) 560k of income?

Maybe she was funding Roth IRAs post tax. I only have about $1000 in my 457 from a couple years ago because I want to focus my retirement contributions on tax free distribution plans. She might only contribute to the 457 the amount above the Roth cap.

I see your point but knowing her life situation/financial literacy, I don't think this is the case, I doubt she even knows what an Ira is.

[BDWW]

They wouldn't take her old car in on trade, so the dealer actually advised her to LET IT GET REPOSSESSED! it would be her 3rd repo, but shouldn't matter because she will still be paying on the truck in 7 years when her credit is "better". It's so good now her interest rate is 13%.

"Wouldn't take" probably means there was too much negative equity to roll into the new loan. After they repo her old car, the finance company will sell it at auction. Then they will probably sue her for the difference between the loan balance, late fees, and repo costs, minus what the old car brought at auction. If her wages are garnished, it may be difficult for her to continue making payments on the new truck. Regardless, she is not likely to have a good outcome.

I did not know anyone would finance a subprime auto loan for seven years (and make no mistake, if it's at 13% interest, it's subprime).

Not THAT subprime. I have a friend who financed a car at 24.9%. It also had a lojack type thing that beeped if you were late on payments, and wouldn't allow the car to start if you were 30 days late.

[zephyr911]

Not THAT subprime. I have a friend who financed a car at 24.9%. It also had a lojack type thing that beeped if you were late on payments, and wouldn't allow the car to start if you were 30 days late.

Now THAT is anti-Mustachian comedy gold right there. Wow.

[steviesterno]

Not THAT subprime. I have a friend who financed a car at 24.9%. It also had a lojack type thing that beeped if you were late on payments, and wouldn't allow the car to start if you were 30 days late.

Now THAT is anti-Mustachian comedy gold right there. Wow.

reminds me of when Andy Dweyer on Parks and Rec is excited to get a new motorcycle and brags, " oh yeah, it's 18% interest. pretty much the highest you can get" like it's a victory.

But I park next to said CW, and it's a pretty truck but no thank you. I'll take years of my life please.

[The Guru]

new one to add: CW bought a new to her 2014 F150 V8 single cab. She drives 60 miles each way every day, for I think $15 an hour or so. They wouldn't take her old car in on trade, so the dealer actually advised her to LET IT GET REPOSSESSED! it would be her 3rd repo, but shouldn't matter because she will still be paying on the truck in 7 years when her credit is "better". It's so good now her interest rate is 13% So this $22k truck is going to cost $36k by my math, plus lets say gas averages $3 a gallon x 6 gallons a day X 250 days/year x 5 years = $22,500 in GAS in a $22k truck she's paying 36k for.


wow, $59,000 for a used ford F150. it better do dirty sexual things for that price.

She's getting screwed all right.

[jinga nation]

Not THAT subprime. I have a friend who financed a car at 24.9%. It also had a lojack type thing that beeped if you were late on payments, and wouldn't allow the car to start if you were 30 days late.

This is SOP for my neighbor who's a user car dealer in a low-income/ working class area.
A daycare worker I know bought a vehicle with the above "options". But it is a great deal at $99/month.

[mtn]

They wouldn't take her old car in on trade, so the dealer actually advised her to LET IT GET REPOSSESSED! it would be her 3rd repo, but shouldn't matter because she will still be paying on the truck in 7 years when her credit is "better". It's so good now her interest rate is 13%.

"Wouldn't take" probably means there was too much negative equity to roll into the new loan. After they repo her old car, the finance company will sell it at auction. Then they will probably sue her for the difference between the loan balance, late fees, and repo costs, minus what the old car brought at auction. If her wages are garnished, it may be difficult for her to continue making payments on the new truck. Regardless, she is not likely to have a good outcome.

I did not know anyone would finance a subprime auto loan for seven years (and make no mistake, if it's at 13% interest, it's subprime).

Probably won't sue her, often too much money and a settlement can be reached prior to it going that far. But yeah, that is correct.

[Vertical Mode]

About a month after I started working at my current job a coworker and I were eating lunch together and she said, "So you eat leftovers for lunch like every day, huh?"

My SO and I meal plan and bring lunches to work every day. It was particularly funny because this coworker's lunches usually consist of a pack of crackers and a can of tuna, or something similarly prepackaged and boring, whereas I bring homemade curries and the like, yet my lunches are "gross" because they're "leftovers"....

If you planned to bring it to work, it's not really leftovers. Call it home manufacturing if you want ;)

We call them "planovers". As in, we planned to have leftovers specifically for this purpose. Seems to be pretty efficient to batch-cook several things at once and have lunch made for the week.

[MishMash]

CW 1:  Man, I'm so broke, between Christmas, the pregnancy and the new house I am strapped"
CW2" that sucks man, when is your new stack getting here?"  ***I THINK a stack is some sort of weight lifting equipment based on the way the conversation went*****
CW1:  I dunno man I just ordered it yesterday
CW2:  Man that site I sent you, they usually have it to you in 2 days, they cost a bit more but the shipping is fast
CW1:  For $1700 I'd hope the shipping is quick!

For the record, these are the same two idiots that couldn't figure out the tea kettle.  In the past month CW1 has found out his wife is pregnant, subsequently put in a contract on a new build home in Gainesville va, with so far, 35k in upgrades,...we work in the DC area...so yea that's a RIDICULOUS commute and I'm pretty sure he earns about 60k or under a year.

[sw1tch]

This story has both good and bad in it. One of my coworkers was trying to increase her 457 contributions. We work with our backs to each other and I turned around to speak with her and saw (without trying) her balance after 8 years of working here at around (shooting low) 70k per year her balance is right around 10k. My balance after contributing for 3 months is around 6k. Now I understand that not everyone's lives are like mine and this coworker is a great person and has had a tough life, but 10k after (conservatively) 560k of income?

Maybe she was funding Roth IRAs post tax. I only have about $1000 in my 457 from a couple years ago because I want to focus my retirement contributions on tax free distribution plans. She might only contribute to the 457 the amount above the Roth cap.

I can't resist commenting on this.  From my research, I've found that you should always contribute to your 457B first.  It's pre-tax dollars (up to $18,000 maximum this year) and can be withdrawn without penalties after you leave that job; there's no 10% penalty until 59.5 like 401K's have.

I made the mistake of investing in a Roth IRA and the 401K before I realized how much "better" the 457 plan is than the 401.  Granted, I can understand the desire to invest in a Roth IRA if you want/need some sort of emergency fund, but otherwise the 457 trumps it IMO.

Ok, now back on topic.. I don't have anything overheard at the moment...