The Money Mustache Community
Around the Internet => Antimustachian Wall of Shame and Comedy => Topic started by: RainyDay on June 10, 2020, 08:28:25 AM
-
The other day my good friend was telling me that her engagement ring was "worth" $10k. She's been married 26 years, so it was purchased a while back!
BUT. She doesn't like to wear it in case she loses it, so her hubby bought her a Tiffany engagement ring for "only" $250 so it "doesn't matter if she loses it."
My eyes nearly popped out of my head, but I managed not to say a word.
What do your friends say that astound you??
-
The biggest thing flagging my bullshit meter is the “$250 Tiffany engagement ring.” Yeah no. She might have some Tiffany sterling silver ring she wears (their web site starts rings at $175) but Tiffany engagement (diamond) rings start at at least 10x that if not more.
-
The biggest thing flagging my bullshit meter is the “$250 Tiffany engagement ring.” Yeah no. She might have some Tiffany sterling silver ring she wears (their web site starts rings at $175) but Tiffany engagement (diamond) rings start at at least 10x that if not more.
I had no idea! I've never shopped there and just took her at her word. No idea what the real truth is...I've never looked at her finger and she wasn't wearing it during the discussion.
-
It might just be the type of setting rather than the origin.
A friend bought a tour bus style RV because the regular RV was “a little cramped”
-
When I lived in a small town in a moderately touristy region, I had a neighbour who bought a big new RV to go camping with. It had more mod cons than my house--literally. We didn't have a microwave, satellite TV, or clothes dryer, but it did.
The she discovered her car wasn't powerful enough to tow the RV. While she waited a year until she could afford (i.e. she could get approved for a loan to buy) an SUV, the RV sat on the campground in town all summer.
-
I see RV trailers parked all the time. Some don't look like they've moved in ages. Were not cheap when new. Don't know why anyone would park a $45K toy in the backyard and ignore it so.
-
I see RV trailers parked all the time. Some don't look like they've moved in ages. Were not cheap when new. Don't know why anyone would park a $45K toy in the backyard and ignore it so.
If you ask, they will often complain that they tried to sell it, but they couldn't get what they had put in, so they let it rot, instead! Same thing happens with boats.
-
"There's more to life than just going to work and paying bills." Which is what they think being Mustachian means.
-
All the excuses for their purchases. They bought it - own the decision. Phones, cars, houses, etc.
Of course if they are just enthusiastic about their purchase and just want to tell you all about it - I let them with a smile.
Some of us are just like 9 year olds and proud of our toys. (me too sometimes)
-
"There's more to life than just going to work and paying bills." Which is what they think being Mustachian means.
All the people complaining about COVID restrictions "This isn't living!"
I mean, if you are isolated with an abuser or suffering a mental breakdown, but I only saw that phrase from middle to upper class folks who wanted to hang out at the yacht club and go out to dinner.
I'm sorry that cooking in your newly remodeled kitchen and hanging out with your family is so miserable.
-
I see RV trailers parked all the time. Some don't look like they've moved in ages. Were not cheap when new. Don't know why anyone would park a $45K toy in the backyard and ignore it so.
In my parents case, they bought it (used, thankfully) around 2004-2005 when gas was still relatively cheap. They managed to unload it for about what they paid for it shortly before gas hit $4/gal, but even in the $3/gal range, it was just cheaper and easier to go stay at a hotel if they wanted to go more than about 300 miles away. Especially for weekend trips, which is what they envisioned when they bought it.
-
I see RV trailers parked all the time. Some don't look like they've moved in ages. Were not cheap when new. Don't know why anyone would park a $45K toy in the backyard and ignore it so.
In my parents case, they bought it (used, thankfully) around 2004-2005 when gas was still relatively cheap. They managed to unload it for about what they paid for it shortly before gas hit $4/gal, but even in the $3/gal range, it was just cheaper and easier to go stay at a hotel if they wanted to go more than about 300 miles away. Especially for weekend trips, which is what they envisioned when they bought it.
I haven't ever seen these hotels in the woods... I must be doing something wrong.*
*with my 2004 camp trailer purchased for $4k several year ago.
-
Some of us are just like 9 year olds and proud of our toys. (me too sometimes)
I easily resist all toys. Pay no attention to the three large dogs behind the curtain.
-
"You can't just eat beans and rice all the time, you have to live a little, take your wife out to a nice dinner!"
"By the time you have an appetizers, entree, desert, and a few drinks, tax and tip - there is no way you are getting out of there for less than $100-200 a person"
"Of course you can never order the house wine, and any decent wine on the menu is always over a $100 a bottle"
"I didn't feel like taking the subway so I just took an Uber home instead"
"I can't afford to put anything in the 401k to get the match"
-
A depreciating assest (like a car) is somehow an investment.
Not (I mean refusing) to look at interest on a loan or upkeep costs on an item as part of the cost of owning that thing.
Convinced that some windfall is just around the corner that will solve all their money problems.
If investing, they think mutual funds are silly - just pick that one right stock.
Somewhere along the line heard a motivational speaker state that you "should invest 15% of your income each year in yourself". Then decding this means you should go out and buy a bunch of crap and call it "investing in myself".
-
A depreciating assest (like a car) is somehow an investment.
Not (I mean refusing) to look at interest on a loan or upkeep costs on an item as part of the cost of owning that thing.
Convinced that some windfall is just around the corner that will solve all their money problems.
If investing, they think mutual funds are silly - just pick that one right stock.
Somewhere along the line heard a motivational speaker state that you "should invest 15% of your income each year in yourself". Then decding this means you should go out and buy a bunch of crap and call it "investing in myself".
Wait - "invest in yourself" doesn't mean update wardrobe ?
-
A depreciating assest (like a car) is somehow an investment.
Not (I mean refusing) to look at interest on a loan or upkeep costs on an item as part of the cost of owning that thing.
Convinced that some windfall is just around the corner that will solve all their money problems.
If investing, they think mutual funds are silly - just pick that one right stock.
Somewhere along the line heard a motivational speaker state that you "should invest 15% of your income each year in yourself". Then decding this means you should go out and buy a bunch of crap and call it "investing in myself".
Wait - "invest in yourself" doesn't mean update wardrobe ?
Nah, that's tangible. Investments are things like mani - pedis, blow outs, threading...
-
I see RV trailers parked all the time. Some don't look like they've moved in ages. Were not cheap when new. Don't know why anyone would park a $45K toy in the backyard and ignore it so.
In my parents case, they bought it (used, thankfully) around 2004-2005 when gas was still relatively cheap. They managed to unload it for about what they paid for it shortly before gas hit $4/gal, but even in the $3/gal range, it was just cheaper and easier to go stay at a hotel if they wanted to go more than about 300 miles away. Especially for weekend trips, which is what they envisioned when they bought it.
I haven't ever seen these hotels in the woods... I must be doing something wrong.*
*with my 2004 camp trailer purchased for $4k several year ago.
I didn't think people who bought the really, really big ones actually dared to take them out in the woods.
-
I'm sorry that cooking in your newly remodeled kitchen and hanging out with your family is so miserable.
Best quote ever. I live in a HCOL area and hear constant complaints about how hard it is to be at home. From people in luxury 4000 sq ft houses on 5 acres. You're home with the family you supposedly love! With every amenity known to man!
-
"It's a once in a lifetime opportunity"
-
I'm sorry that cooking in your newly remodeled kitchen and hanging out with your family is so miserable.
Best quote ever. I live in a HCOL area and hear constant complaints about how hard it is to be at home. From people in luxury 4000 sq ft houses on 5 acres. You're home with the family you supposedly love! With every amenity known to man!
Yes. If you are this miserable when your distractions are stripped away from the luxurious life you've created, maybe it's time to take a close look at your life and make some changes.
-
I see RV trailers parked all the time. Some don't look like they've moved in ages. Were not cheap when new. Don't know why anyone would park a $45K toy in the backyard and ignore it so.
If you ask, they will often complain that they tried to sell it, but they couldn't get what they had put in, so they let it rot, instead! Same thing happens with boats.
My in laws have an RV. Well, now they have a rotten pile of trash that we'll have to deal with when they die.
2005: RV is at least a few years old, they use it maybe 1 week a year to go to a horse show.
2010: I haven't seen it used in 5 years. They swear when FIL retires they'll use it
2015: FIL retires. RV is now starting to degrade and needs work. It could still be sold for 1000$ maybe. FIL talks about fixing it or selling it but does neither.
2020: it is now a trash heap that he'll have to pay money to get rid of.
Money was never an issue. They just don't bother getting rid of anything, ever. Their unfinished basement is full of random stuff they can't be bothered to dispose of.
-
I'm sorry that cooking in your newly remodeled kitchen and hanging out with your family is so miserable.
Best quote ever. I live in a HCOL area and hear constant complaints about how hard it is to be at home. From people in luxury 4000 sq ft houses on 5 acres. You're home with the family you supposedly love! With every amenity known to man!
Yes. If you are this miserable when your distractions are stripped away from the luxurious life you've created, maybe it's time to take a close look at your life and make some changes.
A lot of MMMers are hardcore introverts so quarantine is a gift to them.
But a lot of other people, like me, are extroverts and thrive on interaction with lots of people, so quarantine feels extremely restrictive and suffocating. It has nothing to do with “luxuries” unless you consider human interaction a luxury.
-
I'm sorry that cooking in your newly remodeled kitchen and hanging out with your family is so miserable.
Best quote ever. I live in a HCOL area and hear constant complaints about how hard it is to be at home. From people in luxury 4000 sq ft houses on 5 acres. You're home with the family you supposedly love! With every amenity known to man!
Yes. If you are this miserable when your distractions are stripped away from the luxurious life you've created, maybe it's time to take a close look at your life and make some changes.
A lot of MMMers are hardcore introverts so quarantine is a gift to them.
But a lot of other people, like me, are extroverts and thrive on interaction with lots of people, so quarantine feels extremely restrictive and suffocating. It has nothing to do with “luxuries” unless you consider human interaction a luxury.
Yeah, quarantine sucks for a lot of people with extended families and large friend groups. Yeah, its great i see my wife and kid but it would also be great to see my parents, cousins, friends etc. I could care less about a restaurant but it would be great to host am open invite cookout.
-
I'm sorry that cooking in your newly remodeled kitchen and hanging out with your family is so miserable.
Best quote ever. I live in a HCOL area and hear constant complaints about how hard it is to be at home. From people in luxury 4000 sq ft houses on 5 acres. You're home with the family you supposedly love! With every amenity known to man!
Yes. If you are this miserable when your distractions are stripped away from the luxurious life you've created, maybe it's time to take a close look at your life and make some changes.
A lot of MMMers are hardcore introverts so quarantine is a gift to them.
But a lot of other people, like me, are extroverts and thrive on interaction with lots of people, so quarantine feels extremely restrictive and suffocating. It has nothing to do with “luxuries” unless you consider human interaction a luxury.
Yeah, quarantine sucks for a lot of people with extended families and large friend groups. Yeah, its great i see my wife and kid but it would also be great to see my parents, cousins, friends etc. I could care less about a restaurant but it would be great to host am open invite cookout.
Yup. Almost every night and weekend in the (Normal) summer we hop on our bikes and ride to the playground/park/pool and meet up with friends. All of that is closed in IL now so no can do. We have the occasional driveway fire pit with neighbors, but not being able to see more people sucks.
-
I still think there is a long way between "This sucks" and "this is not living."
-
I still think there is a long way between "This sucks" and "this is not living."
There's also the priviledge filter to consider. When some people are homeless or unsafe, and others are hungry, complaining about being stuck at home with your luxury goods and unintended weight gain is not a good look.
The one-upping of misery is tiresome and tedious. Of course there are people in worse situations, but that doesn’t mean people’s situations can’t be uncomfortable. Misery isn’t a contest, are you one of those people who respond to “man I’m tired, I got 4 hours of sleep last night” with “wow, 4 hours, I only got 3!” You can’t both be tired???
-
I'm sorry that cooking in your newly remodeled kitchen and hanging out with your family is so miserable.
Best quote ever. I live in a HCOL area and hear constant complaints about how hard it is to be at home. From people in luxury 4000 sq ft houses on 5 acres. You're home with the family you supposedly love! With every amenity known to man!
Yes. If you are this miserable when your distractions are stripped away from the luxurious life you've created, maybe it's time to take a close look at your life and make some changes.
A lot of MMMers are hardcore introverts so quarantine is a gift to them.
But a lot of other people, like me, are extroverts and thrive on interaction with lots of people, so quarantine feels extremely restrictive and suffocating. It has nothing to do with “luxuries” unless you consider human interaction a luxury.
Yes. I am far more of an extrovert than I realized, and all of my volunteer work is either impossible right now or must be done via online platforms (and I do a lot of volunteer work). So now I spend a lot of time on a screen in my 1000-square foot house or in my small yard, and only go out for groceries. I haven't seen friends in person for 3 months. It's not great for my mental health, but like @ixtap said, there's a big gap between "this sucks" and "not living."
We're Mustachians, right? Aren't we supposed to embrace discomfort? This is temporary and ultimately intended to protect the elderly and less healthy among us.
-
I still think there is a long way between "This sucks" and "this is not living."
There's also the priviledge filter to consider. When some people are homeless or unsafe, and others are hungry, complaining about being stuck at home with your luxury goods and unintended weight gain is not a good look.
The one-upping of misery is tiresome and tedious. Of course there are people in worse situations, but that doesn’t mean people’s situations can’t be uncomfortable. Misery isn’t a contest, are you one of those people who respond to “man I’m tired, I got 4 hours of sleep last night” with “wow, 4 hours, I only got 3!” You can’t both be tired???
Nope, I'm not saying it’s a contest. Both people in your example need to go home and take a nap. I'm supporting @ixtap who I believe is saying those WHO HAVE need to be more thoughtful about complaining in front of those WHO HAVE NOT.
Where is the evidence they were complaining in front of someone homeless, etc?
-
For the record, I wasn't at all expecting comparisons to those who are worse off.
I do think that, in general, humans who are in safe conditions should be able to make the most of it for some period of time, even if it isn't their ideal. I even support people leaving their safe conditions to try to carve out something better. I don't think that is what is going to happen if we listen to those who say that they are going to congregate and those who care about public health can just stay home if they don't like it. I think that response is going to make it much worse for everyone.
-
For the record, I wasn't at all expecting comparisons to those who are worse off.
I do think that, in general, humans who are in safe conditions should be able to make the most of it for some period of time, even if it isn't their ideal. I even support people leaving their safe conditions to try to carve out something better. I don't think that is what is going to happen if we listen to those who say that they are going to congregate and those who care about public health can just stay home if they don't like it. I think that response is going to make it much worse for everyone.
But can we agree what we are doing is not indefinitely sustainable?
And if so, by what metric will we relax? That’s what’s frustrating is how the goalposts keep moving, first it was “flatten the curve” and now it’s...what? Zero deaths? A vaccine? At some point life is going to have to go on, one way or another.
-
The problem with reopening too early is it re-bumps the curve. We HAD started to flatten the curve. Then many areas reopened too early. And frankly, the public shows an astonishing lack of interest in taking the precautions (masking, distancing, limiting unnecessary outings) needed to make that reopening a success.
-
For the record, I wasn't at all expecting comparisons to those who are worse off.
I do think that, in general, humans who are in safe conditions should be able to make the most of it for some period of time, even if it isn't their ideal. I even support people leaving their safe conditions to try to carve out something better. I don't think that is what is going to happen if we listen to those who say that they are going to congregate and those who care about public health can just stay home if they don't like it. I think that response is going to make it much worse for everyone.
But can we agree what we are doing is not indefinitely sustainable?
And if so, by what metric will we relax? That’s what’s frustrating is how the goalposts keep moving, first it was “flatten the curve” and now it’s...what? Zero deaths? A vaccine? At some point life is going to have to go on, one way or another.
Life didn't stop. That is my whole point.
So from that totally different premise, the question becomes, what does a path forward look like.
One says, we have to get back to where we were. That was life.
The other says, life is change, what changes are in store next?
-
I guess I agree with the whole “huddling in your house with only direct family” isn’t living.
Isn’t the whole MMM thing about calculating risk and not worrying about very small ones? I would argue for a younger family in good health, sheltering in place indefinitely is a very poor calculation of risk, akin to not riding a bike because you might get hit by a car.
Avoiding elderly family members or those in poor health seems like fair aversion to risk, in contrast.
-
I guess I agree with the whole “huddling in your house with only direct family” isn’t living.
Isn’t the whole MMM thing about calculating risk and not worrying about very small ones? I would argue for a younger family in good health, sheltering in place indefinitely is a very poor calculation of risk, akin to not riding a bike because you might get hit by a car.
Avoiding elderly family members or those in poor health seems like fair aversion to risk, in contrast.
Except it wasn't indefinitely. It's been at most 3 months, and that phase has ended or is ending in most places. I don't know where you live, but here, huddling in our houses seemed like a really smart idea when the hospitals were at capacity and the morgues and funeral homes were overloaded. That's no longer the case, so we have readjusted.
-
I'm sorry that cooking in your newly remodeled kitchen and hanging out with your family is so miserable.
Best quote ever. I live in a HCOL area and hear constant complaints about how hard it is to be at home. From people in luxury 4000 sq ft houses on 5 acres. You're home with the family you supposedly love! With every amenity known to man!
Yes. If you are this miserable when your distractions are stripped away from the luxurious life you've created, maybe it's time to take a close look at your life and make some changes.
A lot of MMMers are hardcore introverts so quarantine is a gift to them.
But a lot of other people, like me, are extroverts and thrive on interaction with lots of people, so quarantine feels extremely restrictive and suffocating. It has nothing to do with “luxuries” unless you consider human interaction a luxury.
@Chris22 , I don't know if you've seen the other posts where this is discussed, but the INTJ type (under Myers-Briggs) is by far the modal type for MMM forum participants.
-
I'm sorry that cooking in your newly remodeled kitchen and hanging out with your family is so miserable.
Best quote ever. I live in a HCOL area and hear constant complaints about how hard it is to be at home. From people in luxury 4000 sq ft houses on 5 acres. You're home with the family you supposedly love! With every amenity known to man!
Yes. If you are this miserable when your distractions are stripped away from the luxurious life you've created, maybe it's time to take a close look at your life and make some changes.
A lot of MMMers are hardcore introverts so quarantine is a gift to them.
But a lot of other people, like me, are extroverts and thrive on interaction with lots of people, so quarantine feels extremely restrictive and suffocating. It has nothing to do with “luxuries” unless you consider human interaction a luxury.
@Chris22 , I don't know if you've seen the other posts where this is discussed, but the INTJ type (under Myers-Briggs) is by far the modal type for MMM forum participants.
One of the rare situations in which we're the majority.
I almost feel like exploiting or dominating somebody now. But that would require effort, so I won't.
-
A lot of MMMers are hardcore introverts so quarantine is a gift to them.
OT but related to this comment.
I have two junior teenage Gremlins. Master Gremlin is the hardest of hardcore introverts. Little Miss Gremlin, on the other hand, is our out there extrovert. Funnily enough, it was my introvert son who most desperately wanted to get back to face-to-face learning at school, whilst my extrovert daughter could have stayed at home forever. She found she still had full access to all her friends all the time through video calls and social media and was just as connected as ever. In comparison, Master Gremlin really felt the pangs of loneliness as the one-on-one social connection of just "being" with another introverted friend or two had been taken away. Social media and video calls were no substitute for him and just sitting there on a video call in silence was a driver of awkwardness rather than just an experience you can have when you're there in real life. So I agree that your comment is true in a sense, but really interesting to observe how that played out for the younger generation.
-
I guess I agree with the whole “huddling in your house with only direct family” isn’t living.
Isn’t the whole MMM thing about calculating risk and not worrying about very small ones? I would argue for a younger family in good health, sheltering in place indefinitely is a very poor calculation of risk, akin to not riding a bike because you might get hit by a car.
Avoiding elderly family members or those in poor health seems like fair aversion to risk, in contrast.
Except it wasn't indefinitely. It's been at most 3 months, and that phase has ended or is ending in most places. I don't know where you live, but here, huddling in our houses seemed like a really smart idea when the hospitals were at capacity and the morgues and funeral homes were overloaded. That's no longer the case, so we have readjusted.
And it’s not about individuals health, it’s about public health. Currently as my state open, my county is the one being watch most closely, not because we have the highest infection rate, but because we are seeing the highest rate of ICU use. It’s about the ability to treat the public as a whole, not individuals.
-
I still think there is a long way between "This sucks" and "this is not living."
There's also the priviledge filter to consider. When some people are homeless or unsafe, and others are hungry, complaining about being stuck at home with your luxury goods and unintended weight gain is not a good look.
The one-upping of misery is tiresome and tedious. Of course there are people in worse situations, but that doesn’t mean people’s situations can’t be uncomfortable. Misery isn’t a contest, are you one of those people who respond to “man I’m tired, I got 4 hours of sleep last night” with “wow, 4 hours, I only got 3!” You can’t both be tired???
Agreed. Misery isn't relative, people respond in different ways to the same stimulus and all responses are valid.
On the other hand, some people could afford a little perspective from time to time!
-
I guess I agree with the whole “huddling in your house with only direct family” isn’t living.
Isn’t the whole MMM thing about calculating risk and not worrying about very small ones? I would argue for a younger family in good health, sheltering in place indefinitely is a very poor calculation of risk, akin to not riding a bike because you might get hit by a car.
Avoiding elderly family members or those in poor health seems like fair aversion to risk, in contrast.
Except it wasn't indefinitely. It's been at most 3 months, and that phase has ended or is ending in most places. I don't know where you live, but here, huddling in our houses seemed like a really smart idea when the hospitals were at capacity and the morgues and funeral homes were overloaded. That's no longer the case, so we have readjusted.
And it’s not about individuals health, it’s about public health. Currently as my state open, my county is the one being watch most closely, not because we have the highest infection rate, but because we are seeing the highest rate of ICU use. It’s about the ability to treat the public as a whole, not individuals.
I live in the bible belt, where one would think that "Love Thy Neighbor" would kind of be a big thing. But yet everyone bitches about wearing a mask.
-
Back on topic:
"I'm tired of this" said while throwing away something nearly unused.
-
"I'm tired of this" said while throwing away something nearly unused.
It must not be sparking joy any more.
-
I'm sorry that cooking in your newly remodeled kitchen and hanging out with your family is so miserable.
Best quote ever. I live in a HCOL area and hear constant complaints about how hard it is to be at home. From people in luxury 4000 sq ft houses on 5 acres. You're home with the family you supposedly love! With every amenity known to man!
Yes. If you are this miserable when your distractions are stripped away from the luxurious life you've created, maybe it's time to take a close look at your life and make some changes.
A lot of MMMers are hardcore introverts so quarantine is a gift to them.
But a lot of other people, like me, are extroverts and thrive on interaction with lots of people, so quarantine feels extremely restrictive and suffocating. It has nothing to do with “luxuries” unless you consider human interaction a luxury.
I hate to say this when so many people have been sick and died - but this has been the best spring of my adult life. Never before have I had this much time to enjoy being at home and outside. Spring is usually so busy its over before I notice.
I start most morns with coffee or ice water as the mood strikes me - and sitting on the front porch while the dog patrols the yard for things to bark at. Time with the family. Time for tinkering. Its brought us closer. Espeically our kids. Even work has been better in some ways. WFH and more autonomy to get done whatever needs doing.
Yeah I get it, lots of unhappy people out there and I want to virus to end too. We have family and friends we have not visited in person since Christmas. We'd love to get out of town too.
-
Co-worker: "We're buying a new RV because we want to save money on our travelling expenses."
Me: (lying through my teeth) That's awesome!
-
I hate to say this when so many people have been sick and died - but this has been the best spring of my adult life. Never before have I had this much time to enjoy being at home and outside. Spring is usually so busy its over before I notice.
I start most morns with coffee or ice water as the mood strikes me - and sitting on the front porch while the dog patrols the yard for things to bark at. Time with the family. Time for tinkering. Its brought us closer. Espeically our kids. Even work has been better in some ways. WFH and more autonomy to get done whatever needs doing.
Yeah I get it, lots of unhappy people out there and I want to virus to end too. We have family and friends we have not visited in person since Christmas. We'd love to get out of town too.
Same here. I feel awful because there's a lot of suffering out there right now, but this has been the best spring of my life, too. I'm an introvert, had a loooong commute, and lots of boring-ass meetings. Now I get to be home, commute down the hallway, and 80% of those useless meetings have been cancelled. Plus I can go outside for short periods of time to enjoy the day, take walks, and have SO MUCH MORE TIME. I feel semi-retired!
-
I hate to say this when so many people have been sick and died - but this has been the best spring of my adult life. Never before have I had this much time to enjoy being at home and outside. Spring is usually so busy its over before I notice.
I start most morns with coffee or ice water as the mood strikes me - and sitting on the front porch while the dog patrols the yard for things to bark at. Time with the family. Time for tinkering. Its brought us closer. Espeically our kids. Even work has been better in some ways. WFH and more autonomy to get done whatever needs doing.
Yeah I get it, lots of unhappy people out there and I want to virus to end too. We have family and friends we have not visited in person since Christmas. We'd love to get out of town too.
Same here. I feel awful because there's a lot of suffering out there right now, but this has been the best spring of my life, too. I'm an introvert, had a loooong commute, and lots of boring-ass meetings. Now I get to be home, commute down the hallway, and 80% of those useless meetings have been cancelled. Plus I can go outside for short periods of time to enjoy the day, take walks, and have SO MUCH MORE TIME. I feel semi-retired!
Ditto.
I'm really going to hate it when we have to return to the office full time.
-
Same here. I feel awful because there's a lot of suffering out there right now, but this has been the best spring of my life, too. I'm an introvert, had a loooong commute, and lots of boring-ass meetings. Now I get to be home, commute down the hallway, and 80% of those useless meetings have been cancelled. Plus I can go outside for short periods of time to enjoy the day, take walks, and have SO MUCH MORE TIME. I feel semi-retired!
All of my boring ass meetings are now on Teams. It really makes me want to quit work for a year just so I can avoid any more Teams/webex/zoom
-
Same here. I feel awful because there's a lot of suffering out there right now, but this has been the best spring of my life, too. I'm an introvert, had a loooong commute, and lots of boring-ass meetings. Now I get to be home, commute down the hallway, and 80% of those useless meetings have been cancelled. Plus I can go outside for short periods of time to enjoy the day, take walks, and have SO MUCH MORE TIME. I feel semi-retired!
All of my boring ass meetings are now on Teams. It really makes me want to quit work for a year just so I can avoid any more Teams/webex/zoom
I have a really intense boss who micromanages. Looking out the window really drains me. I see the sun and birds chirping but I'm saddled to a computer.
-
[Friend who lives on the west coast. Pre-COVID]
"I really want to meet up with my friend in Berlin. I haven't seen her in 8 months! So I booked the tickets last night, and I'm going there for 4 days. The sad part is I'll have to miss two appointments with my personal trainer. I mentioned this to my therapist, and he reminded me that I also need to call up the dog walker before it's too late".
-
[Friend who lives on the west coast. Pre-COVID]
"I really want to meet up with my friend in Berlin. I haven't seen her in 8 months! So I booked the tickets last night, and I'm going there for 4 days. The sad part is I'll have to miss two appointments with my personal trainer. I mentioned this to my therapist, and he reminded me that I also need to call up the dog walker before it's too late".
This hurts my brain. Who travels halfway round the world just for 4 days? You'd spend half the time in airports and on the plane?
-
[Friend who lives on the west coast. Pre-COVID]
"I really want to meet up with my friend in Berlin. I haven't seen her in 8 months! So I booked the tickets last night, and I'm going there for 4 days. The sad part is I'll have to miss two appointments with my personal trainer. I mentioned this to my therapist, and he reminded me that I also need to call up the dog walker before it's too late".
This hurts my brain. Who travels halfway round the world just for 4 days? You'd spend half the time in airports and on the plane?
Right? I'm trying to convince my husband that we should go on a safari (travel hacking, FTW). The problem is that I can't see spending 2 days on a plane each way just to spend three or four days doing game drives. So, I'm trying to work out either a few days in Zanzibar or a few days in Cairo/Luxor to make it worth our while.
-
I'm sorry that cooking in your newly remodeled kitchen and hanging out with your family is so miserable.
[/quote]
This.
-
[Friend who lives on the west coast. Pre-COVID]
"I really want to meet up with my friend in Berlin. I haven't seen her in 8 months! So I booked the tickets last night, and I'm going there for 4 days. The sad part is I'll have to miss two appointments with my personal trainer. I mentioned this to my therapist, and he reminded me that I also need to call up the dog walker before it's too late".
This hurts my brain. Who travels halfway round the world just for 4 days? You'd spend half the time in airports and on the plane?
Depends on the situation. Direct flights from major cities aren't bad and if you have points to burn, why not? I also have airline lounge passes and small enough to enjoy flights. 8 hours on a plane drinking free wine and watching movies and maybe some random reading is enjoyment to me.
-
[Friend who lives on the west coast. Pre-COVID]
"I really want to meet up with my friend in Berlin. I haven't seen her in 8 months! So I booked the tickets last night, and I'm going there for 4 days. The sad part is I'll have to miss two appointments with my personal trainer. I mentioned this to my therapist, and he reminded me that I also need to call up the dog walker before it's too late".
This hurts my brain. Who travels halfway round the world just for 4 days? You'd spend half the time in airports and on the plane?
My old boss would do this all the time - flying from Seattle to South America, Asia, etc for an extended weekend. He loves to travel, and this way he can travel more often and to more places (I get it - travel is a huge part of my life too, although I fly much less often and stay longer). When asked if these visits don't feel really abbreviated, he laughed and said that yeah, but if he went to his boss and said that he needs more vacation time because his trips are abbreviated, it wouldn't go over well.
This was a good reminder - not that I needed one - as to why I'm not staying in corporate. There was nothing up the ladder that interested me. With every promotion, they shower you with more money and simultaneously make stricter demands on your time and energy.
-
This hurts my brain. Who travels halfway round the world just for 4 days? You'd spend half the time in airports and on the plane?
My high school Spanish teacher had a friend who worked for an airline and had a pass to fly free on any flight with available space. One day my teacher asked her friend, "What are you doing this weekend?" "I think I'll go to Paris. I have to return a sweater."
-
Friend of mine ....... "I figure you're always gonna have a car payment. Just no way around it if you want to drive anything decent."
-
Friend of mine ....... "I figure you're always gonna have a car payment. Just no way around it if you want to drive anything decent."
Someone has bought into the the lease marketing...
-
[Friend who lives on the west coast. Pre-COVID]
"I really want to meet up with my friend in Berlin. I haven't seen her in 8 months! So I booked the tickets last night, and I'm going there for 4 days. The sad part is I'll have to miss two appointments with my personal trainer. I mentioned this to my therapist, and he reminded me that I also need to call up the dog walker before it's too late".
This hurts my brain. Who travels halfway round the world just for 4 days? You'd spend half the time in airports and on the plane?
My old boss would do this all the time - flying from Seattle to South America, Asia, etc for an extended weekend. He loves to travel, and this way he can travel more often and to more places (I get it - travel is a huge part of my life too, although I fly much less often and stay longer). When asked if these visits don't feel really abbreviated, he laughed and said that yeah, but if he went to his boss and said that he needs more vacation time because his trips are abbreviated, it wouldn't go over well.
This was a good reminder - not that I needed one - as to why I'm not staying in corporate. There was nothing up the ladder that interested me. With every promotion, they shower you with more money and simultaneously make stricter demands on your time and energy.
I’ve done a trip to Ireland where I was on the ground for 3.5 days basically. I did it because I had a rocking fare to get there but had already used up most of my vacation time 2 months earlier on a multi week trip. I had a good time and would do something like this again, if I can find a similar deal. I just created a plan that was limited to fit with my limited time.
-
Friend of mine ....... "I figure you're always gonna have a car payment. Just no way around it if you want to drive anything decent."
Even if they buy a brand-new car, it would be paid off in 5 years, in most cases. So is a 6 year old car automatically NOT decent? What happens at the 6 year mark to make the car totally crappy?
-
Friend of mine ....... "I figure you're always gonna have a car payment. Just no way around it if you want to drive anything decent."
Even if they buy a brand-new car, it would be paid off in 5 years, in most cases. So is a 6 year old car automatically NOT decent? What happens at the 6 year mark to make the car totally crappy?
5 years of non-existent maintenance because they "can't afford it"
-
I hate to say this when so many people have been sick and died - but this has been the best spring of my adult life. Never before have I had this much time to enjoy being at home and outside. Spring is usually so busy its over before I notice.
I start most morns with coffee or ice water as the mood strikes me - and sitting on the front porch while the dog patrols the yard for things to bark at. Time with the family. Time for tinkering. Its brought us closer. Espeically our kids. Even work has been better in some ways. WFH and more autonomy to get done whatever needs doing.
Yeah I get it, lots of unhappy people out there and I want to virus to end too. We have family and friends we have not visited in person since Christmas. We'd love to get out of town too.
Same here. I feel awful because there's a lot of suffering out there right now, but this has been the best spring of my life, too. I'm an introvert, had a loooong commute, and lots of boring-ass meetings. Now I get to be home, commute down the hallway, and 80% of those useless meetings have been cancelled. Plus I can go outside for short periods of time to enjoy the day, take walks, and have SO MUCH MORE TIME. I feel semi-retired!
Ditto.
I'm really going to hate it when we have to return to the office full time.
I'm having such a nice apocalypse, I forget a)all the actual covid suffering, b)all the indirect covid suffering (economic, general worry tensions etc).
We are on a low-information diet, so I leave the room during any news-entertainment broadcast.
I do care (parents are aging and in high-risk categories).
So I check out: https://elm.nsupdate.info/virus/#world to keep myself current.
It also has US-by-county info too. So I can check out the latest local stuff myself, without having to find out how the Kardashians are emoting over the issue.
https://elm.nsupdate.info/statisticdata/uscountriesbynames/
-
I hate to say this when so many people have been sick and died - but this has been the best spring of my adult life. Never before have I had this much time to enjoy being at home and outside. Spring is usually so busy its over before I notice.
I start most morns with coffee or ice water as the mood strikes me - and sitting on the front porch while the dog patrols the yard for things to bark at. Time with the family. Time for tinkering. Its brought us closer. Espeically our kids. Even work has been better in some ways. WFH and more autonomy to get done whatever needs doing.
Yeah I get it, lots of unhappy people out there and I want to virus to end too. We have family and friends we have not visited in person since Christmas. We'd love to get out of town too.
Same here. I feel awful because there's a lot of suffering out there right now, but this has been the best spring of my life, too. I'm an introvert, had a loooong commute, and lots of boring-ass meetings. Now I get to be home, commute down the hallway, and 80% of those useless meetings have been cancelled. Plus I can go outside for short periods of time to enjoy the day, take walks, and have SO MUCH MORE TIME. I feel semi-retired!
Ditto.
I'm really going to hate it when we have to return to the office full time.
I'm having such a nice apocalypse, I forget a)all the actual covid suffering, b)all the indirect covid suffering (economic, general worry tensions etc).
We are on a low-information diet, so I leave the room during any news-entertainment broadcast.
I do care (parents are aging and in high-risk categories).
So I check out: https://elm.nsupdate.info/virus/#world to keep myself current.
It also has US-by-county info too. So I can check out the latest local stuff myself, without having to find out how the Kardashians are emoting over the issue.
https://elm.nsupdate.info/statisticdata/uscountriesbynames/
Careful... ptmoney got cancelled for saying something like this! https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/cancel-fincon/
-
I hate to say this when so many people have been sick and died - but this has been the best spring of my adult life. Never before have I had this much time to enjoy being at home and outside. Spring is usually so busy its over before I notice.
I start most morns with coffee or ice water as the mood strikes me - and sitting on the front porch while the dog patrols the yard for things to bark at. Time with the family. Time for tinkering. Its brought us closer. Espeically our kids. Even work has been better in some ways. WFH and more autonomy to get done whatever needs doing.
Yeah I get it, lots of unhappy people out there and I want to virus to end too. We have family and friends we have not visited in person since Christmas. We'd love to get out of town too.
Same here. I feel awful because there's a lot of suffering out there right now, but this has been the best spring of my life, too. I'm an introvert, had a loooong commute, and lots of boring-ass meetings. Now I get to be home, commute down the hallway, and 80% of those useless meetings have been cancelled. Plus I can go outside for short periods of time to enjoy the day, take walks, and have SO MUCH MORE TIME. I feel semi-retired!
Ditto.
I'm really going to hate it when we have to return to the office full time.
I'm having such a nice apocalypse, I forget a)all the actual covid suffering, b)all the indirect covid suffering (economic, general worry tensions etc).
We are on a low-information diet, so I leave the room during any news-entertainment broadcast.
I do care (parents are aging and in high-risk categories).
So I check out: https://elm.nsupdate.info/virus/#world to keep myself current.
It also has US-by-county info too. So I can check out the latest local stuff myself, without having to find out how the Kardashians are emoting over the issue.
https://elm.nsupdate.info/statisticdata/uscountriesbynames/
Careful... ptmoney got cancelled for saying something like this! https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/cancel-fincon/
@solon thanks for the warning, but exactly what was said? I can't find it the linked thread. PM me if necessary.
All I said, is that my lifestyle has not been significantly, meaningfully, impacted. I also implied that I have to remember that others are greatly impacted.
-
Friend of mine ....... "I figure you're always gonna have a car payment. Just no way around it if you want to drive anything decent."
Even if they buy a brand-new car, it would be paid off in 5 years, in most cases. So is a 6 year old car automatically NOT decent? What happens at the 6 year mark to make the car totally crappy?
I can't tell you how many people I've met that think that paying off one car is the sign that it's time to shop for a new one.
-
Friend of mine ....... "I figure you're always gonna have a car payment. Just no way around it if you want to drive anything decent."
Even if they buy a brand-new car, it would be paid off in 5 years, in most cases. So is a 6 year old car automatically NOT decent? What happens at the 6 year mark to make the car totally crappy?
I can't tell you how many people I've met that think that paying off one car is the sign that it's time to shop for a new one.
When we had 2 cars paying off a loan was the signal to start thinking about a new car, because at that point the older car was always well over 6 years old, with a lot of mileage. But we were were not your typical car spendypants, I think.
Life without a car loan is so much nicer, though. My present car has been mine, all mine, for 5 years now.
-
I hate to say this when so many people have been sick and died - but this has been the best spring of my adult life. Never before have I had this much time to enjoy being at home and outside. Spring is usually so busy its over before I notice.
I start most morns with coffee or ice water as the mood strikes me - and sitting on the front porch while the dog patrols the yard for things to bark at. Time with the family. Time for tinkering. Its brought us closer. Espeically our kids. Even work has been better in some ways. WFH and more autonomy to get done whatever needs doing.
Yeah I get it, lots of unhappy people out there and I want to virus to end too. We have family and friends we have not visited in person since Christmas. We'd love to get out of town too.
Same here. I feel awful because there's a lot of suffering out there right now, but this has been the best spring of my life, too. I'm an introvert, had a loooong commute, and lots of boring-ass meetings. Now I get to be home, commute down the hallway, and 80% of those useless meetings have been cancelled. Plus I can go outside for short periods of time to enjoy the day, take walks, and have SO MUCH MORE TIME. I feel semi-retired!
I don’t understand how people have so much extra time. I still have the same amount of work to do, I just have to do it at home. It’s a bit more flexible, but my pre-Covid situation was pretty flexible too. I also didn’t have much of a commute because I planned it that way.
It seems to me that if your pre-COVID situation was that time crunched, and your WFH situation isn’t, maybe that’s a signal that you need to make some structural changes in your lifestyle.
-
Friend bragging about all the neat things his new Tesla does. Then he says that he doesn't understand why more people don't buy a Tesla. I said that Tesla has some great features and I hope they trickle down to the general car population soon, but there is no way I am paying that much for a car. He laughs and say you cannot even buy a decent used car for less than $25k.
-
Friend bragging about all the neat things his new Tesla does. Then he says that he doesn't understand why more people don't buy a Tesla. I said that Tesla has some great features and I hope they trickle down to the general car population soon, but there is no way I am paying that much for a car. He laughs and say you cannot even buy a decent used car for less than $25k.
How can someone be so out of touch? Does he also think minimum wage is $45/hr?
-
I hate to say this when so many people have been sick and died - but this has been the best spring of my adult life. Never before have I had this much time to enjoy being at home and outside. Spring is usually so busy its over before I notice.
I start most morns with coffee or ice water as the mood strikes me - and sitting on the front porch while the dog patrols the yard for things to bark at. Time with the family. Time for tinkering. Its brought us closer. Espeically our kids. Even work has been better in some ways. WFH and more autonomy to get done whatever needs doing.
Yeah I get it, lots of unhappy people out there and I want to virus to end too. We have family and friends we have not visited in person since Christmas. We'd love to get out of town too.
Same here. I feel awful because there's a lot of suffering out there right now, but this has been the best spring of my life, too. I'm an introvert, had a loooong commute, and lots of boring-ass meetings. Now I get to be home, commute down the hallway, and 80% of those useless meetings have been cancelled. Plus I can go outside for short periods of time to enjoy the day, take walks, and have SO MUCH MORE TIME. I feel semi-retired!
I don’t understand how people have so much extra time. I still have the same amount of work to do, I just have to do it at home. It’s a bit more flexible, but my pre-Covid situation was pretty flexible too. I also didn’t have much of a commute because I planned it that way.
It seems to me that if your pre-COVID situation was that time crunched, and your WFH situation isn’t, maybe that’s a signal that you need to make some structural changes in your lifestyle.
You're absolutely right, which is why my priority for the past 6 months (ever since I started reading this blog) was to find a job either close to home or with telework options, which my current job didn't have until COVID. But now the extra time comes from not commuting, so I have almost an extra 2 hours per day. Plus I can leave my keyboard to start a load of laundry or whatever. It's nice that your job allowed a lot of flexibility, but mine did not.
-
I recently had dinner with an old friend. She says that her family can't afford college for the kids, its just too expensive. 5 minutes later talking about putting 2 of her kids on travel sports teams. "But it's only $3000 per year each. They could probably get a college scholarship." I asked how much it would be all in. She didn't even calculate all the money to be spent on gas, hotels, food etc.
-
I recently had dinner with an old friend. She says that her family can't afford college for the kids, its just too expensive. 5 minutes later talking about putting 2 of her kids on travel sports teams. "But it's only $3000 per year each. They could probably get a college scholarship." I asked how much it would be all in. She didn't even calculate all the money to be spent on gas, hotels, food etc.
The thing with the sports that have travel teams for elementary school-aged kids is that the competition for scholarships is very intense. For some sports it might not exist.
A more intelligent alternative, if sports scholarships are the goal, would be to start the kid in golf, tennis, or some other sport that has less of an initial investment, fewer travel teams, and little to no media attention. Basketball, football, and other high-profile team sports would be out but other less expensive options would be viable. Of course the kid would have to enjoy the sport and spend time with it, and he or she would have to genuinely feel a strong competitive drive. That, together with some experience and solid basics, should be enough to get the kid onto a high school team and into the running.
But even then, a scholarship is not guaranteed (much less to a school the kid would like to attend).
-
I recently had dinner with an old friend. She says that her family can't afford college for the kids, its just too expensive. 5 minutes later talking about putting 2 of her kids on travel sports teams. "But it's only $3000 per year each. They could probably get a college scholarship." I asked how much it would be all in. She didn't even calculate all the money to be spent on gas, hotels, food etc.
The thing with the sports that have travel teams for elementary school-aged kids is that the competition for scholarships is very intense. For some sports it might not exist.
A more intelligent alternative, if sports scholarships are the goal, would be to start the kid in golf, tennis, or some other sport that has less of an initial investment, fewer travel teams, and little to no media attention. Basketball, football, and other high-profile team sports would be out but other less expensive options would be viable. Of course the kid would have to enjoy the sport and spend time with it, and he or she would have to genuinely feel a strong competitive drive. That, together with some experience and solid basics, should be enough to get the kid onto a high school team and into the running.
But even then, a scholarship is not guaranteed (much less to a school the kid would like to attend).
I played tennis throughout HS. I can say that there is a ton of competition from foreign players for tennis scholarships. Even the best players from the junior tournament circuit I participated in often ended up having to go the CC route for a tennis scholarship.
-
I have a niece in travel cheer. That is, they aren't cheering for anything, ever, they just travel around competing. I find it ironically depressing.
The nice thing about travel sports is that far more kids can participate than would be able to in the traditional system. The down side to that is, it is more about buying your way onto the team.
Their family usually pays for it, at least in part, by working the concessions at an affiliated venue. The fact that the venue probably won't open this year, the fact that they probably won't be allowed to travel this year, the fact that the sole breadwinner was furloughed at the time the gym reopened, has not put a damper on paying for the training itself.
-
Friend bragging about all the neat things his new Tesla does. Then he says that he doesn't understand why more people don't buy a Tesla. I said that Tesla has some great features and I hope they trickle down to the general car population soon, but there is no way I am paying that much for a car. He laughs and say you cannot even buy a decent used car for less than $25k.
How can someone be so out of touch? Does he also think minimum wage is $45/hr?
I have never asked, because it's really none of my business, but I suspect he has a trust fund or other such income. Even with very loose lending standards, the math doesn't work between his salary and things he owns.
-
I recently had dinner with an old friend. She says that her family can't afford college for the kids, its just too expensive. 5 minutes later talking about putting 2 of her kids on travel sports teams. "But it's only $3000 per year each. They could probably get a college scholarship." I asked how much it would be all in. She didn't even calculate all the money to be spent on gas, hotels, food etc.
The thing with the sports that have travel teams for elementary school-aged kids is that the competition for scholarships is very intense. For some sports it might not exist.
A more intelligent alternative, if sports scholarships are the goal, would be to start the kid in golf, tennis, or some other sport that has less of an initial investment, fewer travel teams, and little to no media attention. Basketball, football, and other high-profile team sports would be out but other less expensive options would be viable. Of course the kid would have to enjoy the sport and spend time with it, and he or she would have to genuinely feel a strong competitive drive. That, together with some experience and solid basics, should be enough to get the kid onto a high school team and into the running.
But even then, a scholarship is not guaranteed (much less to a school the kid would like to attend).
I played tennis throughout HS. I can say that there is a ton of competition from foreign players for tennis scholarships. Even the best players from the junior tournament circuit I participated in often ended up having to go the CC route for a tennis scholarship.
So my friend asked me to help out calculating what the spend would be if the kids did travel teams. So I did the math for my friend.
Kid 1 - 6th grade. Team estimates that each trip will be @$150 all in (hotel, food, gas, etc) and there will be about 10 trips per year
$3000 per year x 6 years = $18,000
10 trips per year @$150 each x 6 years = $9,000
Total $27,000
That's just for 1 kid
-
I recently had dinner with an old friend. She says that her family can't afford college for the kids, its just too expensive. 5 minutes later talking about putting 2 of her kids on travel sports teams. "But it's only $3000 per year each. They could probably get a college scholarship." I asked how much it would be all in. She didn't even calculate all the money to be spent on gas, hotels, food etc.
The thing with the sports that have travel teams for elementary school-aged kids is that the competition for scholarships is very intense. For some sports it might not exist.
A more intelligent alternative, if sports scholarships are the goal, would be to start the kid in golf, tennis, or some other sport that has less of an initial investment, fewer travel teams, and little to no media attention. Basketball, football, and other high-profile team sports would be out but other less expensive options would be viable. Of course the kid would have to enjoy the sport and spend time with it, and he or she would have to genuinely feel a strong competitive drive. That, together with some experience and solid basics, should be enough to get the kid onto a high school team and into the running.
But even then, a scholarship is not guaranteed (much less to a school the kid would like to attend).
I played tennis throughout HS. I can say that there is a ton of competition from foreign players for tennis scholarships. Even the best players from the junior tournament circuit I participated in often ended up having to go the CC route for a tennis scholarship.
So my friend asked me to help out calculating what the spend would be if the kids did travel teams. So I did the math for my friend.
Kid 1 - 6th grade. Team estimates that each trip will be @$150 all in (hotel, food, gas, etc) and there will be about 10 trips per year
$3000 per year x 6 years = $18,000
10 trips per year @$150 each x 6 years = $9,000
Total $27,000
That's just for 1 kid
You can get a college education in NC for less than that if you live in commuting distance from 5 different universities, and for maybe $10,000 more if you need to get room and board at them.
-
Friend of mine ....... "I figure you're always gonna have a car payment. Just no way around it if you want to drive anything decent."
Even if they buy a brand-new car, it would be paid off in 5 years, in most cases. So is a 6 year old car automatically NOT decent? What happens at the 6 year mark to make the car totally crappy?
My Leaf is 5 years old now, and I've had it for 1 year. It feels almost brand new to me. All the bits work, not like my last 14 year old car where loads of bits didnt work, and there were more dents than bits without dents
I can't tell you how many people I've met that think that paying off one car is the sign that it's time to shop for a new one.
-
I hate to say this when so many people have been sick and died - but this has been the best spring of my adult life. Never before have I had this much time to enjoy being at home and outside. Spring is usually so busy its over before I notice.
I start most morns with coffee or ice water as the mood strikes me - and sitting on the front porch while the dog patrols the yard for things to bark at. Time with the family. Time for tinkering. Its brought us closer. Espeically our kids. Even work has been better in some ways. WFH and more autonomy to get done whatever needs doing.
Yeah I get it, lots of unhappy people out there and I want to virus to end too. We have family and friends we have not visited in person since Christmas. We'd love to get out of town too.
Same here. I feel awful because there's a lot of suffering out there right now, but this has been the best spring of my life, too. I'm an introvert, had a loooong commute, and lots of boring-ass meetings. Now I get to be home, commute down the hallway, and 80% of those useless meetings have been cancelled. Plus I can go outside for short periods of time to enjoy the day, take walks, and have SO MUCH MORE TIME. I feel semi-retired!
I don’t understand how people have so much extra time. I still have the same amount of work to do, I just have to do it at home. It’s a bit more flexible, but my pre-Covid situation was pretty flexible too. I also didn’t have much of a commute because I planned it that way.
It seems to me that if your pre-COVID situation was that time crunched, and your WFH situation isn’t, maybe that’s a signal that you need to make some structural changes in your lifestyle.
I disagree.
I work in the city, and my wife works near where we live. As a result, I have a long commute. There aren't jobs for what I do in the small town we live in, and my wife loves where she works. Moving closer to my job adds to her commute an equal amount of time.
Even if we both worked in the city, I wouldn't want to live there, for a couple main reasons:
1. Increased cost of housing in the city far outweighs cost savings of reduced commute.
2. Being around that many people is stressful to me. The pandemic and protests are good examples of why I want nothing to do with living in a city.
Outside of the pandemic, that's worth giving up ~8 hours per week.
-
I agree with @DadJokes. The actual city I live near is traffic crowded and frankly has grown too fast for the past 5-8 years to be appealing to me as a home. I could theoretically take a commuter train into it if I worked there, but then I would still have to drive to the station and walk to the place I worked. The public transit in that city is not good at all. My house costs half to 1/3 what a similar property in the city would, and my commute is only 30-45 minutes depending on time of day and which campus I am working at.
-
I recently had dinner with an old friend. She says that her family can't afford college for the kids, its just too expensive. 5 minutes later talking about putting 2 of her kids on travel sports teams. "But it's only $3000 per year each. They could probably get a college scholarship." I asked how much it would be all in. She didn't even calculate all the money to be spent on gas, hotels, food etc.
There's also a dirty little secret in this space.
Not all kids in all the "travel teams" are paying the $$$$. There's every chance the absolute best talent - ie the ones who are ultimately most likely to get those aforementioned golden ticket scholarships - are on a free ride, even at this stage of their career. Lots of others get spun a story that being on such teams is the path to a scholarship. It's not false. It's just not quite the way it's portrayed.
-
I work in the city, and my wife works near where we live. As a result, I have a long commute. There aren't jobs for what I do in the small town we live in, and my wife loves where she works. Moving closer to my job adds to her commute an equal amount of time.
Even if we both worked in the city, I wouldn't want to live there, for a couple main reasons:
1. Increased cost of housing in the city far outweighs cost savings of reduced commute.
2. Being around that many people is stressful to me. The pandemic and protests are good examples of why I want nothing to do with living in a city.
Outside of the pandemic, that's worth giving up ~8 hours per week.
Same. I could never live in a city -- I hate crowds and buildings. I love to garden and do yard work, and we live walking distance to a 600 acre park with 12 miles of hiking trails.
-
Same here. We went the small town route and made career choices to fit places (this place) that we like to live. I'm sure we've earned less than we would in the big city but I'm sure we're ahead on the long game. We did the big city thing earlier in life. Neat places to visit, not interested in living there anymore for reasons that DadJokes detailed among others.
-
"It's only $355 per month" says the guy who just leased a 2020 Dodge Ram to go along with the leased vehicles he got for his wife and son. Daughter gets her vehicle in January. 4 lease payments. 4 of them.
-
I recently had dinner with an old friend. She says that her family can't afford college for the kids, its just too expensive. 5 minutes later talking about putting 2 of her kids on travel sports teams. "But it's only $3000 per year each. They could probably get a college scholarship." I asked how much it would be all in. She didn't even calculate all the money to be spent on gas, hotels, food etc.
My parents fell for this scheme with my younger sister, who played travel soccer. After spending thousands of dollars and every weekend on soccer, the scholarships that my sister actually landed didn't even cover that much, and they had to take out loans for the rest of her tuition. They would have been better off saving throughout the years and cutting a check for college. Selling people on the scholarship idea really gets a lot of them hooked.
-
Friend of mine ....... "I figure you're always gonna have a car payment. Just no way around it if you want to drive anything decent."
Even if they buy a brand-new car, it would be paid off in 5 years, in most cases. So is a 6 year old car automatically NOT decent? What happens at the 6 year mark to make the car totally crappy?
I can't tell you how many people I've met that think that paying off one car is the sign that it's time to shop for a new one.
I think this line of "logic" flummoxes me more than probably any other spendy one. Why is this? When you own something outright, what makes that the time to go into debt again? I've never gotten a straight answer except one time, and they said that they wanted to get another car payment before they started spending the money they were spending on a car on other things and wouldn't have it to spend on a car payment.
-
'Cause the old car will start breaking down just about the same time it is paid off dontcha know?
Yeah, pretty common logic among some people we know. Also, the folks that replace cars every two to three years for reasons. Always different reasons, but reasons. ;)
We keep cars forever (like 20 years forever) and I really like not having a payment. Sure, we'll have a few repairs but it never amounts to much because we DIY everything.
-
'Cause the old car will start breaking down just about the same time it is paid off dontcha know?
Yeah, pretty common logic among some people we know. Also, the folks that replace cars every two to three years for reasons. Always different reasons, but reasons. ;)
We keep cars forever (like 20 years forever) and I really like not having a payment. Sure, we'll have a few repairs but it never amounts to much because we DIY everything.
You're right. It is very common which makes it even more depressing to me. I guess in fairness the guy who said that to me deserves some credit because he was being intellectually honest. He knew his family would hedonically adapt to the greater amount of disposable income, so he wanted to avoid that from happening. I have and continue to make many financial mistakes, but thankfully cars is something we have done reasonably well with.
-
I recently had dinner with an old friend. She says that her family can't afford college for the kids, its just too expensive. 5 minutes later talking about putting 2 of her kids on travel sports teams. "But it's only $3000 per year each. They could probably get a college scholarship." I asked how much it would be all in. She didn't even calculate all the money to be spent on gas, hotels, food etc.
My parents fell for this scheme with my younger sister, who played travel soccer. After spending thousands of dollars and every weekend on soccer, the scholarships that my sister actually landed didn't even cover that much, and they had to take out loans for the rest of her tuition. They would have been better off saving throughout the years and cutting a check for college. Selling people on the scholarship idea really gets a lot of them hooked.
I heard a related story on a podcast recently (Stacking Benjamins).
Pre-teen son is supposed to try out for traveling soccer team. However, he stays the night with friends the night before, doesn't sleep, and is miserable the day of tryouts. Dad decides not to take him to tryouts because the kid doesn't want to go.
That evening, dad gets a message on the answering machine (paraphrasing): "Hey So-and-So, we really liked what we saw out of Jr. at the tryout today and wanted to offer him a spot on the team."
-
'Cause the old car will start breaking down just about the same time it is paid off dontcha know?
Yeah, pretty common logic among some people we know. Also, the folks that replace cars every two to three years for reasons. Always different reasons, but reasons. ;)
We keep cars forever (like 20 years forever) and I really like not having a payment. Sure, we'll have a few repairs but it never amounts to much because we DIY everything.
Even if you don't do much yourself (because you have two left hands, like me), some repairs are still way the fuck cheaper than buying a stupid new clown car all the time. Especially if we are talking about 6-8 year old cars.
-
'Cause the old car will start breaking down just about the same time it is paid off dontcha know?
Yeah, pretty common logic among some people we know. Also, the folks that replace cars every two to three years for reasons. Always different reasons, but reasons. ;)
We keep cars forever (like 20 years forever) and I really like not having a payment. Sure, we'll have a few repairs but it never amounts to much because we DIY everything.
Even if you don't do much yourself (because you have two left hands, like me), some repairs are still way the fuck cheaper than buying a stupid new clown car all the time. Especially if we are talking about 6-8 year old cars.
This is very true. Or buy a reasonable used car of a brand that tends to be higher quality. I've spent <4k on a Honda van and about 6k on a Prius, for example, both of which are lasting me well despite being pretty old. I say this because sometimes I see this on the other end - i.e. people willing to spend 3K or so to fix a vehicle, when they could get a solid used one with much less miles than they had on the one they are fixing for not much more (and they have the money to spend, so it's not a matter of I just don't have 500 bucks more or whatever). It's always a trade off, but I think it comes down to people thinking that spending 4k or less means you have to get a piece of crap. Trying to get a car for 500 bucks, yeah, probably junk, but there's a huge range of cars that are affordable and will last. You don't have to buy a 2 year old used car for 15,000 or whatever.
-
We bought a used motor home in 2007. A year later gas prices went up and RV parks kept getting more expensive. We used it to camp with friends until retiring in 2012 and planning to travel for a year. A month was all we could stand. It was 27 ft and had no popouts. We took it out on 3 one month trips. The rest of the time it sat. Finally I convinced my husband to sell it as all our friends quit camping and it was just sitting there. We paid 14k and sold for 5.5k.
-
I have a niece in travel cheer. That is, they aren't cheering for anything, ever, they just travel around competing. I find it ironically depressing.
The nice thing about travel sports is that far more kids can participate than would be able to in the traditional system. The down side to that is, it is more about buying your way onto the team.
Their family usually pays for it, at least in part, by working the concessions at an affiliated venue. The fact that the venue probably won't open this year, the fact that they probably won't be allowed to travel this year, the fact that the sole breadwinner was furloughed at the time the gym reopened, has not put a damper on paying for the training itself.
@ixtap , I actually think it's good for "cheer" to elevate it to the central sport, rather than making it a side-event at football or basketball games. Recognizing the athletes in their own right seems positive.
-
More things my anti-Mustachian friends have said:
"You don't have an InstaPot?? We have TWO and are getting a third!"
It's a family of 4 so maybe they need two, but three?? I don't know, I can't fathom having more than one of any appliance.
-
My in-laws are really starting to piss me off. Over the past 6-12 months they have been giving my wife (their daughter) a really hard sell to buy a new car because her car is more than 10 years old. She has a 2007 Honda CRV with 150,000 miles. She bought it new in 2008 and has taken really good care of it. My wife stuck up for herself and has simply said multiple times, "I don't want a car payment"
Her parents are 65 years old and would like to retire, but can't because they do not have enough money. Maybe part of the problem is that they have 3 car payments? They have a 2015 Dodge diesel truck ($55,000), 2018 Honda Pilot ($30,000) and 2020 Jeep Rubicon ($40,000). Working has been really hard on their health over the past 2 years. They work at a grocery store as a stocking manager and check-out clerk.
Father in law works 48 hours/week. Mother in law works 40 hours/week. They both get 4 weeks of paid vacation, so their total hours/week average around 81 hours/week. Their combined annual income is probably around 90,000/year.
We make around the same amount (90,000/year), but we work half as much because we value our health and time and not new cars. I average 25 hours/week of work and my wife averages 15 hours/week. This is 40 hours/week total combined.
I really do not care how they live their life. I strongly believe in, "To each their own." However, I am dumbfounded that they feel the need to tell us how to live our lives and their path is the better way. In my opinion, their life sucks.
-
My in-laws are really starting to piss me off. Over the past 6-12 months they have been giving my wife (their daughter) a really hard sell to buy a new car because her car is more than 10 years old. She has a 2007 Honda CRV with 150,000 miles. She bought it new in 2008 and has taken really good care of it. My wife stuck up for herself and has simply said multiple times, "I don't want a car payment"
Her parents are 65 years old and would like to retire, but can't because they do not have enough money. Maybe part of the problem is that they have 3 car payments? They have a 2015 Dodge diesel truck ($55,000), 2018 Honda Pilot ($30,000) and 2020 Jeep Rubicon ($40,000). Working has been really hard on their health over the past 2 years. They work at a grocery store as a stocking manager and check-out clerk.
Father in law works 48 hours/week. Mother in law works 40 hours/week. They both get 4 weeks of paid vacation, so their total hours/week average around 81 hours/week. Their combined annual income is probably around 90,000/year.
We make around the same amount (90,000/year), but we work half as much because we value our health and time and not new cars. I average 25 hours/week of work and my wife averages 15 hours/week. This is 40 hours/week total combined.
I really do not care how they live their life. I strongly believe in, "To each their own." However, I am dumbfounded that they feel the need to tell us how to live our lives and their path is the better way. In my opinion, their life sucks.
I am feeling equally angered and saddened by your story.
-
That is. a lot of car.
-
My in-laws are really starting to piss me off. Over the past 6-12 months they have been giving my wife (their daughter) a really hard sell to buy a new car because her car is more than 10 years old. She has a 2007 Honda CRV with 150,000 miles. She bought it new in 2008 and has taken really good care of it. My wife stuck up for herself and has simply said multiple times, "I don't want a car payment"
Her parents are 65 years old and would like to retire, but can't because they do not have enough money. Maybe part of the problem is that they have 3 car payments? They have a 2015 Dodge diesel truck ($55,000), 2018 Honda Pilot ($30,000) and 2020 Jeep Rubicon ($40,000). Working has been really hard on their health over the past 2 years. They work at a grocery store as a stocking manager and check-out clerk.
Father in law works 48 hours/week. Mother in law works 40 hours/week. They both get 4 weeks of paid vacation, so their total hours/week average around 81 hours/week. Their combined annual income is probably around 90,000/year.
We make around the same amount (90,000/year), but we work half as much because we value our health and time and not new cars. I average 25 hours/week of work and my wife averages 15 hours/week. This is 40 hours/week total combined.
I really do not care how they live their life. I strongly believe in, "To each their own." However, I am dumbfounded that they feel the need to tell us how to live our lives and their path is the better way. In my opinion, their life sucks.
I feel like "to each their own" goes out the window when people try to tell you how to live your life. A witty retort like "we don't want a car payment because we don't want to still be working when we're 65 with no end in sight" may not be effective, but it sure would feel good to say.
-
Her parents are 65 years old and would like to retire, but can't because they do not have enough money. Maybe part of the problem is that they have 3 car payments? They have a 2015 Dodge diesel truck ($55,000), 2018 Honda Pilot ($30,000) and 2020 Jeep Rubicon ($40,000).
We have 3 rental properties ($38,400 + $6,600 repairs), ($37,000 + $13,000 repairs), and ($33,000 + $12,000) repairs for about the same amount of money.
Which, incidentally, would pay for those three car payments forever if that's how I wanted to allocate those profits...
-
Clark, we are the same age and never tell our kids how to live. Ugh! My kids did ask for money saving tips which I gave and they implemented. We never give advice unless asked.
-
Her parents are 65 years old and would like to retire, but can't because they do not have enough money. Maybe part of the problem is that they have 3 car payments? They have a 2015 Dodge diesel truck ($55,000), 2018 Honda Pilot ($30,000) and 2020 Jeep Rubicon ($40,000).
We have 3 rental properties ($38,400 + $6,600 repairs), ($37,000 + $13,000 repairs), and ($33,000 + $12,000) repairs for about the same amount of money.
Which, incidentally, would pay for those three car payments forever if that's how I wanted to allocate those profits...
Those are mind-blowing my cheap properties to my eyes. Where are they?
-
My in-laws are really starting to piss me off. Over the past 6-12 months they have been giving my wife (their daughter) a really hard sell to buy a new car because her car is more than 10 years old. She has a 2007 Honda CRV with 150,000 miles. She bought it new in 2008 and has taken really good care of it. My wife stuck up for herself and has simply said multiple times, "I don't want a car payment"
Her parents are 65 years old and would like to retire, but can't because they do not have enough money. Maybe part of the problem is that they have 3 car payments? They have a 2015 Dodge diesel truck ($55,000), 2018 Honda Pilot ($30,000) and 2020 Jeep Rubicon ($40,000). Working has been really hard on their health over the past 2 years. They work at a grocery store as a stocking manager and check-out clerk.
Father in law works 48 hours/week. Mother in law works 40 hours/week. They both get 4 weeks of paid vacation, so their total hours/week average around 81 hours/week. Their combined annual income is probably around 90,000/year.
We make around the same amount (90,000/year), but we work half as much because we value our health and time and not new cars. I average 25 hours/week of work and my wife averages 15 hours/week. This is 40 hours/week total combined.
I really do not care how they live their life. I strongly believe in, "To each their own." However, I am dumbfounded that they feel the need to tell us how to live our lives and their path is the better way. In my opinion, their life sucks.
I feel like "to each their own" goes out the window when people try to tell you how to live your life. A witty retort like "we don't want a car payment because we don't want to still be working when we're 65 with no end in sight" may not be effective, but it sure would feel good to say.
That's my general feeling. I don't need to tell my in-laws they are terrible with money... Until they start trying to give us money advice.
"Lets see, y'alls net worth is negative, ours is in the 6 figures, the advice needs to go the opposite way its currently going"
or
"Taking money advice from you is like taking weight loss advice from Paula Dean"
Some parents don't realize that they lead by ANTI-example (as in, do the exact opposite of my life choices"
-
I'm sorry that cooking in your newly remodeled kitchen and hanging out with your family is so miserable.
Best quote ever. I live in a HCOL area and hear constant complaints about how hard it is to be at home. From people in luxury 4000 sq ft houses on 5 acres. You're home with the family you supposedly love! With every amenity known to man!
Yes. If you are this miserable when your distractions are stripped away from the luxurious life you've created, maybe it's time to take a close look at your life and make some changes.
A lot of MMMers are hardcore introverts so quarantine is a gift to them.
But a lot of other people, like me, are extroverts and thrive on interaction with lots of people, so quarantine feels extremely restrictive and suffocating. It has nothing to do with “luxuries” unless you consider human interaction a luxury.
@Chris22 , I don't know if you've seen the other posts where this is discussed, but the INTJ type (under Myers-Briggs) is by far the modal type for MMM forum participants.
One of the rare situations in which we're the majority.
I almost feel like exploiting or dominating somebody now. But that would require effort, so I won't.
I've noticed that in several forums I've been on over the years. I don't know if this is because those forums are about things where there are more INTJs (plausible for personal finance and some of the other things), or because internet forums in general have more INTJs. (This wouldn't be the case for, say, mainstream social media sites that everyone and their grandmother is on by now.)
-
I recently had dinner with an old friend. She says that her family can't afford college for the kids, its just too expensive. 5 minutes later talking about putting 2 of her kids on travel sports teams. "But it's only $3000 per year each. They could probably get a college scholarship." I asked how much it would be all in. She didn't even calculate all the money to be spent on gas, hotels, food etc.
My parents fell for this scheme with my younger sister, who played travel soccer. After spending thousands of dollars and every weekend on soccer, the scholarships that my sister actually landed didn't even cover that much, and they had to take out loans for the rest of her tuition. They would have been better off saving throughout the years and cutting a check for college. Selling people on the scholarship idea really gets a lot of them hooked.
The misconceptions about college sports scholarships are staggering - The vast majority of college athletes aren't getting a scholarship for playing their sport. I was a professor for 15 years at a Division III school - which means we literally can't give sports scholarships - it's not allowed. But as a private college, we gave some type of academic scholarship to 98% of the students enrolled. But many (most?) of the college athletes at my school earnestly believed that they had a "sports" scholarship. This was especially true with football players.
As their academic advisor, I felt it was important to correct them - because there might be times when quitting a sport and focusing on not failing out of college would be the wisest move. The coaches didn't want to emphasize that they received a general/academic scholarship simply because they met our admissions criteria - it felt great for the kid (and parents!) to be able to say "Son has a scholarship and he's going to play football at Xxxx College" - that makes it sound like, "Wow! He got a football scholarship!" - No, no he didn't. He got the same scholarship that every other applicant with a XX ACT and X.xx GPA got. The proof is that he wouldn't lose the scholarship if he quit the team or got kicked off - but he would if his GPA dropped below X.xx (which is what typically happened because he spent more time thinking about sports than doing well in class).
-
Her parents are 65 years old and would like to retire, but can't because they do not have enough money. Maybe part of the problem is that they have 3 car payments? They have a 2015 Dodge diesel truck ($55,000), 2018 Honda Pilot ($30,000) and 2020 Jeep Rubicon ($40,000).
We have 3 rental properties ($38,400 + $6,600 repairs), ($37,000 + $13,000 repairs), and ($33,000 + $12,000) repairs for about the same amount of money.
Which, incidentally, would pay for those three car payments forever if that's how I wanted to allocate those profits...
Those are mind-blowing my cheap properties to my eyes. Where are they?
Yeah you couldn't buy radioactively contaminated land for those rates here. Who would rent those properties when they could be bought outright so cheaply?
-
A friend was telling me that his sister was laid off from an airline job. I think she’s worked for the airline for a very long time. She received a severance package that sounds like it was in the $50k range plus unlimited free flights for life.
My friend said he told his sister she had better do something nice for herself with that money like a new car.
I’m thinking yes she should do something nice for herself like pay her bills till she finds a new job.
-
Her parents are 65 years old and would like to retire, but can't because they do not have enough money. Maybe part of the problem is that they have 3 car payments? They have a 2015 Dodge diesel truck ($55,000), 2018 Honda Pilot ($30,000) and 2020 Jeep Rubicon ($40,000).
We have 3 rental properties ($38,400 + $6,600 repairs), ($37,000 + $13,000 repairs), and ($33,000 + $12,000) repairs for about the same amount of money.
Which, incidentally, would pay for those three car payments forever if that's how I wanted to allocate those profits...
Those are mind-blowing my cheap properties to my eyes. Where are they?
Yeah you couldn't buy radioactively contaminated land for those rates here. Who would rent those properties when they could be bought outright so cheaply?
If I recall correctly, @SwordGuy is in Fayetteville, NC and there’s a large military population there that knows they’re going to be there for a temporary stay of 3-4 years max.
Those property prices are cheap even for Fayetteville, but not insane. Rural eastern NC is the definition of LCOL.
-
Her parents are 65 years old and would like to retire, but can't because they do not have enough money. Maybe part of the problem is that they have 3 car payments? They have a 2015 Dodge diesel truck ($55,000), 2018 Honda Pilot ($30,000) and 2020 Jeep Rubicon ($40,000).
We have 3 rental properties ($38,400 + $6,600 repairs), ($37,000 + $13,000 repairs), and ($33,000 + $12,000) repairs for about the same amount of money.
Which, incidentally, would pay for those three car payments forever if that's how I wanted to allocate those profits...
Those are mind-blowing my cheap properties to my eyes. Where are they?
Yeah you couldn't buy radioactively contaminated land for those rates here. Who would rent those properties when they could be bought outright so cheaply?
People who (a) don't have down payment money or (b) can't get a mortgage or (c) don't intend to stay in town that long or (d) don't want to deal with repairs or (e) are new to the area and want to rent for awhile. Pretty much the same group of people who rent anywhere.
PS -- these are nice houses. Root around in my MMM blog and you'll find photos of them after renovation.
-
I recently had dinner with an old friend. She says that her family can't afford college for the kids, its just too expensive. 5 minutes later talking about putting 2 of her kids on travel sports teams. "But it's only $3000 per year each. They could probably get a college scholarship." I asked how much it would be all in. She didn't even calculate all the money to be spent on gas, hotels, food etc.
My parents fell for this scheme with my younger sister, who played travel soccer. After spending thousands of dollars and every weekend on soccer, the scholarships that my sister actually landed didn't even cover that much, and they had to take out loans for the rest of her tuition. They would have been better off saving throughout the years and cutting a check for college. Selling people on the scholarship idea really gets a lot of them hooked.
I heard a related story on a podcast recently (Stacking Benjamins).
Pre-teen son is supposed to try out for traveling soccer team. However, he stays the night with friends the night before, doesn't sleep, and is miserable the day of tryouts. Dad decides not to take him to tryouts because the kid doesn't want to go.
That evening, dad gets a message on the answering machine (paraphrasing): "Hey So-and-So, we really liked what we saw out of Jr. at the tryout today and wanted to offer him a spot on the team."
NIIIICE! Thanks for the chuckle this morn! I've known a few travel team families. Fun but very expensive they all reported. Yeah - fees, hotels, restaurant food, wear and tear on the family car plus gas, etc.
-
'Cause the old car will start breaking down just about the same time it is paid off dontcha know?
Yeah, pretty common logic among some people we know. Also, the folks that replace cars every two to three years for reasons. Always different reasons, but reasons. ;)
We keep cars forever (like 20 years forever) and I really like not having a payment. Sure, we'll have a few repairs but it never amounts to much because we DIY everything.
Even if you don't do much yourself (because you have two left hands, like me), some repairs are still way the fuck cheaper than buying a stupid new clown car all the time. Especially if we are talking about 6-8 year old cars.
This is very true. Or buy a reasonable used car of a brand that tends to be higher quality. I've spent <4k on a Honda van and about 6k on a Prius, for example, both of which are lasting me well despite being pretty old. I say this because sometimes I see this on the other end - i.e. people willing to spend 3K or so to fix a vehicle, when they could get a solid used one with much less miles than they had on the one they are fixing for not much more (and they have the money to spend, so it's not a matter of I just don't have 500 bucks more or whatever). It's always a trade off, but I think it comes down to people thinking that spending 4k or less means you have to get a piece of crap. Trying to get a car for 500 bucks, yeah, probably junk, but there's a huge range of cars that are affordable and will last. You don't have to buy a 2 year old used car for 15,000 or whatever.
This channel will make you cringe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtfL5jCpMwc0DTBPpkNo6_w
Don't know what people do to their cars to let them get this bad. Makes me want gov't mandated basic safety checks and I hate rules...
-
A friend was telling me that his sister was laid off from an airline job. I think she’s worked for the airline for a very long time. She received a severance package that sounds like it was in the $50k range plus unlimited free flights for life.
My friend said he told his sister she had better do something nice for herself with that money like a new car.
I’m thinking yes she should do something nice for herself like pay her bills till she finds a new job.
CARS! I love all things shiny and mechanical too but cars are some people's downfalls. Heard about a couch surfer 20-something that bought themselves a new car recently. Can't afford rent but can afford a new car...
-
'Cause the old car will start breaking down just about the same time it is paid off dontcha know?
Yeah, pretty common logic among some people we know. Also, the folks that replace cars every two to three years for reasons. Always different reasons, but reasons. ;)
We keep cars forever (like 20 years forever) and I really like not having a payment. Sure, we'll have a few repairs but it never amounts to much because we DIY everything.
Even if you don't do much yourself (because you have two left hands, like me), some repairs are still way the fuck cheaper than buying a stupid new clown car all the time. Especially if we are talking about 6-8 year old cars.
This is very true. Or buy a reasonable used car of a brand that tends to be higher quality. I've spent <4k on a Honda van and about 6k on a Prius, for example, both of which are lasting me well despite being pretty old. I say this because sometimes I see this on the other end - i.e. people willing to spend 3K or so to fix a vehicle, when they could get a solid used one with much less miles than they had on the one they are fixing for not much more (and they have the money to spend, so it's not a matter of I just don't have 500 bucks more or whatever). It's always a trade off, but I think it comes down to people thinking that spending 4k or less means you have to get a piece of crap. Trying to get a car for 500 bucks, yeah, probably junk, but there's a huge range of cars that are affordable and will last. You don't have to buy a 2 year old used car for 15,000 or whatever.
This channel will make you cringe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtfL5jCpMwc0DTBPpkNo6_w
Don't know what people do to their cars to let them get this bad. Makes me want gov't mandated basic safety checks and I hate rules...
I live in a state that doesn't have inspections. I am less than 40 miles from a state that has inspections. There are always deals to be had on cars that run fine, but can't pass the emissions test.
-
The misconceptions about college sports scholarships are staggering - The vast majority of college athletes aren't getting a scholarship for playing their sport. I was a professor for 15 years at a Division III school - which means we literally can't give sports scholarships - it's not allowed. But as a private college, we gave some type of academic scholarship to 98% of the students enrolled. But many (most?) of the college athletes at my school earnestly believed that they had a "sports" scholarship. This was especially true with football players.
Concussion effects are real.