Author Topic: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?  (Read 245960 times)

Gin

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #200 on: August 14, 2013, 01:09:36 AM »
For dh it would be a truck he bought new without test driving it on the highway.  He had just graduated college and the minute he drove it on the highway he realized how loud it is.  He sold it couple years later even though he never really liked it.

For me it would be all the wasted money on the next "diet.". i don't want to add up all the money I have spent on books then the food they recommend, nutrisystem, weight watchers, etc.  Finally I started eating healthy and exercise 3-5 times a week and my weight is healthy range and I am fit.  Consistency was the key not bouncing from this diet to the next.  Of course when you change diets you HAD to throw away all "bad"food.  What a waste! 
« Last Edit: August 14, 2013, 01:41:17 PM by Gin »

sleepyguy

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #201 on: August 14, 2013, 11:27:01 AM »
Going to Vegas and Atlantic City, enough said.

xtrfuel

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #202 on: August 22, 2013, 12:22:09 PM »
>50k on wedding and honeymoon.

AlanStache

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #203 on: August 22, 2013, 12:45:22 PM »
1) Starting the private pilots license.  Was motivated at the start but then got 6-8k$ in and discovered that once you are past the basics it is really rather boring and totally useless.  Yes it is cool to be up there alone but after that it is more of the same and a real pia to get everything lined up weather/time off work/instructor available/airplane available/studied up and ready for a new lesson.

2) Not moving to near work and commuting minimum of 30min each way for years.

BigRed

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #204 on: August 22, 2013, 06:26:14 PM »
Leasing a new Honda Accord without negotiating the top line cost of the car (was focused on the monthly payment) AND buying LoJack on it when signing the paperwork, even though the lease included Gap insurance.  Not my finest moment.

skyler

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #205 on: August 22, 2013, 06:49:12 PM »
Oh, that's an easy one - it'd be my first house. Purchased in December of 2004 in the SF bay area (east bay). 3/2 for 500k.  When it foreclosed and was auctioned in 2011, it went for 240k - and that's not because the place was trashed or anything.  I still go a bit nuts thinking about how much money / time I lost in that boondoggle - if I'd just kept renting, I'd be up by at least 200k, probably more.

Oh well - the reboot has been going swimmingly! What I don't spend on that crushing mortgage instead goes to the stache / paying down the mortgage on a much more affordable place in a much nicer neighborhood.  Totally worth trashing my credit rating to get out of the ghetto!

Wow,
I too purchased a house in 2004, overpriced and unsuitable for us. We ended up selling at a loss and, like you, I keep thinking of all the $$ I could have saved instead of pouring endless $$ into that black hole...

 

AJDZee

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #206 on: August 22, 2013, 09:13:16 PM »
I bought a brand new car after I'd been work for a month out of university. After tax and delivery it came to roughly $27k

Then as if that wasn't anti-mustachian enough... I then paid off my 0% interest car loan a year early. (I had my reasons, but still...)

golden1

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #207 on: August 23, 2013, 05:25:00 AM »
Ok I'll bite:

1) Right now it is my cell phone bill which is ridiculously high.  Now I am not only locked into a 2 year contract on it, but I have some extended family members that are on it which is going to make it even harder to get rid of.

2) My car...it is now paid off, but I actually leased it new, then renewed the lease, THEN took out a loan on it to buy it.  Yeah, yeah....I know.

Basenji

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #208 on: August 25, 2013, 04:03:54 PM »
Lost my heart in May 2012 to an ex-stray pit bull mix with serious cuddle skills, and then 9 months later went and adopted for him a companion bitch. Food (high-quality kibble, homemade stock, and various treats), vet bills (oy), heartworm pills, flea/tick treatment, toys, a trainer, and doggie daycare 4 x week. Insanity.

grantmeaname

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #209 on: August 25, 2013, 04:09:51 PM »
You're not a fan of other breeds of dogs?

(that's a leading question)

grantmeaname

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #210 on: August 25, 2013, 07:01:48 PM »
Ah. So your basenji is a pit bull.

grantmeaname

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #211 on: August 25, 2013, 07:46:35 PM »
Dog breed confusion?

Kira

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #212 on: August 27, 2013, 02:51:50 PM »
I'm not sure exactly where on the axis this falls, since I made a large purchase so I could be more mustachian, but I bought a motorized wheel for my bike.

I wanted to bike to work and I know that I am not fit enough to do it at all easily. And my biggest fear was having people honking at me because I couldn't go fast enough and was holding up traffic. I get stared at enough as an overweight woman out in public. But I also really got a bug up my butt about biking to work, since I only live four miles away, ever since my coworkers and I were no longer permitted to park in the garage adjacent to my office and have to take a shuttle from a big garage a mile away. The shuttle takes a lot of time and I figured biking had to at least be equivalent (if I hit the lights right, it's a little faster than driving.)

So if I didn't have my motorized wheel, I would not have started biking to work. But the wheel cost more than 3x what the bike itself did. Overall I've put almost $700 into the bike and its attendant accessories. But I am now biking to work every day that I don't have to leave the office (sometimes I have to drive to the other side of the city for my job) and have already lost some weight, so I am very pleased with my motorized wheel. I feel pretty much invincible with it - I don't have to worry about driving in traffic because I know I can keep up the speed going through downtown even up hills, and it makes it super easy to get started again when the light turns green.

So, mustachian or not? I vote no in the short term (I am sure some would say I should have just sucked it up and gotten fit enough to ride without the wheel) but in the long run, I think it will be very good for me because I probably wouldn't have started biking every day without it.

girly mustache

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #213 on: September 01, 2013, 09:34:52 PM »
I'm not sure exactly where on the axis this falls, since I made a large purchase so I could be more mustachian, but I bought a motorized wheel for my bike.

I wanted to bike to work and I know that I am not fit enough to do it at all easily. And my biggest fear was having people honking at me because I couldn't go fast enough and was holding up traffic. I get stared at enough as an overweight woman out in public. But I also really got a bug up my butt about biking to work, since I only live four miles away, ever since my coworkers and I were no longer permitted to park in the garage adjacent to my office and have to take a shuttle from a big garage a mile away. The shuttle takes a lot of time and I figured biking had to at least be equivalent (if I hit the lights right, it's a little faster than driving.)

So if I didn't have my motorized wheel, I would not have started biking to work. But the wheel cost more than 3x what the bike itself did. Overall I've put almost $700 into the bike and its attendant accessories. But I am now biking to work every day that I don't have to leave the office (sometimes I have to drive to the other side of the city for my job) and have already lost some weight, so I am very pleased with my motorized wheel. I feel pretty much invincible with it - I don't have to worry about driving in traffic because I know I can keep up the speed going through downtown even up hills, and it makes it super easy to get started again when the light turns green.

So, mustachian or not? I vote no in the short term (I am sure some would say I should have just sucked it up and gotten fit enough to ride without the wheel) but in the long run, I think it will be very good for me because I probably wouldn't have started biking every day without it.

Kira - I started biking (after not biking since childhood) again with an electric bike - I was having 'range' anxieties that I might get stuck or be late to pick my daughter up from daycare... The price of the bike made me nearly naseaus for over a year... Now I can tell you that it was the best decision - I love biking! I promarily use a folding bike now (love that it will fit in my car, the bus, my cubicle, etc..) and I still use the bike electric when I am towing my daughter up hill (or when I am late - because it is sooo fast). Buying this bike got me into a habit I LOVE. I don't think I would have tried without the electric bike - now I bike everywhere :)

Blindsquirrel

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #214 on: September 02, 2013, 06:10:16 PM »
   Holy Shazam!  So many of these Antimustchian things done are sooooo much more expensive than "Hookers and blow" that I am truly impressed.  I have lived on the the cheap compared to many on this thread. Travel costs,stereos, trips,weddings, divorces, planes, cars, houses, $50,000 in Magic cards?  all can and have been way more expensive than other, ahem, "hobbies". I got off light after reading every post on this thread. Incidentally, no longer do such foolish things. Not a tea totaler, but not the self destructive young fool that I once was. You live and learn. :)


I will admit, I had a lot of fun though. ;)

mrpress

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #215 on: September 04, 2013, 07:49:14 AM »
I will admit, I had a lot of fun though. ;)
Isn't that all that matters? Just kidding, glad you got off the china and got over the Magic obsession :)

Mississippi Mudstache

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #216 on: September 04, 2013, 12:45:02 PM »
Bought a house (a fix’er upper) for $126,000 with a 100% loan straight out of college in 2008. Poured every dime of disposable income (about $15,000) and every minute of free time for 3 years into the house. I ended up moving 3 states away for my job and when my house went on the market, I found out that my pride and joy was worth about $80,000. I still owed $120,000+ on it.

That one still stings. But in a roundabout way, it’s the reason I’m here. $60,000 worth of tuition at the school of hard knocks.

dragoncar

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #217 on: September 11, 2013, 12:53:20 AM »
I'm not sure if this is the most antimustachian in total dollars, but probably the most regrettable*.  I spent around $1500 (not really sure, could have been $800) on an elliptical trainer many moons ago.  I used it consistently for a few years, thinking that it saved me the money of a gym membership.  Of course now it's just sitting in storage and I'm sure it would be worth very little if resold.  Ugh.


*most antimustachian might be the new car I bought out of college, but I'm not sure I regret that.  Also some random expensive furniture that I ended up giving to my parents, but again I don't regret it that much since it's getting a lot of use by people I love.

shortly

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #218 on: September 16, 2013, 06:56:31 PM »
I bought $10,000 worth of silver.  In 1980.  Yeah, right before the peak...  Hey what could go wrong?  The Hunt brothers (rich Texas family) were buying silver!  Why not me too?

One problem was I didn't have 10K to spend.  That's right, I BORROWED $10,000 at 18% to buy some old coins that just about filled up a one-quart ZipLok baggie.  Remember interest rates in 1980? There was apparently a law* in effect back then that prevented banks from charging individuals enough to make a ridiculously speculative loan (like this one) look attractive.  So I incorporated - another $600 - just for the privilege of borrowing more than my total net worth - at 18%!

If that's not bad enough, I didn't really have a job at the time.  I was trying to make a go of it being a salesman** at straight commission. 

Yeah, I paid it all off.  It was rough and took several years but I finally cleared it up. 

*Mortgages got up to around 18% or so back then but that was apparently different somehow.

** I discovered you need to have a personality to be successful in Sales.  I checked into getting an implant but it was too expensive and I was broke.  See above.

Wiggle

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #219 on: September 24, 2013, 09:19:19 AM »
Bought a car about 9 months ago.  2007 Jetta 2.5 /w 70k miles.  Felt bad for spending so much compared to my old 2000 Neon that had an ownership cost of less than $3000 for almost 4 years of driving.  I paid $8000 +taxes and got new tires as well.  Not too bad compared to a new car and it has alot of life left in it.  I paid cash.

I also have a silly hobby, high power flashlights.  My most recent is an Armytek Predator 2.5 Pro, cost about $120 by the time I got hit with import duties on it.  I live in a city and don't really "need" anymore than just a basic pocket light but I choose to carry a $70 Zebralight SC52 instead.  I just enjoy them alot, the technology is cool and it gives me an excuse to take night hikes.  Compared to most hobbies I don't think a few hundred dollars per year ranks all that highly compared to most others.  Haha I may save a little on power though, I really enjoy minimizing my home lighting as much as I can as a result of this.

The Bearded Bank Builder

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #220 on: September 24, 2013, 01:25:55 PM »
I also have a silly hobby, high power flashlights.  My most recent is an Armytek Predator 2.5 Pro, cost about $120 by the time I got hit with import duties on it.  I live in a city and don't really "need" anymore than just a basic pocket light but I choose to carry a $70 Zebralight SC52 instead.  I just enjoy them alot, the technology is cool and it gives me an excuse to take night hikes.  Compared to most hobbies I don't think a few hundred dollars per year ranks all that highly compared to most others.  Haha I may save a little on power though, I really enjoy minimizing my home lighting as much as I can as a result of this.

Haha, I'm envisioning your neighbors calling the cops when they see you walking around your dark house with a flashlight

potatoface

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #221 on: October 05, 2013, 05:27:35 PM »
Guess I'll make my 2nd post here a confession piece.

My first & worst was spending $4k to bail out a girl from jail, shortly after she told me not to take the relationship too serious. The relationship quickly soured and was compounded by the fact that she was living with me once she got out of jail. She had no car & I wanted to make sure she made all the court dates so I wasn't on the hook for the rest of the $50k bond. She did manage to pay some of it back but it was an awful 7 months together.

Second and more recent was taking $4k out of an investment account to use as a down payment on a 2 year old car. The account is up over 10% this year alone so that's more money lost.

If I've learned one thing it's this: Don't spend $4k on anything

decibelle

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #222 on: October 05, 2013, 10:32:48 PM »
I already answered here, but I forgot one that should make this list!

A few years ago, my wife and I ate at Alinea, one of the most expensive restaurants in the USA. She's a chef, and we were visiting Chicago (where the restaurant is) so we knew it would be now or never. We planned it ahead of time because we knew it would be expensive, so it wasn't an impulse decision.

Hope you're sitting down. A 24-course dinner for two, with wine pairings + tip: $1,000

It was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing, but it still hurts to think about all those zeros on the bill. It made my wife happy so it was worth it.

Speaking of once-in-a-lifetime, now we're thinking about dining at French Laundry (even more expensive) when we visit friends in San Francisco this summer... Someone face-punch me, quick!
Alinea is totally worth it.  Watchmaker and I went two years ago.  I think it's ok to splurge sometimes as long as it's something you enjoy and that will create fond memories.  With that said, after our 24 course dinner plus about 10 different types of wine, I was beyond tipsy and full.  I threw up a $500 meal right when we got back to our car.  Ok, maybe that counts as the most antimustachian thing I've ever done.  One more confession, we went to France on a week's notice.  Watchmaker had some work and I decided to tag along.  We thought, what the heck, let's go eat at Paul Bocuse' s L'Auberge.  Ok, I'm ready for my face punches now.

Watchmaker

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #223 on: October 05, 2013, 11:03:57 PM »
Alinea was amazing.  It was a mistake at that point in our lives, and was part of an increase in lifestyle that we are only now getting to grips with.  But I can't regret it.  One of the best experiences of my life.


By the way, after Decibelle threw up, she remarked "It tasted just as good on the way up!"

Dicey

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #224 on: October 05, 2013, 11:50:33 PM »
Wow! Five pages of Antimustachianism and this one hasn't come up:

I'm embarassed to admit I borrowed 6K from my 401k.

I did something smart with the money (borrowed to buy a property that more than doubled in four years). However, I HATED the feeling that I was trapped in my job unless/until I paid the loan off. Hated it! Plus, no one explains that you borrow pre-tax money, pay it back with post-tax dollars and then have to pay taxes on it again when you eventually withdraw it. That HR shit about paying yourself interest is just that: shit. And don't get me started about opportunity cost while your money is out of the market. Never, ever borrow against your 401k!

Left

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #225 on: October 06, 2013, 01:28:38 AM »
I'm embarassed to admit I borrowed 6K from my 401k.
For a house that you are buying for rental/flip... convert some of the 401k to a self directed 401k. You can use it to buy house to flip/rental. You take no taxes on it since it is still money in 401k but you can't live in it/sell it to someone related to you/let someone related to you live in it.

That said, I'm not sure if it applies to your case? You lived in house I'm guessing?

edit: Mine would be travelling, I went to colorado/delaware this year for a week each place. Spent about $2k for both trips (combined/not per trip). But... yeah I'd go again :S At 27, I kind of want to see more of the US while I'm young so I can pick where I want to settle down in older age. I would probably pick a cheap bed next time but I went with family and couldn't let mother/sister sleep on a couch. We did get free Hilton rooms from using their credit card (cancelling now that trip is over). I also spent about $2k for a trip to Taiwan 2 years ago, and another $2k to Australia 5 years ago. Seems like I spend about $2k on travel every 2 or so years that I could cut down. But I want to travel!
« Last Edit: October 06, 2013, 01:33:12 AM by eyem »

Albert

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #226 on: October 06, 2013, 05:17:53 AM »

edit: Mine would be travelling, I went to colorado/delaware this year for a week each place. Spent about $2k for both trips (combined/not per trip). But... yeah I'd go again :S At 27, I kind of want to see more of the US while I'm young so I can pick where I want to settle down in older age. I would probably pick a cheap bed next time but I went with family and couldn't let mother/sister sleep on a couch. We did get free Hilton rooms from using their credit card (cancelling now that trip is over). I also spent about $2k for a trip to Taiwan 2 years ago, and another $2k to Australia 5 years ago. Seems like I spend about $2k on travel every 2 or so years that I could cut down. But I want to travel!

Your travel is not particularly expensive although it depends on how much you earn. My rule of thumb is that yearly travel expenses shouldn't exceed two months of savings. In my case that's a bit more than $5k.

jba302

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #227 on: October 06, 2013, 08:52:32 AM »
I bought a $15k engagement ring and took out a 20k loan on an Infiniti G35 (while the premium gas price was $4.40/gallon) in the same year. My salary at the time was $50,000. I have none of the above anymore (including the girl, who kept the ring). That was after I finally got from under a credit card I completely maxed and went into collections on, so it was a 10% interest rate on the car.

I learned a lot.

Avolonte

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #228 on: October 06, 2013, 09:11:06 AM »
This may be TMI, but my most anti-mustachian thing is marrying a guy who likes apple gadgets and can't seem to hold on to any job for long. Also, I never contributed to any 401k until I was 27 because I had no idea what it was and couldn't be bother to find out while I was traveling around the world, sometimes on credit. Oh, to be able to redo many things in my life... but I try not to wallow in self-pity. Forward march!

Dicey

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #229 on: October 06, 2013, 11:50:03 PM »
I'm embarassed to admit I borrowed 6K from my 401k.

That said, I'm not sure if it applies to your case? You lived in house I'm guessing?

Yes, I lived in it. I made a great profit overall, so it wasn't a completely boneheaded move. I was just shocked at how indentured I felt after taking out the loan. I did not understand all the tax implications of borrowing/repaying this money and HR certainly didn't provide any information about the negatives of this type of loan. I've never borrowed from my parents since reaching adulthood and they did not pay for my college. However, in retrospect, it would have been smarter to swallow my pride and hit them up for a loan than my 401k. All's well that ends well in this case, but I still consider it my dumbest financial move ever.

sherr

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #230 on: October 07, 2013, 09:22:21 AM »
Wow! Five pages of Antimustachianism and this one hasn't come up:

I'm embarassed to admit I borrowed 6K from my 401k.

I did something smart with the money (borrowed to buy a property that more than doubled in four years). However, I HATED the feeling that I was trapped in my job unless/until I paid the loan off. Hated it! Plus, no one explains that you borrow pre-tax money, pay it back with post-tax dollars and then have to pay taxes on it again when you eventually withdraw it. That HR shit about paying yourself interest is just that: shit. And don't get me started about opportunity cost while your money is out of the market. Never, ever borrow against your 401k!

Well don't feel too bad about it, because you're wrong about the double taxation bit. http://www.investopedia.com/articles/retirement/08/borrow-from-401k-loan.asp (see the section on "Addressing Two Myths")

Your 401k is still just about the best place possible to borrow money from if you have a legitimate need to borrow money (and it sounds like you did). I don't think there's anything unmustacian about your story. Of course feeling shacked to your job is a legitimate complaint, but if you were going to be there anyway...

Ashcons

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #231 on: October 07, 2013, 10:48:13 AM »
I have two equally face-punch deserving moments (surely many more, but these are the most egregious):

My first college degree was in a very useless field - it sure loaded me with a lot of debt while goofing off in college and ignoring the future to learn that lesson.

Second, my wife and I were living in Seattle and making a good amount of money (to our young minds) and decided to buy new bedroom furniture on my new, high-limit CC. I have always considered myself a spendthrift and thought my old bed (with one of those flimsy, bottom-of-the-line frames) was fine, but once I was in the store seeing all that fancy new furniture, I told her, "In for a penny, in for a pound," and we walked out with about $3k in debt for new furniture that we could have gotten used or even new, but elsewhere for much less. Ugh...wish I could punch my past self for that one.

My wife's would be ignoring my advice on buying a new car while we were dating and walking off the VW lot with a new Jetta. Aside from the car payments, which we do not have anymore, working on that car is a huge pain in the butt.

Dr.Vibrissae

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #232 on: October 07, 2013, 11:24:05 AM »
I have always considered myself a spendthrift and thought my old bed (with one of those flimsy, bottom-of-the-line frames) was fine, but once I was in the store seeing all that fancy new furniture, I told her, "In for a penny, in for a pound," and we walked out with about $3k in debt for new furniture that we could have gotten used or even new, but elsewhere for much less. Ugh...wish I could punch my past self for that one.

I can't quite tell because the whole thread is about spendthrifteryTM, but I think you may be misusing the word spendthrift.  It means someone who spends extravagantly/wastefully.  If I have misread your intent, I apologize for being a vocabulary buttinski.

Ashcons

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #233 on: October 08, 2013, 08:18:49 AM »
I have always considered myself a spendthrift and thought my old bed (with one of those flimsy, bottom-of-the-line frames) was fine, but once I was in the store seeing all that fancy new furniture, I told her, "In for a penny, in for a pound," and we walked out with about $3k in debt for new furniture that we could have gotten used or even new, but elsewhere for much less. Ugh...wish I could punch my past self for that one.

I can't quite tell because the whole thread is about spendthrifteryTM, but I think you may be misusing the word spendthrift.  It means someone who spends extravagantly/wastefully.  If I have misread your intent, I apologize for being a vocabulary buttinski.

Well I've been using that word in the opposite context all my life! Oops. I am usually unhappy to part with my money. Those were periods or moments of spendthriftery in my life, though ;)

CommonCents

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #234 on: October 08, 2013, 08:37:18 AM »
Going in order from most recent to oldest:
1. Sitting on $50K in mutual funds earning 0% (so, going backwards after inflation) from 2009-2012
2. Opting for a Roth 401K when earning big bucks instead of a traditional, because my head hurt too much figuring out which would be better for me and I was busy.
3. Not contributing to a 401k with vested match at my first job because I was planning to leave before it'd fully vest.  If I had, I still would have gotten maybe a free $1000.  (I was too poor to do that and an IRA, so I just did the IRA).
4. Buying a wooden white water kayak paddle at college graduation for $240.  Just became an expensive decoration - never used it.
5. Spending $1000 in college on way overpriced products where the gimmick was you'd submit for rebates on everything and get paid back.  Unsurprisingly, the company went bankrupt.  Got back about $90 in the class action lawsuit.

Charlotte

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #235 on: October 09, 2013, 05:20:43 AM »
Credit card debt -- $15k for me, $30k for DH in our 20's. We both had help paying them off. (pre-marriage)
Student loan debt -- $120k for me. I paid some, my dad paid some and DH paid off the rest. (first year of our marriage)
Falling back into the "payment" trap -- we were debt free for 6 years. Then we bought a house.... 3 years later we are down to one payment on my truck. Hopefully we will have that gone in a year or 2 (at least it's only at 2%).

Dicey

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #236 on: October 09, 2013, 10:09:13 PM »
Wow! Five pages of Antimustachianism and this one hasn't come up:

I'm embarassed to admit I borrowed 6K from my 401k.

I did something smart with the money (borrowed to buy a property that more than doubled in four years). However, I HATED the feeling that I was trapped in my job unless/until I paid the loan off. Hated it! Plus, no one explains that you borrow pre-tax money, pay it back with post-tax dollars and then have to pay taxes on it again when you eventually withdraw it. That HR shit about paying yourself interest is just that: shit. And don't get me started about opportunity cost while your money is out of the market. Never, ever borrow against your 401k!

Well don't feel too bad about it, because you're wrong about the double taxation bit. http://www.investopedia.com/articles/retirement/08/borrow-from-401k-loan.asp (see the section on "Addressing Two Myths")

Your 401k is still just about the best place possible to borrow money from if you have a legitimate need to borrow money (and it sounds like you did). I don't think there's anything unmustacian about your story. Of course feeling shacked to your job is a legitimate complaint, but if you were going to be there anyway...

Thanks, Sherr, but I still don't think I am wrong. I read the attached and all of the pertinent links. At least two problems come to mind. First, article seems to skip over the fact that you must use post-tax dollars to repay the pre-tax dollars you borrowed. Second, I rolled the money over once I left that job. There was no kind of statement regarding interest, it was just one lump sum. Good luck proving to the IRS thirty years later that a portion of your account should be treated/taxed differently. Not going to happen.

Another point I omitted for the sake of brevity is the fact that most plans do not allow you to prepay your loan. You must make your assigned monthly payment or pay it off, period. Also, I had no intention of leaving my job, but the feeling of being trapped was far beyond my expectations and I did not like it, Sam I Am.

Borrowing from my parents would have been the best option. I was too proud (and admittedly still am) to ask for their assistance.

I have achieved FIRE, so this is not that big a deal to me now. The main reason I commented was to help others learn the true impact of taking out a 401k loan. Which was the point of the whole thread, I believe. Aren't all of these stories cautionary tales?

sherr

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #237 on: October 10, 2013, 06:57:38 AM »
Wow! Five pages of Antimustachianism and this one hasn't come up:

I'm embarassed to admit I borrowed 6K from my 401k.

I did something smart with the money (borrowed to buy a property that more than doubled in four years). However, I HATED the feeling that I was trapped in my job unless/until I paid the loan off. Hated it! Plus, no one explains that you borrow pre-tax money, pay it back with post-tax dollars and then have to pay taxes on it again when you eventually withdraw it. That HR shit about paying yourself interest is just that: shit. And don't get me started about opportunity cost while your money is out of the market. Never, ever borrow against your 401k!

Well don't feel too bad about it, because you're wrong about the double taxation bit. http://www.investopedia.com/articles/retirement/08/borrow-from-401k-loan.asp (see the section on "Addressing Two Myths")

Your 401k is still just about the best place possible to borrow money from if you have a legitimate need to borrow money (and it sounds like you did). I don't think there's anything unmustacian about your story. Of course feeling shacked to your job is a legitimate complaint, but if you were going to be there anyway...

Thanks, Sherr, but I still don't think I am wrong. I read the attached and all of the pertinent links. At least two problems come to mind. First, article seems to skip over the fact that you must use post-tax dollars to repay the pre-tax dollars you borrowed. Second, I rolled the money over once I left that job. There was no kind of statement regarding interest, it was just one lump sum. Good luck proving to the IRS thirty years later that a portion of your account should be treated/taxed differently. Not going to happen.

You need to take into account the fungibility of money. If you borrow $20k from your 401k and withdraw $20k from a savings account, put them in two identical envelopes, mix them up so you don't know which is which, and then use one to buy a car and the other to pay off your 401k loan, did you pay off your 401k loan with pre-tax or post-tax dollars? The question is actually meaningless, because money is fungible. Or, to put it another way, either you have paid off your 401k loan with the pre-tax money, or you have bought a car with pre-tax money (when you would normally have to have used post-tax money).

In your specific case, you can think of having paid for the house with pre-tax money (when you normally would have had to use post-tax money). Then when you pay back your 401k with "post-tax money", you are really just making up for the house-buying pre-tax money you already spent. No matter how you look at it you have the same amount of pre-tax and post-tax money *somewhere* as you would have if you had not taken out the 401k loan, and since money is fungible it makes no difference where exactly you think it is. You'll pay the same in taxes either way. The exception is the money you pay into your 401k account as interest, that is double taxed as the article points out (but it's usually an fairly insignificant amount).

I have achieved FIRE, so this is not that big a deal to me now. The main reason I commented was to help others learn the true impact of taking out a 401k loan. Which was the point of the whole thread, I believe. Aren't all of these stories cautionary tales?

Oh sure, I agree. But I want to caution people appropriately and not scare them with misunderstandings, no matter how common they are. :)

sherr

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #238 on: October 10, 2013, 07:24:12 AM »
Second, I rolled the money over once I left that job. There was no kind of statement regarding interest, it was just one lump sum. Good luck proving to the IRS thirty years later that a portion of your account should be treated/taxed differently. Not going to happen.

Oh, and to address this more directly: you don't need to convince them of anything. You already received the benefit when you deducted your original 401k contribution from your income. 401k loans are not taxable income, so you are not loosing anything when you take them or repay them. You don't have to do anything special to not loose the benefit.

So like I said, no worries, it's not as bad as you thought!

Melody

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #239 on: October 18, 2013, 04:47:41 AM »
Recently, I impulse bought $380 of flights (1 for me and one as a gift for someone) it was completely random... It was a super good price but I already had a holiday booked for later in the year, so really didn't need it. I normally research purchases meticulously, and will wait at least 24 hours before buying things, even reasonably cheap clothes. Given I'm out of debt and it's not a material number compared to monthly income, it's not completely insane, but it really wasn't needed so it's silly, when I am trying to focus on this.

The other one was not really understanding that (subsidized) student loan debt was debt and would come out of my pay at $500/month after graduating. But once I realised I paid it off quickly, and my degree has given me a well paid job I enjoy so the outcome certainly could have been worse.

AJDZee

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #240 on: October 18, 2013, 07:59:08 AM »
Recently, I impulse bought $380 of flights (1 for me and one as a gift for someone) it was completely random... It was a super good price but I already had a holiday booked for later in the year, so really didn't need it. I normally research purchases meticulously, and will wait at least 24 hours before buying things, even reasonably cheap clothes. Given I'm out of debt and it's not a material number compared to monthly income, it's not completely insane, but it really wasn't needed so it's silly, when I am trying to focus on this.

The other one was not really understanding that (subsidized) student loan debt was debt and would come out of my pay at $500/month after graduating. But once I realised I paid it off quickly, and my degree has given me a well paid job I enjoy so the outcome certainly could have been worse.

I plan on making an un-planned flight/vacation in the near future!

elaine amj

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #241 on: October 18, 2013, 11:00:04 AM »
Fun conversation.

Shortly after we had our first baby, DH and I got sucked into one of those timeshare-type presentations (with the promise of a free trip). Before going in, we said - we are intelligent people. We will just say "no" and walk away with our free trip.

Several hours later, we had spent $3-5K+ (and stupidly also gave up the free trip). What did we buy? It wasn't even a useable timeshare. It was a super stupid, completely useless vacation CLUB that just gave us access to good timeshare deals. With tiny tots, it wasn't even practical for our circumstances and the strings to using it was so difficult we didn't use it a single time. We finally quit paying the fees 2-3 years later when we had the courage to face our stupidity.

DH blames me for this one because I was advocating hard for it. I told him his job was to talk me out of stupid decisions. He said it made me happy so he did it. (UGH - how do you get mad with a guy with reasons like that?)

In recent years, the most anti-Mustachian thing we have done is allow our consumption to match our earnings. Our earnings went up and our lifestyle went up with it. I cringe at how much we have wasted in the last couple of years in frivolous spending because we stopped thinking of want vs need.

Kipp

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #242 on: October 18, 2013, 11:42:31 AM »
Well I can think of two anti-mustachian events that I deserve a punch in the face for:

1.)  Last year I financed a new car on credit, a 2013 hyundai accent.  I still like the car and as a bonus for the life that I own it I will get a mileage reimbursement due to an EPA settlement.  Still, I need to get that sucker paid off ASAP (plan on paying $900 over the minimum payment next month).  Would it potentially save me money to sell and buy used?  Yes, but I think I will stick with this decision for the long-term usage and the EPA reimbursement, besides I still need something to drive.  I just need to remember to punch myself in the face when I write the checks.

2.) At my previous employer I entered into an agreement to obtain my CPA.  They would pay for the study materials, but if I left before I had worked there for three years I had to pay them back.  Well, that happened.  I left before the three years and my current supervisor is not an active CPA, so I cannot obtain a CPA license currently even if I completed all of the exams.  So I have a set of expensive books that I ended up paying for that are fairly useless in my current employment situation.  However, I was going to use it to leave to get a better paying job regardless and would have paid it back in the end.  I just ended up getting a better job before finishing it.

Melody

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #243 on: October 18, 2013, 07:45:12 PM »
I plan on making an un-planned flight/vacation in the near future!

This is a good idea ;-)

Buying flights for a long weekend away when you already have a long and expensive trip planned within the next 12 months, not so much so ;-)

trombonedadio

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #244 on: October 18, 2013, 08:38:36 PM »
Bought a new car for $22k with no money down financed for 5 years. Taxes and financing brought the real cost up to $30k. Good thing it gave me 14 years of life before I sold it. AND the proceeds of the sale financed our month of June 2013!

Junior667

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #245 on: October 27, 2013, 01:29:12 AM »
I moved back home after 1 year in another state because I was homesick and not making as much money as I had anticipated: I had sold my first house at a profit even though I only had it for 3 years (This was 2005). Used that money and cashed in my 401K to pay off credit cards. Bought another house for way more than I had sold the last one for with no money down, lived in it a year and sold it at a $2k loss after all the realtor and legal cost (This was beginning 2006). Then I moved home and bought another house for way more than it was worth because renting was "wasteful". Used a split mortgage to get it for no money down and refinanced it a year later. After three years I let the bank short sell it for 80K less than I owed on it and joined the military. I could fill a book with all the dumb shit I have done. Not proud, but at least I woke up. Still have a lot of work to do. The kicker is I could have righted the ship at any point but was too dumb to know it.

Leggo

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #246 on: October 28, 2013, 06:27:24 PM »
Bought a gas guzzling sports car that can't haul shit.  Twice.  Sold the first one when my daughter was born.  Bought the second one when I got promoted and the kids could climb into the back seats and buckle their own belts.  Thought I deserved it.  Guess I wasn't thinking that I deserved financial freedom.    I'll sell it in the spring.  It won't move during the winter.


jcandoitbig

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #247 on: November 01, 2013, 03:12:04 PM »
paintball. costs a minimum 50 bucks every time you play

dadof4

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #248 on: November 01, 2013, 05:21:33 PM »
My guitar collection. I have over a dozen of them. In my defense, most are Korean in the $200-400 range, most were bought on "good deals", and I've sold quite a few making a small profit each time (only to replace them with newer "good deals").

I bought them fully knowing:
1. I can barely play, and am not getting much better.
2. I can barely tell the difference between them after they go in an amp. Having more than one acoustic and one electric is overkill.
3. When I do play in my shitty way, I can only play one guitar at a time.

At first I was able to somehow justify getting a new one (I don't have a semi-hollow with P90's, the collection wouldn't be complete without it, and the tone is unique). Lately, even my excuses are lame (I want a green one).

Still, I can't help but smile every time I pass by and see them hanging in my music room.

MoneyCat

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #249 on: November 02, 2013, 01:45:18 PM »
I suppose the most anti-Mustachian thing I do is buy a season ticket to a Major League Soccer team.  I love going to games and MLS is much cheaper than other major league sports, but my season ticket would pay for two months of student loan payments, not counting all the money I spend on concessions at games, because they typically take place around dinnertime on weekends, plus $10/game for parking and gas to get to and from the games.  What can I say?  This is my one great weakness.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!