Author Topic: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?  (Read 245969 times)

finallythere

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #250 on: November 03, 2013, 09:31:25 AM »
Bought engagement ring worth $26k.  And at a time when we had no money, no house, low paying jobs.  Done a lot of stupid things in life - but this was one of the biggest regrets.  Even now that we are *finally* in a great place with money, still feel that way.  You don't need a big expensive ring to have a great marriage! 

Zamboni

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #251 on: November 03, 2013, 01:13:00 PM »
^Wow!  Yeah, that's a lot for a ring.  I hope she gets the tongs that hold in the big stone checked and tightened by a jeweler each year.

JRogers81

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #252 on: November 06, 2013, 12:27:43 AM »
A brand new, 2012 Ford F-150 FX4, fully loaded, with 7k negative equity rolled in.  $50k and it was the only vehicle for my family (me, wife, 1 child).  We were living in suburbia with no reason for that vehicle except for vanity.  A year later we traded it in on a new 2013 Honda Accord 4cyl and again rolled in about $5k in negative equity with no money down.  This was before I started trying to become financially independent and reading this blog.  The only way to recoup the horrible mistakes is to keep the Accord until it literally falls apart!

schimt

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #253 on: November 06, 2013, 05:54:42 AM »
Started with a perfectly good working 96' VW GTI i had from college obviously paid off already in cash $5500. 3 years later, pulled the engine, rebuilt with forged internals and turbo charged the car. Dyno'ed around 390 HP at 20 psi.

I lost the secondary fuel pump, ran lean and destroyed the first built motor through detonation. Second one, i was in a rush and paid a performance shop to build the second engine for me, i still installed it at least, and of course upgraded the turbo among other things. After that I went through 2 transmissions by striping the teeth of both 2nd gears on one and then both 3rd gears on the other (only $150 junk yard transmission so not that bad on the wallet)

At this point i couldn't enjoy the car because i always felt like i was going to break it. I have over 18K into a $3500 car.

I started reading MMM and sold it this last summer for $6500. It was not easy, but it began my commitment to this lifestyle
« Last Edit: November 06, 2013, 02:16:48 PM by schimt »

Insanity

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #254 on: November 06, 2013, 11:34:41 AM »
My wife and I went to a concert last night.  It was also for our anniversary.  Given our situation, probably not the best thing right now, but it i sone of the few nights out that we've had recently.  Got me to thinking how much we have spent going to the same show.  More than I care to admit, but this was literally a drop in the bucket to what we saw at the show..

The lead singer brings a girl from the pit on stage at one point. the girl he brought on stage had a shirt stating this it he 200TH show she has seen.  Now, mind you, this is the bands 15th album over a 30 year period.  But I averaged the tickets at $250.  That's over 50K.  Not including travel expenses (I don't believe they have put on 200 shows in this city)..  I figure I was way under given the price that we paid for non floor tickets.

killingxspree

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #255 on: November 06, 2013, 09:13:38 PM »
University. After I finished school I should have gone out into the workforce and done a trainee-ship instead of wasting 20k or so on not finishing a degree... but my parents pushed me into it and here I am now with a negligible work history and no degree either.

Gray Matter

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #256 on: November 07, 2013, 04:14:02 AM »
Well...the list is long!  The most antimustachian thing we've done is just piss away money in dribs and drabs amounting to tens of thousands of dollars over the past 20 years, which, if invested, would amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars instead.

The stupidest thing we did in one fell swoop was get suckered into one of those vacation clubs when we were in our 20s.  Spent $3000 up front, then another $180 a year for about 10 years without using it once before we wised up and cancelled.  I'm embarrassed to even write that.

pachnik

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #257 on: November 07, 2013, 07:14:31 AM »
Well...the list is long!  The most antimustachian thing we've done is just piss away money in dribs and drabs amounting to tens of thousands of dollars over the past 20 years, which, if invested, would amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars instead. 

+1 for me and I am not proud to write it.  Thanks Gray Matter for having the courage to write it.  I've looked at this thread a few times and never quite posted on it.

My 'dribs and drabs' over 25 years would have been about an extra $50,000.00 working for me in my RRSP today.   I guess the one big stupid thing was not stashing $ over the 10 years I lived with my-ex.  I was sharing expenses with someone at that time but didn't make any effort to put the extra money aside.  Just kept doing the 10% thing and thinking I was wonderful.

The last 6 months have been pretty different which I am proud to write. :)   

PS I am so happy to see people being so smart with their money here.  I wish we were here by the 1,000s.  Maybe one day we will be.

AlmostIndependent

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #258 on: November 07, 2013, 08:48:10 AM »
I wish we were here by the 1,000s.  Maybe one day we will be.

I think we probably already are...

schimt

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #259 on: November 07, 2013, 01:19:02 PM »
The stupidest thing we did in one fell swoop was get suckered into one of those vacation clubs when we were in our 20s.  Spent $3000 up front, then another $180 a year for about 10 years without using it once before we wised up and cancelled.  I'm embarrassed to even write that.

Uhh I was suckered into one of these too, and came with a free trip (that's how they get you to listen) 21 years old and excited to travel and a new job, and the fees to actually use this for a vacation. We never ended up using the free trip...

eman resu

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #260 on: November 11, 2013, 02:02:00 PM »
I didn't contribute to the 401(k) at my first employer (giving up a 3% match) because I was young, dumb, and "wouldn't be there long anyway."  Five years later...

willn

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #261 on: November 11, 2013, 02:16:41 PM »
As a more or less fiscally conscious adult I made a good move, fixing up and selling a rental house for 70K profit.  The bad move was that if I'd waited 30 days to settle, the income would've been taxed at long term capital gains rate, not my marginal rate.   At the time I needed the cash for another house purchase.  In retrospect I am certain I could've figured out a way to delay both deals.

Cost me about 10K. 

In my decidedly irresponsible twenties, I got my sister to cosign car loan. Fortunately I never let the loan go bad, but I did have some late payments.  She still thinks nothing of it, I am now horrified that I had the nerve to ask her to cosign.


Trirod

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #262 on: November 11, 2013, 03:01:55 PM »
Started with a perfectly good working 96' VW GTI i had from college obviously paid off already in cash $5500. 3 years later, pulled the engine, rebuilt with forged internals and turbo charged the car. Dyno'ed around 390 HP at 20 psi.


So is it anti-mustachian of me to read that and think "cool!"?  But my real question is what kind of crazy torque steer do you get in a front-wheel drive car with 390HP?

I'm getting better, but car "upgrades" are one of my weaknesses.  I spent about $2,000 upgrading the suspension and motor of my 1995 Saab 9000 before selling it this year for no more than the cost of those upgrades.  I justified it because everyone I work with spends a shitload more on cars than I do, even with my upgrades, but my cars go faster and handle better than theirs.  So far I have resisted the upgrade temptation on my current, 9 year old, Saab.

nikki

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #263 on: November 12, 2013, 03:03:39 AM »
Oof. I think I'm going to get torn a new one after I post this.

I paid around $3700 for my cat to travel from my mother's door in Texas to my door in South Korea. The company handled all of the paperwork, got her to and checked her in at the airport, arranged a comfort stop at a kitty condo in Germany (my cat has been to more countries than I have) where she rested and had some food and water, sent me pictures of her at each stop to show me how she was doing, and brought her from the airport to my apartment.

I'm honestly not sure how I would have even approached an alternative way of getting her here without an escort, and I didn't want to burden my mother with the process (she was kind enough to catsit for two months already). Also, having just moved to South Korea myself, I was a bit intimidated by the prospect of moving an unhappy, jet-lagged cat from an airport to my apartment via public transportation.

No regrets, but golly that was a pretty penny.

Insanity

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #264 on: November 12, 2013, 08:28:24 AM »
Oof. I think I'm going to get torn a new one after I post this.

I paid around $3700 for my cat to travel from my mother's door in Texas to my door in South Korea. The company handled all of the paperwork, got her to and checked her in at the airport, arranged a comfort stop at a kitty condo in Germany (my cat has been to more countries than I have) where she rested and had some food and water, sent me pictures of her at each stop to show me how she was doing, and brought her from the airport to my apartment.

I'm honestly not sure how I would have even approached an alternative way of getting her here without an escort, and I didn't want to burden my mother with the process (she was kind enough to catsit for two months already). Also, having just moved to South Korea myself, I was a bit intimidated by the prospect of moving an unhappy, jet-lagged cat from an airport to my apartment via public transportation.

No regrets, but golly that was a pretty penny.

Pets are like family.  No reason to get face punched for that.  I probably would have done that for my dog.

That said, aren't cats a delicacy in South Korea? :-)  (I jest)

russianswinga

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #265 on: November 12, 2013, 10:35:43 AM »
Pets ARE family, but would it not have been wiser to pay for a friend's ticket and have them bring the kitty along? You get to see a friend for a week, they get a free flight out of the deal, and your cat arrives well-taken-care of.

Not sure about the airline choices, but when my wife was moving here from Russia last year, her direct Aeroflot flight from Moscow (12h 30m) allowed her to bring her cat cage on board with her (it was her carry-on), arranged for a back row seat so the cage went between her seat back and the wall, and had a complete checklist for pet travel (don't feed / let the animal drink for 12 hrs before the flight for obvious reasons, what type of cage liner to buy, what paperwork is needed upon arrival in english from your vet, etc)

The kitty (a sphynx) made it just fine, though bit upset by the time she landed (no food / water for 24 hrs now), unlike my wife, who got 3 meals and multiple drink services on the flight ;)


nikki

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #266 on: November 12, 2013, 06:15:31 PM »
Pets ARE family, but would it not have been wiser to pay for a friend's ticket and have them bring the kitty along? You get to see a friend for a week, they get a free flight out of the deal, and your cat arrives well-taken-care of.

Not sure about the airline choices, but when my wife was moving here from Russia last year, her direct Aeroflot flight from Moscow (12h 30m) allowed her to bring her cat cage on board with her (it was her carry-on), arranged for a back row seat so the cage went between her seat back and the wall, and had a complete checklist for pet travel (don't feed / let the animal drink for 12 hrs before the flight for obvious reasons, what type of cage liner to buy, what paperwork is needed upon arrival in english from your vet, etc)

The kitty (a sphynx) made it just fine, though bit upset by the time she landed (no food / water for 24 hrs now), unlike my wife, who got 3 meals and multiple drink services on the flight ;)

My cat weighs 16lbs, and the maximum limit for carry-on I saw was 15lbs INCLUDING the crate. Big ole cat.

But ya--having a friend do the work is a cheaper way to transport animals. Too bad my cat is my best friend! Waahhh humans sucks! :-p

bomgd3

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #267 on: November 13, 2013, 08:40:39 AM »
During my college years I made $20-30/hour working as an SAT tutor, and $20/hour over the summers working in a lab.  I also played the stock market during the big recovery ~2009.  I easily had more money than anyone else I knew. 

My parents paid my dorm/meal plan, and I had a tuition scholarship so I had no educational costs.  I had a tech gadget habit and a girlfriend who had no income.  I would pay for lots of expensive dates and lots of gadgets which I would play with for a few months and sell at a loss.  I must have owned at least 6 laptops and a similar number of MP3 players.  I also had an audiophile habit that consumed lots of cash on ridiculous things.  I remember that one day I made $1000 speculating on a penny stock, which I promptly blew on some stupid audio equipment.  One night I was bored, so I walked to the school bookstore and bought an Apple Airport Extreme and accessories, something like $200 total.  Our college was in a rural area, so I would routinely hop in my clown car and drive 70 mi round trip into the "city" to spend exorbitant amounts of money.  Once I bought a *cringe* $100 ugly shirt for going to clubs.

I went to med school after college.  I probably could have easily saved an entire year of living expenses, possibly even more if I had invested smarter and reinvested the proceeds.  Instead, I started med school with something like $5k which I also quickly blew through irresponsibly.  My relationship eventually ended, although I don't necessarily regret the money spent on that.  I still have a nice watch, a few pieces of audio gear that I actually use, and a some nice fountain pens.

After I ran out of money, I had to take out loans.  For the past 3+ years of med school I've been living on $1300-1500/mo.  I've taken up a lot of Mustachian habits out of necessity.  My credit card bills now, despite having to pay for living expenses, are lower than they were in college.
« Last Edit: November 13, 2013, 08:42:35 AM by bomgd3 »

Jack

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #268 on: November 18, 2013, 06:54:48 PM »
Started with a perfectly good working 96' VW GTI i had from college obviously paid off already in cash $5500. 3 years later, pulled the engine, rebuilt with forged internals and turbo charged the car. Dyno'ed around 390 HP at 20 psi....

At this point i couldn't enjoy the car because i always felt like i was going to break it. I have over 18K into a $3500 car.

I would have just detuned it so it'd be reliable, and then kept it.

(Or you could have gotten a TDI, which you wouldn't have to worry about running lean.)

summersundries

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #269 on: November 18, 2013, 08:20:35 PM »
Mostly just all the money I wasted on eating out.  The big slap in the face was when my financial advisor asked me how much I spent on eating out in the last month  I added it all up (coffees, muffins, lunchs, snacks, dinners, etc.)  I realized I had spent 400$ on eating out.  In a month.  And I had literally pooped that money away.  I was so mortified, I didn't even want to tell her the final number.  Then a few months ago I was talking to a friend who meticulously tracks her spending and she admitted spending 600$+ in the last month on eating out AND she had bought groceries, all of which had rotted in her fridge because she had eaten out for every meal for 1 month!  It's crazy how fast that catchs up on you.

Another rather mortifying mistake I only noticed when I started working and starting watching every penny coming out of my savings account was a gym for a city I didn't live in.  I was confused, and I remembered getting my sister a 6 month membership at that gym for x-mas 2 years beforehand.  Found out they had some small print clause that if you don't unsign up for them they keep charging you 20$/month just to keep your account active.  That means no one could even have used the gym.  For 2 years I was paying 20$ month for a gym no one even remembered we had a membership to... I was so pissed and embarrassed.  It was such a small amount every month I had never stopped to question the charge, but it added up to 480$ in 2 years.  I think of what I could have done with 480$ (who am I kidding, I probably would have eaten out for a whole month, lol).

Oh well, that's the past.  And I learned a valuable lesson: watch your bank account like a hawk.

The Bearded Bank Builder

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #270 on: November 19, 2013, 11:51:19 AM »
I realized I had spent 400$ on eating out.  In a month.  And I had literally pooped that money away.
LOL! Quote of the day =)

Carrie

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #271 on: November 19, 2013, 01:06:08 PM »
got drunk, had sex, got pregnant....
with #3....
thought we were done with our mustachian max of 2.

oops!

aglassman

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #272 on: November 19, 2013, 01:27:57 PM »
Anyone who has ever been into paintball can feel my pain.  If you spend money on a good gun, you are already in deep.  Then that gun allows you to throw a stream of paint that costs roughly $0.25 cents PER SECOND.  And that is for the cheap ass paint balls that break in your barrel all the time, and fly every which way.  Shooting the good paint can cost easily almost a dollar per second.  This also doesn't include paying for all the other gear + field time!

tl;dr : Paintball should be called money ball.

acroy

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #273 on: November 19, 2013, 01:36:49 PM »
got drunk, had sex, got pregnant....

LOL  this is hilarious. Describes how all 5 of ours happened. Don't regret it though!

My most Antimustachian involves cars, lots and lots of cars and parts. Stupid cars.

And I'm fixing to do it again, buying a used car for $17k that gets maybe 18mpg on premium. I drive almost exclusively for pleasure, not transportation. Cars possess an unmatched ability to transform a 'Stach into smoke and noise.

Carrie

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #274 on: November 19, 2013, 02:02:07 PM »
Oh, we did the car thing too.

Bought my husband a used Infiniti G35 last year for $23k (CASH, baby).  Cars are fun and we like to drive.  :)

C. K.

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #275 on: November 19, 2013, 02:06:51 PM »
On impulse, I bought a uni-tasking kitchen appliance (a popcorn popper) that I've used exactly twice in three weeks.

I need to get it out now and use it just because...

aglassman

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #276 on: November 19, 2013, 02:17:36 PM »
Haha, that is how I feel about my juicer.  This also makes me want to try to make pop corn in my cast iron dutch oven.

ArcticaMT6

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #277 on: November 19, 2013, 02:27:12 PM »
Haha, that is how I feel about my juicer.  This also makes me want to try to make pop corn in my cast iron dutch oven.

Easy to do with any pan. We typically use our stockpot. Just toss some oil in with popcorn kernels, cover the top with aluminum foil and stab some holes in it.

Norrie

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #278 on: November 19, 2013, 02:30:18 PM »
Ah, shit. You guys just reminded me of the mini pie maker that I got last year. From Williams Sonoma. It's been used twice.

Probably the worst financial decision that I've made was paying out of state tuition for one year (all on loans, including living expenses) for a degree program that I hated and never finished. Oof.

Richard3

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #279 on: November 19, 2013, 02:39:47 PM »
How about dropping $500 or so on dinner and drinks (just for me). Oh plus flights and accommodation (although I did get a weekend away from the small island I lived on out of it ... although this was the main point of it).

That was the tasting menu with wine paring, and cheeseboard, and an aperitif, at the Fat Duck. I don't regret it though because it was on my bucket list and I still remember it fondly years later. So I don't count it as anti-mustachian, but most of ya'll might since it's a month's food budget... for a family... in one evening for one person.

Else it's probably not trying harder to get a job on campus when I was an exchange student. A year of being unemployed and drinking at Canadian prices hurt the savings account pretty badly.

C. K.

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #280 on: November 19, 2013, 02:55:26 PM »
How about dropping $500 or so on dinner and drinks (just for me).


.... So I don't count it as anti-mustachian, but most of ya'll might since it's a month's food budget... for a family... in one evening for one person.



I think the face punch goes towards mindless spending, not a one-time, memorable splurge when you can afford it. :)

My popcorn popper, on the other hand, I bought with the best intentions of adding another healthful snack in the food budget. I'm still working on making it a habit.

aglassman

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #281 on: November 19, 2013, 03:22:49 PM »
Spent $80 per person on the Four Seasons buffet in Hawaii, as well as two $14 Mai Thais.

That being said, it was the best buffet I've ever hard, and probably ever will have.  The Mai Thais were amazing as well.

Luckily this was for my Honeymoon, so I'll probably never do it again!

vegasdude

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #282 on: December 08, 2013, 10:52:18 AM »
Most anti thing I ever did, besides financing a car I wanted, rather than needed over 5 years, was continuing to drive the car after my job generously allowed me to use a company car. It was a 2 door Ford Explorer, not very nice to drive, but still free. Later it was upgraded to a GMC Envoy. I was living in Las Vegas at the time, and some of my friends and I would hang out at this bar after work. I usually played a little video poker (getting my drinks comped) and one day hit a $4k royal flush. I used it to pay of my car a year early, but I kept driving it. Later my work upgraded my company car to a brand new 2012 explorer. Did I mention they paid for the insurance, gas, and maintenance? And they paid people to come us at work, to wash it and change the oil. All I was responsible for was paying a federal tax on the benefit. This cost per year would have comparable to what I was paying for minimum insurance coverage plus $1000 deductible comprehensive. This tax was based on me having the car 5 days per week, even though I was welcome to use it 24/7, as long as I didn't abuse the privilege.

So basically, I could have had a nearly free car for the last 5 years, but I didn't bother because I liked having my own car. I'm now starting a new job in Ohio, but I never factored in the company car I gave up when making my decision to leave Las Vegas. After adding everything up, (taxes, rent, car, etc.) my total compensation was probably more in Las Vegas. This car is worth $7,500 at most now. At least it's paid off, and has had only one unscheduled maintenance issue. Looking forward, I will be biking to work as much as possible.

I can't understate how much that car purchase cost me. Back in 2007, I could have kept my dented and cheap, but mechanically perfect 97 civic. But I bought a used (but still overpriced) 05 Altima with an added on bs warranty! I believe that single purchase coupled with not taking advantage of a huge work benefit, has delayed my FI by a full year at minimum, maybe two. It really is a case of your money or your life.

taekvideo

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #283 on: January 06, 2014, 12:33:09 AM »
I can't decide :(
2 things definitely make the top of the list:
Spent my first 3 years of college living on campus... expensive crappy dorms and ridiculous food prices...
Bought a $500 elliptical machine that I used about 8-10 times.. ended up giving it to my sister and she uses it now so at least it wasn't a total waste.

HappierAtHome

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #284 on: January 06, 2014, 12:55:08 AM »
Swapped a car (that was free-to-me) for Star Wars lego.

Capsu78

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #285 on: January 08, 2014, 03:36:59 PM »
I suppose sitting on an outdoor barstool next to the valet Ferrarri's at the Cafe Du Paris in Monocco while my wife walks around the corner to find the Louie Vitton store.  She came back with a purse... for her AND both of our daughters.  The only upside- LV keeps its prices the same no matter if you are buying in Monoco or Mooselips, Montana.   
I told her I could get a much better price on an identical purse from a guy I know, Leon Vitton.

anastrophe

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #286 on: January 09, 2014, 09:27:05 AM »
Swapped a car (that was free-to-me) for Star Wars lego.

I suppose the car *does* require more upkeep and I assume it takes up more space too...

HappierAtHome

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #287 on: January 09, 2014, 06:29:46 PM »
Swapped a car (that was free-to-me) for Star Wars lego.

I suppose the car *does* require more upkeep and I assume it takes up more space too...

It did take up a lot of room and required significant repairs/maintenance. Also, I needed to get rid of it so that I could buy a new, shiny car! Because of course.

firelight

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #288 on: January 09, 2014, 09:09:52 PM »
Bought a $40000 new car with low mpg after our old one was totaled... Could we have bought an old one? yes; Could we have bought one wth high mpg? yes... But yeah, we bought this suv. Only consolation is we paid it off quickly. No more cars till we drive this down in another 20/30 years (IF we still have fuel left in the earth)

fragglebock

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #289 on: January 10, 2014, 05:43:40 PM »
On impulse, I bought a uni-tasking kitchen appliance (a popcorn popper) that I've used exactly twice in three weeks.

I need to get it out now and use it just because...

Or, perhaps that was a great purchase.  Did you know you can roast coffee beans with an air popper?  It's also known as dog bowl roasting.

http://www.sweetmarias.com/airpop/airpopmethod.php

Green coffee beans cost about 50 - 60% less than good roasted coffee.

I buy locally roasted fair trade beans currently. I just found about about the hack and I'm looking forward to trying it.

RetiredAt63

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #290 on: January 12, 2014, 05:28:16 PM »
This made me smile, I have both an accordion and a banjo.  :)  I am a beginner at both, but I can play "Bile Dem Cabbage Down" on page 10 of my banjo book.  And accordions are loud as shit and fun to play even if you don't know what you're doing. 
Enjoy the accordion!  When my daughter competed in Irish Dance, we loved the venues that had accordion players for the dance music.  There was a list at one point, "You know you're an Irish Dancer if..."  and one of the ifs was "you think the accordion is a highly under-rated instrument"
And I am also spending money on a new instrument - I have started mandolin lessons.  The mandolin has the same tuning as the violin, so all the fun fiddle music works for it.

RetiredAt63

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #291 on: January 12, 2014, 05:32:51 PM »
This made me smile, I have both an accordion and a banjo.  :)  I am a beginner at both, but I can play "Bile Dem Cabbage Down" on page 10 of my banjo book.  And accordions are loud as shit and fun to play even if you don't know what you're doing. 

Honestly, I am building the case for being the biggest nerd on here, in bits and pieces in various threads.  I should just stahp.

Well, I now know what one of the unofficial side events to any sort of mustachian convention's gonna involve if KulshanGirl and I wind up at the same event... FOLK MUSIC JAMBOREE!


I'll be there too with my mandolin and fiddle!!
And me with my mandolin and Canadian, Irish and Scottish folk songs.

annaraven

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #292 on: January 12, 2014, 10:44:47 PM »
Bought a new car. Yeah, we paid cash and got it for good prices. But, it was unplanned and un-budgeted for.
And, two weeks later, we got hit with a huge, unexpected tax bill.

I hate scrambling to pay bills. Felt really stupid about that one.

Dr.Vibrissae

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #293 on: January 14, 2014, 12:43:21 PM »
On impulse, I bought a uni-tasking kitchen appliance (a popcorn popper) that I've used exactly twice in three weeks.

I need to get it out now and use it just because...

Or, perhaps that was a great purchase.  Did you know you can roast coffee beans with an air popper?  It's also known as dog bowl roasting.

http://www.sweetmarias.com/airpop/airpopmethod.php

Green coffee beans cost about 50 - 60% less than good roasted coffee.

I buy locally roasted fair trade beans currently. I just found about about the hack and I'm looking forward to trying it.

Cool link to the coffee beans, I'm gonna have to try it.  We bought a popper for 5 bucks at the thrift store a couple months ago and use it about once a week.  Definitely a want, not a need, but pretty low on my personal anti-mustachian activities list.  Makes a great snack with less fat than the stuff I might eat otherwise.  A bag of bulk organic popcorn is less than $2 and we haven't even finished the first bag.

[Mod Edit: Quote Tags.]
« Last Edit: January 15, 2014, 06:04:20 AM by arebelspy »

greenmimama

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #294 on: January 15, 2014, 07:59:43 AM »
I was going to sell it back to the jeweler after we went our separate ways, but given how much it's gone up in value, I'll hold onto it for now to see if a future Mrs. MooreBonds might be willing to accept it, or if she would need a different stone (hopefully not as pricey!).

FTLOG!  Hopefully your future Mrs MooreBonds will tell you to sell that rock pronto and buy her something to go with her mustache.  Hehe. 

My least mustachian thing is probably letting my pregnancy hormones drive me over the cloth diapering cliff.  To the tune of around $1200, and guess who didn't end up cloth diapering at ALL?  That's right.  At least I recouped a lot of my costs, cloth diapers have great resale value.  Punch self in the face though.  Ugh.

My current car is probably right up there too.  At least it's paid for.  And I keep paying, and paying and paying anyway!  :/


That is so funny to see that, I know exactly what you are talking about, I probably didn't spend that much though and I did use them for almost 7 years, so they saved us money for sure. But a lady I know from an online mommie board had an excel spread sheet and knew exactly how much she spent to cloth diaper 2 kids and it was 10k, not a typo.

One of the dumber things we have done was buy into one of those pay me a 1k to teach you how to invest, I kicked myself quite a bit for that one, but in the scheme of things 1k isn't too much to pay for stupid tax.

crumbcatcher

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #295 on: January 15, 2014, 01:34:37 PM »
Looks like this thread is still going so I'll chime in.

If I can't say "general lifestyle inflation all through my 30's" and have to provide one single anti-mustachian thing, I'd have to say that trying to sell my condo in 2008 was pretty huge.  It's funny, I've seen people saying that buying their house at the top of the bubble was their worst, mine is the flip side - trying to sell during the crash.

I was convinced that we'd be able to sell and have enough equity to buy a new place.  We moved into a rented apartment so the house could be staged.  Hired painter, replaced carpet, paid people to fix a ton of things in the house, paid for rent on the new place.  $20k in the hole, easy, which was about all I had saved up. We ended up admitting defeat and moving back into the condo - but hey - at least it looked really nice. *eyeroll*

If only I had remodeled the kitchen at the time and gotten a new stove - then I'd have something to show for it.

greaper007

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #296 on: January 24, 2014, 11:56:44 AM »
$10,000 wedding.   Cheaper than anyone else in my family, but still I should have just stuck the money in the bank or made a bigger down payment on my house.   Oh well.

Wolf_Stache

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #297 on: January 26, 2014, 09:11:03 AM »
Bought a $10K brand new car- financed, no money down. Was totaled by a drunk driver 2 weeks later. Insurance paid us $6K MORE than we purchased it for because it was the replacement value (that particular car at the time was very hard to find, and the only one the insurance could find within three states was really that much more).

The stupid part? Instead of getting the same car again, my boyfriend talked me into getting a $30K car, and using the $6K as a downpayment. I only make $50K a year! And now i have a $500 a month car payment on a car it turns out I hate, and I can't sell it because now 2 years later of paying on the loan and I'm $5K underwater on the loan (still owe $20K on the loan, car is worth about $15K).

Also, because this car was so much more expense than my last car, my insurance skyrocketed as well.

Argh.

Daley

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #298 on: January 26, 2014, 09:33:31 AM »
After three decades, I finally answered the siren song of the banjo thanks to the aide of a fellow pickin' friend today and I'm hooked. Nothing invested so far outside of picks, but I fear this is going to turn into an expensive hobby... and I struggle with caring that it will.

UPDATE:

A local music shop was clearing out its banjo section as their banjo expert had left. As the aftermarket for Deering openbacks is limited at best, I folded with the price offered, and am now the owner of a brand new Deering Goodtime banjo. Clearly, it's only going to get more expensive from this point on.

(insert shave and a haircut riff here)

Insanity

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Re: What's the most Antimustachian thing you've ever done?
« Reply #299 on: January 26, 2014, 08:04:17 PM »
After three decades, I finally answered the siren song of the banjo thanks to the aide of a fellow pickin' friend today and I'm hooked. Nothing invested so far outside of picks, but I fear this is going to turn into an expensive hobby... and I struggle with caring that it will.

UPDATE:

A local music shop was clearing out its banjo section as their banjo expert had left. As the aftermarket for Deering openbacks is limited at best, I folded with the price offered, and am now the owner of a brand new Deering Goodtime banjo. Clearly, it's only going to get more expensive from this point on.

(insert shave and a haircut riff here)

more than 2 bits?