Author Topic: Confessions: What is the least Mustachian thing you have done?  (Read 8645 times)

vagon

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Confessions: What is the least Mustachian thing you have done?
« on: September 25, 2014, 05:46:27 PM »
Okay team, it is time to let it all out.

Since finding out about the movement, what is the least Mustachian thing you have done?

I'll kick it off with a big one:
I purchased a $1.275mm house so I now have a 700K mortgage to pay off.

Yonco

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Re: Confessions: What is the least Mustachian thing you have done?
« Reply #1 on: September 25, 2014, 06:38:47 PM »
I got a GF with no job.

Prepube

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Re: Confessions: What is the least Mustachian thing you have done?
« Reply #2 on: September 25, 2014, 08:43:35 PM »
I smoked a cigar last week while in Vegas gambling and stayed in a suite nearly the size of the main floor of my home.  I ate at fancy overpriced buffets (Caesars was 110 for two people!!) and splurged on first class seats to get there.  (((Caveat: my side gig vending machine paid for the whole trip!!))).  Spent almost 5000 and came home empty handed.  That's as anti mustache as I can get.  It was the SO's birthday and I had a great time blowing all that extra money that I "worked" for.  I'll do it again next year.

Lyngi

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Re: Confessions: What is the least Mustachian thing you have done?
« Reply #3 on: September 25, 2014, 11:04:10 PM »
Oh...I've paying my car insurance month by month.  The humanity!  However,  I have repented and will pay six months at a time saving 5 percent.  It will be quite a chunk o change as I've added a teenage boy to the policy--everyone look out! !

LifestyleDeflation

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Re: Confessions: What is the least Mustachian thing you have done?
« Reply #4 on: September 25, 2014, 11:55:54 PM »
I ate dinner out several times a week most of last winter. On the other hand, 90% of the time it was great happy hour deals (a basket of wings for $2, etc), and I was living in a hatchback in a city that regularly reaches temperatures below 0F, so cooking wasn't much of an option.

bigchrisb

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Re: Confessions: What is the least Mustachian thing you have done?
« Reply #5 on: September 26, 2014, 01:03:02 AM »
Just bought three quarters of a million worth of house.

thedayisbrave

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Re: Confessions: What is the least Mustachian thing you have done?
« Reply #6 on: September 26, 2014, 07:03:54 AM »
I host singer/songwriters for private concerts.  I've done one a year since 2012 but by the end of this month I will have done 2 this year.  I have to pay their fee (it's been $650 but this next one is gonna be $1K), feed them (usually they want sushi which runs about $75-$100 for the band), buy some drinks/munchies for guests ($~30) and rent the community clubhouse since my house isn't large enough to accomodate 40+ people ($175).  It is something I plan on dropping down to one maybe every other year because this isn't sustainable, though I really enjoy the concert nights and knowing these guys.  Guests pay $15-$20 per ticket which recoups some costs, but I never get close to breaking even - I usually am out $300ish when all is said and done.

StashthatCash

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Re: Confessions: What is the least Mustachian thing you have done?
« Reply #7 on: September 26, 2014, 07:42:47 AM »
I bought a new VW TDI Jetta 90% financed after my old car started on fire.  Financially it sucks, but knowing that my odds of starting on fire while driving my car have gone down is a plus.

frugaliknowit

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Re: Confessions: What is the least Mustachian thing you have done?
« Reply #8 on: September 26, 2014, 08:01:21 AM »
Buy a Starbucks Venti Soy Latte with an extra shot for almost $6.

Jessa

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Re: Confessions: What is the least Mustachian thing you have done?
« Reply #9 on: September 26, 2014, 08:04:35 AM »
I went to the Big E. Sat in the car for 3 hours (almost 2 of it in non-moving traffic), paid $15 for parking, $30 to get in, and blew another $100 on junk food and beer. That's more than my entertainment budget for 3 months!

BeanCounter

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Re: Confessions: What is the least Mustachian thing you have done?
« Reply #10 on: September 26, 2014, 08:30:35 AM »
ugh, I've been wanting to get this off my chest-
 My husband drives 42 miles EACH way in a V6 Honda Accord for work!!!! And we currently have NO plans of relocating

We love our city, our church and our kids school. And home is close to my work. We have no debt except our house and our net worth is about $551k. BUT STILL, it seems like so much waste!!!

richcatpoorcat

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Re: Confessions: What is the least Mustachian thing you have done?
« Reply #11 on: September 26, 2014, 08:39:40 AM »
Student loans...

NYCMiniBee133

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Re: Confessions: What is the least Mustachian thing you have done?
« Reply #12 on: September 26, 2014, 09:04:33 AM »
Went on a lavish private safari with my spouse. The payment was enough to buy a car or pay for a wedding.

Terrestrial

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Re: Confessions: What is the least Mustachian thing you have done?
« Reply #13 on: September 26, 2014, 09:08:53 AM »
Decided I would embrace bicycling (good!)...so went out to look for a bike.  Ended up buying a $2000 carbon frame cannondale (...bad).  I do absolutely love the bike, I have been riding it a ton and I did get a good deal on it...but I know I could be riding fine on something that cost a quarter as much.  At the IRS rate of 0.50/mile I only have to ride across the country to make up for the purchase price!! haha. 

vagon

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Re: Confessions: What is the least Mustachian thing you have done?
« Reply #14 on: September 26, 2014, 05:28:07 PM »
Oh man there are some good ones!

Its nice to know we're all human out there and I'm not alone in my guilt haha

9ofPentacles

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Re: Confessions: What is the least Mustachian thing you have done?
« Reply #15 on: September 26, 2014, 05:42:33 PM »
I buy GT's Kombucha. It's 3.59 a bottle and I allow myself 3 a week. I can't help it, I love the stuff, and nothing else tastes quite like it. I also just bought my kid a pro scooter. He was obsessed and talked about it incessantly for months, and I finally just caved.

PeteD01

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Re: Confessions: What is the least Mustachian thing you have done?
« Reply #16 on: September 26, 2014, 07:03:41 PM »
I owned a 1980 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow for three years. I really enjoyed the vehicle and learned a lot about car mechanics. The experience dissuaded me from purchasing and installing an engine in my almost completed CH701 airframe (which would have been my most un-Mustachian thing I'd ever done if it hadn't been for the Rolls). My expenses for these adventures do not come close to what is generally considered acceptable regarding cars and airplanes but were substantial enough to not make sense in my overall financial plan - so I got rid of all of it.


Malaysia41

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Re: Confessions: What is the least Mustachian thing you have done?
« Reply #17 on: September 26, 2014, 07:14:43 PM »
Mid-twenties I bought about $30k of fancy furnishings at an auction.  Turns out it wasn't worth even $10k - which I discovered as I slowly divested of it over the next 5 years.

Why'd I do it?  Because my stock options were appreciating so fast I actually had the thought, "I can start spending $100s like I used to spend $10s"  W.. T...F?  Yet another retro-active face-punch.  This is my most painful money mishandling memory. 

mudgestache

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Re: Confessions: What is the least Mustachian thing you have done?
« Reply #18 on: September 26, 2014, 09:12:25 PM »
Wow, I don't think I've ever been jealous of someone else's mistakes before. Certainly is an interesting sensation..lol

MountainBeard

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Re: Confessions: What is the least Mustachian thing you have done?
« Reply #19 on: September 26, 2014, 10:18:59 PM »
I buy GT's Kombucha. It's 3.59 a bottle and I allow myself 3 a week. I can't help it, I love the stuff, and nothing else tastes quite like it. I also just bought my kid a pro scooter. He was obsessed and talked about it incessantly for months, and I finally just caved.

If you havent tried homebrewing kombucha it's super easy.  We've had an ongoing batch for the last 18 months and everyone in the house seems to like it better than what my wife used to buy.  Costs us about a quarter per half gallon to brew.

deborah

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Re: Confessions: What is the least Mustachian thing you have done?
« Reply #20 on: September 27, 2014, 03:10:12 AM »
Got a speeding fine.

kaetana

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Re: Confessions: What is the least Mustachian thing you have done?
« Reply #21 on: September 27, 2014, 04:28:17 AM »
Decided I would embrace bicycling (good!)...so went out to look for a bike.  Ended up buying a $2000 carbon frame cannondale (...bad).  I do absolutely love the bike, I have been riding it a ton and I did get a good deal on it...but I know I could be riding fine on something that cost a quarter as much.  At the IRS rate of 0.50/mile I only have to ride across the country to make up for the purchase price!! haha.

I can totally relate!! I never learned how to ride a bike, but because of MMM, I got my husband to teach me. I bought a $500 bike, which is not too bad, but I promptly got bitten HARD by the bike bug and a few months later bought a $3000 Brompton folding bike. That's not even including the accessories I've bought for it... I try to make it worth it by riding it every day, but man. That can't be Mustachian.

chasesfish

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Re: Confessions: What is the least Mustachian thing you have done?
« Reply #22 on: September 27, 2014, 08:18:33 AM »
I bought three new shirts at Costco when they went on sale for $9.   I probably could have gotten them for $3 at a thrift store

Mortgage Free Mike

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Re: Confessions: What is the least Mustachian thing you have done?
« Reply #23 on: September 27, 2014, 01:48:39 PM »
Leased an Audi A4. Whoops.

chops

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Re: Confessions: What is the least Mustachian thing you have done?
« Reply #24 on: September 27, 2014, 02:39:51 PM »
Started a relationship with my fiancée who had $250k in debt at a 7.5% interest rate.  But then we immediately started executing the mustachian playbook step by step to destroy it. 

Wasdramer

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Re: Confessions: What is the least Mustachian thing you have done?
« Reply #25 on: September 27, 2014, 03:10:06 PM »
I had a contract with Sprint. I spent $85 a month because there was an 18% off discount which helped, but...then I decided I wanted the brand new Samsung Galaxy S3, and didn't have enough to pay for it outright. So, I got a second line and paid $160 per month. Eventually I just stopped paying it, and now I have more debt to my name.

Of course, if you want to know the worst part, this was after I had student loans. Needless to say I'm working on fixing this, but...it may be awhile. Old habits die hard. Though I haven't bought any real electronic device since then, so that's a start.

Exflyboy

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Re: Confessions: What is the least Mustachian thing you have done?
« Reply #26 on: September 27, 2014, 03:58:03 PM »
I owned a 1980 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow for three years. I really enjoyed the vehicle and learned a lot about car mechanics. The experience dissuaded me from purchasing and installing an engine in my almost completed CH701 airframe (which would have been my most un-Mustachian thing I'd ever done if it hadn't been for the Rolls). My expenses for these adventures do not come close to what is generally considered acceptable regarding cars and airplanes but were substantial enough to not make sense in my overall financial plan - so I got rid of all of it.

Haha.. No way.. I built an flew my CH601 for 5 years, then went and built an RV7, with a full instrument panel. Went to aerobatic school, did my instrument rating, flew across country a few times.

Finally sold the airplane and put nearly $100k into my savings... I probably spent $25k in total on flying activities over the years.

Frank

PeteD01

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Re: Confessions: What is the least Mustachian thing you have done?
« Reply #27 on: September 28, 2014, 02:20:28 PM »
I owned a 1980 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow for three years. I really enjoyed the vehicle and learned a lot about car mechanics. The experience dissuaded me from purchasing and installing an engine in my almost completed CH701 airframe (which would have been my most un-Mustachian thing I'd ever done if it hadn't been for the Rolls). My expenses for these adventures do not come close to what is generally considered acceptable regarding cars and airplanes but were substantial enough to not make sense in my overall financial plan - so I got rid of all of it.

Haha.. No way.. I built an flew my CH601 for 5 years, then went and built an RV7, with a full instrument panel. Went to aerobatic school, did my instrument rating, flew across country a few times.

Finally sold the airplane and put nearly $100k into my savings... I probably spent $25k in total on flying activities over the years.

Frank

Interesting. Does that mean that you cleared 75k by building and flying small airplanes?
Or did you spend 125k over the years and ended up getting 100k for the RV7 when you sold it?

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!