Epic FU money stories

[evanc]

Some years ago (10?) DW worked for a company A but had ambivalent feelings about it. The pay was so so, and the commute was a killer. On the upside, it had decent healthcare and 401(k) benefits. All things considered, she started looking for a new job and found what appeared to be a perfect fit and Company B, which would be only a 10 minute drive (compared to the 1.5 hours each way with company a). Not only with the commute significantly improve, but the pay was actually higher at Company B. No brainer, right? First day at work, right away, she can tell this is not what she signed up for. The manager is yelling at people, everyone seems scared, and there is no training. Red flags left and right. She tries to stick it out for a couple of days, but quickly realizes this is clearly not where she needs to be. She called me in tears, says she cannot do this, it is not what she signed up for, etc. and basically left the office, ostensibly to “check the mail” (this was one of the new job duties) and never returned.  HR calls, wants to know what happened, and DW explains verbal abuse, the lack of training, etc. company b HR is very understanding And asks if there is anything they can do to bring her back - my gut says they were not surprised at anything they heard, which is probably why there was a vacancy in the first place. She says thanks but no thanks.

Same day, calls up her former boss (don’t burn those bridges if you don’t have to) from company a and negotiates a return at a higher salary and new job title. She had previously attempted to negotiate a wage increase but was told that it was impossible. After she left, however, magically there was money now available in the budget. Turns out, they were more than happy to have her back and were dreading the process of replacing her. She was also able to negotiate a couple of weeks delayed start for what we now refer to as her “unemployment vacation.” She needed the time to decompress from the company b trauma (and thanks to not living paycheck to paycheck, it was no big deal to us).

To this day, we still have a chuckle every once in a while about “going to check the mail.” I told her, just imagine the other people in that office. You are an urban legend for sure.

P.S. she still works for company a, but in the last 10 years has switched roles/departments 3 times, each with a significant pay increase. We relocated much closer, cutting commute time by 2/3, and she was able to negotiate 2 days/wk WFH in an office culture where WFH is virtually unheard of (at least pre-COVID). Meanwhile, almost everyone she works with just stays in the same position and never really gets more than COLA pay increases. Squeaky wheel, people! But more to the point of this thread, FU money gave us options. But for the FUM, some of those risks would likely been but daydreams. Cheers, mustachians!

[ysette9]

Some years ago (10?) DW worked for a company A but had ambivalent feelings about it. The pay was so so, and the commute was a killer. On the upside, it had decent healthcare and 401(k) benefits. All things considered, she started looking for a new job and found what appeared to be a perfect fit and Company B, which would be only a 10 minute drive (compared to the 1.5 hours each way with company a). Not only with the commute significantly improve, but the pay was actually higher at Company B. No brainer, right? First day at work, right away, she can tell this is not what she signed up for. The manager is yelling at people, everyone seems scared, and there is no training. Red flags left and right. She tries to stick it out for a couple of days, but quickly realizes this is clearly not where she needs to be. She called me in tears, says she cannot do this, it is not what she signed up for, etc. and basically left the office, ostensibly to “check the mail” (this was one of the new job duties) and never returned.  HR calls, wants to know what happened, and DW explains verbal abuse, the lack of training, etc. company b HR is very understanding And asks if there is anything they can do to bring her back - my gut says they were not surprised at anything they heard, which is probably why there was a vacancy in the first place. She says thanks but no thanks.

Same day, calls up her former boss (don’t burn those bridges if you don’t have to) from company a and negotiates a return at a higher salary and new job title. She had previously attempted to negotiate a wage increase but was told that it was impossible. After she left, however, magically there was money now available in the budget. Turns out, they were more than happy to have her back and were dreading the process of replacing her. She was also able to negotiate a couple of weeks delayed start for what we now refer to as her “unemployment vacation.” She needed the time to decompress from the company b trauma (and thanks to not living paycheck to paycheck, it was no big deal to us).

To this day, we still have a chuckle every once in a while about “going to check the mail.” I told her, just imagine the other people in that office. You are an urban legend for sure.

P.S. she still works for company a, but in the last 10 years has switched roles/departments 3 times, each with a significant pay increase. We relocated much closer, cutting commute time by 2/3, and she was able to negotiate 2 days/wk WFH in an office culture where WFH is virtually unheard of (at least pre-COVID). Meanwhile, almost everyone she works with just stays in the same position and never really gets more than COLA pay increases. Squeaky wheel, people! But more to the point of this thread, FU money gave us options. But for the FUM, some of those risks would likely been but daydreams. Cheers, mustachians!

That is a great story. Three cheers for your awesome SO, and for you for supporting.

[Zamboni]

Haha good for her for ghosting that job!

[bbqbonelesswing]

Good for her just walking away! No need to put up with that. I'm sure she wasn't the first or last to bail.

[rpr]

^^ @evanc --

What a great story.

PS: I love this thread.

[BuffaloStache]

As a former restaurant worker and shopper, I love this story, I never gave bad reviews as a shopper except once and it was nearly as scathing as it could have been. Restaurant work is very hard and you can’t be perfect and walking on eggshells all the time with each customer.
Makes me think I can retire normally at work or just up and quit if they push me too hard, but likely I will just calmly retire with two weeks notice.

I think of two weeks notice as a courtesy. It's nice to give your boss a little time to plan before you go. But if they don't respect you, fuck em.

Not exactly an FU Money story, but I watched an FU story unfold several years ago at a former work-place that is related to this.

A very well respected, very senior Chief Engineer at my old company was paramount to literally every technical decision that was made at the company. If any important changes were to be made, tweaks to various pieces of hardware, changes in software, etc., it was essentially required to go talk to this person and get his buy-in before going into a formal decision making meeting (a standard meeting with mostly manager-types and contractors). As you could imagine, this person was completely overloaded and often worked long hours to make sure he gave each person adequate time to learn about their recommended change. Despite a great positive attitude and sharp mind, he was overworked, underpaid, and didn't feel like he was getting the respect he deserved as having such of an important position in the company.

One day, on a Friday, I went to talk to him at ~6pm (the only time I could find a 15 minute period free on his schedule) about an upcoming hardware change-project I was leading. In typical fashion, he listened to my overview of the project and gave excellent feedback and advice. At the end of our discussion, when I asked him if he would support me during a formal change meeting on Monday (I had just set up the meeting and sent out invitations), he said "I definitely support this change, but I just sent in my notice to leave 20 minutes ago. I won't be with the company on Monday, so I won't have that authority anymore. But it's been great to work with you, BuffaloStache". He didn't say anything else about it, smiled, and quickly hurried off to his next meeting.

I was dumbfounded to say the least, but I incorporated all of the changes/pieces of advice that we discussed and planned to push ahead. When Monday came around, I went into the conference room and set-up the Teleconference software as was customary for these types of meetings. After logging in, I was shocked to see the Chief Engineer's name on the attendee list! When I asked about it, he said "I work for [oversight contractor company name] now, and look forward to the presentation". The collective jaws of every manager in the room fell to the floor. After the meeting, he called me to tell me that he switched jobs and was getting paid more to work mostly remotely and enjoy a lot greater flexibility. He said that the company often signed him up for incredibly difficult tasks without giving him any time to think about it, so he figured he'd do the same with his departure. That guy is a corporate hero to me.

TL;DR- Vitally important Chief Engineer quit on a Friday afternoon with absolutely no advanced notice, and then started on Monday at a contractor company essentially overseeing his previous work for higher pay and mostly remote.

[ysette9]

As a former restaurant worker and shopper, I love this story, I never gave bad reviews as a shopper except once and it was nearly as scathing as it could have been. Restaurant work is very hard and you can’t be perfect and walking on eggshells all the time with each customer.
Makes me think I can retire normally at work or just up and quit if they push me too hard, but likely I will just calmly retire with two weeks notice.

I think of two weeks notice as a courtesy. It's nice to give your boss a little time to plan before you go. But if they don't respect you, fuck em.

Not exactly an FU Money story, but I watched an FU story unfold several years ago at a former work-place that is related to this.

A very well respected, very senior Chief Engineer at my old company was paramount to literally every technical decision that was made at the company. If any important changes were to be made, tweaks to various pieces of hardware, changes in software, etc., it was essentially required to go talk to this person and get his buy-in before going into a formal decision making meeting (a standard meeting with mostly manager-types and contractors). As you could imagine, this person was completely overloaded and often worked long hours to make sure he gave each person adequate time to learn about their recommended change. Despite a great positive attitude and sharp mind, he was overworked, underpaid, and didn't feel like he was getting the respect he deserved as having such of an important position in the company.

One day, on a Friday, I went to talk to him at ~6pm (the only time I could find a 15 minute period free on his schedule) about an upcoming hardware change-project I was leading. In typical fashion, he listened to my overview of the project and gave excellent feedback and advice. At the end of our discussion, when I asked him if he would support me during a formal change meeting on Monday (I had just set up the meeting and sent out invitations), he said "I definitely support this change, but I just sent in my notice to leave 20 minutes ago. I won't be with the company on Monday, so I won't have that authority anymore. But it's been great to work with you, BuffaloStache". He didn't say anything else about it, smiled, and quickly hurried off to his next meeting.

I was dumbfounded to say the least, but I incorporated all of the changes/pieces of advice that we discussed and planned to push ahead. When Monday came around, I went into the conference room and set-up the Teleconference software as was customary for these types of meetings. After logging in, I was shocked to see the Chief Engineer's name on the attendee list! When I asked about it, he said "I work for [oversight contractor company name] now, and look forward to the presentation". The collective jaws of every manager in the room fell to the floor. After the meeting, he called me to tell me that he switched jobs and was getting paid more to work mostly remotely and enjoy a lot greater flexibility. He said that the company often signed him up for incredibly difficult tasks without giving him any time to think about it, so he figured he'd do the same with his departure. That guy is a corporate hero to me.

TL;DR- Vitally important Chief Engineer quit on a Friday afternoon with absolutely no advanced notice, and then started on Monday at a contractor company essentially overseeing his previous work for higher pay and mostly remote.

Hahaha... love it

[mm1970]

As a former restaurant worker and shopper, I love this story, I never gave bad reviews as a shopper except once and it was nearly as scathing as it could have been. Restaurant work is very hard and you can’t be perfect and walking on eggshells all the time with each customer.
Makes me think I can retire normally at work or just up and quit if they push me too hard, but likely I will just calmly retire with two weeks notice.

I think of two weeks notice as a courtesy. It's nice to give your boss a little time to plan before you go. But if they don't respect you, fuck em.

Not exactly an FU Money story, but I watched an FU story unfold several years ago at a former work-place that is related to this.

A very well respected, very senior Chief Engineer at my old company was paramount to literally every technical decision that was made at the company. If any important changes were to be made, tweaks to various pieces of hardware, changes in software, etc., it was essentially required to go talk to this person and get his buy-in before going into a formal decision making meeting (a standard meeting with mostly manager-types and contractors). As you could imagine, this person was completely overloaded and often worked long hours to make sure he gave each person adequate time to learn about their recommended change. Despite a great positive attitude and sharp mind, he was overworked, underpaid, and didn't feel like he was getting the respect he deserved as having such of an important position in the company.

One day, on a Friday, I went to talk to him at ~6pm (the only time I could find a 15 minute period free on his schedule) about an upcoming hardware change-project I was leading. In typical fashion, he listened to my overview of the project and gave excellent feedback and advice. At the end of our discussion, when I asked him if he would support me during a formal change meeting on Monday (I had just set up the meeting and sent out invitations), he said "I definitely support this change, but I just sent in my notice to leave 20 minutes ago. I won't be with the company on Monday, so I won't have that authority anymore. But it's been great to work with you, BuffaloStache". He didn't say anything else about it, smiled, and quickly hurried off to his next meeting.

I was dumbfounded to say the least, but I incorporated all of the changes/pieces of advice that we discussed and planned to push ahead. When Monday came around, I went into the conference room and set-up the Teleconference software as was customary for these types of meetings. After logging in, I was shocked to see the Chief Engineer's name on the attendee list! When I asked about it, he said "I work for [oversight contractor company name] now, and look forward to the presentation". The collective jaws of every manager in the room fell to the floor. After the meeting, he called me to tell me that he switched jobs and was getting paid more to work mostly remotely and enjoy a lot greater flexibility. He said that the company often signed him up for incredibly difficult tasks without giving him any time to think about it, so he figured he'd do the same with his departure. That guy is a corporate hero to me.

TL;DR- Vitally important Chief Engineer quit on a Friday afternoon with absolutely no advanced notice, and then started on Monday at a contractor company essentially overseeing his previous work for higher pay and mostly remote.

I love this

[nawhite]

I was working in IT for a company and my workload had been dropping precipitously for the past few months. Basically me and my team had automated our outsourced most of our tasks and most of my coworkers could see what was happening and were leaving left and right. Over a year we went from 15 to about 7 people on staff due to attrition and none of the positions were backfilled because there was so much less work to do. While this was going on I negotiated basically unlimited unpaid time off but when I asked to go to 3 days a week, HR said sorry we can't do that.

At the same time, I found MMM about 8 years ago and had saved a ton of money. Like 70% of my FIRE number. Also, over the past 3 years I had been slowly growing a side business teaching whitewater kayaking on nights and weekends. So this year, when quarantine started to get lifted (our state called it "Safer at home and in the vast outdoors") they included guidelines for outdoor guides. Within 4 days I had 15 calls for full day lessons and the calls kept coming. With that much of a backlog, I decided to give notice at the IT job two weeks later. In order to help with the transition I agreed to a 1 month notice period and to be available for consulting for a couple days in case something came up.

On my last day, it became clear that my manager thought that I was just going to consulting in order to try to get the 3 days a week thing I wanted before and he wanted to figure out how to schedule my 3 days per week indefinitely. I don't remember the exact words I used in a one on one meeting with him that day but it was something along the lines of "Sorry man, too little too late. I'll help with the transition but I don't need the money, I'm out."

PS: Kayak lesson demand was insane and I was just going by the seat of my pants trying to keep up and accepting some requests that I probably shouldn't have or should have been combined together. I made close to $20k this year during an abridged (due to covid) 4-month teaching season. I'm taking the winter to make some changes to make it more repeatable and lucrative but getting $40k in 6 months of work won't be crazy for next year. Sure it's not my IT salary but I don't care. I like this more and I really don't need the money. And all my gear is a business expense now haha.

[ysette9]

Wonderful!

[SwordGuy]

Way to go @nawhite !

[LightTripper]

Great story - must have been very satisfying :)

[Warlord1986]

I was working in IT for a company and my workload had been dropping precipitously for the past few months. Basically me and my team had automated our outsourced most of our tasks and most of my coworkers could see what was happening and were leaving left and right. Over a year we went from 15 to about 7 people on staff due to attrition and none of the positions were backfilled because there was so much less work to do. While this was going on I negotiated basically unlimited unpaid time off but when I asked to go to 3 days a week, HR said sorry we can't do that.

At the same time, I found MMM about 8 years ago and had saved a ton of money. Like 70% of my FIRE number. Also, over the past 3 years I had been slowly growing a side business teaching whitewater kayaking on nights and weekends. So this year, when quarantine started to get lifted (our state called it "Safer at home and in the vast outdoors") they included guidelines for outdoor guides. Within 4 days I had 15 calls for full day lessons and the calls kept coming. With that much of a backlog, I decided to give notice at the IT job two weeks later. In order to help with the transition I agreed to a 1 month notice period and to be available for consulting for a couple days in case something came up.

On my last day, it became clear that my manager thought that I was just going to consulting in order to try to get the 3 days a week thing I wanted before and he wanted to figure out how to schedule my 3 days per week indefinitely. I don't remember the exact words I used in a one on one meeting with him that day but it was something along the lines of "Sorry man, too little too late. I'll help with the transition but I don't need the money, I'm out."

PS: Kayak lesson demand was insane and I was just going by the seat of my pants trying to keep up and accepting some requests that I probably shouldn't have or should have been combined together. I made close to $20k this year during an abridged (due to covid) 4-month teaching season. I'm taking the winter to make some changes to make it more repeatable and lucrative but getting $40k in 6 months of work won't be crazy for next year. Sure it's not my IT salary but I don't care. I like this more and I really don't need the money. And all my gear is a business expense now haha.

My new hero.

[AO1FireTo]

I was working in IT for a company and my workload had been dropping precipitously for the past few months. Basically me and my team had automated our outsourced most of our tasks and most of my coworkers could see what was happening and were leaving left and right. Over a year we went from 15 to about 7 people on staff due to attrition and none of the positions were backfilled because there was so much less work to do. While this was going on I negotiated basically unlimited unpaid time off but when I asked to go to 3 days a week, HR said sorry we can't do that.

At the same time, I found MMM about 8 years ago and had saved a ton of money. Like 70% of my FIRE number. Also, over the past 3 years I had been slowly growing a side business teaching whitewater kayaking on nights and weekends. So this year, when quarantine started to get lifted (our state called it "Safer at home and in the vast outdoors") they included guidelines for outdoor guides. Within 4 days I had 15 calls for full day lessons and the calls kept coming. With that much of a backlog, I decided to give notice at the IT job two weeks later. In order to help with the transition I agreed to a 1 month notice period and to be available for consulting for a couple days in case something came up.

On my last day, it became clear that my manager thought that I was just going to consulting in order to try to get the 3 days a week thing I wanted before and he wanted to figure out how to schedule my 3 days per week indefinitely. I don't remember the exact words I used in a one on one meeting with him that day but it was something along the lines of "Sorry man, too little too late. I'll help with the transition but I don't need the money, I'm out."

PS: Kayak lesson demand was insane and I was just going by the seat of my pants trying to keep up and accepting some requests that I probably shouldn't have or should have been combined together. I made close to $20k this year during an abridged (due to covid) 4-month teaching season. I'm taking the winter to make some changes to make it more repeatable and lucrative but getting $40k in 6 months of work won't be crazy for next year. Sure it's not my IT salary but I don't care. I like this more and I really don't need the money. And all my gear is a business expense now haha.

My new hero.

Wow this is a pretty cool.  Must have been cool feeling to know that you now had the power.  I think that is what we are all really striving for here, to gain control so we can live life on our terms.

[Blondetuco]

I relocated across the country and started a new job right as COVID was hitting. Unfortunately I missed a lot of red flags early-on: my manger wouldn't look me in the eyes during the interview and she was replacing 2 of her 3 reports after she joined the company a couple months earlier. The offer came as the state shut down, so I jumped at it.

What followed was 6 months of toxicity. Other than some odds-and-ends she asked me to handle, we didn't talk responsibilities or expectations until I scheduled my own one-on-one after the first month. She began working from home, and called me insubordinate for problem solving with the on-site managers and "going behind her back". She openly discussed firing the "useless" floor technicians because they didn't complete tasks that they were never assigned. I was once called brainless on a managerial email chain after I followed her lead on something and she flip-flopped her stance.

Without pinching back the budget, I have about 17 months of cash on-hand (looking to buy a house). I told her Monday that I was leaving, politely said I would do happier in another environment, and the conversation ended cordially. The next day, I get on a conference call and see it's just my boss and co-worker. Somehow forgetting that this is not a private call, she begins belittling me to her other report. My work is sloppy, she's tried repeatedly to get me to fix it but I won't listen, I might not get replaced because "what does he even do here??". The other managers and supervisors begin joining the call and overhear this. Reality set-in when she said "Is anyone else on here yet? I better check before I say anything else....oh......"

I called her the next day to say that I heard everything that was discussed. I explained that she's entitled to those opinions of me, that I haven't been enthusiastic about my work either, but I would prefer that she privately give that feedback to me. Her response was "I'm sorry you overheard it, but I meant every word". I explained that I have been respectful of her during my exit interview and when the other managers asked why I was leaving. Her response was "Thank for for taking the high road, but I can't do the same while trying to correct your mistakes".

The next day I schedule a meeting with our facility's HR, share the highlights of my time with the company, and receive her contact information to provide to potential employers. Apparently everyone has seen this behavior from the fringes, but this is the first time someone put forward a formal complaint. She encouraged me to word all of this in an email to her manager and the HR rep that conducted my exit interview. Writing that email was the happiest 30 minutes of my employment.

At 2pm I sent her an email: "I've decided that today is my last day of employment. My laptop and keys are on my desk. I have already let HR know, and you can talk to them if you have any questions".

[bbqbonelesswing]

I relocated across the country and started a new job right as COVID was hitting. Unfortunately I missed a lot of red flags early-on: my manger wouldn't look me in the eyes during the interview and she was replacing 2 of her 3 reports after she joined the company a couple months earlier. The offer came as the state shut down, so I jumped at it.

What followed was 6 months of toxicity. Other than some odds-and-ends she asked me to handle, we didn't talk responsibilities or expectations until I scheduled my own one-on-one after the first month. She began working from home, and called me insubordinate for problem solving with the on-site managers and "going behind her back". She openly discussed firing the "useless" floor technicians because they didn't complete tasks that they were never assigned. I was once called brainless on a managerial email chain after I followed her lead on something and she flip-flopped her stance.

Without pinching back the budget, I have about 17 months of cash on-hand (looking to buy a house). I told her Monday that I was leaving, politely said I would do happier in another environment, and the conversation ended cordially. The next day, I get on a conference call and see it's just my boss and co-worker. Somehow forgetting that this is not a private call, she begins belittling me to her other report. My work is sloppy, she's tried repeatedly to get me to fix it but I won't listen, I might not get replaced because "what does he even do here??". The other managers and supervisors begin joining the call and overhear this. Reality set-in when she said "Is anyone else on here yet? I better check before I say anything else....oh......"

I called her the next day to say that I heard everything that was discussed. I explained that she's entitled to those opinions of me, that I haven't been enthusiastic about my work either, but I would prefer that she privately give that feedback to me. Her response was "I'm sorry you overheard it, but I meant every word". I explained that I have been respectful of her during my exit interview and when the other managers asked why I was leaving. Her response was "Thank for for taking the high road, but I can't do the same while trying to correct your mistakes".

The next day I schedule a meeting with our facility's HR, share the highlights of my time with the company, and receive her contact information to provide to potential employers. Apparently everyone has seen this behavior from the fringes, but this is the first time someone put forward a formal complaint. She encouraged me to word all of this in an email to her manager and the HR rep that conducted my exit interview. Writing that email was the happiest 30 minutes of my employment.

At 2pm I sent her an email: "I've decided that today is my last day of employment. My laptop and keys are on my desk. I have already let HR know, and you can talk to them if you have any questions".

I love that this is your first post here. Good for you!

[Dicey]

I relocated across the country and started a new job right as COVID was hitting. Unfortunately I missed a lot of red flags early-on: my manger wouldn't look me in the eyes during the interview and she was replacing 2 of her 3 reports after she joined the company a couple months earlier. The offer came as the state shut down, so I jumped at it.

What followed was 6 months of toxicity. Other than some odds-and-ends she asked me to handle, we didn't talk responsibilities or expectations until I scheduled my own one-on-one after the first month. She began working from home, and called me insubordinate for problem solving with the on-site managers and "going behind her back". She openly discussed firing the "useless" floor technicians because they didn't complete tasks that they were never assigned. I was once called brainless on a managerial email chain after I followed her lead on something and she flip-flopped her stance.

Without pinching back the budget, I have about 17 months of cash on-hand (looking to buy a house). I told her Monday that I was leaving, politely said I would do happier in another environment, and the conversation ended cordially. The next day, I get on a conference call and see it's just my boss and co-worker. Somehow forgetting that this is not a private call, she begins belittling me to her other report. My work is sloppy, she's tried repeatedly to get me to fix it but I won't listen, I might not get replaced because "what does he even do here??". The other managers and supervisors begin joining the call and overhear this. Reality set-in when she said "Is anyone else on here yet? I better check before I say anything else....oh......"

I called her the next day to say that I heard everything that was discussed. I explained that she's entitled to those opinions of me, that I haven't been enthusiastic about my work either, but I would prefer that she privately give that feedback to me. Her response was "I'm sorry you overheard it, but I meant every word". I explained that I have been respectful of her during my exit interview and when the other managers asked why I was leaving. Her response was "Thank for for taking the high road, but I can't do the same while trying to correct your mistakes".

The next day I schedule a meeting with our facility's HR, share the highlights of my time with the company, and receive her contact information to provide to potential employers. Apparently everyone has seen this behavior from the fringes, but this is the first time someone put forward a formal complaint. She encouraged me to word all of this in an email to her manager and the HR rep that conducted my exit interview. Writing that email was the happiest 30 minutes of my employment.

At 2pm I sent her an email: "I've decided that today is my last day of employment. My laptop and keys are on my desk. I have already let HR know, and you can talk to them if you have any questions".

I love that this is your first post here. Good for you!

Another badass in the house!

[RWTL]

At 2pm I sent her an email: "I've decided that today is my last day of employment. My laptop and keys are on my desk. I have already let HR know, and you can talk to them if you have any questions".

RWTL stands and claps....

[DadJokes]

Sucks to go through all of that, but that's an excellent FU money story!

[Blondetuco]

Thanks everybody. This blog/forum has changed my savings rate from 6% to 65% in the last three years. That job would have consumed me you all didn't preach this alternative.

[SwordGuy]

Thanks everybody. This blog/forum has changed my savings rate from 6% to 65% in the last three years. That job would have consumed me you all didn't preach this alternative.

@Blondetuco, now THAT's an epic story!  Good job!

[mm1970]

Epic indeed

[LennStar]

It has just started. It takes a long time to make an epic. So far it's only a ballad at most.

[Dicey]

It has just started. It takes a long time to make an epic. So far it's only a ballad at most.

We are here to encourage one another. Please don't minimize someone else's accomplishments. There is no nice reason for this.

[solon]

It has just started. It takes a long time to make an epic. So far it's only a ballad at most.

We are here to encourage one another. Please don't minimize someone else's accomplishments. There is no nice reason for this.

I think he was just making a joke about the word epic.

[SwordGuy]

It has just started. It takes a long time to make an epic. So far it's only a ballad at most.

We are here to encourage one another. Please don't minimize someone else's accomplishments. There is no nice reason for this.

[LennStar]

I feel so old for still knowing the original meaning of epic... (hint: It is an really really long piece of literature, generally poem. And for the old greeks it was all of "story poems". Like the Gilgamesh Epic.)

[marty998]

I feel so old for still knowing the original meaning of epic... (hint: It is an really really long piece of literature, generally poem. And for the old greeks it was all of "story poems". Like the Gilgamesh Epic.)

No one has ever heard the Greek National Anthem in full because it’s goes on for a good few days...

[Dicey]

I feel so old for still knowing the original meaning of epic... (hint: It is an really really long piece of literature, generally poem. And for the old greeks it was all of "story poems". Like the Gilgamesh Epic.)

Language evolves. The word in question has long since acquired additional shades of meaning. There's a grammar thread where your audience might be more receptive, but on this thread, you just sound pedantic.

@SwordGuy, as you can see, LennStar clearly wasn't joking.

[SwordGuy]

I feel so old for still knowing the original meaning of epic... (hint: It is an really really long piece of literature, generally poem. And for the old greeks it was all of "story poems". Like the Gilgamesh Epic.)

Language evolves. The word in question has long since acquired additional shades of meaning. There's a grammar thread where your audience might be more receptive, but on this thread, you just sound pedantic.

@SwordGuy, as you can see, LennStar clearly wasn't joking.

I still think he was.  Let's ask.

@LennStar , were you joking with word play on word meanings or not?   

[Dicey]

I feel so old for still knowing the original meaning of epic... (hint: It is an really really long piece of literature, generally poem. And for the old greeks it was all of "story poems". Like the Gilgamesh Epic.)

Language evolves. The word in question has long since acquired additional shades of meaning. There's a grammar thread where your audience might be more receptive, but on this thread, you just sound pedantic.

@SwordGuy, as you can see, LennStar clearly wasn't joking.

I still think he was.  Let's ask.

@LennStar , were you joking with word play on word meanings or not?   

Aww, @SwordGuy, you're such a mensch!

[LennStar]

I feel so old for still knowing the original meaning of epic... (hint: It is an really really long piece of literature, generally poem. And for the old greeks it was all of "story poems". Like the Gilgamesh Epic.)

Language evolves. The word in question has long since acquired additional shades of meaning. There's a grammar thread where your audience might be more receptive, but on this thread, you just sound pedantic.

@SwordGuy, as you can see, LennStar clearly wasn't joking.

I still think he was.  Let's ask.

@LennStar , were you joking with word play on word meanings or not?   

It was supposed to be a funny remark on (changing) words, yes.
The worst part is you bad guys have even infected German, I have heard people using "episch" the same way as in Englisch.
In 50 years kids will think the Gilgamesh Epos is a big mountain in the Himalajas or something like that... *sigh*

[Sandi_k]

I feel so old for still knowing the original meaning of epic... (hint: It is an really really long piece of literature, generally poem. And for the old greeks it was all of "story poems". Like the Gilgamesh Epic.)

Language evolves. The word in question has long since acquired additional shades of meaning. There's a grammar thread where your audience might be more receptive, but on this thread, you just sound pedantic.

@SwordGuy, as you can see, LennStar clearly wasn't joking.

I still think he was.  Let's ask.

@LennStar , were you joking with word play on word meanings or not?   

It was supposed to be a funny remark on (changing) words, yes.
The worst part is you bad guys have even infected German, I have heard people using "episch" the same way as in Englisch.
In 50 years kids will think the Gilgamesh Epos is a big mountain in the Himalajas or something like that... *sigh*

Get off my lawn! *waves fists wildly*

Does that translate into German as well?! :D

[BicycleB]

I feel so old for still knowing the original meaning of epic... (hint: It is an really really long piece of literature, generally poem. And for the old greeks it was all of "story poems". Like the Gilgamesh Epic.)

Language evolves. The word in question has long since acquired additional shades of meaning. There's a grammar thread where your audience might be more receptive, but on this thread, you just sound pedantic.

@SwordGuy, as you can see, LennStar clearly wasn't joking.

I still think he was.  Let's ask.

@LennStar , were you joking with word play on word meanings or not?   

It was supposed to be a funny remark on (changing) words, yes.
The worst part is you bad guys have even infected German, I have heard people using "episch" the same way as in Englisch.
In 50 years kids will think the Gilgamesh Epos is a big mountain in the Himalajas or something like that... *sigh*

LOL

[markbike528CBX]

I feel so old for still knowing the original meaning of epic... (hint: It is an really really long piece of literature, generally poem. And for the old greeks it was all of "story poems". Like the Gilgamesh Epic.)

To keep the pedantic tone of the thread alive, I would note that the Epic of Gilgamesh is Sumerian, not Greek. 
I realize what may have been meant was "story poems" = Greek , example from another culture- Gilgamesh.

[LennStar]

I feel so old for still knowing the original meaning of epic... (hint: It is an really really long piece of literature, generally poem. And for the old greeks it was all of "story poems". Like the Gilgamesh Epic.)

To keep the pedantic tone of the thread alive, I would note that the Epic of Gilgamesh is Sumerian, not Greek. 
I realize what may have been meant was "story poems" = Greek , example from another culture- Gilgamesh.

Roughly that. Gilgamesh is afaik the oldest one that has the name in it (and one of the best known).

And btw. the oldest written records at all we have are about debt forgiveness. Just in case you thought debt was a modern problem ;)

[markbike528CBX]

I feel so old for still knowing the original meaning of epic... (hint: It is an really really long piece of literature, generally poem. And for the old greeks it was all of "story poems". Like the Gilgamesh Epic.)

To keep the pedantic tone of the thread alive, I would note that the Epic of Gilgamesh is Sumerian, not Greek. 
I realize what may have been meant was "story poems" = Greek , example from another culture- Gilgamesh.

Roughly that. Gilgamesh is afaik the oldest one that has the name in it (and one of the best known).

And btw. the oldest written records at all we have are about debt forgiveness. Just in case you thought debt was a modern problem ;)

Very probably in conjunction with taxes (fees, protection by "king", assessment .....etc etc..)

[LennStar]

I feel so old for still knowing the original meaning of epic... (hint: It is an really really long piece of literature, generally poem. And for the old greeks it was all of "story poems". Like the Gilgamesh Epic.)

To keep the pedantic tone of the thread alive, I would note that the Epic of Gilgamesh is Sumerian, not Greek. 
I realize what may have been meant was "story poems" = Greek , example from another culture- Gilgamesh.

Roughly that. Gilgamesh is afaik the oldest one that has the name in it (and one of the best known).

And btw. the oldest written records at all we have are about debt forgiveness. Just in case you thought debt was a modern problem ;)

Very probably in conjunction with taxes (fees, protection by "king", assessment .....etc etc..)

Not directly at least. Of course taxes existed (albeit not in the form we think of today) and were one expense you could not not do.
But it generally was about "richer getting rich on our debts, and we get into slavery as result". That's why debt forgiveness was invented - the literal blank slate (as those old guys wrote on clay tablets) to free people out of debt slavery before you run out of people who aren't slaves. It was a constant topic for thousands of years, as you can see in the "jubilee year" of the bible.
It's quite humbling to know that one of the biggest and oldest problems humanity has is one born out of our society (or our personal souls - greed) itself. Basically only starving is more dangerous...

[shelivesthedream]

I actually heard a great sermon recently about debt in ancient Judea and people selling themselves into slavery for a certain period of time when they couldn't pay with money (and how that was different from being a foreign captured-in-war slave). Basically declaring bankruptcy, except that the debtor still "paid" the debt in some way. I was reminded of Shylock's pound of flesh. It was chilling, really.

[talltexan]

What's interesting is that debt is indeed an ancient problem, but there was a very interesting passage in Capital in the Twenty-First Century that argued that--until there was an income tax--there was no culture of people who thought of income as an annual thing. It was all about weekly salary in the gilded age. (unless you inherited money, but that would be wealth, not income)

[rantk81]

Doesn't money just represent a claim on future goods, services, resources?  So one could say that all money is, is a score-card on who owes who -- a.k.a. money = (someone else's) debt.

[LennStar]

Doesn't money just represent a claim on future goods, services, resources?  So one could say that all money is, is a score-card on who owes who -- a.k.a. money = (someone else's) debt.

That is what antropologists say for a century, who have studied how it was over the millenia.

Economists say, this is all bullshit because we say it should be otherwise and we are the money profession and not some stupid liberal arts, right?

[tipster350]

Was super excited to see new posts in this thread about Epic FU stories .... to find a whole string of OT  /0\

[LennStar]

Was super excited to see new posts in this thread about Epic FU stories .... to find a whole string of OT  /0\

Turn more consumer suckas into MMM folks and you might find more epic FU stories here.

[blurkraken22]

This is not exactly an FU money story, partially because I didn't even know what FU money was back then. Partially because there was no FU needed. But it's a nice way to use your FU money.

I was reasonably happy at work with some minor annoyances--I haven't found the perfect job yet. I had negotiated a pretty nice situation for myself at work, where I was working 3/4 time. Based on a recommendation from my manager, I transferred from my technical role into a pre-sales role. My new manager in pre-sales knew and agreed that I would be working 3/4 time in the new role. Yet, within a couple of months they were pressuring me come back to work full-time. Minor annoyance. In balance, 3/4 time was an awesome deal for me and not every employer would allow it in a position like mine. I definitely was not leaving for people problems or because of the job. One of my biggest complaints about my career to that point was that I was never able to figure out how to convince the company to transfer me to one of their offices abroad because I really really wanted to work in another country. I had talked to them about Singapore and France, but nothing stuck.

On the home front, I was about to get married. Our FU money was our savings to buy a boat. One of my other life ideas was to live on a boat and sail around the Caribbean and perhaps the world. I have more life ideas than I have lives. We had started co-saving about the time we started co-habitating. At the same time we were beginning to realize that the boat was never going to work out. My soon-to-be-wife turned an interesting shade of green on mildly choppy waters.

But when one door closes, another one opens. My soon-to-be-wife's family owned an apartment in a very very HCOL city abroad. The apartment was scheduled for sale in the indefinite future. For the moment the problem was that the building was scheduled for construction for exterior refacing. It's noisy, dusty work, but does not enter the unit. The family weren't going to sell during contstuction because it would depress the price. The apartment was going to be empty for at least a year. I saw an apportunity and proposed my idea to my bride. Soon enough she had secured family permission for us to go stay there during the construction. Perfect position: got financial runway and a mostly free place to stay! The only remaining question: what about work?

I proposed to my boss that the company should let me take 3 months unpaid leave. The company declined and told me their policy was 4 weeks. That was sufficient for me to make my decision. I explained to my boss that I needed to resign and I hoped maybe they would want me back some day. Before I left, I wrote a very nice letter about how much I had enjoyed working for them so far, but had an adventure I needed to go chase. After leaving work, we fixed up our current place as a rental (property value still a bit underwater after the great recession, but it could cash flow) and moved abroad. The experience was phenomenal. The money lasted longer than we expected. More adventures ensued as a result. Never a single regret about that decision. Plus, there are still more stories to tell after this one. :D

[LightTripper]

It may not be traditional "FU" @blurkraken22 but still a cool story.  More "Free U" than "F**k U"!

[Dicey]

@brukraken22, IMO this totally counts as an Epic FU story. It's also far closer to on topic than a discussion of etymology ;-)

[BicycleB]

It may not be traditional "FU" @blurkraken22 but still a cool story.  More "Free U" than "F**k U"!

+2! Great story, great term!

[blurkraken22]

About 8-9 years ago I was working a pretty miserable job with a crappy boss.  I was in debt (car loan, 2 maxed CCs, 2 student loans) and living paycheck to paycheck.  I wasn't making a lot of money, but more than I felt I could make somewhere else, so I was trapped.  Then a couple things clicked (meeting my frugal girlfriend was the main catalyst).  Over the course of a year I paid off all debts except one of the student loans and started saving 50% of my net.  I only had a couple months savings, but realizing I could get a job making half what I was currently suddenly put me into FU territory.  I made a list of demands for my boss, none of which were met, which is what I expected (he was the kind of guy that viewed everyone as an easily replaceable cog).  So I told him I was starting to job search, knowing what would happen.  Next day I'm handed a layoff notice (due to 'internal restructuring').  I knew 1) he would never let someone stay that was looking around, and 2) that he would have to lay me off (I'd been a flawless employee for 5 years, it would take too much time to build up a fireable case).  This made me qualify for unemployment, which at the time paid 50% of your previous 12 months wages.  Since that's what I'd been living on for a year, it had zero effect on my budget.  5 highly enjoyable and stress-free months later I landed one of the best jobs I've ever had, making 30% more than I was previously.

Not epic 'take this job and shove it', but if I hadn't had the financial stability and confidence, I might still be there.  FU money doesn't always have to be about your bank balance, either.  If you're living on half your paycheck, that opens a lot of doors that people don't usually have.  Most people can't afford to take a pay cut, which keeps them as trapped as debt or lack of savings does.

That boss of yours was doing you a solid and he knew it. I hoped you called him up and thanked him.

[RyanAtTanagra]

That boss of yours was doing you a solid and he knew it. I hoped you called him up and thanked him.

Nah, he really wasn't, it was just his fastest/only option.  The reason I was so miserable at that job was because of him and his lack of ethics.  He would tell the sales people to promise customers features our product didn't do, nor would ever do.  Then when they bought and came to me to help them get it set up, and would ask about these features, I'd say 'no it doesn't do that'.  He started getting mad at all the return requests and told me 'you have to string them along until the 30-day money back guarantee is past'.  'Umm, yea I'm not doing that'.  That's when I decided I needed to figure out how to get out.