Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)

[Fomerly known as something]

Putting in an insurance claim because you were rear ended and having them comment about your high deductible and how oh I see you don't have "rental coverage."  And having to say yes I know, my policy reflects deliberate choices I have need.  (unsaid because I live below my means and I can afford to pay for that if necessary.)  As the other driver was at fault, I'll get the deductible waved once they have the police report anyway.

[Bracken_Joy]

My internet contract is up next week. Would have jumped $25/month if I didn't do anything. New rate is $10 higher than old rate for the new promo for just internet. *OR* for the same price I could have basic cable and free HBO! Okay, sure. BUT WAIT. Turns out there's a $7/month "broadcast fee". Ummm, what is this bullshit? They tell me it's not them, it's "required", so they can't waive it. I turned down the TV/HBO package. The lady simply could not understand why I cared about $7/month.

She stopped pushing when I instead ranted a bit about unfair corporate pricing practices and lack of clarity in pricing. Turns out there's a big lawsuit about it. https://consumerist.com/2017/04/20/communities-push-for-investigation-into-comcasts-broadcast-tv-regional-sports-fees/ and http://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/index.ssf/2017/04/cable_tv_regulators_want_orego.html

Turns out they can raise those fees at any time even if you're under contract. That is some BS right there. If we could rely on DSL for hubby's business (instead of needing fiber), we'd have left them completely. UGH, monopolies suck.

[LeRainDrop]

My internet contract is up next week. Would have jumped $25/month if I didn't do anything. New rate is $10 higher than old rate for the new promo for just internet. *OR* for the same price I could have basic cable and free HBO! Okay, sure. BUT WAIT. Turns out there's a $7/month "broadcast fee". Ummm, what is this bullshit? They tell me it's not them, it's "required", so they can't waive it. I turned down the TV/HBO package. The lady simply could not understand why I cared about $7/month.

Bahaha!  I went through the same ordeal with Comcast yesterday.  I called to cancel only my internet service with them because our building had just been gigabit wired by another provider, and I can now get much better speed for much less money per month.  When the best TV price Comcast could offer for the "limited basic" was still over $50 plus taxes and fees, I was like, "Okay, you can cancel my TV service, too."  FINALLY, I'VE CUT MY CABLE CORD!  And as a bonus, my internet is now running at DOUBLE the speed (based on actual speedtest comparison) for HALF the cost with the new provider!

[UKMustache]

That is hilarious.  So the alarm was just perpetually going off without a siren?  Or did they finally rip it out?

I had a similar thing. 

I bought a used motorbike not as a toy but because it was by far the cheapest commuting method for my journey at the time.

Anyway, after searching for a cheap one I realised that I could get a real bargain if I was willing to travel about 200 miles into the sticks, even with travelling costs included these things were going for peanuts there because they had such a limited market.

So I travel down and pick it up, the guy tells me it has an alarm on it but it doesn't work.  I ride it all the way home over the next 4 hours and well I'll be damned, the further I go the louder the alarm gets.  Turns out it had some sort of internal battery and because the guy had just been doing little journeys on it the damn thing had gone flat while he owned it.

I took it to a garage and they managed to get it in service mode but couldn't do anything else because it was defective.  They quoted (IIRC) about 30% of what I'd paid for the bike to remove the alarm because it was wired into EVERYTHING, the bike would need a total rewire.

Needless to say, I rode around on that thing in service mode for the next 2 years.  It made a loud beep every 30 seconds.
If you listen carefully you can hear it about 6 seconds into this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6j1_ox5EdY

I didn't notice it after a while and I wore earplugs on the bike anyway.  I did get some strange looks though.

[dragoncar]

That is hilarious.  So the alarm was just perpetually going off without a siren?  Or did they finally rip it out?

I had a similar thing. 

I bought a used motorbike not as a toy but because it was by far the cheapest commuting method for my journey at the time.

Anyway, after searching for a cheap one I realised that I could get a real bargain if I was willing to travel about 200 miles into the sticks, even with travelling costs included these things were going for peanuts there because they had such a limited market.

So I travel down and pick it up, the guy tells me it has an alarm on it but it doesn't work.  I ride it all the way home over the next 4 hours and well I'll be damned, the further I go the louder the alarm gets.  Turns out it had some sort of internal battery and because the guy had just been doing little journeys on it the damn thing had gone flat while he owned it.

I took it to a garage and they managed to get it in service mode but couldn't do anything else because it was defective.  They quoted (IIRC) about 30% of what I'd paid for the bike to remove the alarm because it was wired into EVERYTHING, the bike would need a total rewire.

Needless to say, I rode around on that thing in service mode for the next 2 years.  It made a loud beep every 30 seconds.
If you listen carefully you can hear it about 6 seconds into this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6j1_ox5EdY

I didn't notice it after a while and I wore earplugs on the bike anyway.  I did get some strange looks though.

Great story!  I'm surprised you couldn't have just ripped out the noise maker thingy (highly technical term)

[UKMustache]

Great story!  I'm surprised you couldn't have just ripped out the noise maker thingy (highly technical term)

It was a sealed black box unit and had been wired in with plain black wires replacing all the colours by some foolish amateur.  It was still going when I sold the bike for what I had paid 2 years later with triple the mileage!

[MrsOz]

I had a small personal loan I was paying off and I decided to add it to my spreadsheet so I could have the fun of seeing the balance go down.

But my net worth is so high you could barely see the debt on the graph :(

Thank you for this. I LOL'd!

[BTDretire]

The car alarms I remember would go off if you moved the handle, or bumped the car hard.) 

Yeah that was my recollection too. Twenty years ago, it seemed like car alarms would go off all the time. To the point where we kids would be instructed to steer well clear of people's vehicles because some of them were on full paranoia mode and just looking at them the wrong way would trigger it.

Glad that's not an issue anymore.

Years ago we went to the park to watch the fireworks display, We sat near a car that had an alarm that would start whoop,whoop, whooping when a loud boom happened. So basically it would whoop until it automatically shut off, then boom and it would start again, time out and then boom, it would start again. Ya, it ran the whole show, there were a lot of PO people.

[dougules]

The car alarms I remember would go off if you moved the handle, or bumped the car hard.) 

Yeah that was my recollection too. Twenty years ago, it seemed like car alarms would go off all the time. To the point where we kids would be instructed to steer well clear of people's vehicles because some of them were on full paranoia mode and just looking at them the wrong way would trigger it.

Glad that's not an issue anymore.

Years ago we went to the park to watch the fireworks display, We sat near a car that had an alarm that would start whoop,whoop, whooping when a loud boom happened. So basically it would whoop until it automatically shut off, then boom and it would start again, time out and then boom, it would start again. Ya, it ran the whole show, there were a lot of PO people.

They should make it legal to stop a car alarm by whatever means necessary if it's a false alarm. 

[ketchup]

The car alarms I remember would go off if you moved the handle, or bumped the car hard.) 

Yeah that was my recollection too. Twenty years ago, it seemed like car alarms would go off all the time. To the point where we kids would be instructed to steer well clear of people's vehicles because some of them were on full paranoia mode and just looking at them the wrong way would trigger it.

Glad that's not an issue anymore.

Years ago we went to the park to watch the fireworks display, We sat near a car that had an alarm that would start whoop,whoop, whooping when a loud boom happened. So basically it would whoop until it automatically shut off, then boom and it would start again, time out and then boom, it would start again. Ya, it ran the whole show, there were a lot of PO people.

When I was in high school (05-09) I was in the marching band and we'd often practice parade marching in the parking lot.  Car alarms would be constantly going off as the drumline went by.  Nobody batted an eye.

[mustachepungoeshere]

They should make it legal to stop a car alarm by whatever means necessary if it's a false alarm.

I had that thought about alarm clocks when my dorm mates used to go away and leave them plugged in.

Come 6am there would be a horde of pissed off uni students trying to break down a door.

[By the River]

I had that thought about alarm clocks when my dorm mates used to go away and leave them plugged in.

Come 6am there would be a horde of pissed off uni students trying to break down a door.

My dorm had the same problem with a super loud alarm clock, the only difference is that the student was still in the room sleeping through an air raid siren.

[Reynold]

I got an unclaimed funds notice from Lending Club, because apparently 32 cents mysteriously showed up in my account at some point in the last 4 years since I sold everything and cashed out. But I moved out of state and changed my bank account etc. so I can't transfer it out without getting customer support involved.

MPP: trying to figure out how many minutes/hours is acceptable to spend trying to cash out 32 cents.

Heh, that reminded me of one; I worked a full time contract job for about a year, which had a 401k I contributed the max to.  I left that for a permanent job.  I moved the 401k money from the contract job to the 401k at my new one. 

Three years later, I got a notice that there had been some kind of accounting issue, and $5.20 or something like that had popped up in my old 401k account.  They couldn't direct transfer that little, so they had to cash me out.  After the $3 fee, I had something like $2.20 I got and had to pay taxes and penalties on for premature withdrawal.  Fortunately the amounts were low enough that they rounded down to zero on my return. 

[dragoncar]

When I left my job, I also left my 401k money with the custodian, at least for now it's fine.  They will not stop contacting me about "options for your money".  Like weekly letters and phone calls.  Yeah if I was going to roll it over, it would be going to a different institution so quit bugging me

[Fomerly known as something]

I'm in the process of moving cities, and buying and selling a house.  I'm downsizing a tiny bit in space and about 25% in cost.  My MMP, having to wait 3 days for the excess equity to be released from my bank to vanguard so I can invest it as it is multiple times larger than my normal pulls.

ETA:  Also having personal capital double count the amount and over stating my net worth for a day or two so annoying as both Vanguard and my Bank reported the amount.

[Uturn]

Also having personal capital double count the amount and over stating my net worth for a day or two so annoying as both Vanguard and my Bank reported the amount.

That happened to me last month, but in the negative.  Bank showed transfer out, Vanguard showed transfer in, then Vanguard showed securities purchase.  I was negative the amount of the transaction for a few days, then the Vanguard transfer in went away. 

[Aegishjalmur]

Talking with coworkers regarding couple of coworkers recently retiring and another planning to retire in the next month or so. Coworker mentioned having 2 years 8 months until they can retire to get full ss. MPP-> Having to keep my mouth shut as my target date is under 9 months and I am pretty sure they did not want to hear that from someone 3 decades younger.

[BTDretire]

Talking with coworkers regarding couple of coworkers recently retiring and another planning to retire in the next month or so. Coworker mentioned having 2 years 8 months until they can retire to get full ss. MPP-> Having to keep my mouth shut as my target date is under 9 months and I am pretty sure they did not want to hear that from someone 3 decades younger.

 Ya, terrible to rain on their parade, but wouldn't it have been so much fun to say here's what I did!
Also, how's your tongue?!

[ixtap]

My spouse has a stress related health issue. Last night he came home and said that if he feels better after our vacation, but then starts hurting again as soon as he returns to work, he will tender his resignation as soon as this year's bonus comes through (even if he doesn't get a bonus, previous stocks will vest at that time, but he always gets a bonus, hence the largely self induces type A stress).

I don't want him to hurt, but...

I did send him to the doctor, like a proper caring person.

[Linea_Norway]

We are on vacation in our own country. Out in the country side there is generally an other brand of grocery stores than I usually use. So I made sure one week ahead that I got a membership of that store to get membership discounts. And I would use my normal credit card with 3% discount on groceries.
But during this vacation, almost every time when shopping I forgot to bring my handbag into the shop. So no phone with membership app and no credit card available. My DH had to pay most of the time. He does not have membership and the same CC discount.

[Alfred J Quack]

One of my colleagues is getting another job. I'm glad for her but since she lives close by we also share rides when we have meeting in offices other than the main office.
Honestly though, it's a great opportunity for her and I wish her all the best :)

[shelivesthedream]

You forget when bin day is because they're so rarely full enough to need putting out.

[Cherry Lane]

You forget when bin day is because they're so rarely full enough to need putting out.

Yep.  Mine was today and I only "remembered" when the trucks woke me up this morning.

[Hedge_87]

You forget when bin day is because they're so rarely full enough to need putting out.

Yep.  Mine was today and I only "remembered" when the trucks woke me up this morning.

I know they have a job to do but it really is a pet peeve of mine when the trash truck is tearing through the neighborhood at 6 in the morning. I'm an early morning person but I like to have a nice quite cup of coffee before everybody else wakes up and starts making noise. They do my place on Monday and the next block on Tuesday. Really gets the day going good

[Sibley]

You forget when bin day is because they're so rarely full enough to need putting out.

Thank you for the reminder... need to take trash and recycling out!

[dragoncar]

You forget when bin day is because they're so rarely full enough to need putting out.

Yep.  Mine was today and I only "remembered" when the trucks woke me up this morning.

I know they have a job to do but it really is a pet peeve of mine when the trash truck is tearing through the neighborhood at 6 in the morning. I'm an early morning person but I like to have a nice quite cup of coffee before everybody else wakes up and starts making noise. They do my place on Monday and the next block on Tuesday. Really gets the day going good

Used to live in the city and those fuckers would come at 3AM.  They were always backing up, and had the beepers on.  Pissed me off, but I guess any other time and they would be stuck in traffic all day.

[Rural]

You forget when bin day is because they're so rarely full enough to need putting out.

Yep.  Mine was today and I only "remembered" when the trucks woke me up this morning.

I know they have a job to do but it really is a pet peeve of mine when the trash truck is tearing through the neighborhood at 6 in the morning. I'm an early morning person but I like to have a nice quite cup of coffee before everybody else wakes up and starts making noise. They do my place on Monday and the next block on Tuesday. Really gets the day going good

Used to live in the city and those fuckers would come at 3AM.  They were always backing up, and had the beepers on.  Pissed me off, but I guess any other time and they would be stuck in traffic all day.

I never know when ours come as the public road is way too far away to hear anything, I suppose that's an MPP.

[dragoncar]

You forget when bin day is because they're so rarely full enough to need putting out.

Yep.  Mine was today and I only "remembered" when the trucks woke me up this morning.

I know they have a job to do but it really is a pet peeve of mine when the trash truck is tearing through the neighborhood at 6 in the morning. I'm an early morning person but I like to have a nice quite cup of coffee before everybody else wakes up and starts making noise. They do my place on Monday and the next block on Tuesday. Really gets the day going good

Used to live in the city and those fuckers would come at 3AM.  They were always backing up, and had the beepers on.  Pissed me off, but I guess any other time and they would be stuck in traffic all day.

I never know when ours come as the public road is way too far away to hear anything, I suppose that's an MPP.

You get trash pickup vs. taking your load to the dump?  CITYSLICKER

[Rural]

You forget when bin day is because they're so rarely full enough to need putting out.

Yep.  Mine was today and I only "remembered" when the trucks woke me up this morning.

I know they have a job to do but it really is a pet peeve of mine when the trash truck is tearing through the neighborhood at 6 in the morning. I'm an early morning person but I like to have a nice quite cup of coffee before everybody else wakes up and starts making noise. They do my place on Monday and the next block on Tuesday. Really gets the day going good

Used to live in the city and those fuckers would come at 3AM.  They were always backing up, and had the beepers on.  Pissed me off, but I guess any other time and they would be stuck in traffic all day.

I never know when ours come as the public road is way too far away to hear anything, I suppose that's an MPP.

You get trash pickup vs. taking your load to the dump?  CITYSLICKER

There is no dump (literally, none in the county that private people can legally take trash to for any price). I pay a private service instead of dumping into the backroads watersheds like most people because I'm a dirty hippie weirdo in addition to being a city slicker.

[Linea_Norway]

You forget when bin day is because they're so rarely full enough to need putting out.

Yep.  Mine was today and I only "remembered" when the trucks woke me up this morning.

Our garbage company sends me a text message the evening before. And last time, when it was announced that they would collect plastic, they didn't. I had to complain. Maybe a summer temp couldn't find our street?
By the way, we share bins together with a couple of neighbours. This gives us a lower price for garbage. They are standing in front of our parking place, and we don't need to move them anywhere on bin day.

[sw1tch]

I have one..  Since I'm pushing my FIRE date out for one more paycheck, I'm kicking myself about missing out on maximizing the company match for my 401K.  I'm already too close to the max contribution for the year that when I get that last paycheck there won't be enough left for me to contribute to get the maximum company match available to me.  I think I'm missing out on something like a $122 match.  Granted, if I wasn't planning to work the extra 2 weeks, I wouldn't be able to get a match of $64, either. 

TLDR: Total match for the last paycheck would've been ~ $186. I'm only going to get $64 due to not having any more contributions (to get matched).

Regardless, I need to let it go.

[Dollar Slice]

I got an unclaimed funds notice from Lending Club, because apparently 32 cents mysteriously showed up in my account at some point in the last 4 years since I sold everything and cashed out. But I moved out of state and changed my bank account etc. so I can't transfer it out without getting customer support involved.

MPP: trying to figure out how many minutes/hours is acceptable to spend trying to cash out 32 cents.

Update: I got my 32 cent check in the mail today, and I only had to fill out a form and send three e-mails. I feel a little inefficient about the whole thing - the cost of the envelope, cutting the check, the resources spent to deliver it, etc. seems pretty ludicrous. But hey! 32 cents. That should advance me a couple of minutes closer to FIRE :-P

[LennStar]

I got an unclaimed funds notice from Lending Club, because apparently 32 cents mysteriously showed up in my account at some point in the last 4 years since I sold everything and cashed out. But I moved out of state and changed my bank account etc. so I can't transfer it out without getting customer support involved.

MPP: trying to figure out how many minutes/hours is acceptable to spend trying to cash out 32 cents.

Update: I got my 32 cent check in the mail today, and I only had to fill out a form and send three e-mails. I feel a little inefficient about the whole thing - the cost of the envelope, cutting the check, the resources spent to deliver it, etc. seems pretty ludicrous. But hey! 32 cents. That should advance me a couple of minutes closer to FIRE :-P

ANd it was not possible to send this the easier way? Bank transfer, Paypal, Crypto, whatever?

[Luckyvik]

I had to reduce my salary sacrifice into my retirement account (super) as my last payment for the last financial year didn't go into my account until 3rd of July.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Dollar Slice]

I got an unclaimed funds notice from Lending Club, because apparently 32 cents mysteriously showed up in my account at some point in the last 4 years since I sold everything and cashed out. But I moved out of state and changed my bank account etc. so I can't transfer it out without getting customer support involved.

MPP: trying to figure out how many minutes/hours is acceptable to spend trying to cash out 32 cents.

Update: I got my 32 cent check in the mail today, and I only had to fill out a form and send three e-mails. I feel a little inefficient about the whole thing - the cost of the envelope, cutting the check, the resources spent to deliver it, etc. seems pretty ludicrous. But hey! 32 cents. That should advance me a couple of minutes closer to FIRE :-P

ANd it was not possible to send this the easier way? Bank transfer, Paypal, Crypto, whatever?

Normally they do bank transfers, but the bank account linked with my Lending Club account was closed years ago. And they don't let you add a new bank account without having the account number for the old one, which I don't have any more.

[Dollar Slice]

My 2% cash back rewards credit card was hacked/stolen/whatever, and I won't get the new one until Tuesday night. So for the next two days, if I buy anything that isn't in the bonus categories of my other three credit cards, I'll only get 1% cash back. *sigh*

[Imma]

Reading about Americans and cashback credit cards all the time and knowing they don't exist in my country ...

[Snow]

I invested what I had allowed myself to allocate until SO's tax issues gets resolved. Now I have to wait. :(

[Raenia]

I finally did the research into opening an HSA account and have the money ready to go, and my home computer decided it needs a new operating system install.  My IT SO says I shouldn't use it for anything sensitive/money related until he can reinstall and fix the security problems, and I don't want to do it on my work computer for the same reason, so now I have to wait who knows how long until we can get a new boot drive.  While that money just sits in a savings account, doing nothing :(

[RWD]

I finally did the research into opening an HSA account and have the money ready to go, and my home computer decided it needs a new operating system install.  My IT SO says I shouldn't use it for anything sensitive/money related until he can reinstall and fix the security problems, and I don't want to do it on my work computer for the same reason, so now I have to wait who knows how long until we can get a new boot drive.  While that money just sits in a savings account, doing nothing :(

Install Slax (or similar) onto a USB/CD and boot to that. Instant (temporary) secure operating system.

[Raenia]

I finally did the research into opening an HSA account and have the money ready to go, and my home computer decided it needs a new operating system install.  My IT SO says I shouldn't use it for anything sensitive/money related until he can reinstall and fix the security problems, and I don't want to do it on my work computer for the same reason, so now I have to wait who knows how long until we can get a new boot drive.  While that money just sits in a savings account, doing nothing :(

Install Slax (or similar) onto a USB/CD and boot to that. Instant (temporary) secure operating system.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll see what my SO thinks.  Honestly, I'm a technical noob, I have no idea how to select a different boot drive, so I'd need him to set it up anyway.  I'll definitely mention it to him as a potentially quicker option, though, so thanks!

[Sibley]

I finally did the research into opening an HSA account and have the money ready to go, and my home computer decided it needs a new operating system install.  My IT SO says I shouldn't use it for anything sensitive/money related until he can reinstall and fix the security problems, and I don't want to do it on my work computer for the same reason, so now I have to wait who knows how long until we can get a new boot drive.  While that money just sits in a savings account, doing nothing :(

Install Slax (or similar) onto a USB/CD and boot to that. Instant (temporary) secure operating system.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll see what my SO thinks.  Honestly, I'm a technical noob, I have no idea how to select a different boot drive, so I'd need him to set it up anyway.  I'll definitely mention it to him as a potentially quicker option, though, so thanks!

Also, fixing the primary computer used for financial stuff should be a priority. If your SO doesn't want you to use it until he fixes it, then he needs to fix it ASAP.

[Raenia]

I finally did the research into opening an HSA account and have the money ready to go, and my home computer decided it needs a new operating system install.  My IT SO says I shouldn't use it for anything sensitive/money related until he can reinstall and fix the security problems, and I don't want to do it on my work computer for the same reason, so now I have to wait who knows how long until we can get a new boot drive.  While that money just sits in a savings account, doing nothing :(

Install Slax (or similar) onto a USB/CD and boot to that. Instant (temporary) secure operating system.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll see what my SO thinks.  Honestly, I'm a technical noob, I have no idea how to select a different boot drive, so I'd need him to set it up anyway.  I'll definitely mention it to him as a potentially quicker option, though, so thanks!

Also, fixing the primary computer used for financial stuff should be a priority. If your SO doesn't want you to use it until he fixes it, then he needs to fix it ASAP.

I mean, it's not just him not wanting me to use it.  I don't want to be putting my SSN and other details in on an unsecured device either.  But I definitely agree that sooner is better :)  I checked in with him, and he said he's going to make a temporary bootable drive with Puppy Linux, which he thinks will be easier for me to use than Slax.  It's all nonsense words to me, though, I just want my data to be safe so I'll defer to the experts.

[RWD]

I finally did the research into opening an HSA account and have the money ready to go, and my home computer decided it needs a new operating system install.  My IT SO says I shouldn't use it for anything sensitive/money related until he can reinstall and fix the security problems, and I don't want to do it on my work computer for the same reason, so now I have to wait who knows how long until we can get a new boot drive.  While that money just sits in a savings account, doing nothing :(

Install Slax (or similar) onto a USB/CD and boot to that. Instant (temporary) secure operating system.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll see what my SO thinks.  Honestly, I'm a technical noob, I have no idea how to select a different boot drive, so I'd need him to set it up anyway.  I'll definitely mention it to him as a potentially quicker option, though, so thanks!

Also, fixing the primary computer used for financial stuff should be a priority. If your SO doesn't want you to use it until he fixes it, then he needs to fix it ASAP.

I mean, it's not just him not wanting me to use it.  I don't want to be putting my SSN and other details in on an unsecured device either.  But I definitely agree that sooner is better :)  I checked in with him, and he said he's going to make a temporary bootable drive with Puppy Linux, which he thinks will be easier for me to use than Slax.  It's all nonsense words to me, though, I just want my data to be safe so I'll defer to the experts.

Puppy Linux sounds like a good choice. Wikipedia says it focuses on ease of use. I haven't used Slax myself in years and I just noticed that it hasn't had a new release in over four years...

[Dollar Slice]

Reading about Americans and cashback credit cards all the time and knowing they don't exist in my country ...

If it makes you feel better, the cash back credit cards don't really make up for my $7000+/yr health insurance. ;-)

[Hedge_87]

Reading about Americans and cashback credit cards all the time and knowing they don't exist in my country ...

If it makes you feel better, the cash back credit cards don't really make up for my $7000+/yr health insurance. ;-)

Haha I was going to say the same thing once I got to my computer and could type but you beat me. Much rather have stable affordable health care than cash back on my purchases. I have a great employer sponsored plan... As long as I am wage slave that is.

[dragoncar]

Your IT SO doesn't have an extra computer of five laying around?

[TomTX]

Reading about Americans and cashback credit cards all the time and knowing they don't exist in my country ...

If it makes you feel better, the cash back credit cards don't really make up for my $7000+/yr health insurance. ;-)

I pay that much into my employer sponsored plan.

[Raenia]

Your IT SO doesn't have an extra computer of five laying around?

Funnily enough, he's in the middle of rebuilding his own primary machine, with a new case and some upgrades, and he's cannibalizing his old desktop for it.  So between us we have 3 non- or semi-functional computers in the house.  The good news is he brought back the linux boot drive yesterday, and it seemed to be going well when he tested it.  Hopefully I'll be able to use it today.

[With This Herring]

I finally did the research into opening an HSA account and have the money ready to go, and my home computer decided it needs a new operating system install.  My IT SO says I shouldn't use it for anything sensitive/money related until he can reinstall and fix the security problems, and I don't want to do it on my work computer for the same reason, so now I have to wait who knows how long until we can get a new boot drive.  While that money just sits in a savings account, doing nothing :(

NOOOOO!!!  Don't do it!!!!!!!!
If your money goes into the HSA directly from your savings account, you will lose out on one of the benefits of an HSA - skipping payroll taxes on the amount that goes in.  When you tell your employer that a portion of your paycheck needs to go to the HSA as an HSA contribution and your employer codes it correctly, then that portion of your paycheck is not subjected to income tax and payroll taxes (Social Security and Medicare).  If you instead take money from your savings account and move it to the HSA, then your income taxes are adjusted on your tax return, but you LOSE the savings for payroll taxes.

Instead of moving money from savings to the HSA, get a payroll deduction form from your HSA provider and run the deductions through payroll.  Put huge amounts into the HSA for your next few pay periods while spending down that savings account, then stop the payroll deduction once the HSA is maxed or you have put whatever amount in that you planned.

If you have already made the transfer by the time you get this, you may be able to contact the HSA provider to reverse it (possibly for a fee) and then go through the contribution-via-payroll process.