Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)

[Alternatepriorities]

Insulate the pipes?

That unfortunately doesn't address the issue, which is the energy required to heat up those pipes.  Insulation reduces the energy lost *while* you're taking a shower, and (in theory) will reduce how much hot water you need, but it won't reduce the time to get hot water or the gradual shift in water temperature as the pipes heat up.

It may not make a noticeable difference, but insulated pipes will definitely heat up faster with less total energy

Imagine trying to heat an uninsulated house vs an insulated one.  We could do the math, but our instincts tell us that we need the energy to heat the thermal mass itself, PLUS the energy to replace what was radiated during the time it took to heat the thermal mass.

Where it might be noticeable is in the time it takes for the water to cool off again. I could see insulating the pipes reducing the percentage of times when you need to wait for the water to warm up. Especially in the kitchen where hot water is used intermittently throughout cooking and then cleaning up.

[Zaga]

Our hot water heater is way on one end of a long narrow house, and both kitchens are at the other end.  Fortunately the main bathroom and the laundry and close to the hot water.

We insulated all the hot water pipes throughout the house, but other than that we just run the hot for awhile before running the dishwasher.  It's annoying, but probably less expensive than trying to fix it.  Especially since our water is from a well and our hot water is essentially free from out geothermal system.

[dragoncar]

Our hot water heater is way on one end of a long narrow house, and both kitchens are at the other end.  Fortunately the main bathroom and the laundry and close to the hot water.

We insulated all the hot water pipes throughout the house, but other than that we just run the hot for awhile before running the dishwasher.  It's annoying, but probably less expensive than trying to fix it.  Especially since our water is from a well and our hot water is essentially free from out geothermal system.

How does that work?  Is your house built on hot magma?

[Zaga]

Our hot water heater is way on one end of a long narrow house, and both kitchens are at the other end.  Fortunately the main bathroom and the laundry and close to the hot water.

We insulated all the hot water pipes throughout the house, but other than that we just run the hot for awhile before running the dishwasher.  It's annoying, but probably less expensive than trying to fix it.  Especially since our water is from a well and our hot water is essentially free from out geothermal system.

How does that work?  Is your house built on hot magma?

No, it's a ground source heat pump.  It both heats in winter and cools in summer, plus keeps the water in the tank hot.  When you calculate it based on electricity used it's about 400% efficient.  I love my geothermal furnace!

[dragoncar]

Our hot water heater is way on one end of a long narrow house, and both kitchens are at the other end.  Fortunately the main bathroom and the laundry and close to the hot water.

We insulated all the hot water pipes throughout the house, but other than that we just run the hot for awhile before running the dishwasher.  It's annoying, but probably less expensive than trying to fix it.  Especially since our water is from a well and our hot water is essentially free from out geothermal system.

How does that work?  Is your house built on hot magma?

No, it's a ground source heat pump.  It both heats in winter and cools in summer, plus keeps the water in the tank hot.  When you calculate it based on electricity used it's about 400% efficient.  I love my geothermal furnace!

Ah ok I wouldn’t call that free but even my gas water heater is a negligible expense

[Zaga]

Our hot water heater is way on one end of a long narrow house, and both kitchens are at the other end.  Fortunately the main bathroom and the laundry and close to the hot water.

We insulated all the hot water pipes throughout the house, but other than that we just run the hot for awhile before running the dishwasher.  It's annoying, but probably less expensive than trying to fix it.  Especially since our water is from a well and our hot water is essentially free from out geothermal system.

How does that work?  Is your house built on hot magma?

No, it's a ground source heat pump.  It both heats in winter and cools in summer, plus keeps the water in the tank hot.  When you calculate it based on electricity used it's about 400% efficient.  I love my geothermal furnace!

Ah ok I wouldn’t call that free but even my gas water heater is a negligible expense

We would have had to pay 17000 just to get gas to our house, so we opted not to bother.

[spiro]

This happened almost 10 years ago but I still laugh to myself thinking about how it must have seemed to others.

When I was 25 I decided to get a nose job and chin implant after wanting one for many years. (non-mustachian for sure but I've never regretted it for a minute as it helped my self-esteem tremendously. I'm actually really glad that I did it back then before we were really mustachian as I probably would feel too guilty about it now). DH and I were extreme savers so we had the money easily. The same summer we also planned a trip to Europe to coincide with grad school graduation and PCSing from active-duty military. We had plenty of savings to cover both of these major events in cash.
At my pre-op appointment at my plastic surgeon's office I asked if I could use my rewards card to pay the bill (about 6k) and they said sure. I remember excitedly telling them that I wanted the rewards points because we were going to Europe later that summer and I was going to use the points for the hotel rooms. The receptionists were nice and asked me a few questions about our trip. But later I realized they must have thought I was some young giddy fool just charging things left and right on her credit card, like plastic surgery and trips to Europe, racking up debt in the process. I'm sure they never could have imagined someone my age having more than enough cash to pay for those things outright.

[Sugaree]

My MPP is that I'm getting really tired of reading/watching/listening to "tips to save you money" only to realize that I already do everything on the list. 

[Parizade]

My MPP is that I'm getting really tired of reading/watching/listening to "tips to save you money" only to realize that I already do everything on the list.

YES! It's like seeking out a reading list of suggested great books only to discover the list is for grade school children instead of adults.

[Alternatepriorities]

My MPP is that I'm getting really tired of reading/watching/listening to "tips to save you money" only to realize that I already do everything on the list.

It's even more frustrating when the "tips" belong on the wall of shame and comedy. "Buy a new car to save on maintenance" is bad enough but the worst I've seen/heard on a regular basis is "you must carry a balance on you credit cards to raise your credit score". I even heard that from the leader of a local real estate investing group. Between that and a complete lack of concern for a math error on his spread sheet I lost confidence in the group.

[markbike528CBX]

My MPP is that I'm getting really tired of reading/watching/listening to "tips to save you money" only to realize that I already do everything on the list.

YES! It's like seeking out a reading list of suggested great books only to discover the list is for grade school children instead of adults.

MPP:  Browsing through used book store... Hey, that book looks really cool... oops, I've read that book 3 years ago... and that is the exact copy I read.  Apparently my tastes differ from most peoples.

[Alfred J Quack]

My MPP is that I'm getting really tired of reading/watching/listening to "tips to save you money" only to realize that I already do everything on the list.

YES! It's like seeking out a reading list of suggested great books only to discover the list is for grade school children instead of adults.

MPP:  Browsing through used book store... Hey, that book looks really cool... oops, I've read that book 3 years ago... and that is the exact copy I read.  Apparently my tastes differ from most peoples.

I generally don't mind re-reading a book but I also generally buy the ebook now. Especially ones that are out some time are a lot cheaper than paper books and I can read them as often as I like without damaging them :P The ereaders I bought have payed for themselves several times over.

Also, the price for the best 2nd hand bookshop in our city is generally 2,50 to 5 for used books which is also the case with the cheaper ebooks which are generally not available in the 2nd hand market. The other 2nd hand shops charge a lot less but have nearly no english novels (I only read english, can't wait for the translations and it's easier to read than my native language :P).

[Linea_Norway]

My MPP is that I'm getting really tired of reading/watching/listening to "tips to save you money" only to realize that I already do everything on the list.

It's even more frustrating when the "tips" belong on the wall of shame and comedy. "Buy a new car to save on maintenance" is bad enough but the worst I've seen/heard on a regular basis is "you must carry a balance on you credit cards to raise your credit score". I even heard that from the leader of a local real estate investing group. Between that and a complete lack of concern for a math error on his spreadsheet I lost confidence in the group.

I do think owning a bunch of different credit cards, and paying them off before the due date, ups your credit score. I recently hit a 1000 score in a credit card system. Not sure what the scale was, but I suppose it was the highest possible in that system. I have never had a credit card that I didn't pay off fully in time.

[dcheesi]

My MPP is that I'm getting really tired of reading/watching/listening to "tips to save you money" only to realize that I already do everything on the list.

It's even more frustrating when the "tips" belong on the wall of shame and comedy. "Buy a new car to save on maintenance" is bad enough but the worst I've seen/heard on a regular basis is "you must carry a balance on you credit cards to raise your credit score". I even heard that from the leader of a local real estate investing group. Between that and a complete lack of concern for a math error on his spreadsheet I lost confidence in the group.

I do think owning a bunch of different credit cards, and paying them off before the due date, ups your credit score. I recently hit a 1000 score in a credit card system. Not sure what the scale was, but I suppose it was the highest possible in that system. I have never has a credit card that I didn't pay off fully in time.

Yeah, you don't need to carry over a balance from month to month. As long as you are making everyday purchases, it will still show up as a "balance" even if you pay it off every month. Plus, my understanding is that keeping a low balance is better than a high balance ("credit utilization").

[letsdoit]

FIRE is like zen buddhism:  the question is not whether you know the concepts, but do you live them

[Alternatepriorities]

I do think owning a bunch of different credit cards, and paying them off before the due date, ups your credit score. I recently hit a 1000 score in a credit card system. Not sure what the scale was, but I suppose it was the highest possible in that system. I have never has a credit card that I didn't pay off fully in time.

Yeah, you don't need to carry over a balance from month to month. As long as you are making everyday purchases, it will still show up as a "balance" even if you pay it off every month. Plus, my understanding is that keeping a low balance is better than a high balance ("credit utilization").

Exactly! I expect there are hundreds of members on this forum with top tier credit scores who have never paid a cent or krone in CC interest. Yet I read and hear over and over that "carrying a small balance is critical for improving your score".

Apologies for sidetrack. New MMP: The borough is clearing trees from the road right of way in my neighborhood. It's the easiest firewood I've ever gathered. Now I'm torn between growing my $tash (by working inside) and growing my wood stash... The wood stash has been winning despite the economics.

[Slow&Steady]

...
Apologies for sidetrack. New MMP: The borough is clearing trees from the road right of way in my neighborhood. It's the easiest firewood I've ever gathered. Now I'm torn between growing my $tash (by working inside) and growing my wood stash... The wood stash has been winning despite the economics.

OHHH, we installed a wood-burning boiler last winter and I would love to score like that for some wood.  We have property and plenty of trees but if somebody else does at least part of the work (felling the tree) that would be AWESOME!!

[Linea_Norway]

...
Apologies for sidetrack. New MMP: The borough is clearing trees from the road right of way in my neighborhood. It's the easiest firewood I've ever gathered. Now I'm torn between growing my $tash (by working inside) and growing my wood stash... The wood stash has been winning despite the economics.

OHHH, we installed a wood-burning boiler last winter and I would love to score like that for some wood.  We have property and plenty of trees but if somebody else does at least part of the work (felling the tree) that would be AWESOME!!

The electricity company does this sometimes, cuts down lots of trees in the neighbourhood and leaves them there. A smart person with a hanger picks them up. We don't have a hanger and last time these trees were cut we could not borrow one. Renting one becomes expensive.

MPP: Even if your car has a hook to put the hanger on, a hanger itself can be expensive. The cheapest ones are not allowed to drive normal speed. The more expensive ones with own brakes are very expensive, even used. Currently I can borrow a hanger with own brakes from my work, for free. That is the best solution. But when will it pay off to own a hanger? It is one of these things that will stand in the way every time you don't use it.

[Trifle]

...
Apologies for sidetrack. New MMP: The borough is clearing trees from the road right of way in my neighborhood. It's the easiest firewood I've ever gathered. Now I'm torn between growing my $tash (by working inside) and growing my wood stash... The wood stash has been winning despite the economics.

OHHH, we installed a wood-burning boiler last winter and I would love to score like that for some wood.  We have property and plenty of trees but if somebody else does at least part of the work (felling the tree) that would be AWESOME!!

The electricity company does this sometimes, cuts down lots of trees in the neighbourhood and leaves them there. A smart person with a hanger picks them up. We don't have a hanger and last time these trees were cut we could not borrow one. Renting one becomes expensive.

MPP: Even if your car has a hook to put the hanger on, a hanger itself can be expensive. The cheapest ones are not allowed to drive normal speed. The more expensive ones with own brakes are very expensive, even used. Currently I can borrow a hanger with own brakes from my work, for free. That is the best solution. But when will it pay off to own a hanger? It is one of these things that will stand in the way every time you don't use it.

I think you must be talking about a trailer Linea?  Yes, I agree.  Good utility trailers are expensive and would take a really long time to pay for itself.  And take up space when you're not using them.  I've been stalking Craigslist for a used one, and have yet to see a good deal.  I'm not willing to pay for a new one that will sit around most of the time.  You have a great solution (borrowing for free!).  Another one would be that a neighborhood could all jointly own one.  Tool libraries are awesome, but it seems maybe they are getting scarcer?

[Linea_Norway]

...
Apologies for sidetrack. New MMP: The borough is clearing trees from the road right of way in my neighborhood. It's the easiest firewood I've ever gathered. Now I'm torn between growing my $tash (by working inside) and growing my wood stash... The wood stash has been winning despite the economics.

OHHH, we installed a wood-burning boiler last winter and I would love to score like that for some wood.  We have property and plenty of trees but if somebody else does at least part of the work (felling the tree) that would be AWESOME!!

The electricity company does this sometimes, cuts down lots of trees in the neighbourhood and leaves them there. A smart person with a hanger picks them up. We don't have a hanger and last time these trees were cut we could not borrow one. Renting one becomes expensive.

MPP: Even if your car has a hook to put the hanger on, a hanger itself can be expensive. The cheapest ones are not allowed to drive normal speed. The more expensive ones with own brakes are very expensive, even used. Currently I can borrow a hanger with own brakes from my work, for free. That is the best solution. But when will it pay off to own a hanger? It is one of these things that will stand in the way every time you don't use it.

I think you must be talking about a trailer Linea?  Yes, I agree.  Good utility trailers are expensive and would take a really long time to pay for itself.  And take up space when you're not using them.  I've been stalking Craigslist for a used one, and have yet to see a good deal.  I'm not willing to pay for a new one that will sit around most of the time.  You have a great solution (borrowing for free!).  Another one would be that a neighborhood could all jointly own one.  Tool libraries are awesome, but it seems maybe they are getting scarcer?

Thanks for correcting me, some words are difficult for me to remember.

It would be a good idea to have a neighbourhood pool of thinks, instead of every person owning their own private device. We own a massive snow blower together with 2 neighbours. Our snow blower needed a service last year and the bill was divided by three. Filling of petrol/gas is more random. The first year we had to do it several times, more often than the other two. But last winter I think the other neighbours filled up and we didn't. It works reasonably well, although I personally would have preferred a much simpler device.

But I think it should be a system of co-owning with shared responsibility, or renting out privately for money. Borrowing stuff for free goes well, until the trailer brakes down. Is it then the owner who should pay for the repairs? Or the one time borrower?  Also the general teardown on gear should be covered for the owner.

[Sugaree]

...
Apologies for sidetrack. New MMP: The borough is clearing trees from the road right of way in my neighborhood. It's the easiest firewood I've ever gathered. Now I'm torn between growing my $tash (by working inside) and growing my wood stash... The wood stash has been winning despite the economics.

OHHH, we installed a wood-burning boiler last winter and I would love to score like that for some wood.  We have property and plenty of trees but if somebody else does at least part of the work (felling the tree) that would be AWESOME!!

The electricity company does this sometimes, cuts down lots of trees in the neighbourhood and leaves them there. A smart person with a hanger picks them up. We don't have a hanger and last time these trees were cut we could not borrow one. Renting one becomes expensive.

MPP: Even if your car has a hook to put the hanger on, a hanger itself can be expensive. The cheapest ones are not allowed to drive normal speed. The more expensive ones with own brakes are very expensive, even used. Currently I can borrow a hanger with own brakes from my work, for free. That is the best solution. But when will it pay off to own a hanger? It is one of these things that will stand in the way every time you don't use it.

I think you must be talking about a trailer Linea?  Yes, I agree.  Good utility trailers are expensive and would take a really long time to pay for itself.  And take up space when you're not using them.  I've been stalking Craigslist for a used one, and have yet to see a good deal.  I'm not willing to pay for a new one that will sit around most of the time.  You have a great solution (borrowing for free!).  Another one would be that a neighborhood could all jointly own one.  Tool libraries are awesome, but it seems maybe they are getting scarcer?

Thanks for correcting me, some words are difficult for me to remember.

It would be a good idea to have a neighbourhood pool of thinks, instead of every person owning their own private device. We own a massive snow blower together with 2 neighbours. Our snow blower needed a service last year and the bill was divided by three. Filling of petrol/gas is more random. The first year we had to do it several times, more often than the other two. But last winter I think the other neighbours filled up and we didn't. It works reasonably well, although I personally would have preferred a much simpler device.

But I think it should be a system of co-owning with shared responsibility, or renting out privately for money. Borrowing stuff for free goes well, until the trailer brakes down. Is it then the owner who should pay for the repairs? Or the one time borrower?  Also the general teardown on gear should be covered for the owner.

This works as long as you have good neighbors.

[rantk81]

Tax day has come and gone.... 2018 was my most complicated tax filing ever for a variety of reasons.

Just yesterday, my broker sent me a nice notification that they made some changes to my 1099s.  What changed is pretty minor, but would result in me getting another $20 or so back from the IRS and a couple of dollars more from my state income taxes.  Thinking I probably won't bother to amend, because I already have a pending amendment on my state taxes (sent a few months back) that still hasn't been processed, AND I have some special circumstances going on right now where I need to be furnishing my tax records to a 3rd party for some reason -- and I'd rather not complicate that matter either.  I guess it's kind of a MPP that it is grinding on me that I'm making a "donation" to the treasury and state, for the sake of dealing with less hassles.

[Fomerly known as something]

I'm disappointed in myself.  I missed my goal weight in packing for my 3 week trip by one pound.  My bag weighs 26 lbs instead of 25.  But it was close enough I wasn't going to take out my 2nd pair of capri's

[Dicey]

Tax day has come and gone.... 2018 was my most complicated tax filing ever for a variety of reasons.

Just yesterday, my broker sent me a nice notification that they made some changes to my 1099s.  What changed is pretty minor, but would result in me getting another $20 or so back from the IRS and a couple of dollars more from my state income taxes.  Thinking I probably won't bother to amend, because I already have a pending amendment on my state taxes (sent a few months back) that still hasn't been processed, AND I have some special circumstances going on right now where I need to be furnishing my tax records to a 3rd party for some reason -- and I'd rather not complicate that matter either.  I guess it's kind of a MPP that it is grinding on me that I'm making a "donation" to the treasury and state, for the sake of dealing with less hassles.

Keep good track of this information. It could be a useful bargaining chip in case of an audit.

[Hirondelle]

I'm disappointed in myself.  I missed my goal weight in packing for my 3 week trip by one pound.  My bag weighs 26 lbs instead of 25.  But it was close enough I wasn't going to take out my 2nd pair of capri's

Should be sth else you can take out! 26 lbs for 3 weeks is still fairly generous ;)

[Hirondelle]

Just did my spreadsheets for the month and getting annoyed. This month I'm prepaying a $500 work expense which means a 60% increase of my May expenses. It will take several months before I get this money back, so I do not want to ignore it in the spreadsheets, but due to my low expenses it does heavily distort my SR and spending averages.

The worst part is, there will be MORE expenses for this work trip coming up so my spreadsheet distortion only gets worse.

[rantk81]

Just did my spreadsheets for the month and getting annoyed. This month I'm prepaying a $500 work expense which means a 60% increase of my May expenses. It will take several months before I get this money back, so I do not want to ignore it in the spreadsheets, but due to my low expenses it does heavily distort my SR and spending averages.

The worst part is, there will be MORE expenses for this work trip coming up so my spreadsheet distortion only gets worse.

Add a line item to your sheet for accounts receivable.

[markbike528CBX]

MPP:  I was browsing through my brokerage accounts (taxable and Roth) and I discovered that a month ago, OSIR was bought out.
Now I have
   a) a taxable event that I was not planning for,
   b) cash in both taxable and Roth as I mirrored the accounts for a while.
   c) to make up plans for the cash
   d) to extract the cash from taxable, an account that I was not planning on touching for withdrawals yet.
   e) gotten charged for "mandatory reorganization fee" of $38 x 2 accounts = $76 for actions that I did not initiate or want.
   f) a lower diversification value for both accounts - most of my "sales" have been this way, whittling down my stock picking record.
      soon all my brokerage accounts will be index ETF's :-)

[Linea_Norway]

Just did my spreadsheets for the month and getting annoyed. This month I'm prepaying a $500 work expense which means a 60% increase of my May expenses. It will take several months before I get this money back, so I do not want to ignore it in the spreadsheets, but due to my low expenses it does heavily distort my SR and spending averages.

The worst part is, there will be MORE expenses for this work trip coming up so my spreadsheet distortion only gets worse.

Add a line item to your sheet for accounts receivable.

I mark such amounts as "ignore" and "will be paid back".  I don't give much thought about the balance on my account each month. I just track my spending and the amounts I buy stock for.

[Imma]

I am secretly kind of happy the guy we hired to work on our yard bailed on us so I will reach my 2019 savings goals before the end of summer.

I am unhappy that now I have to do all the work by myself which will take me most of the year. There's a lot of clearing and digging to be done and I don't have much time, energy or DIY - loving friends.

[SwordGuy]

Just did my spreadsheets for the month and getting annoyed. This month I'm prepaying a $500 work expense which means a 60% increase of my May expenses. It will take several months before I get this money back, so I do not want to ignore it in the spreadsheets, but due to my low expenses it does heavily distort my SR and spending averages.

The worst part is, there will be MORE expenses for this work trip coming up so my spreadsheet distortion only gets worse.

Add a line item to your sheet for accounts receivable.

I mark such amounts as "ignore" and "will be paid back".  I don't give much thought about the balance on my account each month. I just track my spending and the amounts I buy stock for.

Same here.   When you get paid back your savings rate goes up higher than usual.  It all evens out.  Don't sweat the small stuff.

[Imma]

When I started working parttime I figured I'd have lots of free time but so many opportunities keep falling into my lap without any effort (new customers for my side hustle from referrals, valuable education paid for 100% by my employer) that I'm still busy 40-60 hours a week....

[DeniseNJ]

MMP:  Now that I'm about 8 or 9 months in to my MMM journey, everything is on auto pilot and it's not as much fun or "exciting."  I used to watch the DOW go up and down and fret over how much money we have or don't have and what to invest in.  I would check our accounts often to see the effects of minor fluctuations.  Now I just max out our work 401K and Vanguard Roth and put everythign in total stock and forget about it.  The markets ups and downs aren't nearly as interesting.  I didn't realize how emotionally invested I was.  It's all kind of boring now.  Defintitley not a real problem but funny how much I used to care.  Now everything just runs itself.

[DadJokes]

MMP:  Now that I'm about 8 or 9 months in to my MMM journey, everything is on auto pilot and it's not as much fun or "exciting."  I used to watch the DOW go up and down and fret over how much money we have or don't have and what to invest in.  I would check our accounts often to see the effects of minor fluctuations.  Now I just max out our work 401K and Vanguard Roth and put everythign in total stock and forget about it.  The markets ups and downs aren't nearly as interesting.  I didn't realize how emotionally invested I was.  It's all kind of boring now.  Defintitley not a real problem but funny how much I used to care.  Now everything just runs itself.

I've had the same "problem." I've just replaced focusing on optimizing finances with optimizing other parts of my life, such as credit card churning, reducing driving, health & fitness, and now starting a business. Once I feel like something is stable enough to put on auto-pilot for a bit, I can work on another area.

[Sugaree]

MMP:  Now that I'm about 8 or 9 months in to my MMM journey, everything is on auto pilot and it's not as much fun or "exciting."  I used to watch the DOW go up and down and fret over how much money we have or don't have and what to invest in.  I would check our accounts often to see the effects of minor fluctuations.  Now I just max out our work 401K and Vanguard Roth and put everythign in total stock and forget about it.  The markets ups and downs aren't nearly as interesting.  I didn't realize how emotionally invested I was.  It's all kind of boring now.  Defintitley not a real problem but funny how much I used to care.  Now everything just runs itself.

Same here.  I am definitely in the doldrums of my financial year.  Current year adjustments for tax planning has been done for months.  Next year's budget has been created.  Won't know details for planning deductions/taxes/insurance for next year for a few more months yet.  The best I can do is work on minimizing power and water bills for the summer (not going well with the power bill....just bumped the thermostat up another degree and set it so that any manual changes only hold for 2 hours). 

[Zikoris]

MMP:  Now that I'm about 8 or 9 months in to my MMM journey, everything is on auto pilot and it's not as much fun or "exciting."  I used to watch the DOW go up and down and fret over how much money we have or don't have and what to invest in.  I would check our accounts often to see the effects of minor fluctuations.  Now I just max out our work 401K and Vanguard Roth and put everythign in total stock and forget about it.  The markets ups and downs aren't nearly as interesting.  I didn't realize how emotionally invested I was.  It's all kind of boring now.  Defintitley not a real problem but funny how much I used to care.  Now everything just runs itself.

Same here.  I am definitely in the doldrums of my financial year.  Current year adjustments for tax planning has been done for months.  Next year's budget has been created.  Won't know details for planning deductions/taxes/insurance for next year for a few more months yet.  The best I can do is work on minimizing power and water bills for the summer (not going well with the power bill....just bumped the thermostat up another degree and set it so that any manual changes only hold for 2 hours).

Oh yeah, we've been at it for about seven years, so everything is boring, dry, and autopilot. A few weeks ago I met some new Mustachians (in their first few months) at a camping trip I organized, and it was so fun getting a glimpse into the time when finances were still exciting.

[zolotiyeruki]

Our federal income tax refund hit the bank last week.  My MPP is that it was expected, and therefore already accounted for in our budget, so it doesn't bring the rush of adrenaline (and spending) that non-mustachians might experience.

[letsdoit]

i won a world cup pool in my office and someone was like 'whatcha gonna do with your money??!'  and i was like...invest it?

[dougules]

Our federal income tax refund hit the bank last week.  My MPP is that it was expected, and therefore already accounted for in our budget, so it doesn't bring the rush of adrenaline (and spending) that non-mustachians might experience.

We always aim to owe a little bit so that we can make the returns off the money until tax time. 

The other problem with this is that since our investment returns keep growing, it gets hard to aim for that well.  Life's terrible, right?

[Morning Glory]

My new Chase business card application is in review and I don't want to apply for another card until I hear back from this one because it would be really difficult to make two minimum spends at the same time. This means I will probably have to pay my power bill without it counting towards a cc bonus. Wahhh.

[Dicey]

My new Chase business card application is in review and I don't want to apply for another card until I hear back from this one because it would be really difficult to make two minimum spends at the same time. This means I will probably have to pay my power bill without it counting towards a cc bonus. Wahhh.

Love this MPP.

[SquashingDebt]

My debt is gone and my investments have gotten big enough that for the first time since I started my full-time job 4 years ago, the stock market caused my net worth to go down last month, despite saving $1500 in my 401k + IRA.

My net worth graph will never look the same!  ;)

[Ladychips]

My MPP problem?  I've been keeping track of my spending for the last few years (to make sure I can retire when I think I can).  I have a few categories that are now straight zeros.  I want to delete them because it feels stupid to have several categories of nothing but zero spending.  But then it messes up my longevity tracking!

[Sibley]

My MPP problem?  I've been keeping track of my spending for the last few years (to make sure I can retire when I think I can).  I have a few categories that are now straight zeros.  I want to delete them because it feels stupid to have several categories of nothing but zero spending.  But then it messes up my longevity tracking!

Excel? Hide the row. Or whatever you're using there may be a similar function.

[rantk81]

My debt is gone and my investments have gotten big enough that for the first time since I started my full-time job 4 years ago, the stock market caused my net worth to go down last month, despite saving $1500 in my 401k + IRA.

My net worth graph will never look the same!  ;)

I remember thinking the same thing during the global financial crisis months in 2008 -- when I was just a few years into my working career.  Don't worry.  A few years from now, those "huge" swings on your chart right now will literally not even be noticeable.

[rantk81]

My MPP problem?  I've been keeping track of my spending for the last few years (to make sure I can retire when I think I can).  I have a few categories that are now straight zeros.  I want to delete them because it feels stupid to have several categories of nothing but zero spending.  But then it messes up my longevity tracking!

In my OCD spreadsheet tracking -- I take these "deprecated" items and try to merge/collapse them together into just one row.... 
For example, on my balance sheet, I used to track each credit card as a separate line item.  Then, after successfully doing quite a bit of card-churning, I collapsed all of them into one line item for "Credit Cards".

[Zikoris]

I wish I could delete like, 75% of the categories from Mint that I've never once had a transaction in.

[RWD]

I wish I could delete like, 75% of the categories from Mint that I've never once had a transaction in.

Mint doesn't let you do that? I guess I am spoiled by GnuCash with its complete customization.

[Dave1442397]

My MPP problem?  I've been keeping track of my spending for the last few years (to make sure I can retire when I think I can).  I have a few categories that are now straight zeros.  I want to delete them because it feels stupid to have several categories of nothing but zero spending.  But then it messes up my longevity tracking!

In my OCD spreadsheet tracking -- I take these "deprecated" items and try to merge/collapse them together into just one row.... 
For example, on my balance sheet, I used to track each credit card as a separate line item.  Then, after successfully doing quite a bit of card-churning, I collapsed all of them into one line item for "Credit Cards".

I did that too :)  I had a column on my spreadsheet with the combined balances called Total CC. That column went to 0.00 back in 03/18, after a year of paying zero interest on the Chase Slate card to get rid of the last $12k of cc debt. Once that was done, I hid the other columns from view.

[martyconlonontherun]

Having to have a friend 'audit' your numbers because of the lack of clear rules around savings rate and your own personal bias and motivation.

I brought Milwaukee Bucks season tickets and the internal debate is should the tickets I sold (which more than covered all costs) count as other revenue and then expenses, Only the extra return as other income, or as a negative expenses. would have a material impact on my savings rate and if i reach my yearly goal.

I feel every quarter I waste a few hours to account for some amount of cash in/outflow since I want something consistent and useful but dont necessary follow GAAP.