Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)

[ScreamingHeadGuy]

My annual work self-evaluation form had questions about where I saw myself in 1, 2, and 5 years.  After having a joke with the wife I just imagined the question included "if you're still working" and answered accordingly.   

(Yes, I'm sure others have had this same problem in the past 130 pages of this thread but I'm not going to quote all of them and say "+1".)

[Linea_Norway]

In my country, there is a rule that you may not borrow money that is more than 5 times your income. Your credit limit on a credit card, is included in this total amount of what you can borrow.
In the next years, if we FIRE and stop having any income, I think there is no company that can give you a new credit card, because the credit limit will always be more than 5 times 0.
I think we will need to collect some strategic credit cards this year, while we still can.

We only need the credit cards for cash back and making payments abroad. And some nice extra travel insurance.

[Bracken_Joy]

New MPP (very silly one):
We decided to pay off our car loan and the remainder of my student loans before the baby gets here. Decided we won't be buying a house any time soon again, don't need the cash on hand, and we'd prefer to free up the cash flow. So that brings us to our current MPP: this leaves us 100% debt free. Mint reduced my profile completion %, and is sending emails/giving pop ups asking us to add our loans!

[Rosy]

My take is that this is the deep ingrained capitalistic (yeah, for want of better word) mentality.

1. Most people would not give away something "valuable" for free, so free stuff can't be valuable.
2. You are only worth not starving if you work. So how can you give someone something way more expensive than bread without having him work for it?

Of course you coild also say it has nothing to do with modern capitalism, but instead goes back thousands of years. As every antropologist knows, there is no "free" present. If you accept it, you are socially indebted and have to pay that back one way or the other. (That is how the world worked before money after all. which basically means 90% of people for 90% of civilization's time.)

If you use money on the other hand, you have a) payed it already and b) you signal that there is no social connection between you. You are just stranger that don't expect to see each other again and are not required to do anything.

Debt: The first 5000 years. Read it ;)

Good points LennStar - it is the "socially indebted" hurdle that is hard to overcome unless you turn it into a "pay it forward" scenario.
I do think that most people do not want 'sumptin' for nuttin' and that is a good thing imho.

In our neighborhood - whatever I put out there is gone between one minute and two hours max, guaranteed. If it is something particularly nice people often come to the door to ask if it is OK to take away.
We also get lots of people asking whether they can have some of our fruit from the tree. Teenagers and older people mostly.
There are at two different guys with pick-ups that come around on trash day looking for metal, etc.

I'll look into your book recommendation, hopefully, the library has it for free:)

[shelivesthedream]

I've had great experiences with Trashnothing, but when I've looked at free things on other places like Facebook marketplace or Gumtree, it usually turns out they're not free after all. Either they're listed as free but there's a price in the description, or the "giver" starts mentioning money once you message them. I suppose they reckon it'll drum up more interest if it's "free", and they'll get you with the sunk cost fallacy once you've got involved? So I never look at the free sections there any more because it's such a drag to sort out the genuine free vs the fake free. I'd rather pay a small amount of money to not waste my time.

[SwordGuy]

New MPP (very silly one):
We decided to pay off our car loan and the remainder of my student loans before the baby gets here. Decided we won't be buying a house any time soon again, don't need the cash on hand, and we'd prefer to free up the cash flow. So that brings us to our current MPP: this leaves us 100% debt free. Mint reduced my profile completion %, and is sending emails/giving pop ups asking us to add our loans!

I suppose you could add a $1 loan from your cat.

[Freedomin5]

My MPP this week:

Since we live abroad, we tried to pay off our mortgage via online banking. The website allowed me to pay off everything except $1 + $0.87 in interest. Our MPP is that DH has spent $1300 for a roundtrip flight to Canada so that he can pay off our $1.87 mortgage. If we weren't Mustachian, we would have simply renewed our mortgage for another term.

He's planning to also visit his parents, my parents, several of his friends, and spend time at the cottage to make the trip worth it. Or maybe I should reframe that: He was going to visit his parents and friends anyway; he might as well pay off the mortgage while he's there.

[Trifele]

My MPP this week:

Since we live abroad, we tried to pay off our mortgage via online banking. The website allowed me to pay off everything except $1 + $0.87 in interest. Our MPP is that DH has spent $1300 for a roundtrip flight to Canada so that he can pay off our $1.87 mortgage. If we weren't Mustachian, we would have simply renewed our mortgage for another term.

He's planning to also visit his parents, my parents, several of his friends, and spend time at the cottage to make the trip worth it. Or maybe I should reframe that: He was going to visit his parents and friends anyway; he might as well pay off the mortgage while he's there.

Haha, thanks for adding that last sentence.  I was asking myself why your friends/relatives couldn't help you with that . . .

[Loren Ver]

In my country, there is a rule that you may not borrow money that is more than 5 times your income. Your credit limit on a credit card, is included in this total amount of what you can borrow.
In the next years, if we FIRE and stop having any income, I think there is no company that can give you a new credit card, because the credit limit will always be more than 5 times 0.
I think we will need to collect some strategic credit cards this year, while we still can.

We only need the credit cards for cash back and making payments abroad. And some nice extra travel insurance.

That is some good planning ahead.  It sounds like a good rule, but it can cause some pinch points for people that have different life plans :).

[Mesmoiselle]

I'm a medical-related contractor that usually only works about 6-9 months a year. This year will be a 21 weeks because I'm going back to school so maxing my 401k is like, have to be really exact on it. Still, I felt like I could manage it with $7105 left to go.

Until I learned this place I'm contracting through only allows 60% of income as a ceiling.  :( Sad day.

[Alfred J Quack]

My MPP this week:

Since we live abroad, we tried to pay off our mortgage via online banking. The website allowed me to pay off everything except $1 + $0.87 in interest. Our MPP is that DH has spent $1300 for a roundtrip flight to Canada so that he can pay off our $1.87 mortgage. If we weren't Mustachian, we would have simply renewed our mortgage for another term.

He's planning to also visit his parents, my parents, several of his friends, and spend time at the cottage to make the trip worth it. Or maybe I should reframe that: He was going to visit his parents and friends anyway; he might as well pay off the mortgage while he's there.

Haha, thanks for adding that last sentence.  I was asking myself why your friends/relatives couldn't help you with that . . .

I would think because the bank requires the signer to handle this in person? Delegating this with power of attorney (is that the right term?), or something like that, may be seen as insufficient as wel as to provent fraud?

[SwordGuy]

My MPP this week:

Since we live abroad, we tried to pay off our mortgage via online banking. The website allowed me to pay off everything except $1 + $0.87 in interest. Our MPP is that DH has spent $1300 for a roundtrip flight to Canada so that he can pay off our $1.87 mortgage. If we weren't Mustachian, we would have simply renewed our mortgage for another term.

He's planning to also visit his parents, my parents, several of his friends, and spend time at the cottage to make the trip worth it. Or maybe I should reframe that: He was going to visit his parents and friends anyway; he might as well pay off the mortgage while he's there.

Haha, thanks for adding that last sentence.  I was asking myself why your friends/relatives couldn't help you with that . . .

I would think because the bank requires the signer to handle this in person? Delegating this with power of attorney (is that the right term?), or something like that, may be seen as insufficient as wel as to provent fraud?

No, it's because interest is being computed daily, so the balance from the last statement isn't correct one day later.    You ask the bank for a pay-off amount and they give you one that's good up to a certain date.   That's how it's done manually.   It doesn't have to be done in person.

Why can't the website handle it?   Possibly because there's a special feature you have to use instead (that isn't clearly marked and should be pointed out by anyone going to a "zero" balance).  Or possibly because they didn't implement that feature.   Either option would be piss-poor software development, i.e., the norm.

[nouveauRiche]

MPP:  I got brand new, in package bar mops at an estate sale (basically for free - thrown in with other stuff) but now they seem "too nice" to use.

[techwiz]

MPP:  I got brand new, in package bar mops at an estate sale (basically for free - thrown in with other stuff) but now they seem "too nice" to use.

I wonder if that's the same reason they were still in the package at the estate sale. Maybe the previous owner thought the same thing....

Either sell them or use them you don't want to be selling them at your estate unused still in the package!

[TVRodriguez]

MPP:  I got brand new, in package bar mops at an estate sale (basically for free - thrown in with other stuff) but now they seem "too nice" to use.

I wonder if that's the same reason they were still in the package at the estate sale. Maybe the previous owner thought the same thing....

Either sell them or use them you don't want to be selling them at your estate unused still in the package!

Wow, this, yes, definitely this. 

[nouveauRiche]

MPP:  I got brand new, in package bar mops at an estate sale (basically for free - thrown in with other stuff) but now they seem "too nice" to use.

I wonder if that's the same reason they were still in the package at the estate sale. Maybe the previous owner thought the same thing....

Either sell them or use them you don't want to be selling them at your estate unused still in the package!

Wow, this, yes, definitely this. 

Ha ha.  Yes, I unwrapped them, washed them, & put them with the cleaning stuff.  Years ago, I found 1/2 a bath towel at a yard sale for a quarter.  I cut that up and those have been my cleaning rags ever since.  So these "rags" are much nicer.

There was sadly a lot of new in package stuff at this sale.  I bought 3 pairs of shorts and three shirts that had the tags still on.  All I could think of was the wasted money...

[Freedomin5]

My MPP this week:

Since we live abroad, we tried to pay off our mortgage via online banking. The website allowed me to pay off everything except $1 + $0.87 in interest. Our MPP is that DH has spent $1300 for a roundtrip flight to Canada so that he can pay off our $1.87 mortgage. If we weren't Mustachian, we would have simply renewed our mortgage for another term.

He's planning to also visit his parents, my parents, several of his friends, and spend time at the cottage to make the trip worth it. Or maybe I should reframe that: He was going to visit his parents and friends anyway; he might as well pay off the mortgage while he's there.

Haha, thanks for adding that last sentence.  I was asking myself why your friends/relatives couldn't help you with that . . .

I would think because the bank requires the signer to handle this in person? Delegating this with power of attorney (is that the right term?), or something like that, may be seen as insufficient as wel as to provent fraud?

No, it's because interest is being computed daily, so the balance from the last statement isn't correct one day later.    You ask the bank for a pay-off amount and they give you one that's good up to a certain date.   That's how it's done manually.   It doesn't have to be done in person.

Why can't the website handle it?   Possibly because there's a special feature you have to use instead (that isn't clearly marked and should be pointed out by anyone going to a "zero" balance).  Or possibly because they didn't implement that feature.   Either option would be piss-poor software development, i.e., the norm.

Good question.  I emailed the loan manager at the bank and never received a response. I guess they don’t often deal with people paying off the mortgage via online banking and don’t know the answer.

[Redstone5]

I guess the person who passed away was sure they still had a lot of cleaning ahead of them to look forward to :)

My dad always tells the story of this extremely wealthy and famous business man who passed away in his late 80s (wish I could remember who it was), right after he'd just placed an order with his tailor for 10 new suits, each with two pairs of pants.

My dad always points out, "Imagine being in your elderly years and still having the confidence to assume that you would live long enough and still be active enough to need two pairs of pants to go with each suit jacket, just in case the first pair wears out" LOL

[rantk81]

In my experience, "paying off" mortgages is unnecessarily complicated and convoluted.  First you need to order a "payoff statement" so that they can calculate how much it will cost you to pay off the amount on a certain date (with all the prorated interested included) and also potentially including any county recording fees, if applicable.  Sure, this is something that can easily be calculated at any time -- but every mortgage company I've had, had a "system" for doing this.  Then, they required "secure funds" for the payoff -- meaning they won't accept a personal check or an ACH... oh no, you have to WIRE the funds, which has a whole other set of outrageous fees at most banks.

Yeah, it's ridiculous.

[secondcor521]

In my experience, "paying off" mortgages is unnecessarily complicated and convoluted.  First you need to order a "payoff statement" so that they can calculate how much it will cost you to pay off the amount on a certain date (with all the prorated interested included) and also potentially including any county recording fees, if applicable.  Sure, this is something that can easily be calculated at any time -- but every mortgage company I've had, had a "system" for doing this.  Then, they required "secure funds" for the payoff -- meaning they won't accept a personal check or an ACH... oh no, you have to WIRE the funds, which has a whole other set of outrageous fees at most banks.

Yeah, it's ridiculous.

My last several I'm pretty sure I just sent them a regular check or EFT as an extra payment for the mortgage balance plus a few hundred dollars.  They eventually figure it out down to the penny and send you a check back for whatever the leftover amount is.

[TomTX]

In my experience, "paying off" mortgages is unnecessarily complicated and convoluted.  First you need to order a "payoff statement" so that they can calculate how much it will cost you to pay off the amount on a certain date (with all the prorated interested included) and also potentially including any county recording fees, if applicable.  Sure, this is something that can easily be calculated at any time -- but every mortgage company I've had, had a "system" for doing this.  Then, they required "secure funds" for the payoff -- meaning they won't accept a personal check or an ACH... oh no, you have to WIRE the funds, which has a whole other set of outrageous fees at most banks.

Yeah, it's ridiculous.

My last several I'm pretty sure I just sent them a regular check or EFT as an extra payment for the mortgage balance plus a few hundred dollars.  They eventually figure it out down to the penny and send you a check back for whatever the leftover amount is.

That was my thought as well. Kudos!

Just figure it roughly, add a couple hundred bucks and send them a check or ACH.

[rantk81]

In my experience, "paying off" mortgages is unnecessarily complicated and convoluted.  First you need to order a "payoff statement" so that they can calculate how much it will cost you to pay off the amount on a certain date (with all the prorated interested included) and also potentially including any county recording fees, if applicable.  Sure, this is something that can easily be calculated at any time -- but every mortgage company I've had, had a "system" for doing this.  Then, they required "secure funds" for the payoff -- meaning they won't accept a personal check or an ACH... oh no, you have to WIRE the funds, which has a whole other set of outrageous fees at most banks.

Yeah, it's ridiculous.

My last several I'm pretty sure I just sent them a regular check or EFT as an extra payment for the mortgage balance plus a few hundred dollars.  They eventually figure it out down to the penny and send you a check back for whatever the leftover amount is.

That was my thought as well. Kudos!

Just figure it roughly, add a couple hundred bucks and send them a check or ACH.

Really wish I could have done that with my mortgage loan services in the past!  Mine had gone out of their way to say they would reject/return any payment for payoff without first getting the payoff statement and using certified funds!

[Freedomin5]

In my experience, "paying off" mortgages is unnecessarily complicated and convoluted.  First you need to order a "payoff statement" so that they can calculate how much it will cost you to pay off the amount on a certain date (with all the prorated interested included) and also potentially including any county recording fees, if applicable.  Sure, this is something that can easily be calculated at any time -- but every mortgage company I've had, had a "system" for doing this.  Then, they required "secure funds" for the payoff -- meaning they won't accept a personal check or an ACH... oh no, you have to WIRE the funds, which has a whole other set of outrageous fees at most banks.

Yeah, it's ridiculous.

My last several I'm pretty sure I just sent them a regular check or EFT as an extra payment for the mortgage balance plus a few hundred dollars.  They eventually figure it out down to the penny and send you a check back for whatever the leftover amount is.

That was my thought as well. Kudos!

Just figure it roughly, add a couple hundred bucks and send them a check or ACH.

Really wish I could have done that with my mortgage loan services in the past!  Mine had gone out of their way to say they would reject/return any payment for payoff without first getting the payoff statement and using certified funds!

Huh...it’s almost like they DON’T want you to pay off your mortgage. :D

[gaja]

I guess the person who passed away was sure they still had a lot of cleaning ahead of them to look forward to :)

My dad always tells the story of this extremely wealthy and famous business man who passed away in his late 80s (wish I could remember who it was), right after he'd just placed an order with his tailor for 10 new suits, each with two pairs of pants.

My dad always points out, "Imagine being in your elderly years and still having the confidence to assume that you would live long enough and still be active enough to need two pairs of pants to go with each suit jacket, just in case the first pair wears out" LOL

That reminds me of the story of Haakon Lie, an important Norwegian political figure in the labour movement. After turning 90, he decided to invest in a heat pump for his house, happily declaring that the payback time was less than 10 years. He lived until 103.

[fredbear]

In my experience, "paying off" mortgages is unnecessarily complicated and convoluted.  First you need to order a "payoff statement" so that they can calculate how much it will cost you to pay off the amount on a certain date (with all the prorated interested included) and also potentially including any county recording fees, if applicable.  Sure, this is something that can easily be calculated at any time -- but every mortgage company I've had, had a "system" for doing this.  Then, they required "secure funds" for the payoff -- meaning they won't accept a personal check or an ACH... oh no, you have to WIRE the funds, which has a whole other set of outrageous fees at most banks.

Yeah, it's ridiculous.

This was done to me, once, and it irritated me.  So while I still believe (depending on the interest rate) that you are generally ahead getting out of debt ASAP, after that instance I accelerated payments (I believe it is called curtailing principal) until within 2 - 3 months of payoff.  Then I stopped the extra payments and let the loan wind itself down via the regular autodeduction from the bank.  It is worth cutting off the autopayment once you know you're done, in case they don't immediately realize they have switched from discharging your debt to them, to them stealing from you.  In any case - or I should say, in every case - where I've done it this way they eventually figure out they've overcharged a few dollars; turning off the autodeduction yourself just means their eventual refund of the overcharge is a bit smaller. 

[SwordGuy]

In my experience, "paying off" mortgages is unnecessarily complicated and convoluted.  First you need to order a "payoff statement" so that they can calculate how much it will cost you to pay off the amount on a certain date (with all the prorated interested included) and also potentially including any county recording fees, if applicable.  Sure, this is something that can easily be calculated at any time -- but every mortgage company I've had, had a "system" for doing this.  Then, they required "secure funds" for the payoff -- meaning they won't accept a personal check or an ACH... oh no, you have to WIRE the funds, which has a whole other set of outrageous fees at most banks.

Yeah, it's ridiculous.

This was done to me, once, and it irritated me.  So while I still believe (depending on the interest rate) that you are generally ahead getting out of debt ASAP, after that instance I accelerated payments (I believe it is called curtailing principal) until within 2 - 3 months of payoff.  Then I stopped the extra payments and let the loan wind itself down via the regular autodeduction from the bank.  It is worth cutting off the autopayment once you know you're done, in case they don't immediately realize they have switched from discharging your debt to them, to them stealing from you.  In any case - or I should say, in every case - where I've done it this way they eventually figure out they've overcharged a few dollars; turning off the autodeduction yourself just means their eventual refund of the overcharge is a bit smaller.

And after they acknowledge you've paid it off, contact your county registrar of deeds (or local government equivalent) about a month later to verify they removed the mortgage lien from your property.  Otherwise, that will be discovered at the last minute when you try to sell your house in the future.

[Freedomin5]

DH went to the bank and paid off the mortgage yesterday. However, we did not discharge the mortgage because there is a $260 discharge fee. This fee can be waived if we get another mortgage with the bank, as the bank will then discharge the old mortgage and set up the new one. It is possible that we will purchase another property in the future  and will need another mortgage. My MPP is that now I have to remember that this old mortgage has not been discharged and then to remember to ask for the fee to be waived a couple years in the future if/when we get a new mortgage.

My parents MPP was that they never discharged their mortgage after paying it off, and when they sold their house 15 years later, they weren’t able to do so until they dug up all the old mortgage statements proving that they had paid off the mortgage.

[SwordGuy]

DH went to the bank and paid off the mortgage yesterday. However, we did not discharge the mortgage because there is a $260 discharge fee. This fee can be waived if we get another mortgage with the bank, as the bank will then discharge the old mortgage and set up the new one. It is possible that we will purchase another property in the future  and will need another mortgage. My MPP is that now I have to remember that this old mortgage has not been discharged and then to remember to ask for the fee to be waived a couple years in the future if/when we get a new mortgage.

My parents MPP was that they never discharged their mortgage after paying it off, and when they sold their house 15 years later, they weren’t able to do so until they dug up all the old mortgage statements proving that they had paid off the mortgage.

That's a fair bit of risk and headache for $260.   A leaky roof or leaky plumbing while you're out of town could destroy those records.   

[zolotiyeruki]

DH went to the bank and paid off the mortgage yesterday. However, we did not discharge the mortgage because there is a $260 discharge fee. This fee can be waived if we get another mortgage with the bank, as the bank will then discharge the old mortgage and set up the new one. It is possible that we will purchase another property in the future  and will need another mortgage. My MPP is that now I have to remember that this old mortgage has not been discharged and then to remember to ask for the fee to be waived a couple years in the future if/when we get a new mortgage.

My parents MPP was that they never discharged their mortgage after paying it off, and when they sold their house 15 years later, they weren’t able to do so until they dug up all the old mortgage statements proving that they had paid off the mortgage.

Is that standard practice?  It sure seems kinda scummy to me: "Hey, we know you paid off the debt, but we won't officially discharge it until you pay us this BS fee."

[Freedomin5]

DH went to the bank and paid off the mortgage yesterday. However, we did not discharge the mortgage because there is a $260 discharge fee. This fee can be waived if we get another mortgage with the bank, as the bank will then discharge the old mortgage and set up the new one. It is possible that we will purchase another property in the future  and will need another mortgage. My MPP is that now I have to remember that this old mortgage has not been discharged and then to remember to ask for the fee to be waived a couple years in the future if/when we get a new mortgage.

My parents MPP was that they never discharged their mortgage after paying it off, and when they sold their house 15 years later, they weren’t able to do so until they dug up all the old mortgage statements proving that they had paid off the mortgage.

Is that standard practice?  It sure seems kinda scummy to me: "Hey, we know you paid off the debt, but we won't officially discharge it until you pay us this BS fee."

Yes, standard practice. It’s with one of the largest banks in Canada. We will probably get a new mortgage within the next year or two, at which point we will discharge this mortgage. We like mortgage money because the interest rates are typically quite low. This last mortgage had an interest rate of 2.34%.

[dragoncar]

DH went to the bank and paid off the mortgage yesterday. However, we did not discharge the mortgage because there is a $260 discharge fee. This fee can be waived if we get another mortgage with the bank, as the bank will then discharge the old mortgage and set up the new one. It is possible that we will purchase another property in the future  and will need another mortgage. My MPP is that now I have to remember that this old mortgage has not been discharged and then to remember to ask for the fee to be waived a couple years in the future if/when we get a new mortgage.

My parents MPP was that they never discharged their mortgage after paying it off, and when they sold their house 15 years later, they weren’t able to do so until they dug up all the old mortgage statements proving that they had paid off the mortgage.

Is that standard practice?  It sure seems kinda scummy to me: "Hey, we know you paid off the debt, but we won't officially discharge it until you pay us this BS fee."

It's totally scummy, but I'd be surprised if it wasn't disclosed when the mortgage was created

[RetiredAt63]

DH went to the bank and paid off the mortgage yesterday. However, we did not discharge the mortgage because there is a $260 discharge fee. This fee can be waived if we get another mortgage with the bank, as the bank will then discharge the old mortgage and set up the new one. It is possible that we will purchase another property in the future  and will need another mortgage. My MPP is that now I have to remember that this old mortgage has not been discharged and then to remember to ask for the fee to be waived a couple years in the future if/when we get a new mortgage.

My parents MPP was that they never discharged their mortgage after paying it off, and when they sold their house 15 years later, they weren’t able to do so until they dug up all the old mortgage statements proving that they had paid off the mortgage.

Is that standard practice?  It sure seems kinda scummy to me: "Hey, we know you paid off the debt, but we won't officially discharge it until you pay us this BS fee."

Yes, standard practice. It’s with one of the largest banks in Canada. We will probably get a new mortgage within the next year or two, at which point we will discharge this mortgage. We like mortgage money because the interest rates are typically quite low. This last mortgage had an interest rate of 2.34%.

My bank didn't charge me extra when I  paid off my mortgage. Instead I got a card signed by all my branch staff congratulating me.

[radram]

My bank didn't charge me extra when I  paid off my mortgage. Instead I got a card signed by all my branch staff congratulating me.

Now THAT is a great use of a couple of bucks. Because of that small gesture, who here would not go back to this bank first to get a competitive rate on your next loan. I know I would.

+1 for your bank

[techwiz]

My bank didn't charge me extra when I  paid off my mortgage. Instead I got a card signed by all my branch staff congratulating me.

Wow, this is great customer service from a bank. I suspect this happened a long time ago or in a small town branch where they dont' have high turnover of staff?  I haven't seen that kind of personal touch from the banks in decades.

[RetiredAt63]

My bank didn't charge me extra when I  paid off my mortgage. Instead I got a card signed by all my branch staff congratulating me.

Wow, this is great customer service from a bank. I suspect this happened a long time ago or in a small town branch where they dont' have high turnover of staff?  I haven't seen that kind of personal touch from the banks in decades.

Just a few years ago. Small town branch, moderate turnover rate. It is known internally as a good branch.  But I have also gotten great service from a branch in Ottawa.

[FireHiker]

I have a new MPP today. We are finally making the very mustachian move of downsizing our 3690 square foot clown house to a 1642 square foot townhome nearby. It's about a mile from our current home, same schools, shortens our work commute from 2 miles to 1 mile each way. We have qualified to carry our current mortgage, a heloc to pay a 25% down payment, and the new mortgage...BUT the initial lender we chose will not believe us that we are downsizing and is considering the purchase "investment property" which means the rate they are offering is a full point higher. WTF!! We have a listing agreement and are putting our house on the market next week once we're finished getting it prepped for sale. Evidently we are "too young" to be downsizing and cannot convince this lender that the purchase will be our new primary residence.

Now, it's very likely our current home will sell and we'll close escrow on it first before escrow closes on the purchase, in which case we no longer have this problem, but it isn't guaranteed and the seller accepted our offer because it wasn't contingent on the sale of our first home. But, seriously?! I am both annoyed because now we have to spend time and energy that we don't have on this, and offended that they don't believe we are downsizing in the same area with two kids still at home.

[SwordGuy]

I have a new MPP today. We are finally making the very mustachian move of downsizing our 3690 square foot clown house to a 1642 square foot townhome nearby. It's about a mile from our current home, same schools, shortens our work commute from 2 miles to 1 mile each way. We have qualified to carry our current mortgage, a heloc to pay a 25% down payment, and the new mortgage...BUT the initial lender we chose will not believe us that we are downsizing and is considering the purchase "investment property" which means the rate they are offering is a full point higher. WTF!! We have a listing agreement and are putting our house on the market next week once we're finished getting it prepped for sale. Evidently we are "too young" to be downsizing and cannot convince this lender that the purchase will be our new primary residence.

Now, it's very likely our current home will sell and we'll close escrow on it first before escrow closes on the purchase, in which case we no longer have this problem, but it isn't guaranteed and the seller accepted our offer because it wasn't contingent on the sale of our first home. But, seriously?! I am both annoyed because now we have to spend time and energy that we don't have on this, and offended that they don't believe we are downsizing in the same area with two kids still at home.

Do you have a blog of longstanding that covers you and your goals?

You've got over 1000 posts on this forum.   Make an appointment with them, show them your account on this forum, typical posts you've made (there's a link on your profile to them), and relevant articles.
Might help convince them.

[FireHiker]

@SwordGuy I hadn't thought of that, but if it becomes necessary it's worth a shot. Thanks for the suggestion! The regional credit union may give us an acceptable mortgage rate and didn't have an issue with the downsizing so we may just go that route. We don't close escrow on the purchase until late August.

The thing that blew my mind, though, is that if we were going the other way they wouldn't argue it. But, because it is "so much smaller" it raises a red flag. Our society is messed up!

[Linea_Norway]

I have a new MPP today. We are finally making the very mustachian move of downsizing our 3690 square foot clown house to a 1642 square foot townhome nearby. It's about a mile from our current home, same schools, shortens our work commute from 2 miles to 1 mile each way. We have qualified to carry our current mortgage, a heloc to pay a 25% down payment, and the new mortgage...BUT the initial lender we chose will not believe us that we are downsizing and is considering the purchase "investment property" which means the rate they are offering is a full point higher. WTF!! We have a listing agreement and are putting our house on the market next week once we're finished getting it prepped for sale. Evidently we are "too young" to be downsizing and cannot convince this lender that the purchase will be our new primary residence.

Now, it's very likely our current home will sell and we'll close escrow on it first before escrow closes on the purchase, in which case we no longer have this problem, but it isn't guaranteed and the seller accepted our offer because it wasn't contingent on the sale of our first home. But, seriously?! I am both annoyed because now we have to spend time and energy that we don't have on this, and offended that they don't believe we are downsizing in the same area with two kids still at home.

Isn't there a lot of competition? Find another one.
But I understand that it is more hassle for what should have been a formality.

[FireHiker]

Isn't there a lot of competition? Find another one.
But I understand that it is more hassle for what should have been a formality.

Every time you go to a different lender they do a credit check, and too many will lower your credit here. And, it's a big annoyance. We have some options, and if we sell our house first (very possible) then it is a non-issue. I was just stunned that they "didn't believe" we were downsizing because it wasn't the typical thing. I guess it just confirms that we're doing the right thing if it's so counter-cultural "at our ages" that it raises red flags.

[letsdoit]

i have perfect credit but almost got rejected from a new credit card bc i had been shopping around for better rewards and got three cards in the space of a month. 

[CindyBS]

There is a thrift store I go to maybe 6 times per year and spend about $200/year - mostly for clothes and household items.  It has a bunch of half priced days (at least one per week)  They are typically mobbed with people, to the point it got to be so annoying I vowed to never go on a half price day again. 

The prices in the place are a little higher to compensate for the fact a big chunk of the inventory gets sold for half price. 

Today I bought about $20 worth of stuff, the first time I had gone there in months.   It was a fraction of the cost if I had bought this stuff new and it was stuff we actually needed.  I am still lamenting the fact I could have gotten it all for $10 and not $20.  It is so ridiculous because there are other parts of my life I have no problem wasting money on.  Also, my spending at this store represents a tiny, tiny fraction of our yearly income. 

It is one thing to be frugal, quite another to devote any mental energy to this when I am sitting on a giant freakin' stache. Sigh.

[Hirondelle]

I was in a thrift store today and they had a 1+1 free promotion. I wanted/needed a pair of flats and a simple black top. Found some flats, but no suitable top, so I left with just 1 product missing the promotion.

[Kazyan]

A mortgage lender was pessimistic about what I could get for my pre-approval, since they didn't see how someone with $11,300 saved up would want to put 20% down. Maybe if they knew I was Mustachian and that savings figure was growing fast, that phone conversation wouldn't have sounded so belabored. Oh well!

[SwordGuy]

A mortgage lender was pessimistic about what I could get for my pre-approval, since they didn't see how someone with $11,300 saved up would want to put 20% down. Maybe if they knew I was Mustachian and that savings figure was growing fast, that phone conversation wouldn't have sounded so belabored. Oh well!

My realtor introduced me to a mortgage broker who would do some of my business after hours on the phone because I was travelling and dealing with the death of my mother.   A house we had been tracking for several years had finally come back on the market at an acceptable price so it was time to snap it up and move in.

The broker's been told that we're into real estate investing, so he starts off with, "So, Swordguy, how many houses do you have?"

Me:  "Well, legally, we own four."

Him:  "Squawk!!!!!!   Legally!!!???"

Me:  "Well, yes.  We own four houses.  My mom just passed away and I'll be inheriting her house, but I don't technically own it yet."

Him:  big sigh of relief.

Some conversations are more fun than others.

[OtherJen]

Two "problems":

1. I recently paid off a car loan, which was then closed by the bank, and financed a home improvement on a 0% interest credit card for the cash back rewards (and have since paid off 80% of it). Those events caused my credit score to dip below 800 for the first time in a couple of years. Oops.

2. Husband just got an application for a Discover loan of up to $35k to pay off high-interest debt. We have no high-interest debt.

[Raenia]

1. I recently paid off a car loan, which was then closed by the bank, and financed a home improvement on a 0% interest credit card for the cash back rewards (and have since paid off 80% of it). Those events caused my credit score to dip below 800 for the first time in a couple of years. Oops.

I have this one too - my score dropped below 750 for the first time in years, after several credit pulls and an unusually high utilization on one of my cards.  We had the credit pull from the mortgage company, opening a Home Depot credit card, and applying for financing for the new AC/furnace installation, plus I had put the electrician bill on a card for the points (paid off in full on the usual billing cycle, but still reported to the credit agencies as high utilization).  I was so sad to see it!

[FireHiker]

It looks like our previous MPP has likely been resolved by going to the local credit union for the mortgage. They seem to believe us that we are actually downsizing and not trying to get a primary residence rate on an investment property. I still can't believe people will actually go to the effort to engage a realtor and list their house for sale to get a percentage point off an investment mortgage? It seems like a lot of work to me. We are exhausted but our listing should hit tomorrow...crossing fingers for a quick sale, and then our MPP will be figuring out how best to invest what we don't put down on the new house: VTSAX in an investment account, Mega Backdoor Roth (first?), do we bother with 529's for the two younger kids or not, etc. All good problems. Also, I was wrong: it seems if you have multiple credit checks in a brief period for the same thing (like a mortgage) it is viewed as "rate shopping" and not separate events. Our credit was still plenty good when the credit union checked it, whew.

[rantk81]

I now have to figure out how else to deploy the $50/month that had been going to Comcast toward my condo building's bulk cable tv package!

YES! That is right! Finally the condo board in my building voted to get rid of that trash!  Ever since I moved in, they had a "bulk agreement" with Comcast, where every unit owner was required to pay for the service. In exchange, Comcast gave us a discount on the price of the TV service.

For years, owners have been complaining about it at meetings -- since a lot of people are cord cutters now and have no interest in paying for that garbage.  Surveys were sent out, the board ignored the will of the owners for several years!  I was on the board at one point and tried to push for ending it... But it always stalled by delay/stonewall tactics by the "older" members on the board who wanted to keep their sweatheart cable tv deal -- -- even if OVER HALF THE BUILDING didn't want to pay for it.  Basically, in my mind, their mentality was: "everyone else can go to hell, I get what I want since I'm on the board."

If you send out a survey to all owners with a direct question "Do you want the building to have a bulk cable TV package, forcing everyone to buy it, but in return getting a discount on the price?" and you get back more than 50% of the owners answer with "NO", it is extremely irresponsible (and in being-an-asshole territory, if you ask me) to continue to keep the service purely for one's self-interest of saving a couple bucks on their own package.

In fact, when (another unit owner) directly called out the board members (who still voted to keep the package), some of the absolute BULLSHIT reasons they gave for their vote (instead of admitting what self-centered-assholes they are) were:

1) "I don't think the owners understood the survey properly and weren't well informed", or
2) "Well, the MLS listings when people bought their condos said it should include cable, so we need to keep it"
3) "But Everyone is now going to have to pay almost $100 a month to Comcast now for their TV service!"

Well, the tides finally changed!  New members on the board.. and by a razor-thin vote of 3-2, we are not renewing the contract in November when it expires!  $50/month now not headed straight for the toilet!  MPP: How else do I deploy that fifty bucks?? Oooh that VTSAX over there sure looks nice!

[Alfred J Quack]

A few annoying people keep biking past my house over the sidewalk rather than biking the extra 10 yards to use the bike path. The effect is that I can hear them inside and this is annoying.

Knowing that the city won't do anything about it, I asked them whether I can buy the 20 by 2 meters of sidewalk so that the annoying people will have to use the other sidewalk or bike path.

If it works, I can also build a carport to charge a future EV :P