Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)

[Goldielocks]

My MPP: I've been avoiding opening the door all day to keep the house warmer with less fuel, but now I'm cooking and I need to get to my compost heap with the scraps. Dilemma.


ETA: and our passive solar heat isn't working because we haven't seem the sun in several days,

Take a small bin with a lid in the kitchen for the scraps and empty it outside once or twice a week.

Doesn't your solar heat work with solar panels? I thought these panels worked also with cloudy weather, as long as there is daylight.

Keep the compost heap in the house and reap the thermal rewards of decomposition

Ooh...ooh... how can I increase the thermal mass of my indoor compost bin?

Increase the size above 2 cu.ft.

[Cromacster]

My MPP: I've been avoiding opening the door all day to keep the house warmer with less fuel, but now I'm cooking and I need to get to my compost heap with the scraps. Dilemma.


ETA: and our passive solar heat isn't working because we haven't seem the sun in several days,

Take a small bin with a lid in the kitchen for the scraps and empty it outside once or twice a week.

Doesn't your solar heat work with solar panels? I thought these panels worked also with cloudy weather, as long as there is daylight.

They work, but their production is down to like 10% of capacity.  This can even happen with a partially shaded panel (ie from a tree or other building).  This is why placement of the panels and region you live in play a big factor.

[LennStar]

My MPP: I've been avoiding opening the door all day to keep the house warmer with less fuel, but now I'm cooking and I need to get to my compost heap with the scraps. Dilemma.


ETA: and our passive solar heat isn't working because we haven't seem the sun in several days,

Take a small bin with a lid in the kitchen for the scraps and empty it outside once or twice a week.

Doesn't your solar heat work with solar panels? I thought these panels worked also with cloudy weather, as long as there is daylight.

They work, but their production is down to like 10% of capacity.  This can even happen with a partially shaded panel (ie from a tree or other building).  This is why placement of the panels and region you live in play a big factor.

Thats photovoltaic = electricity. I thought the poster meant heating water with ("in") the panels = solar. There you get heat even when half is shadowed - just half the heat.

[Rural]

My MPP: I've been avoiding opening the door all day to keep the house warmer with less fuel, but now I'm cooking and I need to get to my compost heap with the scraps. Dilemma.


ETA: and our passive solar heat isn't working because we haven't seem the sun in several days,

Take a small bin with a lid in the kitchen for the scraps and empty it outside once or twice a week.

Doesn't your solar heat work with solar panels? I thought these panels worked also with cloudy weather, as long as there is daylight.

They work, but their production is down to like 10% of capacity.  This can even happen with a partially shaded panel (ie from a tree or other building).  This is why placement of the panels and region you live in play a big factor.

Thats photovoltaic = electricity. I thought the poster meant heating water with ("in") the panels = solar. There you get heat even when half is shadowed - just half the heat.

Neither PV nor solar water heating - both are fine things, but what we have is passive solar heating, which pretty well has to be set up at the building design stage as we did.


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_solar_building_design

[LeRainDrop]

Gonna brag on myself for a sec:  Because I budget and track my expenses so carefully, I noticed a few dollar and cents discrepancy between my HOA dues invoice for January and what had been stated in the approved 2017 budget.  I reported this to the manager.  Turns out that all of the owners in the HOA received similarly incorrect invoices, since the billed amounts had been based on a draft of the budget rather than the final approved budget.  So, my MMM ways allowed for quick discovery and correction of the error.  Yay!

[Ebrat]

I got some cash for Christmas, and I don't have anything to spend it on. It's annoying to have to carry it around or remember where I put it in my house. Waah :)

[gaja]

I got some cash for Christmas, and I don't have anything to spend it on. It's annoying to have to carry it around or remember where I put it in my house. Waah :)

My kids are of that age when their class mates are starting to prefer getting cash for birthday presents. I have never gotten around to the ATM, so the cash envelope from grandpa for christmas was perfect for the next 10 birthdays my kids get invited to. We also have a few books and hobby kits for those kids that prefer things.

My cash "problem" is in Euros. I usually have some on hand for job travels in the EU. But last time the journey went to Croatia, a country that still uses the kuna. It turned out a lot of cafes and smaller shops didn't take cards either, so it ended up being a cheap trip. Well, at least I should be covered for the job trips in 2017.

[marty998]

Gonna brag on myself for a sec:  Because I budget and track my expenses so carefully, I noticed a few dollar and cents discrepancy between my HOA dues invoice for January and what had been stated in the approved 2017 budget.  I reported this to the manager.  Turns out that all of the owners in the HOA received similarly incorrect invoices, since the billed amounts had been based on a draft of the budget rather than the final approved budget.  So, my MMM ways allowed for quick discovery and correction of the error.  Yay!

Mine is $4.72 in credit because I've been rounding the payments for the last year or so.

So I get a slight discount on the next one...

[Metric Mouse]

My MPP: I've been avoiding opening the door all day to keep the house warmer with less fuel, but now I'm cooking and I need to get to my compost heap with the scraps. Dilemma.


ETA: and our passive solar heat isn't working because we haven't seem the sun in several days,

Take a small bin with a lid in the kitchen for the scraps and empty it outside once or twice a week.

Doesn't your solar heat work with solar panels? I thought these panels worked also with cloudy weather, as long as there is daylight.

Keep the compost heap in the house and reap the thermal rewards of decomposition

Ooh...ooh... how can I increase the thermal mass of my indoor compost bin?

Increase the size above 2 cu.ft.

I don't know that I create enough decomposable waste to fill that much space.

[Shropskr]

Kinda funny. Last night my kiddo was sick a puked all over the floor. YUCK!  I keep a roll of paper towels such occasions, and rarely use it.   Then used my years old birthday gift a spot lifter.  To clean up.  I put stuff away but it was two am. Of course.   So this morning after I wake up my son brings down the roll of paper towels.  "So mom, where does the really big toilet paper go?"


So my mpp is my kiddo doesn't even know what paper towels are.

[dragoncar]

Kinda funny. Last night my kiddo was sick a puked all over the floor. YUCK!  I keep a roll of paper towels such occasions, and rarely use it.   Then used my years old birthday gift a spot lifter.  To clean up.  I put stuff away but it was two am. Of course.   So this morning after I wake up my son brings down the roll of paper towels.  "So mom, where does the really big toilet paper go?"


So my mpp is my kiddo doesn't even know what paper towels are.

I LOLed but then I learned.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-history-of-paper-towels.htm

[Fomerly known as something]

I maxed out my IRA for the year yesterday.  Now I have to wait 364 days to add more money to it.

[Hedge_87]

I maxed out my IRA for the year yesterday.  Now I have to wait 364 days to add more money to it.

I know it dang it!

[dragoncar]

I maxed out my IRA for the year yesterday.  Now I have to wait 364 days to add more money to it.

I know it dang it!

Thanks for the reminder guys

[Linea_Norway]

I had to buy lunch at work today, because my homemade lunch is laying at home.

[cheeEEeese]

After adding $5500 to my 2017 Roth IRA today, I went to change my 401k contribution rate and was surprised that I could not choose 16.5%. The site only would let me choose whole numbers. I will just have to choose 17% and hope I don't go over the limit.

[With This Herring]

After adding $5500 to my 2017 Roth IRA today, I went to change my 401k contribution rate and was surprised that I could not choose 16.5%. The site only would let me choose whole numbers. I will just have to choose 17% and hope I don't go over the limit.

You wont, contributions are caped and will be stopped automatically. At least that is the way it should be and is for me (with Fidelity).

Watch out.  This is dependent on the payroll person/company used by your employer and/or the firm holding the 401(k) realizing that this could be an issue.  At OldJob, I asked and found out that going over was going to cause major headaches for payroll, so I carefully set my contribution rate to undershoot by around $2, which was the closest under number I could get while limited to round percentages.

[markbike528CBX]

Over contributed to 18k limit, but not over for the age50 6K adder.

net upshot, 114 after tax, without fuss. 

    Is there a way to separate the aftertax out when withdrawing? I've got 3K aftertax in the401(k).

[mwulff]

I discovered that I can't do direct deposits into our car-loan. I actually have to have a teller do it for me. But hey, if they want an email every month saying put $3000 more into the car I can send it.

[Cannot Wait!]

And that will be for only 2 months, right?  Right?

MPP: I assume nobody needs a car worth more than $6000.

[LeRainDrop]

I discovered that I can't do direct deposits into our car-loan. I actually have to have a teller do it for me. But hey, if they want an email every month saying put $3000 more into the car I can send it.

Ha!  I discovered the same issue after taking a very-low-interest car loan just so that I could keep more cash on hand.  I spent about six months of walking to the bank to hand over a check before I got sick enough of the process to just pay off the damn loan.  Plus, the bank had promised an additional reduction in the rate if I were to open a checking or savings account, which I did.  But they never processed the rate reduction, and my efforts to resolve were not fruitful -- people at the bank told me I had to call the 800 number and people on the 800 number told me I had to go in person to the bank.  Screw all that!

[pdxmonkey]

Over contributed to 18k limit, but not over for the age50 6K adder.

net upshot, 114 after tax, without fuss. 

    Is there a way to separate the aftertax out when withdrawing? I've got 3K aftertax in the401(k).

no. You either fix it before the annual deadline to fix it or you have to deal with it forever. If it's 1% of your assets as of when it was deposited then assuming you have no further contributions then 1% of all your withdrawals will be taxable. If you maybe further contributions you would have to figure how much your 1% changes each time you contribute. Does it become .99 or .98, etc. If you mix pre and post tax in one account it becomes a royal pain

[bzzzt]

When you're disappointed that your first half property tax bill isn't here yet because you want to get it on this credit card statement so you meet the minimum spend for the sign up bonus.

"Come on! Let me charge $2000!"

[Bracken_Joy]

A legit MPP: trying to learn about the AMT and tax efficient investing and ending up with a whopping headache from it!

[Aelias]

A coworker tells me a "horror story" of her neighbor who up and quit his job that he was unhappy with.  Now he won't be able to afford his big house and his cars!

And I'm like, "Good for him?"

[zephyr911]

Over contributed to 18k limit, but not over for the age50 6K adder.

net upshot, 114 after tax, without fuss. 

    Is there a way to separate the aftertax out when withdrawing? I've got 3K aftertax in the401(k).

no. You either fix it before the annual deadline to fix it or you have to deal with it forever. If it's 1% of your assets as of when it was deposited then assuming you have no further contributions then 1% of all your withdrawals will be taxable. If you maybe further contributions you would have to figure how much your 1% changes each time you contribute. Does it become .99 or .98, etc. If you mix pre and post tax in one account it becomes a royal pain

OMG, remove ASAP by whatever means necessary xD

[markbike528CBX]

Over contributed to 18k limit, but not over for the age50 6K adder.

net upshot, 114 after tax, without fuss. 

    Is there a way to separate the aftertax out when withdrawing? I've got 3K aftertax in the401(k).

no. You either fix it before the annual deadline to fix it or you have to deal with it forever. If it's 1% of your assets as of when it was deposited then assuming you have no further contributions then 1% of all your withdrawals will be taxable. If you maybe further contributions you would have to figure how much your 1% changes each time you contribute. Does it become .99 or .98, etc. If you mix pre and post tax in one account it becomes a royal pain

OMG, remove ASAP by whatever means necessary xD

Ooops, to late now for most of it (~3K after) versus ~600Kpretax,  <does math> 0.5%.     

How would one remove it?   

Many times my income is dominated by random overtime and I'm in a hotel far from home (including overseas), so this kinda likely to happen in the future also.

[Linea_Norway]

A coworker tells me a "horror story" of her neighbor who up and quit his job that he was unhappy with.  Now he won't be able to afford his big house and his cars!

And I'm like, "Good for him?"

Lesson learned: first save up some FY money before quitting your job.

[FirePaddle]

I determined that my employer failed to deduct/contribute the last $50 into my HSA account, so my total for the year ended at $6699 instead of $6750. Do I call them out on it (like I did 3 times previously), or simply eat it and make someone's (and my own) day less stressful? I've opted for the former so far. I know the email chain would end up involving at least 5 people and me explaining to them multiple times the difference between their calendar year how the IRS doesn't follow that calendar.

[GreenShirt]

Over contributed to 18k limit, but not over for the age50 6K adder.

net upshot, 114 after tax, without fuss. 

    Is there a way to separate the aftertax out when withdrawing? I've got 3K aftertax in the401(k).

no. You either fix it before the annual deadline to fix it or you have to deal with it forever. If it's 1% of your assets as of when it was deposited then assuming you have no further contributions then 1% of all your withdrawals will be taxable. If you maybe further contributions you would have to figure how much your 1% changes each time you contribute. Does it become .99 or .98, etc. If you mix pre and post tax in one account it becomes a royal pain

OMG, remove ASAP by whatever means necessary xD

Ooops, to late now for most of it (~3K after) versus ~600Kpretax,  <does math> 0.5%.     

How would one remove it?   

Many times my income is dominated by random overtime and I'm in a hotel far from home (including overseas), so this kinda likely to happen in the future also.

I'm also in this boat - I accidentally(?) contributed over the 18k limit which then flowed into after tax.

I'm not this far into retirement account strategies, but aren't post tax 401(k) contributions part of the mega backdoor roth strategy that the mad fientist wrote about? http://www.madfientist.com/after-tax-contributions/.

[Cowardly Toaster]

People assuming you're homeless/DUI Convict because you ride a bike.

[shelivesthedream]

Reading replies on this forum where it's clear that they haven't read the original post properly. Along the lines of OP: "I need help with this thing and I've tried X and Y." Reply: "You should try X." So hard sometimes to restrain myself from blasting them. The internet doesn't need more pointless noise.

[Bracken_Joy]

With this recent go of bad weather and snow here (Hometown is ill equipped to handle ice and snow, we don't normally get it), DH and I have been avoiding driving. Our neighbor called us yesterday to make sure we weren't out of town, since our cars hadn't been cleared off. He wanted to know if he was supposed to be watching the house.

[Zaga]

This year we tested out the $18K limit for the first time, DH's work stopped the contributions exactly at $18K!  That's a relief, now I won't worry about over-contributing on the final paycheck of each year.

If they had not done that we would have ended up with $51.87 in after tax contributions, which would have been very annoying indeed!  I wish we could just set a monthly amount and forget about readjusting each year/pay raise.  Sigh.

[pdxmonkey]

Over contributed to 18k limit, but not over for the age50 6K adder.

net upshot, 114 after tax, without fuss. 

    Is there a way to separate the aftertax out when withdrawing? I've got 3K aftertax in the401(k).

no. You either fix it before the annual deadline to fix it or you have to deal with it forever. If it's 1% of your assets as of when it was deposited then assuming you have no further contributions then 1% of all your withdrawals will be taxable. If you maybe further contributions you would have to figure how much your 1% changes each time you contribute. Does it become .99 or .98, etc. If you mix pre and post tax in one account it becomes a royal pain

OMG, remove ASAP by whatever means necessary xD

you can also deal with it when you rollover to IRA accounts by rolling the Roth percentage to a Roth IRA and the non Roth percentage to a traditional IRA. That's the only way I know if to split the money out at some point. This is pretty common for Roth 401k as employer matches are still non-roth and 401k managers do track the percentages for that. They wouldn't likely know about other situations to track them though.

[pdxmonkey]

Over contributed to 18k limit, but not over for the age50 6K adder.

net upshot, 114 after tax, without fuss. 

    Is there a way to separate the aftertax out when withdrawing? I've got 3K aftertax in the401(k).

no. You either fix it before the annual deadline to fix it or you have to deal with it forever. If it's 1% of your assets as of when it was deposited then assuming you have no further contributions then 1% of all your withdrawals will be taxable. If you maybe further contributions you would have to figure how much your 1% changes each time you contribute. Does it become .99 or .98, etc. If you mix pre and post tax in one account it becomes a royal pain

OMG, remove ASAP by whatever means necessary xD

you can also deal with it when you rollover to IRA accounts by rolling the Roth percentage to a Roth IRA and the non Roth percentage to a traditional IRA. That's the only way I know if to split the money out at some point. This is pretty common for Roth 401k as employer matches are still non-roth and 401k managers do track the percentages for that. They wouldn't likely know about other situations to track them though.

Realized that I think I misinterpreted what happened to the OP. I was thinking this is an over contribution to a ROTH 401k. I realized the OP is talking about after-tax contributions not being normal so the OP is likely talking about over contributing to a tradition 401k. I've only had to deal with over contributing to a Roth, rules for the traditional are probably different. In any case I imagine the deadline to fix is the same if there is anything worth fixing. For the Roth I had until tax filing day to fix it so you've likely got until April to fix it or deal with whatever the consequences are. None of the tracking nonsense likely applies to a normal account and I suspect the worst thing that's going to happen is you'll get taxed on it again when you withdraw it. For a small amount like $114 that's not going to be a lot of tax even if you get 10x returns so it may not be worth the hassle.

[markbike528CBX]

Over contributed to 18k limit, but not over for the age50 6K adder.

net upshot, 114 after tax, without fuss. 

    Is there a way to separate the aftertax out when withdrawing? I've got 3K aftertax in the401(k).

no. You either fix it before the annual deadline to fix it or you have to deal with it forever. If it's 1% of your assets as of when it was deposited then assuming you have no further contributions then 1% of all your withdrawals will be taxable. If you maybe further contributions you would have to figure how much your 1% changes each time you contribute. Does it become .99 or .98, etc. If you mix pre and post tax in one account it becomes a royal pain

OMG, remove ASAP by whatever means necessary xD

you can also deal with it when you rollover to IRA accounts by rolling the Roth percentage to a Roth IRA and the non Roth percentage to a traditional IRA. That's the only way I know if to split the money out at some point. This is pretty common for Roth 401k as employer matches are still non-roth and 401k managers do track the percentages for that. They wouldn't likely know about other situations to track them though.

Realized that I think I misinterpreted what happened to the OP. I was thinking this is an over contribution to a ROTH 401k. I realized the OP is talking about after-tax contributions not being normal so the OP is likely talking about over contributing to a tradition 401k. I've only had to deal with over contributing to a Roth, rules for the traditional are probably different. In any case I imagine the deadline to fix is the same if there is anything worth fixing. For the Roth I had until tax filing day to fix it so you've likely got until April to fix it or deal with whatever the consequences are. None of the tracking nonsense likely applies to a normal account and I suspect the worst thing that's going to happen is you'll get taxed on it again when you withdraw it. For a small amount like $114 that's not going to be a lot of tax even if you get 10x returns so it may not be worth the hassle.

pdxmonkey -- this is a traditional 401(k), and will be taxed at normal income tax rates on withdrawal anyway.   I was wondering why all the panic?

[sw1tch]

I determined that my employer failed to deduct/contribute the last $50 into my HSA account, so my total for the year ended at $6699 instead of $6750. Do I call them out on it (like I did 3 times previously), or simply eat it and make someone's (and my own) day less stressful? I've opted for the former so far. I know the email chain would end up involving at least 5 people and me explaining to them multiple times the difference between their calendar year how the IRS doesn't follow that calendar.

Reminds me of my MPP (I guess not really, it seems more like an OCD thing than anything else), Vanguard's total for automatic deductions for last year were $5499.99 for both mine and my wife's tIRA's.  Vanguard rounds it up to get it as close to the amount as possible.  My urge for round numbers literally have me consider doing something about those last 2 cents.

Well, I just let it go; just my 2 cents.....  And no, I am NOT going to calculate what the projected ROI by not investing those 2 cents; I don't want to know anymore!

[Jakejake]

I have $21 in store credit expiring at kmart on Jan 18th. I biked over there last week and picked up a gallon of milk, and figured I'd go back later for one more this week and again next week. That would burn through $9 of it. I don't know yet how to spend the rest; I don't need anything.

Just my weird luck - the couple ahead of me in line turned and handed me their kmart gift card that had $2.50 left on it, and told me to use it up. I tried to talk them into just buying some paper towels or something with it, but failed. Then I looked to give it to someone behind me - but the cashier was going on break and shut off her light - there was nobody else in line.

Logically, it made better sense to use my expiring store credit but I would have looked stupid/ungrateful taking their gift card and pocketing it, and I would have ruined their moment.

In the end, after 16 miles of biking, I was only able to spend 41¢. :(

[Rural]

Jakejake, can you buy extra milk? It freezes well.

[Jakejake]

That's a good idea. I'll have to shuffle things around it the freezer a bit, but maybe it's kmart's way of telling me it's time to defrost a turkey. 

[Hedge_87]

Jakejake, can you buy extra milk? It freezes well.

or eggs they keep well

[Freckles]

Stock up on things like toilet paper, scotch tape, batteries?

[infogoon]

Can you transfer the remaining credit to a gift card?

[plainjane]

Stock up on things like toilet paper, scotch tape, batteries?

Batteries is a good idea - small and expensive.

[Cannot Wait!]

MMM  has rewired my brain.
When shingles flew off my roof in this week's storm, I thought, "Hmmm, I get to learn a new skill."
I can't tell you how different this is from pre-MMM!

[Fish Sweet]

I went on a fancy pantsy international vacation to Japan intending on (very antimustachianly) buying and eating everything in sight that caught my eye and blowing through a lot of cash.

Turns out, even when I'm not trying, even when I'm actively out to spend, I can think of a lot of reasons not to buy unnecessary frivolous stuff. I brought almost $500 less than I did on my last trip to Japan, but was still left over with nearly $200 USD in yen in the end.  And I'd lose about $20 if I converted it back to USD, so I guess I'll just have to wait until the next time I go (every 2 years) to spend it...

[Jakejake]

Can you transfer the remaining credit to a gift card?

Nope, I wish! I can't bring myself to use credit to stock upon toilet paper, because right now they have a deal where if you spend cash on toilet paper you get 100% back in the form of store credit (which is how I ended up in this situation in the first place).

And I stocked up on AA batteries recently when they were 60 batteries for $10 - but I accidentally ordered AAA's at first, so now I have 60 of each kind.

Today, I went over there with the idea that I WOULD NOT FAIL. Gallons of milk, clearanced pie shells for pumpkin pies, a couple $3 fleece blankets to try making a weighted blanket, a $9 pack of underwear, I made sure I was safely above the threshold of what was about to expire.

Then I got home and realized the cashier never charged me for the underwear.

The saga continues.

[Uturn]

Every Friday I log into Personal Capital and the bank, verify all CC charges and pay any bills that might be due.  Last week it didn't get done due to laziness, and this week I was at a conference and lost track of where we are in the month.  So I log into the bank today and think, why is there so damn much money in checking?  Oh, it's payday.  Check to make sure everything is paid and nothing is coming up, so whole paycheck to Vanguard.  Investing is hard. 

[tarheeldan]

Reminds me of my MPP (I guess not really, it seems more like an OCD thing than anything else), Vanguard's total for automatic deductions for last year were $5499.99 for both mine and my wife's tIRA's.  Vanguard rounds it up to get it as close to the amount as possible.  My urge for round numbers literally have me consider doing something about those last 2 cents.

I gave up too   Stupid $1 transfer minimum! Haha. Kind of.