Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)

[Sibley]

People keep buying me drinks when I go out with groups (eg. coworker today at pub) and I never ever pay them back because they dive in to buy the first round every time and all I want is a single Diet Coke and I'm good for the whole night, while they get through several beers. They don't seem to mind (obviously I'm a cheap date!), but I find it very awkward. I'd rather just buy my own drinks but insisting would be even more awkward.

Familiar one. I'm not unwilling to pay someone a drink, but they just always seem to want them sooner/more frequently than  me.

I was at dinner last night with my wife's friends (couple) and her dad. Bill came and I said something along the lines like just split 3 ways (with my card in hand)? It was basically even with the exception of my wife's dad who would've paid a little extra, but he wouldn't of cared. The other guy made a big deal saying it was his treat because he was staying with us. (He made the same show at breakfast when we stayed with him last fall because we were the guests).

 Like how am I supposed to react in that situation? There was no reason for him to pay the bill and it was all for attention showing what a great guy he is. He wanted a little resistance and he would do the awkward thing where he would quickly shove it to the waittress when we would object (this happened the previous time). Just don't like the feeling I owe him something or throwing money around.

I really hate that too. I have a couple of (incidentally, all male) friends (I'm female) who do this all the time up to the point where I now sometimes hesitate to meet up with them outside the home. It just feels extremely awkward. We are all in long-term relationships / married, so there are no expectations of something else on either side. They just seem to have this deep rooted feeling that they shouldn't let a woman pay. Sometimes they'll say "oh, I'll let you know how much you owe me when I get home" and then they never do. I'll remind them, but I do feel awkward sending a dozen reminders.

Right now I owe a friend about €25. I know it's not a lot of money and he has a good income, but still, to me it feels different than owing someone a drink or a coffee. We bought a friend a gift for a his birthday. We decided on the gift together (it's a practical item that the friend really needed at that point) but as he has a car and I don't, he was the one who went to buy it. It's been 6 weeks since the birthday and he still hasn't let me know how much I owe him / his bank account details so I can transfer the money. I sent him a reminder and he replied with something vague like 'oh, i'll check that out later'.

There are people who feel successful and powerful because they pay for other people's meals and drinks. I don't get it.

Personally, as an extremely independent woman, I have a problem with that because dammit, you're not in charge of me and hell no I am not going to "owe" anyone anything. I can pay my own way.... And then they get all offended and don't know how to deal with me. When it's really quite simple - treat me as an equal. But they seem incapable of doing that.

[Loren Ver]

My "problem."

DH built me a new excel to account for our 2018 spending. It is a HUGE upgrade from all previous excels.  It has all the drop downs I want with graphs and categories etc etc.  Very exciting!!!!! 2018 we are really dialing in our spending to match our retirement numbers to see if they are feasible. 

The excel went though its last testing at the beginning of December and I really want to start using it, but need to wait until Jan. 1st to move the remnants of 2017 into it and get it running for 2018.  So excited.  And so few understanding how exciting it is!  Tracking the end of November and December in the old excel is like driving a very old, sad, backfiring car while a nice (used) car is waiting for you in the driveway.

SOON!

LV

[zolotiyeruki]

Here's mine: having to shuffle funds around a bit in order to free up cash to pre-pay our property taxes for next year, so we can maximize our deductions for 2017.

[shelivesthedream]

People keep buying me drinks when I go out with groups (eg. coworker today at pub) and I never ever pay them back because they dive in to buy the first round every time and all I want is a single Diet Coke and I'm good for the whole night, while they get through several beers. They don't seem to mind (obviously I'm a cheap date!), but I find it very awkward. I'd rather just buy my own drinks but insisting would be even more awkward.

Familiar one. I'm not unwilling to pay someone a drink, but they just always seem to want them sooner/more frequently than  me.

I was at dinner last night with my wife's friends (couple) and her dad. Bill came and I said something along the lines like just split 3 ways (with my card in hand)? It was basically even with the exception of my wife's dad who would've paid a little extra, but he wouldn't of cared. The other guy made a big deal saying it was his treat because he was staying with us. (He made the same show at breakfast when we stayed with him last fall because we were the guests).

 Like how am I supposed to react in that situation? There was no reason for him to pay the bill and it was all for attention showing what a great guy he is. He wanted a little resistance and he would do the awkward thing where he would quickly shove it to the waittress when we would object (this happened the previous time). Just don't like the feeling I owe him something or throwing money around.

I really hate that too. I have a couple of (incidentally, all male) friends (I'm female) who do this all the time up to the point where I now sometimes hesitate to meet up with them outside the home. It just feels extremely awkward. We are all in long-term relationships / married, so there are no expectations of something else on either side. They just seem to have this deep rooted feeling that they shouldn't let a woman pay. Sometimes they'll say "oh, I'll let you know how much you owe me when I get home" and then they never do. I'll remind them, but I do feel awkward sending a dozen reminders.

Right now I owe a friend about €25. I know it's not a lot of money and he has a good income, but still, to me it feels different than owing someone a drink or a coffee. We bought a friend a gift for a his birthday. We decided on the gift together (it's a practical item that the friend really needed at that point) but as he has a car and I don't, he was the one who went to buy it. It's been 6 weeks since the birthday and he still hasn't let me know how much I owe him / his bank account details so I can transfer the money. I sent him a reminder and he replied with something vague like 'oh, i'll check that out later'.

There are people who feel successful and powerful because they pay for other people's meals and drinks. I don't get it.

Personally, as an extremely independent woman, I have a problem with that because dammit, you're not in charge of me and hell no I am not going to "owe" anyone anything. I can pay my own way.... And then they get all offended and don't know how to deal with me. When it's really quite simple - treat me as an equal. But they seem incapable of doing that.

In the case of the birthday present, I would consider giving them a date. "Hey [friend], I still owe you money for [present]. I know you said you'd check the amount and send me your details but I haven't heard from you. If I'm going to pay you back I need to know by [date], or we'll have to let this one go forever!" Then if they haven't let you know by the date, they had their chance and you can obliterate it from your mental register. I'm a hardass about the owing of actual money (both ways!) as opposed to drinks or dinner.

[eaknet]

Here's mine: having to shuffle funds around a bit in order to free up cash to pre-pay our property taxes for next year, so we can maximize our deductions for 2017.

+1. I’ve had to do the exact same thing. When I asked a friend who lives in the same town if he was going to prepay, he said, “Why wouldn’t you just take that as next year’s deduction?”’ We have similar incomes,’so like us he’s going to be hurt by the SALT limit, but he wasn’t even aware of the fact the governor had passed emergency legislation so people could do just that.


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[TomTX]

In the case of the birthday present, I would consider giving them a date. "Hey [friend], I still owe you money for [present]. I know you said you'd check the amount and send me your details but I haven't heard from you. If I'm going to pay you back I need to know by [date], or we'll have to let this one go forever!" Then if they haven't let you know by the date, they had their chance and you can obliterate it from your mental register. I'm a hardass about the owing of actual money (both ways!) as opposed to drinks or dinner.

I would be more likely to say "... If I'm going to pay you back the exact amount I need to know by [date], or I'm just sending $25 and we'll be done with it"

[shelivesthedream]

In the case of the birthday present, I would consider giving them a date. "Hey [friend], I still owe you money for [present]. I know you said you'd check the amount and send me your details but I haven't heard from you. If I'm going to pay you back I need to know by [date], or we'll have to let this one go forever!" Then if they haven't let you know by the date, they had their chance and you can obliterate it from your mental register. I'm a hardass about the owing of actual money (both ways!) as opposed to drinks or dinner.

I would be more likely to say "... If I'm going to pay you back the exact amount I need to know by [date], or I'm just sending $25 and we'll be done with it"

Another excellent option, but relies on you having been given their bank details. Though I suppose you could give or post cash.

[Turkey Leg]

In the case of the birthday present, I would consider giving them a date. "Hey [friend], I still owe you money for [present]. I know you said you'd check the amount and send me your details but I haven't heard from you. If I'm going to pay you back I need to know by [date], or we'll have to let this one go forever!" Then if they haven't let you know by the date, they had their chance and you can obliterate it from your mental register. I'm a hardass about the owing of actual money (both ways!) as opposed to drinks or dinner.

I would be more likely to say "... If I'm going to pay you back the exact amount I need to know by [date], or I'm just sending $25 and we'll be done with it"

Another excellent option, but relies on you having been given their bank details. Though I suppose you could give or post cash.

No bank details needed if your bank can send money via Zelle. If so, you only need the recipient's cell# or email address.

[frugalnacho]

I spent all year tracking all of our medical expenses and entering them into a spread sheet so come tax time I could easily summarize and deduct them.  Due to higher than expected income, and the unexpected sale of a rental property (resulting in about $65k LTGC), we are unable to deduct any of our medical expenses anyway.   72 rows of data complete with mileage and notes for no reason.

[rantk81]

I spent all year tracking all of our medical expenses and entering them into a spread sheet so come tax time I could easily summarize and deduct them.  Due to higher than expected income, and the unexpected sale of a rental property (resulting in about $65k LTGC), we are unable to deduct any of our medical expenses anyway.   72 rows of data complete with mileage and notes for no reason.

Do you have a HSA account? If so, that spreadsheet is very useful anyway for tracking reimbursable expenses for future HSA withdrawals.

[frugalnacho]

I spent all year tracking all of our medical expenses and entering them into a spread sheet so come tax time I could easily summarize and deduct them.  Due to higher than expected income, and the unexpected sale of a rental property (resulting in about $65k LTGC), we are unable to deduct any of our medical expenses anyway.   72 rows of data complete with mileage and notes for no reason.

Do you have a HSA account? If so, that spreadsheet is very useful anyway for tracking reimbursable expenses for future HSA withdrawals.

Not for 2017 we don't.  We will starting in 2018.

I don't play to use money from the HSA and will just pay out of pocket and keep the HSA as an IRA account. 

Am I allowed to pay for 2017 expenses from an HSA that didn't start until 2018?

[rantk81]

I spent all year tracking all of our medical expenses and entering them into a spread sheet so come tax time I could easily summarize and deduct them.  Due to higher than expected income, and the unexpected sale of a rental property (resulting in about $65k LTGC), we are unable to deduct any of our medical expenses anyway.   72 rows of data complete with mileage and notes for no reason.

Do you have a HSA account? If so, that spreadsheet is very useful anyway for tracking reimbursable expenses for future HSA withdrawals.

Not for 2017 we don't.  We will starting in 2018.

I don't play to use money from the HSA and will just pay out of pocket and keep the HSA as an IRA account. 

Am I allowed to pay for 2017 expenses from an HSA that didn't start until 2018?

Unfortunately, no :(

[Sibley]

Today's MPP:

I have gotten into the habit of updating my net worth tracker approximately 1 week into the month. Didn't actually think about this in context of new year's, and now if I do it early then it'll be slightly wacky as compared to the rest of the data. Guess I'll have to wait a week.

In other MPPs, I just switched jobs. Am in the process of rolling over my 401k from previous job into my Vanguard account, which will make everything much easier for tracking. Except that there's a 1 month hold period before the rollover can actually happen, so it'll be about 2 weeks still. My next net worth update will still involve manually going to the website and typing in the numbers, since I can't link it to Quicken.

And Friday was the first paydate for new job. I had set up direct deposit for 2 accounts. One is a savings account, the other my checking. The money hit the savings account (Ally) Friday. Finally showed up today as pending at Chase. I really hope this goes a little faster in future, because I do my banking over the weekend and it would really suck if my paycheck was stuck in processing over the weekend all the time. Just makes it messy.

[dragoncar]

I have a handful of REIT stocks, many of them go ex dividend the 28th and 29th of this month.
The stock price usually drops about the same amount as the dividend, but I don't get the dividend until the middle of next month.

My MPP, I'm eagerly looking forward to my a NW calculation on 12-31-17, but the prices of my REITs dropped on ex dividend day and my account won't be credited with the dividend until next month. It's about $7,500 that won't show up.
 For my written record it won't be recorded, for my gratification, I'll mentaly add it in.

I feel this one, but FWIW I would definitely add it back in as an accrued asset to boost my 2017 numbers.  At this point it’s kinda silly to worry about a few hundred/thousand in my spreadsheet since I’m already FIRE but I just can’t help myself.  For example, mortgage payment is deducted every month from main account at the end of the month but it isn’t technically paid until the 1st.  So even though my NW drops the same amount each month, I consider it happened on the 1st for spreadsheet purposes even though I lose access to the cash a few days earlier

[dragoncar]

Here's mine: having to shuffle funds around a bit in order to free up cash to pre-pay our property taxes for next year, so we can maximize our deductions for 2017.

+1. I’ve had to do the exact same thing. When I asked a friend who lives in the same town if he was going to prepay, he said, “Why wouldn’t you just take that as next year’s deduction?”’ We have similar incomes,’so like us he’s going to be hurt by the SALT limit, but he wasn’t even aware of the fact the governor had passed emergency legislation so people could do just that.


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Luckily I put mine on a CC to meet minimum spend so that’s a problem for “next year me”.  2017 me is a real jerk though

[poko]

Finally made through all these posts! During the journey I had my own MPP -- I got the following in the mail:



They are about 23 years too early sending me this, though, as I'm 32 XD

[Fomerly known as something]

Having to reclassify my recent uses of Uber eats as Business Miscellaneous on my spending tracking site.  Actually having to do it for use at a restaurant or grocery store on any business trip. 

[shelivesthedream]

Couldn't get my SIM card out of my iPhone (switching to another, cheaper SIM-only contract) because we don't have any paperclips in the house because we never bought them "just cuz that's what you do" and have never actually needed a single paperclip. Turns out we've never received anything paperclipped either! Tried many many different implements and eventually managed it with a stitch ripper, but not until after much swearing.

[PMG]

Couldn't get my SIM card out of my iPhone (switching to another, cheaper SIM-only contract) because we don't have any paperclips in the house because we never bought them "just cuz that's what you do" and have never actually needed a single paperclip. Turns out we've never received anything paperclipped either! Tried many many different implements and eventually managed it with a stitch ripper, but not until after much swearing.

I’ve used a hair pin and a thumb tack. If you still have the box there is a special tool included in the papers.

[anotherAlias]

Between having a toenail removed the week before Christmas, traveling to my parents for four days and catching this year's plague being passed around by the kids,  I almost forgot to increase my 401k for the new max limit.  I got my update in just under the wire for the first January paycheck.  Sheesh, that $500 had me in a bit of a panic for a little bit. 

[shelivesthedream]

Couldn't get my SIM card out of my iPhone (switching to another, cheaper SIM-only contract) because we don't have any paperclips in the house because we never bought them "just cuz that's what you do" and have never actually needed a single paperclip. Turns out we've never received anything paperclipped either! Tried many many different implements and eventually managed it with a stitch ripper, but not until after much swearing.

I’ve used a hair pin and a thumb tack. If you still have the box there is a special tool included in the papers.

Further MPP: we don't own any drawing pins (thumb tacks) because we don't own a corkboard and we both have short wash-n-go haircuts so no hairpins required either! All these "life essentials" we have never needed! A millionaire is made one paper clip at a time!

[PMG]

Further MPP: we don't own any drawing pins (thumb tacks) because we don't own a corkboard and we both have short wash-n-go haircuts so no hairpins required either! All these "life essentials" we have never needed! A millionaire is made one paper clip at a time!

Hah!  The struggle is real!

I had a paper clip dilemma this summer when I needed to mail a huge assortment of documents for a Visa application.  They can’t be stapled but they needed to be organized somehow!  I was not going to buy a box of hundreds of paper clips just to use 5!  So I sorted through all my filing (one small bin...) and found enough to make it work. 

Hair pins has been another dilemma recently! When I was exiting my teenage years I realized that I had odd piles of hair accessories that I was really careless with because they came in large quantities.  I put away the excess and just kept a reasonable portion out for daily use.  I’m only now coming to the end of that stock pile of elastics and pins. For the past several years I’ve kept long hair and wear it up. Right before I left the States on my current adventure I lost my 10 year old wooden hair stick.  I searched everywhere.  Gone.  So I was using my dwindling assortment of metal pins (only one of which is narrow enough to remove an iPhone SIM card).  I was down to 6, I had to add in one of the last elastics (the elastics wear out quickly now because of age). I was checking all the shops but couldn’t find any bobby pins, just wide hair pins! Then I had an aggressive massage therapist/chiropractic appointment.  Down to 4 pins! Then I found bobby pins for $5 for 8!!  What?  8 was enough, but I couldn’t spend $5 on them! I just couldn’t believe they were that difficult to find or that expensive.  This week, quite by accident, in a store I look at thoroughly before, I found a packet of 20 bobby-pins for about $1.  Hopefully I won’t need any for another 15 years or so.

TL/DR:  Hair pins have been ridiculously hard to find and surprisingly expensive.

[ixtap]

Dang, I think DH threw out the pin tool that came with the new phone...

MPP: You can only do so many "clear out the pantry" challenges. More often than not, you just have to go grocery shopping.

[NoVa]

I have straightened a staple and used that to remove a SIM.

[Pooperman]

I have straightened a staple and used that to remove a SIM.

I've done that or used a paperclip

[LeRainDrop]

Couldn't get my SIM card out of my iPhone (switching to another, cheaper SIM-only contract) because we don't have any paperclips in the house because we never bought them "just cuz that's what you do" and have never actually needed a single paperclip. Turns out we've never received anything paperclipped either! Tried many many different implements and eventually managed it with a stitch ripper, but not until after much swearing.

I’ve used a hair pin and a thumb tack. If you still have the box there is a special tool included in the papers.

Further MPP: we don't own any drawing pins (thumb tacks) because we don't own a corkboard and we both have short wash-n-go haircuts so no hairpins required either! All these "life essentials" we have never needed! A millionaire is made one paper clip at a time!

I wear the same stud earrings pretty much every day.  I use one of those to pop out my phone's SIM card.

[shelivesthedream]

Couldn't get my SIM card out of my iPhone (switching to another, cheaper SIM-only contract) because we don't have any paperclips in the house because we never bought them "just cuz that's what you do" and have never actually needed a single paperclip. Turns out we've never received anything paperclipped either! Tried many many different implements and eventually managed it with a stitch ripper, but not until after much swearing.

I’ve used a hair pin and a thumb tack. If you still have the box there is a special tool included in the papers.

Further MPP: we don't own any drawing pins (thumb tacks) because we don't own a corkboard and we both have short wash-n-go haircuts so no hairpins required either! All these "life essentials" we have never needed! A millionaire is made one paper clip at a time!

I wear the same stud earrings pretty much every day.  I use one of those to pop out my phone's SIM card.

OH YES. This one I am saving for next time!

[Aegishjalmur]

MPP: DW just put in her notice as we are FIRE-ing at the end of February. I can't talk about this exciting news at work as they have no clue.

[Imma]

Due to new tax regulations, I will get paid €4 less every month. I will get it back through my tax return in summer 2019, but that basically means I'm giving an interest free loan to the government until then.

[Helvegen]

MPP: DW just put in her notice as we are FIRE-ing at the end of February. I can't talk about this exciting news at work as they have no clue.

Congrats!

I got my annual employer flat contribution to my HSA today. It won't be swept out to my investment account until Monday, but I want to invest NOOOWWWWW. /whine

[frugalnacho]

Due to new tax regulations, I will get paid €4 less every month. I will get it back through my tax return in summer 2019, but that basically means I'm giving an interest free loan to the government until then.

Change your withholding

[Imma]

Due to new tax regulations, I will get paid €4 less every month. I will get it back through my tax return in summer 2019, but that basically means I'm giving an interest free loan to the government until then.

Change your withholding

Well, apparantly the problem is that they're not allowed to withold the full amount of the standard deduction. That's how payroll explained it to me, and as it's all over the news, I guess they're right. I think this is some sort of unintended consequence of some new law. Apparantly it only affects part time workers.

[frugalnacho]

Due to new tax regulations, I will get paid €4 less every month. I will get it back through my tax return in summer 2019, but that basically means I'm giving an interest free loan to the government until then.

Change your withholding

Well, apparantly the problem is that they're not allowed to withold the full amount of the standard deduction. That's how payroll explained it to me, and as it's all over the news, I guess they're right. I think this is some sort of unintended consequence of some new law. Apparantly it only affects part time workers.

What are you talking about? Just submit a new W4 and increase your numbers of allowances until you are at the correct withholding.  If you put enough you can get your federal withholding to $0. 

[Dollar Slice]

Due to new tax regulations, I will get paid €4 less every month. I will get it back through my tax return in summer 2019, but that basically means I'm giving an interest free loan to the government until then.

Change your withholding

Well, apparantly the problem is that they're not allowed to withold the full amount of the standard deduction. That's how payroll explained it to me, and as it's all over the news, I guess they're right. I think this is some sort of unintended consequence of some new law. Apparantly it only affects part time workers.

What are you talking about? Just submit a new W4 and increase your numbers of allowances until you are at the correct withholding.  If you put enough you can get your federal withholding to $0.

You may wish to note that they are being paid in Euros and live in Europe.

[frugalnacho]

Due to new tax regulations, I will get paid €4 less every month. I will get it back through my tax return in summer 2019, but that basically means I'm giving an interest free loan to the government until then.

Change your withholding

Well, apparantly the problem is that they're not allowed to withold the full amount of the standard deduction. That's how payroll explained it to me, and as it's all over the news, I guess they're right. I think this is some sort of unintended consequence of some new law. Apparantly it only affects part time workers.

What are you talking about? Just submit a new W4 and increase your numbers of allowances until you are at the correct withholding.  If you put enough you can get your federal withholding to $0.

You may wish to note that they are being paid in Euros and live in Europe.

Ah my mistake, I did not notice that.  I see he/she is in Europe and used €. I have no idea how withholding or taxes work in Europe.

[Dollar Slice]

MPP: my asset allocation is slightly off-balance because I took the 'set it and forget it' thing too literally in my 401(k), and forgot one of the two funds I was investing in. I thought I had my 401(k) all in one fund (US index), and therefore invested extra money in the other fund (Int'l index) in my IRA to balance it out.

Although I think it's less of a 'problem' since it turns out the one I over-invested in outperformed the one I underinvested in by 2% or so...

[SquashingDebt]

I was excited that with the new HSA limit increase, I could contribute the tidy sum of $75 per paycheck to hit the limit (by combining with the $1500 my work puts in).  We switched to a new payroll system this month and the HSA contributions weren't taken out of our first check.  I thought I'd have to either miss my $75 contribution or try to change my contribution to a less-round number to get up to the max in the remaining 25 paychecks.

When I asked our head of HR, she offered to put twice as much in next paycheck to fix it, which is great (though she did say that I was being "really anal", which is true, haha).  So I guess now my MPP is that I spent political capital requesting a favor that shouldn't have even had to be asked for in the first place.

[MM_MG]

I exceeded the $54,000 cap to 401K contributions in 2017 and need to figure out how, and then proceed to correct it.   Sigh.

[RWD]

I exceeded the $54,000 cap to 401K contributions in 2017 and need to figure out how, and then proceed to correct it.   Sigh.

for three people?

$54k is the maximum total contributions allowed to a single 401k in 2017 (including employer matching and non-deferred contributions). $18k is the limit for employee contributions that can be tax deferred. I assume MM_MG is talking about the former.

[Imma]

My bike was stolen today. As if that's not bad enough, now I have to look into insuring or self-insuring the new bike I'll be buying this week. My old bike was so old it was practically worthless - to other people, not to me :(

[Imma]

I'm sorry to hear that, Imma! I hope that you're able to find a good deal on a used bike, to make the self-insurance easier.

Thanks. I felt a bit bad about it at first because I've had it for 10 years and saved up for it when I was a teenager earning €3,50/hour.
But then again, I was already planning on replacing it this year or next year, so it's not an unexpected expense.

I hope to be able to find an affordable, good quality used bike but I'm willing to buy new if I have to. I don't have a car and ride about 3000km/year. I've looked into insurance for a bit and prices are insane - 1/3 to 1/2 of the price of the bike - so I guess self-insurance is the only realistic option.

[afuera]

I exceeded the $54,000 cap to 401K contributions in 2017 and need to figure out how, and then proceed to correct it.   Sigh.

for three people?

$54k is the maximum total contributions allowed to a single 401k in 2017 (including employer matching and non-deferred contributions). $18k is the limit for employee contributions that can be tax deferred. I assume MM_MG is talking about the former.

I did not realize that, now I am sad that my employer doesn't contribute 36k to my 401k. :p

I don't think anyone's employers match that much!  The 54K includes after-tax contributions (which you would immediately convert to Roth).  For example, I contribute 18K as pretax and about 25K as after tax (which I immediately convert to Roth after each contribution).  My employer matches close to 10K which includes match and once a year company performance bonus which brings me pretty close to the 54K limit too.  @MM_MG shoot me a PM if you find out how to fix an overcontribution because I might need that knowledge here pretty soon....

[Linea_Norway]

My bike was stolen today. As if that's not bad enough, now I have to look into insuring or self-insuring the new bike I'll be buying this week. My old bike was so old it was practically worthless - to other people, not to me :(

Eventually, when your bike gets stolen often enough, you start buy8ng used bikes from someone who advertises to have mamy to choose from. At least that is what I did in the past. I think all those 50 or so bikes in the man's backyard were other people's stolen bikes.

[BTDretire]

I caught the guy that stole my bike, he got 4 days in jail and a $450 fine.
 Since then I have seen him twice, riding a different bike each time.
Hmm...

[Linea_Norway]

My bike was stolen today. As if that's not bad enough, now I have to look into insuring or self-insuring the new bike I'll be buying this week. My old bike was so old it was practically worthless - to other people, not to me :(

Eventually, when your bike gets stolen often enough, you start buy8ng used bikes from someone who advertises to have mamy to choose from. At least that is what I did in the past. I think all those 50 or so bikes in the man's backyard were other people's stolen bikes.

I don't understand. Are you trying to find your stolen bike this way so that you can report the seller-thief to police? Please don't go to suspicious meetings alone! My reluctance to buy stolen goods is a major deterrent to buying used tools and bikes, as they are frequently stolen in my city. Aside from it being a crime to buy stolen goods, I would be absolutely mortified to have a former owner accost me on the street if they recognized the bike!

No, I wasn't trying to find/catch the thief. I had my bike stolen several times when I was a poor student. So each time I tried to buy another bike as cheaply as possible. I found an add in the newspaper and found bikes for sale. I bought a bike for little money, but noticed that there were a lot of bikes in the man's back yard and started wondering later if this man was the dealer of stolen bikes. The man himself didn't look dangerous. It all went well and at that time (25 years ago) I didn't care if the bike I bought was stolen goods, as long as it was cheap.

[Fomerly known as something]

Preface, I am at a new dentist in a new town.  I basically self insure my teeth but my health insurance does provide some minimal coverage.

Having to spend five minutes listening to the check out clerk basically apologize for cost and assure me that my next appointment should be cheaper.  Also she give me warning that my coverage is crap (which I already know) and that work such as fillings could cost me money.  I smile while thinking, can I just pay you please.

Later in the afternoon I bring my cats into the vet, their yearly visit costs 2x the amount that I paid at the dentist, nobody apologized for the cost.

[Imma]

My bike was stolen today. As if that's not bad enough, now I have to look into insuring or self-insuring the new bike I'll be buying this week. My old bike was so old it was practically worthless - to other people, not to me :(

Eventually, when your bike gets stolen often enough, you start buy8ng used bikes from someone who advertises to have mamy to choose from. At least that is what I did in the past. I think all those 50 or so bikes in the man's backyard were other people's stolen bikes.

I'm keeping an eye on the internet to see if it turns up, but I've never wanted to buy bikes from people like that. I've also never needed to - I've always been offered free bikes by other people when I needed them. I was offered two free bikes already, one without working gears and brakes, one without a chain on it. I'm going to buy a proper bike, but if I couldn't afford that, I would have fixed up one of those.

In my hometown, I knew exactly where those guys lived, but in this city I just don't know where to look. In my town, they weren't dangerous - they were unemployed or retired older men trying to make some extra money. They weren't dangerous people, although I'm sure you'd get intro trouble if you'd try to take your bike back without payment.

[TomTX]

My MPP: I'm actually more excited about the free In-n-out burger ($2.75) offer on my BoA card than I am about the thousands of dollars in portfolio gains this week.

[EngineeringFI]

My mustachian people problem: my neighbors think I'm never home. For the longest time I couldn't figure out why they always thought this, but I've come to the conclusion it's because:
1. My garage isn't filled with crap, so I park my car in it. I've noticed most of my neighbors use their garage for storage and park in the driveway.
2. I don't leave lights on in rooms I'm not in, so my house must look dark from the outside.

The result is that whenever I see my neighbors they always say, "Hey! When did you get back in town?" And awkwardness follows...

[gerardc]

People keep buying me drinks when I go out with groups (eg. coworker today at pub) and I never ever pay them back because they dive in to buy the first round every time and all I want is a single Diet Coke and I'm good for the whole night, while they get through several beers. They don't seem to mind (obviously I'm a cheap date!), but I find it very awkward. I'd rather just buy my own drinks but insisting would be even more awkward.

Familiar one. I'm not unwilling to pay someone a drink, but they just always seem to want them sooner/more frequently than  me.

I was at dinner last night with my wife's friends (couple) and her dad. Bill came and I said something along the lines like just split 3 ways (with my card in hand)? It was basically even with the exception of my wife's dad who would've paid a little extra, but he wouldn't of cared. The other guy made a big deal saying it was his treat because he was staying with us. (He made the same show at breakfast when we stayed with him last fall because we were the guests).

 Like how am I supposed to react in that situation? There was no reason for him to pay the bill and it was all for attention showing what a great guy he is. He wanted a little resistance and he would do the awkward thing where he would quickly shove it to the waittress when we would object (this happened the previous time). Just don't like the feeling I owe him something or throwing money around.

I really hate that too. I have a couple of (incidentally, all male) friends (I'm female) who do this all the time up to the point where I now sometimes hesitate to meet up with them outside the home. It just feels extremely awkward. We are all in long-term relationships / married, so there are no expectations of something else on either side. They just seem to have this deep rooted feeling that they shouldn't let a woman pay. Sometimes they'll say "oh, I'll let you know how much you owe me when I get home" and then they never do. I'll remind them, but I do feel awkward sending a dozen reminders.

Right now I owe a friend about €25. I know it's not a lot of money and he has a good income, but still, to me it feels different than owing someone a drink or a coffee. We bought a friend a gift for a his birthday. We decided on the gift together (it's a practical item that the friend really needed at that point) but as he has a car and I don't, he was the one who went to buy it. It's been 6 weeks since the birthday and he still hasn't let me know how much I owe him / his bank account details so I can transfer the money. I sent him a reminder and he replied with something vague like 'oh, i'll check that out later'.

There are people who feel successful and powerful because they pay for other people's meals and drinks. I don't get it.

Personally, as an extremely independent woman, I have a problem with that because dammit, you're not in charge of me and hell no I am not going to "owe" anyone anything. I can pay my own way.... And then they get all offended and don't know how to deal with me. When it's really quite simple - treat me as an equal. But they seem incapable of doing that.

That bums me out too, as a guy. Sometimes I get the implicit assumption I should pay (by women or men), or there's another guy who pays a round of drinks and I feel I'm expected to do the next one (women wouldn't be paying). This bothers me because they're not frugal and it kinda forces me to spend -- I would pick a cheaper option or not drink much. I often end up compromising but not feeling too good about it, or sticking up to my ways and making others feel bad, thinking I don't like them... I wish expectations weren't like this.

It's hard to be frugal in night clubs without being judged. Of course all the staff is trying to get you to spend by making you feel cheap if you don't. Then if you join a table of people who are having bottle service, you may be expected to chip in (even without it having been made clear) or the guy(s) inviting feeling like he's a baller, but he's just ridiculous. Night clubs can be an experience, but are really the worst place to spend your money.