Author Topic: Pity from a paycheck to paycheck coworker  (Read 24153 times)

yahui168

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Re: Pity from a paycheck to paycheck coworker
« Reply #50 on: August 16, 2013, 08:05:32 PM »
Two friends at work made fun of my flip phone today.  But I didn't retaliate by making fun of their net worth.

I make fun of my own flip phone. I tell them how hard it was to get them because I have to win  them off Ebay. Imagine my surprise when I have to battle other people to buy a flip phone. I bought my wife's for $20 but had to go for broke and pay $30 for mine.

Katnina

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Re: Pity from a paycheck to paycheck coworker
« Reply #51 on: August 16, 2013, 11:20:02 PM »
We get some similar comments if I tell people that the BF and I live in a studio apartment.  Even though it's not *that* uncommon for a couple to share a studio in the Bay Area, AND our studio is huge (seriously, I like it much better than any of the 1-bedrooms we looked at), some people think it just sounds like torture.  My favorite was the look I got from a woman I know, you could just see her deciding that we much be really poor to be stuck in such a horrible situation :)

DH & I get remarks like that all the time bec we live in a 525 sq foot studio in manhattan.  They tend to shut the f up when I tell them I own it outright and we only pay $850/month to live on the upper west side...& that co-op fee includes gas/elec/central air conditioning & heat/doormen/gym in building/landscaped grounds/property taxes & it is 50% tax deductible bec half of our maintained payment goes to taxes & mortgage interest on the building. 
We often say that even if we had a bedroom, we'd spend 95% of our time at home together in the same room, as we just like being around each other.  And we save so much in living costs, relative to other manhattanites, that if we need to put up visitors in hotels because we don't have room for them to stay, we can.  Maintenance alone on a 1 Bedroom in our building would be $1200/month...that's a lot of hotel nights each year, even at manhattan prices!  And to upgrade to a 1br from our studio would be at least another $150k.  Not happening.  Ever.  We're childfree, so that's how I know for sure!
Here's to studios!
And if anyone else is curious about sharing a studio apartment, here's a blog post I wrote last year:
http://skinnyflints.tumblr.com/post/20614139437/five-tips-for-successful-cohabitation-in-a-studio

DocCyane

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Re: Pity from a paycheck to paycheck coworker
« Reply #52 on: August 17, 2013, 08:00:02 AM »
Most of my friends think I'm terribly poor. I post things on Facebook about saving money, cutting cable, eating rice and beans, and so forth. Usually I get no response, like people don't want to be near my "poverty".

But I've won over one young woman who still has plenty of time to change the financial course of her life and I feel fantastic because of it. She is now a Mustachian and learning how to save and invest.

Win!

I feel if I'm not "out and proud" as a saver who diligently considers every purchase, my friends are only hearing consumerist messages. I tell them about my dumpster dive wins. I share my thrifty purchasing successes. Let them think me crazy and poor.

mariarose

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Re: Pity from a paycheck to paycheck coworker
« Reply #53 on: August 17, 2013, 08:27:55 AM »
DocCyane,

I would facebook friend you, if I knew how to find you....  We love stuff like that.

ender

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Re: Pity from a paycheck to paycheck coworker
« Reply #54 on: August 17, 2013, 08:58:05 AM »
Two friends at work made fun of my flip phone today.  But I didn't retaliate by making fun of their net worth.

I have a flip phone as well, for a variety of reasons.

People seem incapable of understanding why anyone would choose to stop having a smartphone to a flip phone.

Adventine

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Re: Pity from a paycheck to paycheck coworker
« Reply #55 on: August 17, 2013, 09:55:09 AM »
DocCyane,

I would facebook friend you, if I knew how to find you....  We love stuff like that.

I would as well. I've had the same problems posting stuff about frugality and investing. People just don't want to hear it!

grantmeaname

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Re: Pity from a paycheck to paycheck coworker
« Reply #56 on: August 17, 2013, 02:47:07 PM »
Most of my friends think I'm terribly poor. I post things on Facebook about saving money, cutting cable, eating rice and beans, and so forth. Usually I get no response, like people don't want to be near my "poverty".

But I've won over one young woman who still has plenty of time to change the financial course of her life and I feel fantastic because of it. She is now a Mustachian and learning how to save and invest.

Win!

I feel if I'm not "out and proud" as a saver who diligently considers every purchase, my friends are only hearing consumerist messages. I tell them about my dumpster dive wins. I share my thrifty purchasing successes. Let them think me crazy and poor.

Hell yes! Every time I see the grumpy threads from people whose friends and family just don't get it, I have to weigh that against the small handful of friends that are Mustachian converts thanks to my willingness to talk about frugality. Their lives are better for Mustachianism, and mine is better because I have other people walking the same road as me!

Rural

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Re: Pity from a paycheck to paycheck coworker
« Reply #57 on: August 17, 2013, 04:04:47 PM »
Quote
it's 8% of my income for (so far) more years than some younger Mustachians have been alive that I'll never see again, let alone collect any interest on.

When I was about 10, my mom explained to me that the she didn't mind paying money into Social Security.  She said she thought it would be gone before she'd ever retire, but she viewed it as her contribution to Granny (my Great Grandmother) who was nearly blind but still living in her own house and collecting the benefit.  Now I view it the same way:  I pay it, she and my Dad collect it.  It's highly unlikely that the math works out exactly right, but that's okay.  It still makes me feel better, and my parents would resist taking money from their children directly.


... and when I'm in a better mood than I was when I posted that yesterday, I feel the same way (or at least I try to). But we are also contributing some to the support of my in-laws and may end up housing them, so I'm not sure it evens out at all (my folks were Mustachian before it was cool).

FunkyStickman

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Re: Pity from a paycheck to paycheck coworker
« Reply #58 on: August 17, 2013, 05:38:26 PM »
Most of my friends think I'm terribly poor. I post things on Facebook about saving money, cutting cable, eating rice and beans, and so forth. Usually I get no response, like people don't want to be near my "poverty".

But I've won over one young woman who still has plenty of time to change the financial course of her life and I feel fantastic because of it. She is now a Mustachian and learning how to save and invest.

Win!

I feel if I'm not "out and proud" as a saver who diligently considers every purchase, my friends are only hearing consumerist messages. I tell them about my dumpster dive wins. I share my thrifty purchasing successes. Let them think me crazy and poor.

Hell yes! Every time I see the grumpy threads from people whose friends and family just don't get it, I have to weigh that against the small handful of friends that are Mustachian converts thanks to my willingness to talk about frugality. Their lives are better for Mustachianism, and mine is better because I have other people walking the same road as me!

This is the whole reason I'm here. You guys (and gals) get it.

Roses

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Re: Pity from a paycheck to paycheck coworker
« Reply #59 on: August 17, 2013, 06:04:19 PM »
Heh, there is a poster at the early-retirement.org boards who is an avid cyclist.  He used to bike to work and then shower, put on the business casual drag, and go to his desk.  At one point he got an email warning everyone to watch out for that "homeless" guy who was sneaking in to use the shower every morning and eventually figured out they were referring to him.

Best story ever.

This is ripe with possibility. If this were me I would make it my number one priority to give my co-workers the biggest mind-fuck possible. Dress especially "homeless" and then come out of the bathroom all nicely groomed. "What? No, I haven't seen any homeless people recently."

This reminds me of something that happened to my dad before he retired from teaching at the University.  He used to ride his bike to class every day but he didn't believe in bike gear.  So he would just ride in his teaching clothes.  One day he got caught in a rain storm and arrived at the university all wet.  Luckily he had a few minutes before class so he went in the men's room and started drying off under the hand blower.  He had hung his jacket over a sink and taken off his shoes.  Then another professor (whom he was acquainted with but not close) walked in.  Apparently he didn't recognize my dad in that state because when my dad asked "Say, do you have the time?"  The man responded "No! I don't have a dime!" and ran out of the room.