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FrozenVent posted:Plus UHS is the result of a societal choice to have, you know, free healthcare. $7 isn't free. Healthcare isn't free just because there's no up front cost. I'm a totes a bleeding heart pinko on social issues but they don't happen in a vacuum devoid of fiscal constraints. Look at the province of Ontario to see bad with money in the form of a political party - the current healthcare model is not sustainable. On a note of levity, reddit brings us the following for our amusement: quote:My husband is convinced he can make us rich with currency trading. He basically wants to do this instead of looking for a fulltime job. He has done a huge amount of research on it but has never made a single real trade, only a practice account with imaginary money...He is convinced that he can't get a decent regular job anymore and needs to think outside the box. I think it's a nutty get-rich-quick scheme. Can't see any flaws with that plan, no-siree. 
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May 21, 2014 03:07
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Guest2553 posted:Can't see any flaws with that plan, no-siree. Take out $50,000 in savings. Put it on black in roulette five times at a table able to support that limit (warning, these might not exist). You either have enough to retire on or you're out $50k. Much less trouble than currency trading.
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May 21, 2014 04:01
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Edit: removed accidental post
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May 21, 2014 04:05
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Blackjack2000 posted:Edit: removed accidental post Yeah, he said roulette, not blackjack 
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May 21, 2014 04:30
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baquerd posted:Take out $50,000 in savings. Put it on black in roulette five times at a table able to support that limit (warning, these might not exist). You either have enough to retire on or you're out $50k. Post works perfectly if you just read "currency trading" as "online poker" as well. Hm.
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May 21, 2014 04:56
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LogisticEarth posted:Don't look into how much we pay for interest on the federal debt, and unlike Iraq and Afghanistan that's not going away. Isn't most of that coming back to American investors though?
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May 21, 2014 15:42
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LorneReams posted:Isn't most of that coming back to American investors though? Isn't China the largest holder of US debt at the moment?
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May 21, 2014 15:44
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FrozenVent posted:Isn't China the largest holder of US debt at the moment? No, they only hold like 8% or so.
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May 21, 2014 15:45
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FrozenVent posted:Isn't China the largest holder of US debt at the moment? http://www.factcheck.org/2013/11/who-holds-our-debt/
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May 21, 2014 16:03
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FrozenVent posted:Isn't China the largest holder of US debt at the moment? They are the largest foreign holder I believe.
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May 21, 2014 16:03
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I know banks hold a LOT of US bonds to back their reserves.
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May 21, 2014 16:09
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LorneReams posted:Isn't most of that coming back to American investors though? Generally the rich and powerful, yes. However, it's not like money spent on paying defense contractors goes up into smoke. It goes into corporate interests as well. At least in that case you kinda get some decent middle class jobs from building tanks and shipping bombs or whatever. Interest is just going straight into the bank.
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May 21, 2014 17:50
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I both love and detest this thread. The loving worst tangents ever. Checks. Braces. Foreign ownership of debt? No one cares about that stupid poo poo, I just want to hear about the man or woman who spent their last $100 to take a loan out on last year's flat screen TV instead of paying rent. Is that too much to ask?
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May 21, 2014 17:55
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I have another story about a my wife's friend's sister-in-law. A few months ago I posted a story about how after her divorce she quit her cushy government job and used her half of the proceeds from selling the family house to do some Eat, Pray, Love bullshit and tried to open a yoga studio. Within about 8 months she was broke and living in her Mom's basement with her 2 kids. She found a contract job at an elementary school this winter, managed to save up a few bucks and moved back out. Knowing that the job only lasted until the end of the school year she opted not to save any more money and is now nearly broke, about to be jobless again and is moving back home after about 3 months of independence. The problem is that her aunt is currently using the Mom's basement because she just sold her home and needed a place to stay for a couple of months while her new condo is being finished. Long story short, the Aunt is now staying with a friend and isn't speaking to that part of the family.
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May 21, 2014 18:26
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Strong Sauce posted:I both love and detest this thread. The loving worst tangents ever. Checks. Braces. Foreign ownership of debt? No one cares about that stupid poo poo, I just want to hear about the man or woman who spent their last $100 to take a loan out on last year's flat screen TV instead of paying rent. Is that too much to ask? Fine. Here's one: Some sellers on Craigslist are bad with money. I was in the market for a motorcycle, and had my eye on a few different make/model/year ranges. I did the smart thing, which is to watch craigslist for a few weeks, set bookmarks, and see what stuff was actually getting sold for. If a guy lists a motorcycle for $3k on Friday and the listing is gone on Monday, I can assume that it has been sold for something close to asking price. I saw a motorcycle come up that should have been about $3200, with an asking price of $2500. I called the guy within 10 minutes of the ad being up, met up with him 30 minutes later, and was riding away within 90 minutes of his ad being posted. He mentioned at the bank that "Gee, I've had 8 missed calls from other people calling about this since we started driving to the bank". Yeah, that's because you listed a smoking deal. He was selling this perfectly serviceable motorcycle so he could buy a BRAND NEW sport bike (and his driving record is so bad that he has to insure it in his mom's name). I bet he needed $2500 for the down payment, and that's where he set his price. I rode it for a year, put 10,000 miles on it (went from 14k miles to 24k miles), and sold it for $3,000. Original seller could have gotten another $500-700 easy, if he had been smarter about setting his asking price. On the flip side, there are people with hilariously high ideas of what their stuff is worth on craigslist. Sorry dude, nobody is going to buy your 2013 Ford Focus with gaudy rims for $16k. But please, go ahead and repost it 3 times a day just in case.
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May 21, 2014 18:45
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Similarly, playstation 4s usually go for about 375 on craigslist, console only. It's used so 25 dollars off makes sense, even more so if you consider tax. These are usually systems that don't come with any games or anything. Guy sold a ps4 then other day for $370, and it included 2 ($60) games, and an extra controller ($50). After tax, he was pretty much giving it away at 230 dollars off. They weren't like Lego Indiana jones games either. So I got it. I was saving for one anyway and pretty much robbed the guy. I mean, he could've gotten 450 easily. A year ago this would've been a story about me being bad with money...
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May 21, 2014 19:03
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Well yeah, stolen poo poo tends to be sold cheaper then non-stolen poo poo.
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May 21, 2014 19:06
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Nah he had his receipt and everything. He used a gift card on the ps4 and I paid less for everything than he did for the console alone. Nice family. They took one of my parents dogs in when they moved cause she was super neurotic and wouldn't me have survived the trip across the ocean. Another story: It's kinda classified as bad with money but it's more just boring. One of my roommates has a 3d printer, which is killer, but he doesn't make like anything useful. Except for a hundred spare parts for the printer itself. Like, he has a webcam aimed at it so he can monitor prints away from home, but instead of printing a little enclosure for it, he just has it strung up with zip ties. What? Why?! He also bought an edge trimmer (aka weed whacker) yesterday for god knows how much. Two of us are moving soon and he'll be out a lawn mower. But no, it's ok, he got an edger. I bet he'll be late on rent again...
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May 21, 2014 19:12
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I don't think you even can make anything useful with a 3d printer, I think just getting it working at all is a hobby in itself. Once it's complete it's no fun anymore.
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May 21, 2014 19:32
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Strong Sauce posted:I both love and detest this thread. The loving worst tangents ever. Checks. Braces. Foreign ownership of debt? No one cares about that stupid poo poo, I just want to hear about the man or woman who spent their last $100 to take a loan out on last year's flat screen TV instead of paying rent. Is that too much to ask? There was a thread on here a few years ago where some guy (the thread's OP, I believe) signed some kind of crazy lease-to-own contract for a car. The eventual cost over the life of the contract was $40,000+. The car? A Nissan Sentra.
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May 21, 2014 19:54
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I've got nothing first hand, but this episode of Bar Rescue made me want to strangle somebody. http://www.spike.com/episodes/81jluh/bar-rescue-yo-ho-ho-and-a-bottle-of-dumb-season-2-ep-201 I think you can watch the whole episode on the site. But I can't verify it because I'm at work.
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May 21, 2014 20:05
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Folly posted:I've got nothing first hand, but this episode of Bar Rescue made me want to strangle somebody. That's the episode about the pirate themed bar that was in a prime location, they turned it into "Corporate America" Bar&Grill, made a killing, then the owner changed it back to pirate bar 2000 because of nostalgia right? And the owner was living in their parents basement and upside down on loans to operate it as well, right?
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May 21, 2014 20:08
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Yeah that's the one. Although if you want "bad with money", my favorite Bar Rescue example is the manager who was buying the bar from the owner, who was in the process of running into the ground, via some sort of verbal agreement that involved a down payment, monthly payments over years and a balloon payment. Long story short if the agreement had run its course she would have paid three times what the bar was worth, and if the owner had croaked before hand his son would have gotten the bar and she would have gotten zilch. The show brought in a lawyer and she got out of the deal... I think she got her money back.
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May 21, 2014 20:11
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LLCoolJD posted:There was a thread on here a few years ago where some guy (the thread's OP, I believe) signed some kind of crazy lease-to-own contract for a car. The eventual cost over the life of the contract was $40,000+. The car? A Nissan Sentra. Altima 
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May 21, 2014 20:12
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FrozenVent posted:Yeah that's the one. She got her money back, quit and became head bartender somewhere else. My wife got an extra $100 for mileage in her last paycheck & promptly blew it on a grill ("The old one doesn't cook evenly!"  )Guess how much she's hit me up for in the past week for gas?
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May 21, 2014 20:19
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oldskool posted:My wife got an extra $100 for mileage in her last paycheck & promptly blew it on a grill ("The old one doesn't cook evenly!" I hope you screamed at her that she should be ashamed while nodding your head up and down and wagging your finger.
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May 21, 2014 20:20
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FrozenVent posted:Yeah that's the one. Holy poo poo. Welp, time for a marathon. And ya, I think the pirate lady also had a kid who lived in the basement with her. But the thing that really killed me was that she tore out that huge expensive renovation. I mean, I kinda get it. She had to have a pirate clubhouse to feed her mid-life crisis or whatever. Therapy would be cheaper, but you can't always convince people to go. WHY THE gently caress DO YOU HAVE TO OPEN YOUR PIRATE BAR IN YOUR PRIME, REMODELED LOCATION THAT'S MAKING BANK? Keep that bar open, use the profits to fund your clubhouse in some other place. I mean, it's not like you're going to have any customers anyhow - you've already proven that.
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May 21, 2014 20:25
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There was a goon in the TVIV thread (Probably archived by now) that was a regular at that bar, and he said the new bar didn't make that much money, the decor was cheap and they had to take out the self-service equipment due to county regulation. Not that I'd have ever stepped foot in that bar with the Pirate theme, but there you have it. I don't doubt that they'll go bankrupt in due time, however. Bar Rescue's great entertainment, but a documentary it is not.
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May 21, 2014 20:29
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Nocheez posted:Altima Good memory! I searched Google and found the thread on Archive.org. In that thread I had made a funny image of the dying townsman from the original Diablo pleading the OP's case, and I was particularly proud of it, but that has been lost to eternity. Here's the actual OP, minus some block quotes: quote:
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May 21, 2014 21:13
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That entire thread is gold and I can't believe it hasn't already been linked ITT. drat you, archives.
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May 21, 2014 21:18
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You need the picture for that to be even more hilarious. The picture of the thing he's signing that specifically states "TOTAL PRICE OVER X YEARS: $42,000" or whatever it was. It was in clear English, could not be more easy to see what the total price is, but he's surprised and dumb.
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May 21, 2014 21:38
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Bar Rescue is by far the best :badwithmoney: thing to watch ever. There was one rescue that he walked out on where the owner kept on an employee that started a fight with a customer. I mean... liability out the wazoo. Most of these people should have never even imagined going into the bar business because they literally have zero ethics. Most of them are happy to let a customer get so drunk they pass out on the walk home. Another episode literally had a grease fire in one of the horrid fryers and I watched in horror as the chef looked horribly confused and unsure about what to do. They finally found some salt and started throwing it on but by then the fire was too big and they then found a fire extinguisher which was also DEAD and then had to go and find yet another extinguisher that was actually full. It was insane and I'm incredibly surprised that no one died or was horribly disfigured. I actually feel that it is ethically wrong to help these people get out of debt because they aren't fixing their actual problems which is inability to manage and just general lack of knowledge about how a bar and kitchen should be run. Most of them don't even have the concept of how to work with their employees at all. silicone thrills fucked around with this message at 21:55 on May 21, 2014 |
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May 21, 2014 21:52
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Folly posted:I've got nothing first hand, but this episode of Bar Rescue made me want to strangle somebody. Every episode of that show makes me want to strangle someone because they all start "I like bars but have never worked in one in my whole life so I will cash out my 401k from my real job, buy a failing one, not change it in any way, run it absolutely into the ground but BY GOD IF YOU TRY TO MAKE ME CLEAN OR INSTITUTE BASIC INDUSTRY STANDARDS OR PAY MY EMPLOYEES OR CHANGE MY TERRIBLE NAME TO MARKET BETTER, SO HELP ME GOD!!!! I've worked in the industry for nearly 15 years. I loving hate bars/restaurants owned by people who have never worked in one. always a recipe for disaster. People who have worked in bars for decades can't always make a bar profitable, what the gently caress makes you think you can?!
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May 21, 2014 22:01
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I worked for a bar that was basically a front for sports gambling and they said do whatever I wanted and I shocked them by actually making money on the bar which had lost them money for years (they didn't give a poo poo for obvious reasons).
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May 21, 2014 22:17
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The central theme of Bar Rescue is that you need to put the numbers - whether money or market share - ahead of your emotions. It's a very BFC show. I mean look at most of the owners, they absolutely refuse to change the name of the bar. Your bar has a bad reputation, the name has no value and it's not attracting customer. Not changing it is irrational; you have to run a business rationally. These guys... Don't. There was also the guy who refused to pay his employees because TAXES, but that was  to a level beyond this thread.
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May 21, 2014 22:34
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There was also an episode on Bourbon street, home of takeaway booze cups, where the remodel included a fancy new cup that cost $30 each. Talk about bad with money
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May 21, 2014 23:18
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FrozenVent posted:That entire thread is gold and I can't believe it hasn't already been linked ITT. http://www.nissanclub.com/forums/2007-2012-nissan-altima-discussion-2-5-3-5/271758-45-000-altima.html
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May 21, 2014 23:27
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22 Eargesplitten posted:There was also an episode on Bourbon street, home of takeaway booze cups, where the remodel included a fancy new cup that cost $30 each. Talk about bad with money The flashing to go cup is $15, which is perfectly standard for Bourbon St, although $30 would not be insane for one in a tourist trap. In some ways, making a bar fail just means you're really stupid. Liquor is around a 300% mark up... For instance, if I sell a single well drink, I more pay for the bottle. I can count on another 15-16 pours from it. Many of the places they're revamping are total dives in economically run down towns, so they probably have to sell two. Say you encourage a heavy pour, you still get 12 more out of a bottle. Quit blowing it.
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May 21, 2014 23:56
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No, he meant the cup itself - the plastic receptacle - was something like $35, wholesale. Last I heard the owner was trying to source it cheaper, so maybe they've managed that since.
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May 21, 2014 23:57
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FrozenVent posted:No, he meant the cup itself - the plastic receptacle - was something like $35, wholesale. Last I heard the owner was trying to source it cheaper, so maybe they've managed that since. Source on that? I have worked with Taffer previously and am friends/former coworkers with many of the "experts" who consult on the show, I have a hard time believing he'd make so poor a decision. If he did, that's loving crazy.
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May 22, 2014 00:02
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