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100 HOGS AGREE posted:BFC, for the first time in my life I literally have more money than I know what to do with. Are you maxing IRA and 401k? Fully-funded emergency fund? Then it's hookers or taxable account time!
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Aug 1, 2014 14:14
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I've always wanted to light an expensive cigar with a hundred dollar bill. Do that... And then post the pictures in BFC to give everyone a seizure.
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Aug 1, 2014 15:52
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100 HOGS AGREE posted:BFC, for the first time in my life I literally have more money than I know what to do with. The more money you have the more leverage you have in life. This is why some of my co-workers make less than they deserve and other co-workers make what they deserve or more. The ones that make less need the job and therefore are scared to complain or make demands. The ones that could get by without work or survive on minimum wage if they had to are paid more because they can afford to risk making demands. Sephiroth_IRA posted:Sold my old house today! I walked away with 12k not including the 8k Obummer gave me when I bought it when it was in foreclosure. Thank god I bought into that neighborhood as well.
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Aug 1, 2014 18:58
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Sephiroth_IRA posted:The ones that could get by without work or survive on minimum wage or could easily find a new job if they had to are paid more because they can afford to risk making demands. Missing a key part here as well. The concept of supply and demand applies to labor as well, but unfortunately it doesn't really have the linear meritocratic outcome that libertarians would like to think. It instead has an exponential effect.
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Aug 1, 2014 19:22
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more wedding expenses ahoy! Honeymoon to Maui: $588 for plane tickets for both of us thanks to my Alaska visa companion fare. Going to stay in my mom's house while she's visiting over here, so that'll be free. Wedding rings: $150 for his, $200 for mine. The engagement ring ended up being $200 with the fitting added in. Wedding invitations: $20 for the cards, $32 for the screenprinting screen Dress fitting/pressing will end up being $400 which is ridiculous for a $450 dress but w/e. $15 for a veil. Photographer is the main expense at $1000. Which is a lot, but we'll also get some band photos out of it, hoho! My mom's friend agreed to act as the officiary for free. We'll be doing a beach potluck for the small family reception, then a cocktail party at night for the second (crazy balls) reception where we invite everyone. With the venue fee ($273) we're now at $3328 for everything. Things I haven't paid for yet: chairs, food and drinks for potluck, food and drinks for cocktail reception, suit/suit rental for the boy. Bouquet I think I'm making with a friend. Somebody tell me all the things I'm missing!
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Aug 1, 2014 20:46
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Nail Rat posted:Are you maxing IRA and 401k? Fully-funded emergency fund? lol no this is mostly going towards my private student loan.
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Aug 1, 2014 21:20
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moana posted:With the venue fee ($273) we're now at $3328 for everything. Wow. Your total budgeted so far is less than my venue fee. Good work.
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Aug 2, 2014 08:45
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100 HOGS AGREE posted:lol no this is mostly going towards my private student loan. Well then you don't have more money than you know what to do with!
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Aug 2, 2014 09:52
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We're moving to Florida at the end of August. We've got a dryer, but we won't have a washer. Any suggestions on the best place to buy a washer? We could buy one locally before we move, but I'd rather wait until we get to our destination in case we have to deal with any warranty issues. I'm basically just wondering in case people have any specific recommendations of recommended stores, or stores to avoid? I'll probably look at Consumer Reports to get actual machine recommendations, hoping to only spend $300-500 for one.
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Aug 3, 2014 20:15
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After 15 months of negotiations and an entire school year working without a contract… we have a tentative agreement!  Not too many changes from previous incarnations, but we do get a 1.25% (of base salary) incentive bonus on this month's paycheck. And another 0.5% in June. Plus now I get paid extra to put together portfolios for the alternative state assessments. Woo! Since the contract is retroactive, I should even get hours from the ones I did last year. Altogether it maybe adds up to an extra 1k, but, hey, I'll take it! Maybe I can buy a dining room table and chairs for my empty dining room? That'd be nice!
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Aug 3, 2014 22:14
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Juanito posted:We're moving to Florida at the end of August. We've got a dryer, but we won't have a washer. Any suggestions on the best place to buy a washer? We could buy one locally before we move, but I'd rather wait until we get to our destination in case we have to deal with any warranty issues. Sears has a scratch and dent outlet. Usually pretty good deals on a functionally new appliance. Not sure I'd do it for a refrigerator where the damage would be visible, but for a laundry? gently caress cosmetics
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Aug 4, 2014 01:06
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I made a mistake today. I ate out. In addition to eating out, I covered my two friends for lunch and drinks. I blew more than half of my restaurant budget in the first weekend of the month.  Guess this is a good opportunity to get better at cooking.
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Aug 4, 2014 02:06
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Sounds like you got 2 lunches and drinks coming your way though...
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Aug 4, 2014 02:43
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Found out two things today: a) The auto-pay for my bus pass does not go through when I expected it to; b) My credit union will charge any overdraft from my checking account to my credit card, apparently with no fee  I assume it's at the cash advance rate, but since I pay it off monthly  As much as I bitch about Desjardins, there are a few cool things that they do.
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Aug 4, 2014 02:46
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After losing my job and having to get a near minimum wage job I've finally got my budget straight and I am starting to save again. It's only 40 a month, but considering I have a newborn I think that's pretty good!
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Aug 4, 2014 02:47
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FrozenVent posted:Found out two things today: Cash advances normally start accumulating interest immediately (which is why I never use them). You probably need to pay the whole balance right away, in order to avoid owing much in interest. I believe they normally apply any payment to the non-interest bearing amount first, which is why I say pay the whole balance.
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Aug 4, 2014 14:08
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anitsirK posted:I believe they normally apply any payment to the non-interest bearing amount first, which is why I say pay the whole balance. Not any more. The 'Credit CARD Act of 2009' (for the most part) requires them to apply payments to the highest interest bearing amount first.
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Aug 4, 2014 15:21
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Zhentar posted:Not any more. The 'Credit CARD Act of 2009' (for the most part) requires them to apply payments to the highest interest bearing amount first. Payments above the minimum payment. IIRC the minimum payment amount doesn't follow those rules (I believe it is applied proportionally).
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Aug 4, 2014 23:12
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Zhentar posted:Not any more. The 'Credit CARD Act of 2009' (for the most part) requires them to apply payments to the highest interest bearing amount first. I assume that's an American act, since you guys use punny acronyms for laws for some reason.  Not sure if anything similar has changed recently here, but I'm pretty sure FrozenVent's in Canada, based on the bank being Desjardins (though admittedly, Desjardins seems to have a Florida presence for snowbirds, so I suppose FrozenVent could be there). I know the last time I read my terms and conditions, they said it applied to the card purchases first.
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Aug 5, 2014 01:27
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Juanito posted:We're moving to Florida at the end of August. We've got a dryer, but we won't have a washer. Any suggestions on the best place to buy a washer? We could buy one locally before we move, but I'd rather wait until we get to our destination in case we have to deal with any warranty issues. I bought a washer and dryer set on Craigslist for $200 about 3.5 years ago. They work and aren't particularly ugly. Protip: look up the sellers' addresses and choose the one who lives in the neighborhood with the highest rent. I came in here to brag, but not about that. I am getting married in two weeks. The license cost $60, the fee for the officiant is going to be $20, and we are going out for drinks and food after at a local craft beer bar. We're both wearing shorts, tee shirts, and sandals. Our rings are tungston carbide. Total cost is going to be under $200. We're going backpacking later this fall, and using his REI employee discount, clearance racks, and general bargain hunting, we're getting a full suit of nice new backpacking gear for under $500, and that plus a tank of gas is all we have to spend for this trip, and all the similar trips after that. The cool thing is, we didn't choose this for frugality reasons. This is actually exactly how we want to get married and honeymoon. I think that's the One Weird Trick of frugality actually... just learn to want inexpensive things.
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Aug 5, 2014 13:39
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T. J. Eckleburg posted:We're going backpacking later this fall, and using his REI employee discount, clearance racks, and general bargain hunting, we're getting a full suit of nice new backpacking gear for under $500, and that plus a tank of gas is all we have to spend for this trip, and all the similar trips after that. Very nice, although there is no way you are getting nice gear for back packing for 2 people for under $500. Even getting a bunch of stuff on pro form deals and that is impossible. Spending an extra couple hundred to reduce 3-5 lbs of weight is worth the money when you backpack. Or you guys already have a bunch of gear. My wife and I went back packing for our honeymoon as well. 5 nights 37 miles. Lots of fun. I suggest sometime in the future doing a more relaxing trip as well (we went to Hawaii).
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Aug 5, 2014 13:50
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CreditKarma added a free credit report feature that's currently in Beta - it shows your closed accounts and such now, pretty cool!
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Aug 5, 2014 15:43
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Not starting another car debate, but I did end up buying a new car. Here, have a lovely picture. It's a 2015 hyundai sonata. We financed about half and hopefully we'll be able to pay off the remainder within a year or so. Despite the knee-jerk reaction to writing a big check, it's weird and nice driving a new car.
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Aug 5, 2014 16:24
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Inexpensive car with a good warranty. Could be worse.
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Aug 5, 2014 16:28
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spwrozek posted:Very nice, although there is no way you are getting nice gear for back packing for 2 people for under $500. Even getting a bunch of stuff on pro form deals and that is impossible. Spending an extra couple hundred to reduce 3-5 lbs of weight is worth the money when you backpack. Or you guys already have a bunch of gear. Depends if they're going backpacking-travelling or backpacking-hiking. I've done the former and just took normal clothes/shoes with me, it was quite cheap. The only things I specifically bought for travelling were a medical kit and the backpack itself.
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Aug 5, 2014 16:37
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You are right. I was assuming 5-7 day overnight. I don't even want to think about how much money I have tied up in backpacking gear... (I would guess around $2500...)
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Aug 5, 2014 16:54
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spwrozek posted:You are right. I was assuming 5-7 day overnight. I don't even want to think about how much money I have tied up in backpacking gear... (I would guess around $2500...) We already had a pro-dealed a tent, sleeping pad, and a 75L backpack a while ago. I had picked up a 65L backpack at a garage sale earlier this year. We got extra sleeping pad that his family wasn't using for free. Right now we're buying a stove ($80), 2 20-degree sleeping bags (~$100 each), cooking and flatware ($30), a water filter ($30), and headlamps (one was free from REI because it was returned broken and he fixed it, the other $20). I've done a lot of camping (car and short hike-in) but never backpacking. Our trip is for 3 nights. He used to backpack with the boy scouts but it's been a while. So, we might be neglecting something but I think that's it for about $360 out of pocket now. However, we paid $400 total for the backpacks, sleeping pad, and tent a over the past 6-12 months, which was actually offset by the $400 of graduation gift money I got from my parents this past spring. I'm not counting food or fuel, but you gotta buy food and cook it whether you're camping or not so...
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Aug 5, 2014 17:13
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T. J. Eckleburg posted:We already had a pro-dealed a tent, sleeping pad, and a 75L backpack a while ago. I had picked up a 65L backpack at a garage sale earlier this year. We got extra sleeping pad that his family wasn't using for free. Right now we're buying a stove ($80), 2 20-degree sleeping bags (~$100 each), cooking and flatware ($30), a water filter ($30), and headlamps (one was free from REI because it was returned broken and he fixed it, the other $20). What stove? I bought one of these for my son: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004U8CP88/ and I've been pretty impressed with it for the whole 2 times we've used it. The downside is that it literally ships on the slow boat from China, so timing concerns may prevent you from using it. I also can't recommend this thing enough: http://www.bakepacker.com/ If you're backpacking where there's water, it's great. And you can carry a ton of calories worth of great tasting food (muffins, cakes, breads, etc) for not much weight because you pack it dried. Your trip sounds awesome.
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Aug 5, 2014 17:26
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I'm always baffled at how people stick with enormous >45L packs. They weigh like 5-10 pounds on their own and no human needs that much poo poo unless you buy the cheapest department store tents and sleeping bags, in which case you'll be miserable because of the weight and poor quality. I have a 22l that I use for ultralighting, but that's probably more hardship than most people would enjoy because you have to eat dry/cold and be comfortable trail washing your socks and underwear. And if anything breaks it can get dicey because you only have things you need and only one of them.
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Aug 5, 2014 17:27
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On the subject of hiking, I bought a pair of danners for $200 last month. An impulse purchase for sure but man are they comfy.
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Aug 5, 2014 18:30
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tuyop posted:I'm always baffled at how people stick with enormous >45L packs. They weigh like 5-10 pounds on their own and no human needs that much poo poo unless you buy the cheapest department store tents and sleeping bags, in which case you'll be miserable because of the weight and poor quality. Like I said, I've never done it before, but I know half a dozen people who've hiked the AT and recommended I get something in the 55-75L range for 3-7 day hikes. However, I feel like I am more likely to personally prefer the "carry more poo poo, go slower, have everything you need and then some" school of thought than the ultralight style. That said, I'll probably pick up something in the 30L range before he leaves REI, for short hikes and maybe ultralighting someday. Folly posted:What stove? I bought one of these for my son: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004U8CP88/ and I've been pretty impressed with it for the whole 2 times we've used it. The downside is that it literally ships on the slow boat from China, so timing concerns may prevent you from using it. I also can't recommend this thing enough: http://www.bakepacker.com/ If you're backpacking where there's water, it's great. And you can carry a ton of calories worth of great tasting food (muffins, cakes, breads, etc) for not much weight because you pack it dried. Thank you! We are doing a bit on Cold Mountain in Pisgah National Park in early October. I'm really excited! We got the MSR XGK-EX. We figured we'd never have the opportunity to get >50% off it again, and we have a friend who has one that is over 20 years old and still kicking. Capt Vimes Theory of Boots, you know. That BakePacker thing looks really cool. I'm not sure we'll spring for it on our first trip, but seems like a great thing to go on my Amazon wish list for Christmas.
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Aug 5, 2014 19:22
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We're having a hackathon/codefest at work, where we drop our day-to-day development activities, form groups, and work on interesting side projects. We've had catered lunches all week, and as expected we've had pizza and sandwiches so far. I was pretty happy about getting free lunch all week, even if it was a week of pizza and other cheap foods. And then today I got this.  Best free lunch I've ever had.
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Aug 6, 2014 20:08
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 So now I have to move, breaking a lease with 12 months left on it.  None the less,
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Aug 6, 2014 20:44
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T. J. Eckleburg posted:Like I said, I've never done it before, but I know half a dozen people who've hiked the AT and recommended I get something in the 55-75L range for 3-7 day hikes. However, I feel like I am more likely to personally prefer the "carry more poo poo, go slower, have everything you need and then some" school of thought than the ultralight style. Having a camp stove is totally fine - I have one and have used them many times - but since this is BFC I feel like I should point out that you can build a highly efficient rocket stove that runs off of twigs from scrap. A lot of backpacking stuff is like this! You definitely don't need to spend $2500 to spend a few nights in the woods.
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Aug 7, 2014 03:52
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I built the beer can alcohol stove. It was fairly effective for boiling water. But it didn't work well with the Bakepacker, which I love, because it wasn't efficient at sustaining heat. You'd have to carry extra weight of fuel to use it like I wanted to use it. But a rocket stove might have solve my problem for relatively little weight, if I'd known it existed. I think my buddy and I spent about four hundred bucks each, including tech-clothing but excluding boots, for a carrying a week's worth of gear at about 35lbs per person. We shared our tent and water filtration system, but we each packed our own kitchen. We got the clothes really cheap from a local running store's end-of-season sale. We got some lightweight cycling rain suits there too. The only downside was there was a shortage of color selections, so we both had bright red shirts, and the rain gear was bright yellow. On the days when it looked like it would rain, we would put the rain pants on in advance. With our red shirts, yellow pants, gators, boots, and backpacks we looked like scouts for the Ronald McDonald army. But hey, it was cheap. Also, you can totally make your own Bakepacker.
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Aug 7, 2014 13:55
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spwrozek posted:Denver so yeah, We have pretty stellar public transportation. And F parking downtown, $10+ a day or park about a 20 min walk away for free. The rockies played today...only $30 to park near work. Eh, "stellar" in some regards, and depending on where you live. It certainly isn't stellar if you live in Southwest Denver or most of Aurora. You need to find a better place to park, too. I pay $6/day pretax.
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Aug 7, 2014 18:31
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On the subject of hiking: carry shitloads of water. I mean absolute monstrous amounts. I'd carry around at least 10L of water for 6hours of strenuous exertion as a very fit 200lb male; I'd err on the side of 2L/hour if it's 80+ degrees out. 10L weighs 22lbs by itself. This is extremely heavy when you're trekking miles/day and also carrying food and tenting supplies, but running out of safe drinking water when you're >3 hilly, unpaved miles away from your nearest water source which you still have to put through a potability wash is something I never want to experience ever again in my life. Buy a bigass water canteen/camel/backpack. Try to make all your non-water equipment weigh less than 15 lbs. Hiking a couple miles is easy, but doing the same thing while carrying 40lbs in hot weather drains the life out of you. Make sure to stay hydrated. e: expect to get chafed in all kinds of terrible ways. Vaseline helps. Very slick/smooth undergarments and loose outer garments are best. DNK fucked around with this message at 19:27 on Aug 7, 2014 |
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Aug 7, 2014 19:21
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Radbot posted:Eh, "stellar" in some regards, and depending on where you live. It certainly isn't stellar if you live in Southwest Denver or most of Aurora. Bike bus or light rail man... Drive to work downtown, no chance.
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Aug 7, 2014 20:36
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Yesterday my wife surprised me by calling from work with something she had been thinking about. We're saving for a new home to get ready to start our family, and are about 60% to our savings goal. We expect to be ready to buy a new home in about a year at our current savings rate. She decided that since she is still working on her Masters degree that we should wait until after she has it to move. Her thinking was that she might get a good job offer and if we had recently bought a house it would be very difficult (and expensive) to move again. My wife usually just wants me to take control of the financial part of our life, but I was so excited that she was thinking so far into the future and wanting to do the right thing - even if that thing means putting off buying a new home for a few more years.
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Aug 11, 2014 14:05
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spwrozek posted:Bike bus or light rail man... Drive to work downtown, no chance. Saving 20 minutes at minimum from my commute, each way, is worth ~$4.75 post-tax to me! Glad you live in a place that's well served by RTD, though.
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Aug 11, 2014 18:10
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