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.....Well she's now fallen ill and is going to be away for SEVERAL WEEKS. Is this real life any more?
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Jun 15, 2016 14:00
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I'll give you 2:1 odds you get fired by someone in HR on the 30th. Possibly someone you've never met before if the company is big enough. Sorry for your lovely employer.
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Jun 15, 2016 15:36
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So I hope this is the place to ask this. I was hoping you guys could help settle an argument that came up at work tonight. Who made more money in 2015 Disney or BMW? If I read the financial statements right it looks like Disney made about a billion USD more in profit then BMW did, but I don't know poo poo about reading earning reports.
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Jun 16, 2016 12:12
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I'm going to a wedding in France next week. It's a close friend, and only a small group of people were invited and I felt really honored that they invited me. They're paying for the lodging while at the actual wedding (they rented a chateau in the countryside) and the transport from Paris to and from the chateau, so I was kind of dumb and only thought "oh hey, all I really need to do is buy the plane ticket!" The plane ticket was actually fairly inexpensive, (got a direct flight on the way there from Minneapolis and only a short layover on the way back with basically the exact times I wanted to depart/arrive) but it's all the extra things I didn't consider that is totally wrecking my budget (airbnb [gonna stay in paris for a few days before going to the wedding], a suitcase, boarding my pet, some clothes for the trip, not to mention the money I'm probably going to spend while over there, though a lot of the site seeing will be free). It's a good thing this is a 3 paycheck month. I haven't had to dip into my savings or anything like that, but it's cutting into the amount of money I was hoping to add to my savings/roth ira, and the plane ticket was something I had actually saved up for. Regardless, I'm still excited as gently caress and it's been a few years since I've done anything for a vacation besides stay home and play video games for 2 weeks straight. GAYS FOR DAYS fucked around with this message at 13:44 on Jun 16, 2016 |
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Jun 16, 2016 13:35
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Yeah Europe is pricey. The thing that always strikes me as an American visiting is the insanely high cost of simple everyday things like shampoo or coffee, often twice or five times as expensive as you're used to. I can't imagine how brutal a place like Paris must be if you're dirt poor, seems like all the lowest cost items people need every day are just insane. Thank god for cheap chinese Walmart crap on our side of the Atlantic I guess?
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Jun 16, 2016 15:46
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On the flip side, there are a lot of public services that are just flat out free in France, like going to the doctor (for the most part) or college (again, for the most part). Not a lot of help as a tourist, though.
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Jun 16, 2016 15:50
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Pryor on Fire posted:Yeah Europe is pricey. The thing that always strikes me as an American visiting is the insanely high cost of simple everyday things like shampoo or coffee, often twice or five times as expensive as you're used to. I can't imagine how brutal a place like Paris must be if you're dirt poor, seems like all the lowest cost items people need every day are just insane. Thank god for cheap chinese Walmart crap on our side of the Atlantic I guess? It's because expensive labor, the exorbitant payroll taxes on labor, and the 20% sales tax make every day items much more expensive. And yes, it functions as a very regressive scheme of taxation for the very poorest.
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Jun 16, 2016 17:20
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Though in many parts of Europe, it is possible to live without a car. So that should certainly help with being able to afford a $15 bottle of shampoo.
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Jun 16, 2016 17:29
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Rick Rickshaw posted:Though in many parts of Europe, it is possible to live without a car. So that should certainly help with being able to afford a $15 bottle of shampoo. As well as free medical care and college. I think it's a preferable system to crippling student and medical debt, but to each his own.
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Jun 16, 2016 17:31
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GAYS FOR DAYS posted:I'm going to a wedding in France next week. It's a close friend, and only a small group of people were invited and I felt really honored that they invited me. They're paying for the lodging while at the actual wedding (they rented a chateau in the countryside) and the transport from Paris to and from the chateau, so I was kind of dumb and only thought "oh hey, all I really need to do is buy the plane ticket!" The plane ticket was actually fairly inexpensive, (got a direct flight on the way there from Minneapolis and only a short layover on the way back with basically the exact times I wanted to depart/arrive) but it's all the extra things I didn't consider that is totally wrecking my budget (airbnb [gonna stay in paris for a few days before going to the wedding], a suitcase, boarding my pet, some clothes for the trip, not to mention the money I'm probably going to spend while over there, though a lot of the site seeing will be free). lol of course my car breaks down on the way home from work today, and I'm driving to the Minneapolis airport (from Madison) tuesday morning. I'm sure I'll have it back by then, but that's probably going to set me back another several hundo. edit: well, got it fixed. long story short, my usual mechanic said they couldn't fix it because they didn't have the parts. recommended an exhaust place in town (resonator pipe broke and was dragging everything behind it under my car) and said they might be able to custom build something but it would likely be pricey. Went there and they welded some poo poo on for way cheaper than the first place said it would be in about 30 minutes and the car is quiet as a mouse now. They also told me that the first place I went to is a bunch of loving idiots, which I was starting to suspect, but I had continued to go there because its within walking distance of my house. At least the first place didn't charge me anything to get it looked at and recommended a decent place. But gently caress cars. I need to just get a bus pass and start bussing to work. GAYS FOR DAYS fucked around with this message at 14:24 on Jun 18, 2016 |
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Jun 17, 2016 00:25
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GAYS FOR DAYS posted:At least the first place didn't charge me anything to get it looked at and recommended a decent place. But gently caress cars. I need to just get a bus pass and start bussing to work. They might not be total idiots, just not exhaust specialists (or their guy with the TIG welding skills was out that week). Also, if it's not too far, bike. I know plenty of people in Coldistan brave the winters. Re: your trip, make sure you're good to go as far as accessing your money. Some banks charge pretty extortionate rates for foreign ATM withdrawals and give you a crappy exchange rate; when I went to Japan last summer Commonwealth slugged me for about AU$15/ on a ~AU$300 withdrawal, thanks to my USAA card being messed up. When I checked my statement and saw how bad it was, I just borrowed yen from my GF (who was still working there) the rest of the trip and paid her back later.
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Jun 19, 2016 05:22
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Passed my probation 
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Jun 30, 2016 01:19
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Toriori posted:Passed my probation Nice!
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Jun 30, 2016 01:52
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I've been taking it for granted the last few months but having just paid bills for July, something finally settled in. I don't worry about the balance of my checking account anymore. I've had a buffer of at least ~$600 in there at all times for the last 6 months, I'm at least 2 months ahead in expenses stocked away in my main savings. I applied and was accepted to a masters program that my work will reimburse after the first class so I had to pay the first semester's tuition up front (about $4k) and I was able to drop that cash and pay it off without any undue burden on my accounts (while using that to churn on one of my rewards cards). My RothIRA and 401(k) accounts are trucking along and we have enough cash on hand to do some projects around the house and cash those as well. 5 years ago, I was struggling to pay down $400 for new tires and now I'm here. Feels good goons.
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Jul 1, 2016 18:03
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Mortgage havers: Is there any real benefit of eliminating escrow and paying your taxes/insurance yourself? On one hand, to me, it's somewhat annoying getting a letter every year "We're dumb and math is hard so we're adjusting your mortgage payment up/down $13 until next year when we do the same thing!". Also, I don't really like the abstraction of not knowing how much things are costing me. I'm not really a control freak, but I could probably manage sending out 3 payments a year myself (I already have to mail the tax statements to my bank) and I would like to track that info in YNAB potentially as well. Accidentally spending the money would not be an issue. On the other hand, it doesn't really bother me that much, I could leave it as-is too.
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Jul 6, 2016 15:37
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dreesemonkey posted:Mortgage havers: Is there any real benefit of eliminating escrow and paying your taxes/insurance yourself? I don't mind it, the abstraction isn't really a thing though. Our mortgage is through Chase and they have a pretty detailed breakdown of the total payment and I get statements directly from my insurance agent and my county about the charges when they come due anyways. I double check every year that everything makes sense and adds up, but I like that they take care of the automatic payments and adjustments for me.
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Jul 6, 2016 15:41
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Mine is through Chase also. I mean, my property taxes fluctuate a little bit, and my homeowners insurance does too. It happens. I'd rather they take care of it and have one less running savings total to worry about honestly.
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Jul 6, 2016 17:03
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Grad school did not prepare me to decipher a pay stub. Which row tells me how many vacation hours I have left this year? Is it the last row or the second to last row? What is the difference between the two rows.
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Jul 7, 2016 03:14
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theHUNGERian posted:Grad school did not prepare me to decipher a pay stub. Which row tells me how many vacation hours I have left this year? Is it the last row or the second to last row? What is the difference between the two rows. I dunno, maybe you have some policy where not all vacation hours can be used immediately upon accrual? It's hard to say when all the numbers are blacked out.
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Jul 7, 2016 03:46
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pig slut lisa posted:I dunno, maybe you have some policy where not all vacation hours can be used immediately upon accrual? It's hard to say when all the numbers are blacked out. Paranoia on my part. I know that we can only take off a limited number of hours in a given pay period, but I still don't see how 'Available' is almost twice as much as 'Total balance', the numbers just don't add up.
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Jul 7, 2016 04:24
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Is there some sort of max cap on how many vacation hours you can accrue? Maybe that's the "available" bit. Like if you contributed $1000 to a Roth, it might say "Total $1000, Available $4500"? I dunno, just spitballing. Ask HR.
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Jul 7, 2016 05:01
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moana posted:Is there some sort of max cap on how many vacation hours you can accrue? Maybe that's the "available" bit. Like if you contributed $1000 to a Roth, it might say "Total $1000, Available $4500"? I dunno, just spitballing. Ask HR. That's it, I think. Accrued is probably increasing as the year goes on, just to prevent me from taking 20 continuous vacation days in Jan 4th. Now the numbers start to add up better. I'll verify with HR before I finalize my vacation plans.
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Jul 7, 2016 05:24
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Here's how it works for me, and how I'm reading that: I get 3 weeks (120 hours) of vacation a year, accrued at a rate of 4.6 hours per pay period with there being 26 pay periods per year. As of January 1, I haven't accrued anything yet, but I could still technically take off 3 weeks if I wanted to. That 120 hours is available to me whenever, but it isn't accrued yet. So, if I do decide to take all 3 weeks of vacation in January, and then quit in February, I would have a negative accrual, and that would be deducted from my last check. Likewise, if I had not taken any vacation at all during the year yet, and I decided to quit, I don't get 3 weeks of vacation paid out, because I haven't accrued that amount yet. I would only get a week and a half at this point.
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Jul 7, 2016 13:13
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DJCobol posted:Here's how it works for me, and how I'm reading that: This makes sense. Thanks.
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Jul 7, 2016 16:23
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I remember these old ads and I thought this was funny: https://www.ally.com/learn/kids/ This girl remains eternally owned, however: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWo-vDVajns
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Jul 8, 2016 07:27
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I just ordered a bike carrier rack and a pannier on amazon for free with rewards from my amazon cc, and I'm going to start biking to work every day, because I'm loving sick of paying $8-$10 a day for parking at work.
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Jul 9, 2016 04:54
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Cycling is the way to go. That's expensive parking. Plus more exercise now!
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Jul 9, 2016 10:48
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GAYS FOR DAYS posted:I just ordered a bike carrier rack and a pannier on amazon for free with rewards from my amazon cc, and I'm going to start biking to work every day, because I'm loving sick of paying $8-$10 a day for parking at work. Yay congrats! Hope it goes well. How far is your ride?
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Jul 9, 2016 11:50
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pig slut lisa posted:Yay congrats! Hope it goes well. How far is your ride? About 5 miles. I've done it a couple times, but with a backpack on carrying my lunch, coffee, a change of clothes, work shoes, and some other miscellaneous stuff it gets heavy and my back always ends up drenched in sweat. And yeah, I used to run a lot to keep in shape, but my knee has been garbage lately (finally going to the doctor for it in a few weeks) and I've put on a good 10-15 pounds since I stopped running, so this is going to help me get the exercise I've been missing out on.
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Jul 9, 2016 13:59
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I kind of want a recumbent bike for the same reason. The normal bike isn't going so well these days because my neck has some kind of mysterious problems. Hard to justify when you have a bike that still mostly works though.
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Jul 9, 2016 14:14
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Biking is my favorite sport, and saving the wear and tear on my joints is icing on the cake. Screw running.
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Jul 9, 2016 21:50
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GAYS FOR DAYS posted:About 5 miles. I've done it a couple times, but with a backpack on carrying my lunch, coffee, a change of clothes, work shoes, and some other miscellaneous stuff it gets heavy and my back always ends up drenched in sweat. Yeah, the number of people I see commuting without a rack is mind-boggling. Once you go rack, you never go back. These straps are a good compliment to a rack, I've used them on both a bicycle and motorbike.
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Jul 9, 2016 23:09
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I don't understand how people commute with a backpack. Sweaty back is the worst, and it's more awkward to look behind you or change positions when a giant lump is hanging off your back.
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Jul 9, 2016 23:53
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I think the biggest plus of the backpack for some trips is that it's better to have a backpack at your destination as opposed to a pannier. For regular commuting it's not usually needed though. I may one day get one of those panniers that converts to a backpack. I've seen a few around.
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Jul 11, 2016 00:09
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Rick Rickshaw posted:I think the biggest plus of the backpack for some trips is that it's better to have a backpack at your destination as opposed to a pannier. Yeah, I typically use a backpack on the top of the rack, secured with those straps I linked. For bigger shops I throw the panniers on.
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Jul 11, 2016 07:20
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Re: everyday things being expensive in Europe - it evens out. While stuff like cosmetics can be pricey down here in Spain, vegetables and fruit are somewhat cheap, especially considering their high quality. Also, eating out and barhopping in Spain is actually quite affordable, probably due to the culture - nobody here likes hosting stuff at home. Granted, I'm comparing the standards to Poland's, so I may be biased. I found the standard of living here pretty high, even while unemployed... ...which I just became again, as my company won't be extending my contract. :-(
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Jul 14, 2016 10:10
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Well, the streak may be over. It's been 510 days since I last ate out at work (in a non-social setting. I've gone to a restaurant a few times for retirements and such). It's 11:42, and I'm getting hungry.
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Jul 25, 2016 15:42
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BFC devil on your shoulder, seeking to tell you about life insurance: http://www.theonion.com/article/man-brings-lunch-from-home-to-cut-down-on-small-jo-37912
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Jul 25, 2016 15:46
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That was a drat good chicken schwarma. Streak me damned. Time to start a new one.
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Jul 25, 2016 16:31
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Anyone here ever insured their bicycle? I'm buying a new bike and I'm not sure if I should be insuring it or not. Relevant detail - it's an electric bike (i.e. reasonably expensive) to commute to work. According to the internet, it's "only" $100 to insure, which is low enough for me to consider just getting it, but is there anything else I should be taking into consideration here? If the ocean suddenly swallowed up my bike tomorrow and I weren't insured, I'm not sure I'd be prepared to splash out my own funds for a new one, which I guess means I should probably insure it? (Side note - I looked into getting an insurance policy on myself because I'm paranoid about falling off my bike and breaking every bone on the way down. Turns out you can insure yourself for spinal chord injury! $40 a year, and you get $250,000 if the worst occurs. What a cheerful topic!)
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Jul 25, 2016 17:21
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